«وَاسْتَطْبَنَا الْحَيْنَ الْمُجْتَاحَ وَاسْتَبْطَأْنَا الْيَوْمَ الْمُتَاحَ»
We came to regard devastating death as almost welcome, while the day of relief seemed unbearably slow in coming.
Ḥayn here indicates destruction or death; mujtāḥ evokes devastation. Istabṭaʾnā means finding the arrival of something too slow.
This is deliberate rhetorical exaggeration expressing extreme suffering, not a universal recommendation or instruction. The rhetoric reaches its emotional height just before a direct plea for kindness.