Hattā is interpreted in three ways:
1. Hattā is used in the sense of 'until, up to'; as in the following verses:
When it was said to them {that is, to the people of Ṣāliḥ}, "Enjoy yourselves for a time [hattā ḥīn] {that is, until the moment/time when your appointed term comes to an end}." (al-Dhāriyāt 51:43)
So leave them in their heedlessness for a time [hattā ḥīn] {that is, until their appointed term}. (al-Muʾminūn 23:54)
Until the emergence of dawn [hattā] {that is, until the break of dawn [ilā]}. (al-Qadr 97:5)
2. Hattā is used in the sense of 'when/at last' (fa-lammā); as in the following verses:
Hattā {that is, at last/when} the messengers despaired {that is, when they lost hope that their people would believe}... (Yūsuf 12:110)
It is forbidden to a town which We have destroyed: they will not return. Hattā {(that is, at last/when)} Gog and Magog are let loose... (al-Anbiyāʾ 21:95-96)
Hattā {(at last/when)} Our command came and the oven overflowed... (Hūd 11:40)
3. The word hattā, for something that will happen, indicates a specific time and expresses ikrār (final point and acceptance); as in the following verse:
Fight those who do not believe in Allah and the Last Day... until [hattā] {that is, until they acknowledge and accept paying the jizya} they give the jizya willingly while they are humbled. (al-Tawba 9:29)
Fight against the one who rebels until [hattā] he returns to the command of Allah. (al-Ḥujurāt 49:9)
Until [hattā] there is no fitna (trial) {that is, until shirk (associating partners with God) disappears/is eliminated}. (al-Anfāl 8:39)
A similar example is found in Sūrat al-Baqara.
And they were shaken so severely that, hattā {(that is, when it reached its end)} the Messenger and those who believed with him said, "When is the help of Allah?" (al-Baqara 2:214)