wake in the morning but not live until evening, or reach the evening but not live until morning. We must therefore be resolute in our deeds and seize the opportunity before it is too late.

“On the Day when each person will see what his hands have sent forth.” “Each person” means every human being. He will see what his hands have sent forth laid before him, and he will be given his record and told, “Read your record. Today there is none more competent than yourself to call you to account” [al-Isrā’: 14].

Overwhelmed by the horrors and punishment he beholds, the disbeliever will say, “Oh, would that I were dust!” That is: Would that I had never been created; or, would that I had never been resurrected; or, upon seeing the animals among whom Allah has passed judgment and then commands, “Become dust,” whereupon they become dust, he will wish that he were like them. Thus, his words, “Would that I were dust,” admit three possible meanings:

The first meaning: Would that I had remained dust and never been created, for the human being was created from dust.

The second meaning: Would that I had become dust and never been resurrected—that is, that I had remained dust within the graves.

The third meaning: When he sees the animals among whom Allah has passed judgment and to whom He says, “Become dust,” whereupon they become dust, he will say, “Would that I were dust”—meaning, as these animals have become. And Allah knows best.

Here ends Sūrat al-Naba’. It contains admonitions, wisdom, and signs of Allah—Glorified and Exalted—that should lead to certainty and faith. We ask Allah to benefit us and you through His Book, to make it an admonition for our hearts and a cure for what lies within our breasts. Indeed, He is Bountiful and Generous.