They are mentioned first because they are the snares of Satan. “And sons, and heaped-up qintars”: qintars is the plural of qintar, concerning which there are differing views. Al-Rabiʿ ibn Anas said: “A qintar is abundant wealth amassed one upon another.” Muʿadh ibn Jabal, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “A qintar is 1,200 ounces.” Ibn ʿAbbas, may Allah be pleased with him, and al-Dahhak (1) said: “1,200 mithqals.” Another report from them states: “12,000 dirhams and 1,000 dinars (2), which is the blood-money for one of you.” Al-Hasan said: “A qintar is the blood-money for one of you.” Saʿid ibn Jubayr and ʿIkrimah said: “It is 100,000, 100 mann, 100 ratls, 100 mithqals, and 100 dirhams.” When Islam came, there were one hundred men in Mecca who had amassed a qintar. Saʿid ibn al-Musayyib and Qatadah said: “80,000.” Mujahid said: “70,000.” It is related from al-Suddi that he said: “4,000 mithqals.” Al-Hakam said: “A qintar is wealth extending between heaven and earth.” Abu Nadrah said: “A bull’s hide filled with gold or silver.”
It was called a qintar from the idea of firmness: one says, “I made a thing firm,” and from this the word for a bridge was derived.
Regarding His words, “heaped-up”: al-Dahhak said: “Fortified and firmly secured.” Qatadah said: “Abundant, stacked one upon another.” Yamān said: “Buried” (3). Al-Suddi said: “Minted and engraved, until it became dirhams and dinars.” Al-Farraʾ (4) said: “Multiplied.” Thus, qintars denotes three, while “heaped-up” denotes nine. “Of gold and silver”: it is said that gold was so named because it goes away and does not remain, and silver because it disperses—that is, scatters.
“And fine branded horses”: the word for horses is a collective noun whose singular is not derived from the same word; its singular is faras (horse), like the words for people, women, and the like. Mujahid said that “fine branded” means well-fed and handsome. ʿIkrimah said: “Their branding is their beauty.” Saʿid ibn Jubayr said: “They are grazing horses”; one says that he put the horses out to pasture. Al-Hasan and Abu ʿUbaydah said: “They are marked with a distinguishing sign,” and a distinguishing sign is a mark. Some said that their mark is their appearance and colour; this was the view of Qatadah. It was also said to mean branding by cautery.
“And livestock”: this is the plural of a collective noun referring to camels, cattle, and sheep, and it has no singular derived from the same word. “And cultivated land”: that is, crops. “That”—which We have mentioned—“is the enjoyment of worldly life”: this indicates that it is an enjoyment that perishes. “But with Allah is the best return”: that is, the best place of return. This contains an exhortation to forsake attachment to this world and an encouragement to seek the Hereafter.