(39–40) “As for those who disbelieve, their deeds are like a mirage on a desert plain, which the thirsty person supposes to be water, until, when he reaches it, he finds it to be nothing. But he finds Allah there, and He pays him his account in full. Allah is swift in reckoning. Or they are like layers of darkness in a deep sea, covered by a wave, above which is another wave, above which are clouds—layers of darkness, one above another. If he stretches out his hand, he can hardly see it. Whoever Allah does not grant light has no light.”
These are two comparisons Allah presents for the deeds of the disbelievers, illustrating their worthlessness, their going utterly to waste, and the anguish their doers will feel over them. ⦗570⦘ He says: “As for those who disbelieve” in their Lord and deny His messengers, “their deeds are like a mirage on a desert plain”—that is, an open tract containing neither trees nor vegetation.
“The thirsty person supposes it to be water.” He is desperately thirsty, and his thirst causes him to imagine what another person would not. Yet this belief is false. He heads toward it to quench his thirst, “until, when he reaches it, he finds it to be nothing.” He then feels bitter regret, and his thirst intensifies because his hope has been cut off.
The deeds of the disbelievers are likewise like a mirage. They are seen by the ignorant person who does not understand matters, and he imagines them to be beneficial deeds. Their outward appearance deceives him and their illusion beguiles him. Driven by his whims, he himself likewise deems them beneficial, while he is in dire need of them—just as a thirsty person needs water. But when he comes to face his deeds on the Day of Recompense, he finds them wasted and discovers that they amount to nothing. Yet the matter does not simply end there, with nothing either for him or against him. Rather, “he finds Allah there, and He pays him his account in full.” Not even as much as the groove of a date stone or its thin membrane from among his deeds is hidden from Allah, and nothing of them, little or much, will escape His requital. “Allah is swift in reckoning.” Let the ignorant not deem that promise long delayed, for it will inevitably come.
Allah compares their deeds to a mirage on a barren plain containing neither trees nor vegetation. This represents their hearts, which contain neither goodness nor righteousness in which deeds might grow and thrive. The obstacle that prevents this is disbelief.
The second comparison illustrating the worthlessness of the disbelievers’ deeds is: “like layers of darkness in a deep sea” whose bottom is far below and whose expanse stretches far, “covered by a wave, above which is another wave, above which are clouds—layers of darkness, one above another.” There is the darkness of the deep sea; above it, the darkness of the mounting waves; above that, the darkness of the pitch-black clouds; and above that, the darkness of the black night. The darkness thus becomes so intense that anyone there, “if he stretches out his hand, can hardly see it,” despite its closeness to him—so how could he see anything else?
The disbelievers are likewise: layers of darkness have accumulated upon their hearts—the darkness of a nature containing no good; above it, the darkness of disbelief; above that, the darkness of ignorance; and above that, the darkness of the deeds arising from all that has been mentioned. They remain bewildered in darkness, stumbling blindly amid their engulfing ignorance, turning their backs on the straight path and wandering back and forth along the paths of error and misguidance. This is because Allah has forsaken them and has not granted them any of His light. “Whoever Allah does not grant light has no light.” The soul is wrongful and ignorant; it possesses no goodness or light except what its Master gives it and its Lord bestows upon it.
It may be that both comparisons apply to the deeds of all the disbelievers, each describing them from a different perspective, and that two comparisons were given because their characteristics are manifold. It may also be that each comparison applies to a particular group: the first to the leaders who are followed, and the second to their followers. Allah knows best.