(60–61) “Whatever you have been given is merely the enjoyment and adornment of worldly life, while that which is with Allah is better and more lasting. Will you not then reason? Is one to whom We have made a good promise, which he will receive, like one whom We have allowed to enjoy the pleasures of worldly life, but who on the Day of Resurrection will be among those brought forth?”

This is an exhortation from Allah to His servants to renounce attachment to this world and not be deceived by it, to desire the Hereafter and make it their aim and pursuit. He informs them that everything people have been given—gold, silver, livestock, possessions, women, sons, food, drink, and pleasures—is merely the enjoyment and adornment of life [in this world]. That is, it is enjoyed for only a short time: a limited enjoyment, fraught with troubles and mixed with bitterness.

It serves as an adornment for a brief while, for pride and ostentation; then it quickly disappears and comes entirely to an end. Its possessor gains nothing from it but sorrow, regret, disappointment, and deprivation.

“That which is with Allah”—everlasting bliss and a wholesome life—“is better and more lasting.” That is, it is superior in both quality and quantity, and it endures forever and continues without end.

“Will you not then reason?” That is: Have you no reason with which to weigh which course (1) is more worthy of preference and which of the two abodes more deserves that you work for it? This shows that a servant gives preference to the Hereafter over this world in proportion to the soundness of his reason, and that no one prefers this world except because of a deficiency in his reason. Allah therefore calls upon people of reason to compare the outcome of one who prefers this world with that of one who prefers the Hereafter, saying: “Is one to whom We have made a good promise, which he will receive…”

That is: Can a believer who strives for the Hereafter as it deserves to be striven for, acting in reliance on his Lord’s promise of the excellent reward—Paradise and the tremendous bliss it contains—and who will assuredly receive it, ⦗622⦘ without any doubt or uncertainty, be equal to another? For it is a promise from the Most Generous, who is true to His promise and never breaks it, made to a servant who pursues what pleases Him and avoids His displeasure.

Is such a person like one “whom We have allowed to enjoy the pleasures of worldly life,” who goes about taking and giving, eating and drinking, and enjoying himself as cattle do? His worldly life has distracted him from his Hereafter; he pays no heed to Allah’s guidance and does not submit to the messengers. He continues in this state, carrying away from his worldly life no provision but loss and ruin.

“But on the Day of Resurrection he will be among those brought forth” for judgment. It is already known that he sent no good ahead for himself; rather, he sent ahead everything that would harm him, and then passed into the abode where deeds are recompensed. What, then, do you think his fate will be? What do you suppose will be done to him? Let the person of reason therefore choose for himself what is worthiest of being chosen and which of the two is most deserving of preference.