⦗64–69⦘ “This worldly life is nothing but diversion and play, while the abode of the Hereafter is truly the real life, if only they knew. * When they board a ship, they call upon Allah with sincere devotion to Him alone. But once He delivers them safely to land, they immediately associate partners with Him, * with the result that they are ungrateful for what We have given them and continue to enjoy themselves. They will soon know. * Have they not seen that We have made a secure sanctuary while people all around them are being snatched away? Will they then believe in falsehood and reject Allah’s blessing? * Who is more unjust than one who fabricates a lie against Allah or denies the truth when it comes to him? Is there not an abode in Hell for the disbelievers? * As for those who strive for Our sake, We will surely guide them to Our ways. Indeed, Allah is with those who do good.”
Allah Most High describes what this world and the Hereafter are like, thereby discouraging attachment to this world and awakening longing for the next. He says: “This worldly life,” in reality, “is nothing but diversion and play.” Hearts are distracted by it and bodies play in it because of the adornments, pleasures, and desires Allah has placed within it—desires that beguile hearts that turn away, delight heedless eyes, and gladden souls steeped in falsehood and vanity. Then it all swiftly vanishes and comes entirely to an end, leaving those who loved it with nothing but regret, sorrow, and loss.
As for the abode of the Hereafter, it is the abode of “real life”—that is, complete life. This necessarily means that its inhabitants’ bodies will possess the utmost strength and their faculties the greatest vigor, for they are bodies and faculties created for life itself. Everything that makes life complete and brings pleasure to perfection will be found there: delights for the heart and pleasures for the body, including food, drink, marital pleasures, and other things no eye has ever seen, no ear has ever heard, and that have never occurred to a human heart.
“If only they knew”: they would not have preferred this world to the Hereafter. Had they possessed understanding, they would not have turned away from the abode of real life and desired the abode of diversion and play. This shows that those who truly know cannot but prefer the Hereafter to this world because they know the condition of both abodes.
Allah Most High then establishes the case against the polytheists on the basis of the sincerity they show Him in a state (1) of distress. When they travel by sea, its waves crashing around them as they fear they will perish, they abandon their rivals and direct their supplication sincerely to Allah alone, without partner. But once the distress has passed and He delivers (2) those who called sincerely upon Him to land, they associate with Him beings that neither rescued them from distress nor removed (3) hardship from them.
Why, then, do they not call sincerely upon Allah in times of ⦗636⦘ ease and hardship, prosperity and adversity, so that they might truly believe in Him, deserve His reward, and have His punishment averted from them?
Yet their association of partners after Our blessing upon them—rescuing them from the sea—results in their denying what We have given them, repaying blessing with evil, and indulging fully in this worldly life with an enjoyment like that of livestock. Their only concern is their bellies and private parts.
“They will soon know,” when they pass from this world into the Hereafter, the agony of regret and painful punishment.
He then reminds them of His favor in granting them His secure Sanctuary, where, as its inhabitants, they enjoy security, abundance, and provision, while the people around them are seized and live in fear. Will they not worship the One who fed them against hunger and secured them against fear?
“Will they then believe in falsehood?”—namely, the polytheism, false statements, and false deeds they follow—“and reject Allah’s blessing?” Where have their minds gone, and how have they been stripped of sound judgment, that they preferred misguidance to guidance, falsehood to truth, and misery to happiness, thus becoming the most unjust of all creation?
“Who is more unjust than one who fabricates a lie against Allah,” ascribing to Allah the misguidance and falsehood he follows, “or denies the truth when it comes to him” through His Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)?
But Hell lies before this stubborn wrongdoer. “Is there not an abode in Hell for the disbelievers?” There, justice will be exacted from them, they will be disgraced, and it will be their permanent home, from which they will never emerge.
“As for those who strive for Our sake”—these are those who emigrated in the cause of Allah, fought their enemies, and exerted every effort in seeking His pleasure—“We will surely guide them to Our ways,” meaning the paths that lead to Us. This is because they are doers of good.
“Indeed, Allah is with those who do good,” granting them assistance, victory, and guidance. This indicates that those who engage in jihad are the people most likely to arrive at what is right; that whoever excels in carrying out what he has been commanded, Allah will help him and make the means of guidance easy for him; and that whoever earnestly strives to acquire sacred knowledge will receive divinely granted guidance and assistance in attaining his objective beyond what his own efforts could reach, and the acquisition of knowledge will be made easy for him.
The pursuit of sacred knowledge is itself part of jihad in the cause of Allah. Indeed, it is one of the two forms of jihad—a form undertaken only by the elect of creation: jihad by word and tongue against disbelievers and hypocrites, striving to teach matters of religion, and refuting the arguments of those who oppose the truth, even if they are Muslims.
The commentary on Sūrat al-Ankabūt is complete, with praise to Allah and by His aid.
Commentary on Sūrat al-Rūm