(43–45) “So direct your face toward the upright religion before there comes from Allah a Day that cannot be averted. On that Day, they will be divided. Whoever disbelieves bears the consequences of his disbelief, while those who act righteously are preparing for themselves, so that He may reward those who believe and do righteous deeds out of His bounty. Indeed, He does not love the disbelievers.”
That is: Turn to this religion with your heart, direct your face toward it, and strive with your body to establish the upright and straight religion. Carry out its commands and prohibitions with earnest effort, and fulfill its outward and inward duties. Make the most of your time, your life, and your youth “before there comes from Allah a Day that cannot be averted.” This is the Day of Resurrection: when it comes, it cannot be turned back, nor will those who act be granted respite to resume (1) their deeds. The time for deeds will have ended, and nothing will remain but the recompense of those who performed them. “On that Day, they will be divided”; that is, they will separate and depart in scattered, disparate groups to be shown their deeds.
“Whoever among them disbelieves bears the consequences of his disbelief.” He himself will be punished, for no bearer of burdens will bear another’s burden. “Those who act righteously”—fulfilling the rights owed to Allah or the rights owed to His servants, whether obligatory or recommended—“are preparing for themselves,” not for anyone else. That is, they prepare for themselves, build up their Hereafter, and make ready to attain its dwellings and lofty chambers. Even so, their reward is not limited to their deeds. Rather, Allah will reward them, out of His abundant grace and limitless generosity, with what their deeds could never attain. That is because He loves them; and when Allah loves a servant, He showers him abundantly with goodness, lavishes splendid gifts upon him, and blesses him with blessings both outward and inward.
This is unlike the disbelievers. Because Allah hates and abhors them, He punishes and chastises them, and does not grant them increase as He granted those before them. For this reason, He says: “Indeed, He does not love the disbelievers.”