⦗33⦘ “O humanity! Be mindful of your Lord, and fear a Day when no parent will be able to avail their child in any way, nor will any child be able to avail their parent. Allah’s promise is indeed true. So do not let the life of this world deceive you, nor let the Deceiver deceive you about Allah.”
Allah Most High commands people to be mindful of Him, which consists in obeying His commands and refraining from what He has forbidden. He directs their attention to fearing the Day of Resurrection—that terrible Day when every person will be concerned only with himself. Thus, “no parent will be able to avail their child in any way, nor will any child be able to avail their parent”: no one will be able to add to another’s good deeds or reduce their evil deeds. Each servant’s deeds will have run their course, and the recompense due for them will have become certain.
Drawing attention here to this terrifying Day strengthens the servant and makes it easier for him to be mindful of Allah. This is part of Allah’s mercy toward His servants: He commands them to be mindful of Him, wherein lies their happiness; promises them reward for doing so; warns them of punishment; and spurs them toward it through admonitions and warnings. All praise is therefore Yours, O Lord of all worlds.
“Allah’s promise is indeed true.” So do not doubt it or behave like one who does not believe it. Hence He says, “Do not let the life of this world deceive you” with its finery, adornments, temptations, and trials.
“Nor let the Deceiver deceive you about Allah”—namely Satan, who never ceases to deceive human beings and never takes his eye off them at any time. Allah has a right over His servants and has appointed a time when He will recompense them for their deeds, according to whether they fulfilled His right or fell short in it.
This is a matter that must be taken seriously. The servant must keep it constantly before his eyes and make it the capital of the trade he pursues.
Among the greatest obstacles that hinder and bar him from this are the seductive world and Satan ⦗653⦘, the whisperer who makes evil seem enticing. Allah therefore forbade His servants to let the world deceive them or the Deceiver deceive them about Allah: “He promises them and fills them with false hopes, but Satan promises them nothing but delusion.”