(21) “Or do those who commit evil deeds suppose that We will make them like those who believe and do righteous deeds, equal in their life and their death? How evil is their judgment!”

That is: Do evildoers—those who commit many sins and fall short in fulfilling their duties toward their Lord—suppose “that We will make them like those who believe and do righteous deeds,” who fulfill their duties toward their Lord, avoid what displeases Him, and consistently prefer His pleasure to their own desires? Do they suppose that they will be “equal” in this world and the Hereafter? Evil indeed are their assumptions and expectations, and evil is the judgment they have made. It is a judgment that contravenes the wisdom of the Wisest of judges and the Best of those who dispense justice, contradicts sound reason and upright human nature, and opposes what the revealed Books proclaimed and the messengers reported. Rather, the certain judgment borne out in reality is that believers who do righteous deeds shall have victory, success, happiness, and reward in this world and the Hereafter, each according to the excellence of his deeds; while evildoers shall face wrath, humiliation, torment, and misery in this world and the Hereafter.