(20–25) “No indeed! Rather, you love the fleeting life * and neglect the Hereafter. * On that Day some faces will be radiant, * gazing upon their Lord, * while other faces on that Day will be grim, * expecting a crushing calamity to befall them.”
That is, what has caused you to be heedless and to turn away from Allah’s admonition and reminder is that you “love the fleeting life.” You strive to obtain it and pursue its pleasures and desires, preferring it to the Hereafter and thus neglecting to work for the Hereafter. This is because the pleasures and delights of this world are immediate, and human beings are deeply attached to immediate gratification, whereas the everlasting bliss of the Hereafter is deferred. You have therefore become heedless of it and forsaken it, as though you were not created for it and as though this world were the permanent abode, for which the most precious years of life should be spent and toward which one should strive night and day. In this way, reality has been turned upside down for you, resulting in tremendous loss. Had you preferred the Hereafter to this world and considered the consequences with the insight of a rational person, you would have prospered, gained a profit untouched by loss, and attained a triumph unaccompanied by misery.
He then mentioned what should inspire people to prefer the Hereafter, explaining the condition of its inhabitants and the differences in their ranks. Regarding the reward of those who prefer the Hereafter to this world, He said: “On that Day some faces will be radiant”—that is, beautiful and resplendent, glowing with splendor and light because of the bliss of their hearts, the joy of their souls, and the delight of their spirits. They will be “gazing upon their Lord”—that is, they will gaze upon their Lord (1) according to their respective ranks. Some ⦗900⦘ will see Him every day, morning and evening, while others will see Him once every Friday. They will delight in gazing upon His noble Countenance and His surpassing beauty—He has no likeness whatsoever. When they see Him, they will forget the bliss they had been enjoying and experience such delight and joy as cannot be expressed. Their faces will grow still more radiant, adding beauty to their beauty. We therefore ask Allah, the Most Generous, to place us among them.
Regarding those who prefer the fleeting life to the life to come, He said: “While other faces on that Day will be grim”—that is, scowling and gloomy (2), humbled and abased. They will be “expecting a crushing calamity to befall them”—that is, a severe punishment and a painful torment. This is why their faces will change and become sullen.