Tafsir al-Sadi - Abd al-Rahman al-Sadi’ - (347)

(85) “Do not let their wealth and children impress you. Allah intends only to punish them through these things in this world and for their souls to depart while they are disbelievers.”

That is: Do not be deceived by the wealth and children Allah has granted them in this world. This is not a sign that He has honored them; rather, it is a humiliation from Him. “Allah intends only to punish them through these things in this world”: they wear themselves out acquiring them, fear losing them, and cannot enjoy them in peace.

Instead, they continually suffer hardships and difficulties because of them, and they distract them from Allah and the Hereafter until they leave this world “and their souls depart while they are disbelievers.” Their love for these things has deprived them of everything else, so they die with their hearts attached to them and their innermost beings burning with longing for them.

﴿٨٥﴾ ﴿وَلا تُعْجِبْكَ أَمْوَالُهُمْ وَأَوْلادُهُمْ إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ أَنْ يُعَذِّبَهُمْ بِهَا فِي الدُّنْيَا وَتَزْهَقَ أَنْفُسُهُمْ وَهُمْ كَافِرُونَ﴾ . أي: لا تغتر بما أعطاهم الله في الدنيا من الأموال والأولاد، فليس ذلك لكرامتهم عليه، وإنما ذلك إهانة منه لهم. ﴿إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ أَنْ يُعَذِّبَهُمْ بِهَا فِي الدُّنْيَا﴾ فيتعبون في تحصيلها، ويخافون من زوالها، ولا يتهنئون بها. بل لا يزالون يعانون الشدائد والمشاق فيها، وتلهيهم عن الله والدار الآخرة، حتى ينتقلوا من الدنيا ﴿وَتَزْهَقَ أَنْفُسُهُمْ وَهُمْ كَافِرُونَ﴾ قد سلبهم حبها عن كل شيء، فماتوا وقلوبهم بها متعلقة، وأفئدتهم عليها متحرقة.