Tafseer of The Iron · Al-Hadid · 57:20
Know that the life of this world is but amusement and diversion and adornment and boasting to one another and competition in increase of wealth and children - like the example of a rain whose [resulting] plant growth pleases the tillers; then it dries and you see it turned yellow; then it becomes [scattered] debris. And in the Hereafter is severe punishment and forgiveness from Allah and approval. And what is the worldly life except the enjoyment of delusion.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
He, exalted is His mention, says: Know, O people, that the enjoyment of the worldly life which has been hastened for you is nothing but play and amusement with which you amuse yourselves, and adornment with which you adorn yourselves, and mutual boasting, whereby some of you boast against others about the luxury that has been granted to them therein. (وَتَكَاثُرٌ فِي الأمْوَالِ وَالأوْلادِ) (and competing in wealth and children). He, exalted is His mention, says: And some of you vie against others with the abundance of wealth and children. (كَمَثَلِ غَيْثٍ أَعْجَبَ الْكُفَّارَ نَبَاتُهُ ثُمَّ يَهِيجُ) (like a rain whose vegetation amazes the tillers, then it withers). He, exalted is His mention, says: Then that vegetation withers. (فَتَرَاهُ مُصْفَرًّا) (so you see it turned yellow) — after it had been green and fresh.
And His word: (ثُمَّ يَكُونُ حُطَامًا) (then it becomes debris). He, exalted is His mention, says: Then that vegetation becomes debris, by which is meant: it becomes a dry, crumbling plant. (وَفِي الآخِرَةِ عَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ) (and in the Hereafter there is a severe punishment). He, exalted is His mention, says: And in the Hereafter there is a severe punishment for the disbelievers. (وَمَغْفِرَةٌ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَرِضْوَانٌ) (and forgiveness from Allah and good pleasure) — for the people of faith in Allah and His Messenger.
As Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatāda, concerning His word: (اعْلَمُوا أَنَّمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا لَعِبٌ وَلَهْوٌ) (Know that the worldly life is only play and amusement) — the verse. He says: In the Hereafter people end up at these two conditions.
And some of the grammarians said concerning His word: (وَفِي الآخِرَةِ عَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ وَمَغْفِرَةٌ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَرِضْوَانٌ) (and in the Hereafter there is a severe punishment and forgiveness from Allah and good pleasure): He mentioned what is in the worldly life, and that it is as He has described it; but as for the Hereafter, it is either punishment or Paradise. He said: The wāw therein and aw have the same meaning.
And His word: (وَمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلا مَتَاعُ الْغُرُورِ) (and the worldly life is nothing but the enjoyment of delusion). He, exalted is His mention, says: And the adornment of the hastened worldly life is for you, O people, nothing but the enjoyment of delusion.
ʿAlī ibn Ḥarb al-Mawṣilī related to us, saying: al-Muḥāribī related to us, from Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr, from Abū Salama, from Abū Hurayra, who said: The Prophet, Allah's blessings and peace be upon him, said: "A place the size of a whip in Paradise is better than the worldly life and all that is in it."
