And when it became clear by these verses that the world is built upon decay and disappearance, and the fortress and departure, and that being pleased with it in an inappropriate place is not right, for this reason Allah, the Most High, said, indicating after removing the intellect from them that they are in it like animals that are confused: "And what is this worldly life?" He belittled it by this indication and the word of baseness, along with indicating that acknowledging this name is sufficient for the obligation of acknowledging the other.

And when the aim of the surah is to urge towards jihad and to prohibit what is wrong, and it is in the context of removing the intellect from them, He presented amusement because turning away from it cuts off the source of evil, for it is the motivator for it. So He said: "Except amusement," meaning: something that distracts from what is beneficial, and "and play" which engages the foolish children of intellect, and every heedless and ignorant person. For amusement is everything that has the potential to please the soul, like singing and adornment from wealth and women and others. It brings about joy and an increase in happiness, and it becomes a cause for heedlessness, forgetfulness, and distraction from using the intellect in following what saves in the Hereafter, which leads to misguidance - as indicated by the verse of Luqman: "He buys idle talk to lead astray from the path of Allah" [Luqman: 6]. And among it is play, which is the act that increases the soul's joy in its worldly affairs, like dancing after listening, and it quickly comes to an end because it is contrary to seriousness and is like frivolity. And it is everything lowly, and every falsehood intended to increase ease, recreation, and prolonging time in what is desired without effort. And a game, with the letter 'dhamma', is a figurine, and what is played with, like chess, and the fool mocks it. And to play means to be merry, and in matters of religion: to take lightly.

And when they denied life after death, He informed, in a manner of emphasis, that there is no life other than it, saying: "And indeed, the Hereafter is the true life," meaning: specifically, "the true life"; that is, the complete, everlasting life, which is comprehensive and fulfilling in itself, as there is no death in it nor decay for anything. For this reason, this construction indicating exaggeration was chosen, and its movement implies what is in life of absolute movement and disturbance. There is no end to anything of its play or its desires, which do not correspond to what is in the world except in form only, not in meaning. For there is nothing lowly in it, neither in the motivator nor in that which is being motivated towards. Rather, that is through glorification and sanctification and what follows from it of knowledge, ease, recreation, joy, companionship, and delight.

And when they had erred in both abodes, they placed each one of them in a position other than its own. They counted this world as an everlasting existence in this state, and the Hereafter as non-existence, having no existence whatsoever. He said: "If they were to be a being like the nature (of creation), they would know that they have knowledge of what they would not have erred in one of them. So they did not embark upon it, despite their preference for life and their strong aversion to death, due to their belief that there is no resurrection after it to this world, while its origin is the non-existence of life, which is death.