And when he mentioned [glorified and exalted is He] the state of the two groups: the wretched and the happy, the matter of the Hereafter was established by that. They knew that it is the life that has no end, whether in honor or humiliation. What causes humiliation in it is merely the inclination towards the world due to its presence and forgetting the Hereafter due to its absence. He said, producing from what has passed and clarifying the reality of what the accountable being desires, which is based on desire from the immediate, by what he has purified in it, introducing it with what necessitates the utmost alertness and presence: "Know that" meaning, O afflicted servants, and he confirmed the meaning by the addition of "what" [to what] for the people from their heedlessness of it. He said, limiting it with the limitation of a heart: "Indeed, the worldly life" meaning the present life, which I encouraged to be detached from and to move away from through charity and good loans. "Is but play" meaning toil that has no fruit, so it is void like the play of children. "And diversion" meaning something that delights a person and occupies him from what concerns him, then it ends like the diversion of youth. Then he followed that with the greatness of what distracts in the world, saying: "And adornment" meaning something that pleases the eye and delights the soul, like the adornment of women. He followed it with its fruit, saying: "And boasting" meaning like the boasting of peers, some of whom boast over others.

And when that was specific to the people of desires, he said: "Among you" meaning it leads to arrogance, which leads to envy and animosity. Then he followed that with what results in boasting, saying: "And increasing" meaning from both sides "in wealth" meaning that which no one boasts about except a fool due to its fleeting nature, "and children" who one should not be deceived by except a foolish person, for they are enemies. And all that he mentioned is transient, and the calamities of the world are tremendous. It is nothing but a trial and test by which the grateful appear from others. Then, all of that may depart quickly, and it will be against what it was upon, and it will be greater in regret. The correspondence of that to what follows is that a person grows up in the care of his guardian, becomes strong, earns wealth and children, and is surrounded by people, so there are impressive matters and distracting conditions. When his youth is completed and his coming and going and his forms and peers extinguish him, he begins to decline and does not cease until he becomes old, sick, weak, and decrepit, and calamities and disasters befall him in his wealth, body, children, and companions. Then, in the end, he dies. So indeed, his matter has diminished, and soon his mention is forgotten. His wealth becomes for others, and his adornment is enjoyed by others. The world is insignificant, and more insignificant is its seeker, and less than it is the danger of the competitor in it. It is nothing but a carcass, and the seekers of the carcass have no worth, and the most despicable of them is the one who is miserly with it. Al-Qushayri said: And this blameworthy world is what occupies the servant from the Hereafter. So everything that occupies him from the Hereafter is the world - it has ended.

And when He, glorified and exalted is He, established that it is a fleeting shadow and a great display, some people would be aware and give thanks, while some would be blind and disbelieve. The second group was greater because its existence and attraction blinds most hearts from its insignificance. For this, He set forth a parable affirming what has been said about it, for parables have a role in affirming and depicting things that is not found in anything else. He, the Most High, said: "Like a parable of..." meaning this which I have mentioned about its matter resembles the parable of "rain" meaning rain that occurs after drought and bad conditions.

And when the parable is in the context of belittling the world and repelling from it, He expressed the farmer in a way that repels, saying: "It amazes the disbelievers" meaning the farmers from whom the planting and sowing occurs, which the planter covers with his planting, just as the disbeliever covers the reality of the lights of faith due to what occurs from denial and tyranny. The amazement of the farmer does not cease to the extent that it distracts from Allah, except with disbelief in Him, glorified is He. For the believer, even if he is amazed by that, remembers through it the power of Allah, glorified and exalted is He, and His greatness, and what He has prepared for the people of His obedience in the Hereafter. This carries him towards obedience. Thus, the expression of the disbelievers, which means the farmers, indicates the greatness of that plant. For it does not amaze those who know it and practice it, who have the ultimate inclination towards that profession, except that the competition in it ends in amazement. And it indicates that nothing from the world amazes anyone with an amazement that leads them to lean and find comfort in it, leading to what is mentioned in the verse of distraction, except for disbelief in itself, at the least the disbelief of the blessing which should lead to the remembrance of the Creator and the remembrance of the beautiful in gratitude. And abandoning gratitude is disbelief. "Its plants" meaning the plants of that rain, as it amazes the disbeliever in disbelief, in general, the abundance of the world for him is a temptation from Allah, the Most High.

And when the crop ages after a while, it withers, as is the case with the entire world, He said: "Then it turns yellow" meaning its movement accelerates and its drying is completed, and the time for its harvest arrives. "Then you see it yellow" meaning after that, close to it, in a state where there is no fruit with it, nor any plant. For this reason, He expressed it with the state of being, for the context is to discourage from the world and that it is a fleeting shadow with no reality to it: "Then" meaning after the completion of its drying and whiteness, "it becomes" meaning a being as if it is stamped upon it. And He, glorified is He, emphasized the affirmation of its decay by bringing the act of being here for exaggeration, for the context is to affirm that the world is nothingness, even if it is in the utmost abundance, inclination, and suitability, unlike what has passed in the chapters. He said: "Like debris" as if the debris was in its nature and original disposition.

And when he mentioned the fleeting shadow, he mentioned its lasting and permanent effect, dividing it into two parts. He said, he means by saying that this is the condition of the world in its rapid passing and the reality of its demise [and its decline]: "And in" meaning this which deceives from the condition of the world while in the "Hereafter" is one of two: "a severe punishment" meaning for whoever takes it without its due right, turning away from the remembrance of Allah, for being deceived by it is what caused it, so it was as if he is that.

And when he presented what is the predominant reason for most of creation being doomed, he followed it with the category of the saved. He said: "And forgiveness" meaning for the people of the first degree in faith "from Allah" meaning the Greatest King for whoever remembers with what He has done for him in the world His greatness, glorified and exalted is He, and His majesty, so he repented from his sins and returned to Him in purifying himself from his faults. "And pleasure" for the people of the highest degree, and they are those who turned to Him, glorified and exalted is He, and thanked Him as He deserves by exerting his utmost in what pleases Him. The end of the verse is a division of the world according to reality so that it is not assumed from its restriction in what was mentioned at the beginning of the verse that it is only like that. The meaning is that what was mentioned first is the predominant state of it and its consequence is the Fire, and what was from it of faith and obedience and contemplation of the Oneness of Allah and glorification and knowledge that leads to (p-291) taking it as provision and considering it as worship, is an afterlife, not a world. And it has been clarified that like the mentioned rain is the debris, and sometimes it is followed by necessary distress and other times by lasting joy. So whoever worked in that, worked the work of the prudent, guarded the crop from what harms it, harvested it at its time, and did what is appropriate in it and did not forget the right of Allah in it, his effect is pleasing and his consequence is praised. And whoever neglected that [will be followed by regret, and that is the example of the world: whoever works in it by the command of Allah will be followed by its debris with lasting joy, and whoever neglects that] will inherit lasting sorrow. And as was the decree: what is the Hereafter for whoever strives for it with its striving while being a believer except for a well-known truth and a praiseworthy striving? He followed it with his saying: "And what is the life of this world" meaning for its being preoccupied with its adornment while it is fleeting "except for the enjoyment of delusion" meaning a distraction in itself [delusion] that has no reality except that, for it is not permissible for whoever turns to enjoyment except that, for he does not find joy equal to what harms.