His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And strike for them the example of the life of this world, like water which We have sent down from the sky, and it has mixed with the plants of the earth, and it has become dry fragments that the winds scatter. And Allah is, over all things, competent." (Quran 18:45) "Wealth and children are [but] adornment of the worldly life, but the enduring good deeds are better to your Lord for reward and better for [one's] hope." (Quran 18:46) "And the Day We will remove the mountains and you will see the earth prominent, and We will gather them and not leave behind from them anyone." (Quran 18:47) "And they will be presented before your Lord in rows. You have come to Us as We created you the first time. But you thought that We would not make for you an appointment." (Quran 18:48)

His saying, the Most High: "the life of this world" means the life of man with what is related to it of blessings and wealth. And His saying: "like water which We have sent down" means: it is like water. And His saying: "and it has mixed with it" means: the plants have mixed with one another because of the water. So the 'bi' in "bi-hi" is the 'bi' of cause; thus, "it has become" is an expression of its transformation into that, not that He intended a specific time of morning. This is like the saying of Al-Rabi' ibn Dabbah:

I have become one who does not carry weapons nor ∗∗∗ possess the head of the camel if it flees.

And "the dry fragments" refers to the crumbled dry grass. From it is His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "like the dry fragments of a thornbush." (Quran 54:31) And from it: "he crumbled the bread." And "the winds scatter it" means: they disperse it. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, read: "it scatters it," meaning: it uproots it and throws it away. Al-Hasan read: "the wind scatters it" in the singular, and this is the reading of Talhah, Al-Nakha'i, and Al-Amash.

And His saying: "And Allah is" is an expression for man that the matter before the existence of man was thus, as it was, since his own self is a judge of that in a state of heedlessness. This is the saying of Sibawayh, and it is a correct meaning. Al-Hasan said: "was" is news about the state before the creation of existents, meaning that the power existed, and this is also good. And His saying: "over all things" means: of the things that are decreed.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: Neither the impossible nor other things that Allah, blessed and exalted is He, cannot be described with power over them, nor with inability regarding them. This is based on naming the impossible as something, in that it is rational but not existent. It has come that the earthquake of the Hour is something.

So the meaning of this example is the comparison of the state of a person in his life, wealth, honor, pride, and arrogance to the plants that have greenery and freshness from the descending rain, then it returns after that to dry fragments, and it becomes non-existent. So whoever has a righteous deed that remains in the Hereafter is the successful one. It is as if life is like water, and greenery and freshness are like bliss, honor, and the like.

And His saying, the Most High: ﴿Wealth and children are adornment of the worldly life﴾, its wording is the wording of news, but it has the indication of belittlement for wealth and children. This is because in the previous parable, He belittled the matter of the world and clarified it. So it is as if He is saying in this: Indeed, wealth and children are adornment of this belittled life, so do not let yourselves follow it. And His saying: "adornment" is a source, and He has informed of it about individuals. It may be that there is an omitted estimation, the estimation being: the place of the adornment of life, or that He places wealth and children in the position of richness and abundance.

And people have differed regarding "the lasting good deeds" - Ibn Abbas, Ibn Jubair, Abu Maisarah, and Amr ibn Shurahbil said: They are the five daily prayers.

And the majority said: They are the words that are reported, their virtue being: Subhanallah, Alhamdulillah, La ilaha illallah, Allahu Akbar, and there is no power and no strength except with Allah, the Most High, the Most Great.

And it has been narrated in this a hadith: "Increase in the lasting good deeds," and Ibn Abbas also said it. It has been narrated from the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, through Abu Huraira and others that these words are the lasting good deeds.

And Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, also said: The lasting good deeds are every good deed from words or actions that remains for the Hereafter. Al-Tabari favored this, and Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said that for every nation there is evidence for his saying in general.

And His saying, the Most High: ﴿Better with your Lord as a reward and better as hope﴾, means: Its possessor awaits the reward and his hope expands for better than the condition of one with wealth and children without good deeds.

And His saying, the Most High: ﴿And the Day We will move the mountains﴾, the estimation is: And remember the Day. This is the clearest interpretation of this here. Nafi, Al-A'raj, Shaiba, Asim, Ibn Masrif, and Abu Abdur-Rahman read: "We will move" with the pronoun of greatness. And Ibn Kathir, Abu Amr, Al-Hasan, Shibl, Qatadah, and Isa read: "You will move" with the pronoun and the opening of the doubled yā, "the mountains" in the nominative. And Al-Hasan read: "He will move" with a rounded yā and the second one opened and doubled, "the mountains" in the nominative. And Ibn Muhaisin read: "You will move" with an opened tā and a broken sīn, the action being attributed to "the mountains". And Ubayy ibn Ka'b read: "And the Day the mountains were moved".

And His saying, the Most High: "exposed", may mean that the earth, due to the departure of the mountains, the hills, and the trees, has become exposed and revealed, or that it means the exposure of its people, and those gathered from its inhabitants. "And We gathered them" means: We raised them from their graves and gathered them for the presentation of the Day of Resurrection. And the majority read: "We will leave" with the pronoun of greatness, and Qatadah read: "You will leave" attributing it to the ability or to the earth. And Aban ibn Zayd narrated from Asim: "He will leave" with a rounded yā and the opening of the dāl in the nominative.

And Al-Dahhak read: "So We did not leave" with a rounded nūn and a broken dāl and a silent ghayn.

And "leaving" means: to abandon, and from it is: Ghadeer water, which is what the flood has left.

And His saying, exalted is He: "in rows" is a singular form that is treated as plural, meaning: in rows. In the authentic hadith: "Allah will gather the first and the last on a single plain in rows, and the caller will make them hear, and the sight will penetrate them." This is the hadith. And in another hadith: "The people of Paradise on the Day of Resurrection will be one hundred and twenty rows, you are among them eighty rows." And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿Indeed, you have come to us﴾ to the end of the verse, is a statement to the disbelievers who deny the resurrection. Its implication is reprimand and rebuke, and the believers who believe in this world that they will be resurrected on the Day of Resurrection, this address is not directed to them in any way. And there is an omission in the speech that the saying necessitates and brevity improves, its estimation is: it is said to the disbelievers among them. ﴿As We created you the first time﴾ is explained by the words of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: "Indeed, you will be gathered to Allah barefoot, naked, uncircumcised." ﴿As We began the first creation, We will return it﴾ [Al-Anbiya: 104].