His saying, exalted and glorious is He:

﴿And this worldly life is nothing but play and amusement. And indeed, the abode of the Hereafter, that is the true life, if they only knew.﴾ ﴿And when they embark on a ship, they call upon Allah, making their religion sincere for Him. But when He delivers them to the land, at once they associate others with Him.﴾ ﴿So that they deny what We have given them, and so that they may enjoy themselves. But they will soon know.﴾ ﴿Have they not seen that We have made a secure sanctuary, while people are being snatched away from around them? Will they then believe in falsehood and deny the favor of Allah?﴾

Allah, the Exalted, described the world in this verse as play and amusement. This means that whatever is from it that is not for the sake of Allah, the Exalted, is play and amusement. What is for Allah, the Exalted, is from the Hereafter. As for worldly matters that are excess beyond the necessities that sustain life and provide strength for acts of obedience, they are indeed play and amusement. Reflect on this in terms of clothing, food, drink, speech, and other than that.

And look at the needs of the rich and the poor in essential matters; they are the same, like breathing in air, satisfying hunger, covering one's nakedness, and protecting against heat and cold. All of these are significant aspects of life.

And "the true life" and "life" are synonymous. According to Sibawayh and Al-Khalil, it is a source like "hayman" and the like. The meaning is: there is no death in it, as Mujahid said, and this is good. Its origin is "hayyan," and one of the letters was changed to a waw due to the occurrence of two similar letters together.

Then He, the Exalted, made them reflect on their condition at sea during great fear. For every human forgets every idol and otherwise, and clings to supplication and desire towards Allah, Blessed and Exalted. His saying, the Exalted: ﴿But when He delivers them, they associate others with Him﴾ means: they return to mentioning their idols and glorifying them. And His saying: ﴿So that they deny﴾ is in the accusative due to the لام of purpose. Nafi', Abu Amr, Ibn Amer, and Asim read: "And so that they may enjoy themselves" with a kasrah on the لام. Ibn Kathir, Hamzah, and Al-Kisai read: "And let them enjoy themselves" with a sukoon on the لام in the imperative form, which is for warning and threat. The waw, in this case, is a conjunction for a complete sentence, not a conjunction of a verb to a verb. In the Mushaf of Ubayy ibn Ka'b, it is: "So enjoy yourselves, and you will soon know." In the reading of Ibn Mas'ud, it is: "So indeed you will know" with a لام.

Then He, the Exalted, enumerated the blessings upon the disbelievers of Quraysh in the sanctuary, that He made it secure for them, with no fear in it from the conditions of the Arabs and their customs, and their evil deeds of killing and taking wealth and the like. This is the "snatching" that people were subjected to. Then He reprimanded them regarding their belief in falsehood and their denial of Allah and His favor. The majority of the reciters read: "They believe" with a ya from below, and likewise "They deny." Al-Hasan and Abu Abdur-Rahman read them with a ta from above.