Tazkirul Quran, Qur’an 46:19–20
The Sand Dunes (Al-Ahqaf)
By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
English text; the translator is not named in the archive’s data.
Translation
(19) All will be ranked according to their deeds. We will requite them in full for their actions and they will not be wronged. (20) On the Day when those who deny the truth are brought before the Fire, it will be said to them, ‘You have had the good things of the life of this world, and you enjoyed them. Now this Day you shall be requited with humiliating punishment, because you were arrogant in the land without justification, and because you acted rebelliously.’
Commentary
(a) The Truth appears before a man, but, unwilling to relinquish worldly goals and material gain, he rejects it. This means that he sets worldly interests above the exigencies of the Hereafter; he wants to pursue the attractions of this world rather than seek the good things of the afterlife. Then, when he is required to demolish the structure of self-aggrandisement in order to accept the Truth, he prefers to reject it, so as to save his empty prestige: after all, he relishes the feeling of being a great man. At that point, in effect, he shows his preference for the enticements of this world over the blessings of the Hereafter, treating them as unworthy of consideration.