Al-Hadid · Madani · ayah 20 of 29

Al-Hadid 57:20

ٱعْلَمُوٓا۟ أَنَّمَا ٱلْحَيَوٰةُ ٱلدُّنْيَا لَعِبٌ وَلَهْوٌ وَزِينَةٌ وَتَفَاخُرٌۢ بَيْنَكُمْ وَتَكَاثُرٌ فِى ٱلْأَمْوَٰلِ وَٱلْأَوْلَـٰدِ ۖ كَمَثَلِ غَيْثٍ أَعْجَبَ ٱلْكُفَّارَ نَبَاتُهُۥ ثُمَّ يَهِيجُ فَتَرَىٰهُ مُصْفَرًّا ثُمَّ يَكُونُ حُطَـٰمًا ۖ وَفِى ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ عَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ وَمَغْفِرَةٌ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ وَرِضْوَٰنٌ ۚ وَمَا ٱلْحَيَوٰةُ ٱلدُّنْيَآ إِلَّا مَتَـٰعُ ٱلْغُرُورِ

“Know that the life of this world is but amusement and diversion and adornment and boasting to one another and competition in increase of wealth and children - like the example of a rain whose [resulting] plant growth pleases the tillers; then it dries and you see it turned yellow; then it becomes [scattered] debris. And in the Hereafter is severe punishment and forgiveness from Allāh and approval. And what is the worldly life except the enjoyment of delusion.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The near life is play, display and the race for more, green for a season then chaff; what lasts is His forgiveness and good pleasure.

A reflection

The near life is not the enemy

A young man reads this ayah and decides his apprenticeship is 'just dunya'. He stops trying at work, starts arriving late and calls it detachment. His mother, who has prayed all her life, is not impressed.

Many people hear this ayah as a verdict against the world itself. Work, family, beauty and joy, all dismissed as play. The ayah is more precise than that, and so are its readers.

Start with the word. Dunyā comes from a root meaning nearness. The lexicons establish it as the feminine of adnā, nearer. The world is named for being close at hand, while the Hereafter waits further on. The first hearers heard 'the near life', not 'the bad life'.

One commentator states it firmly. Life in this world is wisdom and right. Allah created life and does nothing in vain, and life is the root of every blessing. What is blamed is spending this life in obedience to whim instead of obedience to Allah.

A classical writer on the heart goes further. The world in itself is not blamed, he says. It is a bridge to Paradise or to the Fire. It is where souls gained faith, knowledge of Allah, love of Him and remembrance. Every good thing the people of Paradise enjoy, they planted here.

And an early authority quoted in two commentaries draws the line exactly. The world is the enjoyment of delusion if it distracts you from seeking the Hereafter. If it calls you to seek Allah's pleasure, it is an excellent provision and the best of means.

So the young man has it backwards. Doing his apprenticeship well, honestly, with his prayers kept, is not 'dunya' in the blamed sense. It is farming. Detachment is not neglect. It is holding the near life in your hands without letting it close around your heart.

The full entry has 7 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.