[2296] Two types of people are compared and contrasted here with regards to how much attention they pay to the Signs of God: the deliberately heedless and the willingly Believing. Their state in the afterlife is also contrasted (cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr, al-Rāzī).
[2297] These people do not give a second’s thought to resurrection and reckoning. Being Deniers, they have no fear of it at all (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Shawkānī).
[2298] This is a natural outcome of their frame of mind; the current life is all that matters to them: “They said: “It is nothing but this worldly life of ours; we die and we live and nothing annihilates us except ˹the passage of ˺ time!” They have no ˹proper˺ knowledge ˹as˺ of that; they only conject!” (45: 24)
[2300] Sincere Faith delivers: “Allah is the Ally of the Believers; He delivers them from darkness into light. ˹But˺ Those who Deny, the allies of whom are the false idols; they take them out of light into darkness—these are the company of the Fire, therein they abide forever” (2: 257).
[2301] Paradise (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Saʿdī). The flow of rivers is symbolic of ever-lasting, abundant bliss. This is also indicated by the kind of language the dwellers of Paradise use (as in the next aya), which is free from want and yearning, enwrapped in peace and full of gratitude: “Enter it ˹Paradise˺ you ˹Believers˺; that is the Day of Eternity. *In it they have whatever they wish for and We have more!” (50: 34-35)
[2302] Here light is shed on another side of the Denying mindset. Being ignorant as they are, they seek to hasten God’s Punishment whenever they are warned (cf. al-Rāzī): “˹Mention Muhammad˺ When they ˹the Deniers˺ said: “O Allah, if this is the Truth from You, then rain on us stones from the sky or bring us a painful punishment!” (8: 32)
[2303] “Man prays for evil as much as he prays for good; man is ever hasty!” (17: 11)
[2304] Ṭughyān, lit. transgression and exceeding the limits (cf. Ibn Qutaybah, Gharīb al-Qur’ān, 41, al-Sijjistānī, Gharīb al-Qur’ān, 321): “Have you seen him who takes his whims and desires to be his god; whom Allah has misguided though knowledge came ˹to him˺, sealed up his hearing and his heart and placed a cover over his eyes? Who then will guide him after Allah? So will you not pay heed?” (45: 23)
[2305] This is to show that their prayer for evil was not sincere; being frail as humans are (cf. al-Rāzī): “When We bless man, he turns away and withdraws. Yet when evil touches him, he is full of prolonged prayers” (41: 51).
[2306] Here they are invited to consider the fate of earlier nations when they Denied and thought lightly of God’s punishment (cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr): “Whatever a Sign of the Signs of their Lord comes to them; they will only turn away from it. *They have ˹wilfully˺ declared false the Truth when it came to them; the ˹absolute˺ tidings of what they used to ridicule will ˹certainly˺ reach them. *Had they not seen how many a generation before them We have destroyed? We had established them in the land ˹far˺ more firmly than how We established you ˹people˺! We sent the sky pouring down on them profusely and We made the rivers run under their feet, ˹only˺ then We destroyed them for their sins and We brought into being another generation after them” (6: 4-6).
[2307] “Had not the news of those who came before them reached them: the people of Nūḥ, ˹the tribes of ˺ ʿĀd and Thamūd, the people of Ibrāhīm, the companions of Midian and the overturned; their Messengers came to them with clear evidences! Allah would not have wronged them but they were bent on wronging themselves” (9: 70).
[2308] Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī (رضي الله عنه) narrated that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “Life is ˹alluringly˺ lush green. Allah will instate you as successors in it and will see how you fare” (Muslim: 2742).