[2998] Whatever good deeds they do in this life will not spare them from this ghastly torment (cf. al-Rāzī, al-Biqāʿī, Naẓm al-Durar). The imagery being drawn here of the utter loss of their deeds is the absolute picture of desperation (cf. al-Rāzī).
[2999] These are their good deeds of which they are hopeful (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Qurṭubī, Ibn Kathīr, Ibn ʿĀshūr, al-Shinqīṭī, al-Tafsīr al-Muyassar).
[3000] Their deeds were not based on solid ground nor were they on a straight path but were rather far astray from it (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Zamakhsharī, Ibn Kathīr); a losing deal indeed (cf. Ibn Taymiyyah, Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā, 8: 165).