Al-Qasas: (60) And whatever you have been given...

"And whatever you have been given of anything" — meaning, whatever thing you have attained of the affairs of the worldly life and its means — "is but a fleeting enjoyment of the worldly life and its adornment." It is a thing whose nature is to be enjoyed and adorned with for a few days; the word "fleeting enjoyment" (mata‘) implies scarcity. Likewise, the mention of "more lasting" (abqa) in the contrast, and the word "worldly" (dunya), contain an indication of [its] scarcity and insignificance.

"And what is with Allah" — in Paradise, which is the reward — "is better" — in itself than that, because it is pure pleasure and perfect delight — "and more lasting" — because it is eternal. How can the finite be compared to the infinite?

"Do you not then use your intellect?" — meaning, do you not reflect, and thus fail to perform this clear matter, instead exchanging that which is lower for that which is better? Do you fear the loss of what you have attained of the fleeting enjoyment of the worldly life, and refrain from following the guidance that leads to what is with Allah the Exalted, even assuming the occurrence of what you fear?

Abu ‘Amr recited "ya‘qilun" (they use their intellect) with the letter ya to denote the third person, by way of iltifat (shifting the mode of address). This is more profound in admonition, as it conveys that due to their lack of intellect, they are not worthy of being addressed. Thus, the shift here is because they do not pay attention, serving as a reprimand to them.

It was also recited: "fa-mata‘an al-hayati al-dunya," meaning: "so you may enjoy it during the worldly life." Thus, "mata‘an" is in the accusative case as an absolute object (masdar), and "al-hayat" is in the accusative case as an adverb of time (zarf).