Tafsir of Muhammad 47:36

(The life of this world is but play and amusement) meaning it has no stability and is not to be relied upon. (And if you believe and fear God, He will give you your rewards) meaning the recompense for your faith and your piety, from the remaining righteous deeds in which the competitors compete. (And He does not ask you for your wealth)

36

This is a clause conjoined to the recompense (al-jaza’). The attribution is for the sake of comprehension (istighraq), and the meaning is: if you believe, He will not ask you for all of your wealth, just as He takes from the disbeliever all that he possesses. In this, there is a beautiful contrast to His saying: (He will give you your rewards), as if it were said: He gives you all the rewards and asks you for only a portion of the wealth—which is what He, Glory be to Him, has prescribed of Zakat.

The statement of Sufyan ibn Uyayna—"meaning He does not ask you for a large portion of your wealth, but only asks for a quarter of a tenth (2.5%), so let your souls be content with that"—is an explanation of the result of the meaning.

It is also said: It means He does not ask you for what is truly your wealth; rather, He asks you for what belongs to Him, Exalted and Majestic is He, for He is the true Owner of it, and He, Glory be to His state, is the One who has bestowed upon you the favor of benefiting from it.

It is also said: It means He does not ask you for your wealth because He, Glory be to Him, is in need of it, but rather so that your spending may return to you.

It is also said: It means the Messenger (may God bless him and grant him peace) does not ask you for any of your wealth as payment for delivering the Message, as God Almighty said: (Say: "I ask of you no reward for it, nor am I one of the pretenders.")

The method of relating these [interpretations] to the verse is not immediately apparent, and in some of them, there is also that which is not hidden [as being problematic].