The Parable of this Life
Allah says;
إنما مثل الحياة الدنيا كماء أنزلناه من السماء فاختلط به نبات اﻻرض مما يٲكل الناس واﻻنعام
Verily, the parable of the life of the world is as the water which We send down from the sky; so by it arises the intermingled produce of the earth of which men and cattle eat:
Allah the Almighty has set an example of the similitude of the life of this world, its glitter and the swiftness of its passage, likening it to the plant and vegetation that Allah brings out from the earth. This plant grows from the water that comes down from the sky. These plants are food for people, such as fruits and other different types and kinds of foods. Some other kinds are food for cattle such as clover plants (i.e. green fodder for the cattle) and herbage etc.
حتى إذا أخذت اﻻرض زخرفها
until when the earth is clad in its adornments,
وازينت
and is beautified,
meaning, it became good by what grows on its hills such as blooming flowers of different shapes and colors.
وظن أهلها
and its people think...
those who planted it and put it in the ground,
أنهم قادرون عليها
that they have all the powers of disposal over it,
to cultivate it and harvest it. But while they were in that frame of mind, a thunderbolt or a severe, cold storm came to it. It dried its leaves and spoiled its fruits.
Allah said:
أتاها أمرنا ليﻼ أو نهارا فجعلناها حصيدا
Our command reaches it by night or by day and We make it like a clean-mown harvest,
it became dry after it was green and flourishing.
كٲن لم تغن باﻻمس
as if it had not flourished yesterday!
as if nothing existed there before.
Qatadah said:
"As if it had not flourished; as if it was never blessed.''
Such are things after they perish, they are as if they had never existed.
Similarly, the Hadith,
يوتى بٲنعم أهل الدنيا فيغمس في النار غمسة فيقال له هل رأيت خيرا قط
هل مر بك نعيم قط
فيقول ﻻ
ويوتى بٲشد الناس عذابا في الدنيا فيغمس في النعيم غمسة ثم يقال له هل رأيت بوسا قط
فيقول ﻻ
A person who led the most prosperous life in this world will be brought up and dipped once in the Fire. He will then be asked: `Have you ever found any good or comfort!'
He will reply: `No.'
And a person who had experienced extreme adversity in this world will be brought up and dipped once in the bliss (of Paradise). Then he will be asked: 'Did you ever face any hardship or misery!'
He will reply: `No.'
Allah said about those who were destroyed:
فٲصبحوا فى ديارهم جثمينكٲن لم يغنوا فيها
So they lay (dead), prostrate in their homes; as if they had never lived there. (11:67-68)
كذلك نفصل اﻻيات لقوم يتفكرون
Thus do We explain the Ayat in detail for the people who reflect.
Allah then said:
والله يدعو إلى دار السﻼم ويهدي من يشاء إلى صراط مستقيم
