Al-An'am (The Cattle): (32) And the life of this world...

Issues in the Verse:

Know that those who deny the Resurrection and the Hereafter are intensely desirous of this world and the acquisition of its pleasures. Allah Almighty mentioned this verse to draw attention to its baseness and triviality.

However, this life itself cannot be inherently condemned, because the acquisition of ultimate happiness in the Hereafter is only possible within this present life. For this reason, there are two interpretations regarding the meaning of this verse:

The First Opinion: It refers specifically to the life of the disbeliever. Ibn Abbas said: It means the life of the polytheists and hypocrites. The reason for describing the life of these people in this manner is that the life of the believer involves righteous deeds, so it is not mere play and amusement.

The Second Opinion: This is general, applying to the lives of both the believer and the disbeliever. It refers to the pleasures and desirable things attained in this life. It is called "play and amusement" because when a person is engaged in play and amusement, they find pleasure in it, but when it ends, nothing remains except regret. Similarly, when this life ends, nothing remains except sorrow and regret.

Know that naming this life as "play and amusement" has several dimensions:

1. Duration: The time spent in play and amusement is brief and quickly passes away and vanishes, and the duration of this life is likewise brief.
2. Involvement in Harm: Play and amusement often lead to some form of hardship. Likewise, the pleasures of this world often do.
3. Superficiality: Play and amusement arise from being deceived by the outward appearance of things. However, upon thorough contemplation and uncovering the realities of matters, play and amusement cease to exist. Similarly, worldly pleasures are only suitable for heedless children and fools. As for the wise and discerning, they rarely engage in play and amusement. Likewise, delighting in the good things of this world and benefiting from its provisions only happens for the heedless who are ignorant of the realities of things. As for the true sages, they know that all these good things are illusions and have no considerable reality in themselves.
4. Consequence: Play and amusement have no praiseworthy outcome.

Based on these points, it is established that worldly pleasures and states are play and amusement, having no considerable reality.

After Allah explained this, He followed it up with: {But the Home of the Hereafter is better for those who fear Allah}. He described the Hereafter as being "better," which indicates a contrast between the states of the world and the states of the Hereafter. This contrast is evident in several aspects:

The First Way (Superiority of the Hereafter): The good things of this world are base, while the good things of the Hereafter are noble.

• Evidence for the Baseness of Worldly Goods: Worldly goods are nothing more than satisfying two desires (appetite and lust), which is the lowest form of existence. Evidence for this is that base animals share in these with humans; in fact, the state of those animals might be more complete in these aspects. The camel eats more, roosters and sparrows copulate more frequently, the wolf is stronger in corruption and tearing, and the scorpion is stronger in inflicting pain.
• Another indication of their baseness is that if they were noble, increasing them would lead to increased honor. Thus, a person who spent their entire life focused only on eating and copulating should be the most honorable and highest in rank among people. This is clearly not the case; rather, such a person is despised, repulsive, and described as a beast, a dog, or something lower.
• Another indication is that people do not boast about these states; rather, they conceal them. Therefore, the wise hide themselves when engaging in sexual intercourse and do not perform such acts in front of others. This indicates that these actions do not bring honor but rather deficiency.
• Furthermore, when people insult one another, they only use terms related to sexual intercourse. If that pleasure were not a type of deficiency, it would not be used this way.
• These pleasures ultimately return to being the removal of pain. Therefore, whoever is more intensely hungry or has a greater need experiences greater and stronger pleasure from these things. If this is the case, it becomes clear that these pleasures have no true reality in themselves.
• These pleasures are also rapidly transformable, quickly vanishing, and swiftly ending.

Based on these numerous points, the baseness of these pleasures is established.

As for the spiritual felicities, they are noble, lofty, enduring, and sanctified felicities. Therefore, if all creation imagines a person possessing abundant knowledge and intense abstinence from bodily pleasures, they naturally revere and serve that person, considering themselves slaves to that individual and wretched in comparison. This demonstrates that innate disposition testifies to the baseness of bodily pleasures and the perfection of the rank of spiritual pleasures.

The Second Way (Certainty of Attainment): Suppose these two types of good things share in merit. However, reaching the promised good things in the Hereafter is certainly known. As for reaching the promised good things tomorrow in this world, it is not known, nor even presumed. How many a powerful sovereign at the beginning of the day ends up under the dust by the end of that day? How many a great prince wakes up in kingship and authority only to end the evening as a despised captive? This disparity necessitates a distinction between the two types.

The Third Way (Duration of Benefit): Suppose a person lives another day in this world after today. Yet, they do not know if they will be able to benefit from the wealth, good things, and pleasures they have accumulated. However, everything they have gathered that leads to happiness, they know with certainty they will benefit from in the Home of the Hereafter.

The Fourth Way (Purity of Enjoyment): Suppose they benefit from worldly goods. Yet, their enjoyment of worldly goods is never free from the taint of disliked things and the admixture of forbidden fears. Therefore, it was said: Whoever seeks what was not created tires himself out and is not provided for. When asked, "What is it, O Messenger of Allah?" he replied, "A day's joy in its entirety."

The Fifth Way (Transience of Benefit): Suppose they benefit from those monies and good things tomorrow, yet those benefits are perishable, fleeting, and null. The stronger, sweeter, more complete, and better those benefits are, the stronger and more complete the sorrows upon their cessation and passing will be, as the poet Al-Mutanabbi said:

Thus, based on what we have mentioned, the felicities and goods of this world are characterized by these great defects and complete deficiencies, while the felicities of the Hereafter are free from them. Therefore, it must be concluded that the Hereafter is more complete, better, more lasting, more pious, more worthy, and more deserving.

Ibn 'Amir recited it as {وَلَدَارُ الْآخِرَةِ} (Wa la-dāru l-ākhirati), adding al-dār (the home) to al-ākhirah (the Hereafter). The rest recited it as {وَلَلدَّارُ الْآخِرَةُ} (Wa la-d-dāru l-ākhiratu), making al-ākhirah an adjective (na't) for al-dār.

The basis for Ibn 'Amir's reading is that the adjective is inherently different from the noun being described, thus making the idāfah (genitive construction) valid from this perspective. This is analogous to their saying bāriḥah al-ūlā (the first yesterday) or yawm al-khamīs (Thursday) or ḥaqq al-yaqīn (certain truth). However, the Basrans (scholars of Basra) do not permit this idāfah, arguing that the adjective is the described noun itself, and adding something to itself is impossible.

Know that this argument is based on the premise that the adjective is identical to the described noun, which is problematic because one can conceive of the described noun separate from the adjective; if they were identical, that would be impossible. The Basrans have a subtle argument for this which is not suitable for this place.

Furthermore, the Basrans offered another justification for validating Ibn 'Amir's reading: they said that al-ākhirah was not made an adjective for al-dār, but rather it was made an adjective for al-sā'ah (the Hour/Time), as if the meaning was: "And the Home of the Final Hour."

If it is argued: Under this interpretation you mentioned, the adjective (al-ākhirah) has replaced the noun it describes (al-sā'ah), which is objectionable. We reply: This is not objectionable if the adjective has been used in the manner of a noun, and the word al-ākhirah has indeed been used as a noun, as evidenced by His saying: {And the Hereafter is better for you than the first} (Ad-Duha: 4).

As for the reading of the majority (Hafs and others), it is clear, as it implies making al-ākhirah an adjective for al-dār, which is the literal meaning. When the statement can be interpreted according to its literal meaning, there is no need to deviate from it. And Allah knows best.

They differed regarding the intended meaning of the Home of the Hereafter in several ways:

• Ibn Abbas said: It is Paradise, and it is better for those who guard themselves against disbelief and sins.
• Al-Hasan said: The meaning is that the Hereafter itself is better.
• Al-Aṣamm said: Adhering to the deeds of the Hereafter is better.
• Others said: The bliss of the Hereafter is superior to the bliss of this world in that it is permanent, enduring, protected from impurities, and safe from cessation and extinction.

Then the Almighty said: {for those who fear Allah}. This clarifies that this goodness is only attained by those who are among the pious, guarding themselves against sins and major offenses. As for the disbeliever and the sinner, the world is better for them than the Hereafter, according to the Prophet's saying: "This world is a prison for the believer and a paradise for the disbeliever."

Then He said: {Will you not then use reason?}

• Nāfi' and Ibn 'Amir recited {أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ} (Afa-lā ta'qilūna - you [plural] use reason) with the tā' (T) here, and in Al-A'raf, Yusuf, and Yā-Sīn.
• Hafs from 'Āṣim recited it with a yā' (Y) in Yā-Sīn, and tā' elsewhere.
• 'Āṣim, in the narration of Yahya, recited tā' in Yusuf and yā' elsewhere.
• Ibn Kathīr, Abū 'Amr, Ḥamzah, Al-Kisā'ī, and 'Āṣim (in the narration of Al-A'sh and Al-Burjamī) recited it with yā' in all these instances.

Al-Wāḥidī said: Whoever reads with the yā' means: "Will they not use reason, those who fear Allah, that the Home of the Hereafter is better for them than this home? So they strive for what will bring them the high rank and eternal bliss, and they do not slacken in seeking what leads to that."

Whoever reads with the tā' means: "Say to them, O addressees, will you not use reason that this [the Hereafter] is better?" And Allah knows best.

7 < { We certainly know that what they say grieves you, but they do not deny you, but it is the wrongdoers who reject the verses of Allah. } > 7 !