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mathalu lladhīna kafarū bi-rabbihim ʾaʿmāluhum ka-ramādin-i shtaddat bihi r-rīhu fī yawmin ʿāṣifin lā yaqdirūna mimmā kasabū ʿalā shayʾin dhālika huwa ḍ-ḍalālu l-baʿīdu
A parable of those who defy their Lord: their deeds are like ashes over which the wind blows hard on a tempestuous day: they have no power over anything they have earned. That is extreme error.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah ‘Ibrahim – Verse 18
18. “The parable of those who disbelieve in their Lord, their deeds are like ashes on which the wind blows severely on a stormy day; they will have no power over any thing out of what they have earned; that is the very straying, far (and deep).”
The issue discussed in the previous verses concerned mostly with the loss and the disadvantage incurred by the obstinate oppressors and of their deprivations. Here, we have an explanation upon the same meaning. Allah, the Almighty, converts the vices and the evils of the faithful into the good and the decent in case of their repentance, but the evil deeds of the disbelievers wipe out the impact of their good deeds. Therefore, there is an explicit parable or example explained in this noble verse for the deeds of the unbelievers, which supplements the discussion of the previous verses as to the ultimate end of the pagans.
It says:
“The parable of those who disbelieve in their Lord, their deeds are like ashes on which the wind blows severely on a stormy day…”
The objective is all their deeds, even their apparently good deeds which are orientated from paganism and idolatry. Just in the same way that ashes cannot stand in the way of a strong wind in a stormy day, even for one moment, and will spread immediately, and no one is able to assemble them, the same case is for the disbelievers in the truth who will be unable to gain any thing from the good deeds they have performed. All will be lost and gone with the wind, leaving them empty-handed. Such is the case with being misguided to the utmost.
The verse says:
“…they will have no power over any thing out of what they have earned; that is the very straying, far (and deep).”