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ʾa-fa-man waʿadnāhu waʿdan ḥasanan fa-huwa lāqīhi ka-man mattaʿnāhu matāʿa l-ḥayāti d-dunyā thumma huwa yawma l-qiyāmati mina l-muḥḍarīna
Is he to whom We have given a good promise, which he will receive, like him whom We have provided the wares of the life of this world, but who will be arraigned on the Day of Resurrection?
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Al-Qasas - Verse 61
61. “Is he then unto whom We have promised a goodly promise which he shall meet it, similar to him whom We have provided with the provision of the life of this world, then on the Day of Hereafter he shall be of those brought up (for punishment)?”
The promises of Allah are both decisive and certain; and rewards in hereafter are both great and good. In the previous verses, the words were about the persons who, for the enjoying of the bounties of the world, prefer disbelief to Faith and infidelity to Monotheism. Now, the verse under discussion defines the situation of this group in the Hereafter comparing the true believers. At first, through a question, the Qur’an wants the conscience of all to judge, when it says:
No doubt every vigilant conscience prefers the Divine goodly promises and His great lasting merits to a few days of enjoying of perishing bounties and fleeting joys which have pain and toil in sequel. The Qur’anic sentence /fahuwa laqiyah/ (which he shall meet it) is an emphasis on the fact that the promise of Allah does not infringe, and it should be such, because to infringe the promise is either because of ignorance or powerlessness, none of which is found in Divine Essence.
The Qur’anic sentence:
refers to the calling before Allah (s.w.t.) for the reckoning of deeds. Some commentators have rendered it into calling to the Hell Fire, but the first commentary is more suitable. However, this meaning shows that these polluted persons are drawn to this scene unwillingly, and it must be so, because the horror of reckoning and retribution has covered their whole entity. The application of the Qur’anic phrase /hayat-ud-dunya/ ‘life of this world’, which has repeatedly been mentioned in different Suras of the Qur’an, points the meanness of this mortal life in comparison with the ‘Hereafter life’ which is permanent and perpetual.
The Arabic word /duniya/ is derived from /dunuw/ which originally means: ‘nearness in place, or time, or position’. Then the terms /duniya/ and /adna/ have sometimes been used for the small creatures which are available, versus huge creatures, and sometimes it has been used for some mean things versus good and exalted things, and sometimes for ‘near’ versus ‘far’. And, in view of the fact that the life of this world in the face of the life of the next world is both small and worthless, and near, then the appellation of /hayat-ud-duniya/ (the life of this world) is perfectly fitting.