ٱلَّذِينَ يَسْتَحِبُّونَ ٱلْحَيَوٰةَ ٱلدُّنْيَا عَلَى ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ وَيَصُدُّونَ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ وَيَبْغُونَهَا عِوَجًا ۚ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ فِى ضَلَـٰلٍۭ بَعِيدٍ 3
Translations
The ones who prefer the worldly life over the Hereafter and avert [people] from the way of Allāh, seeking to make it [seem] deviant. Those are in extreme error.
Transliteration
Alladhīna yastahihhubūna al-hayāt al-dunyā 'alā al-ākhirah wa yaṣiddūn 'an sabīl Allāh wa yabghūnahā 'iwajan. Ūlā'ika fī ḍalāl ba'īd.
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah describes those who prefer the fleeting pleasures of this worldly life over the eternal rewards of the Hereafter, who turn away from Allah's path, and who seek to distort it or make it crooked. According to Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari, such people are in profound and distant misguidance, having rejected both the straight path itself and those who call to it. The severity of their condition reflects the gravity of choosing temporal desires over divine truth and ultimate salvation.
Revelation Context
This ayah appears in the context of Surah Ibrahim (a Meccan chapter), which addresses the contrast between believers and disbelievers, particularly those Meccans who rejected the Prophet Muhammad's message in favor of their ancestral traditions and worldly prosperity. The surah emphasizes the consequences of rejecting monotheism and divine guidance in pursuit of material and temporal interests.
Related Hadiths
Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said: 'The best of you are those who live longest and do good deeds' (Tirmidhi), emphasizing that believers should balance worldly life with righteous action. Additionally, the hadith 'Love for the Hereafter is like death to the world' (related in various collections) encapsulates the principle of prioritizing eternal over temporal concerns.
Themes
Key Lesson
Believers must consciously prioritize eternal spiritual values over fleeting material gains and worldly ambitions, recognizing that true success lies in obedience to Allah and the Hereafter. This ayah warns against the subtle danger of spiritual complacency—one can drift into misguidance not only by open rejection but by gradual preference of worldly desires over divine guidance.
Related Ayahs
وَقَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ لِرُسُلِهِمْ لَنُخْرِجَنَّكُم مِّنْ أَرْضِنَآ أَوْ لَتَعُودُنَّ فِى مِلَّتِنَا ۖ فَأَوْحَىٰٓ إِلَيْهِمْ رَبُّهُمْ لَنُهْلِكَنَّ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ
And those who disbelieved said to their messengers, "We will surely drive you out of our land, or you must return to our religion." So their Lord inspired to them, "We will surely destroy the wrongdoers.
يُثَبِّتُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ بِٱلْقَوْلِ ٱلثَّابِتِ فِى ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا وَفِى ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ ۖ وَيُضِلُّ ٱللَّهُ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ ۚ وَيَفْعَلُ ٱللَّهُ مَا يَشَآءُ
Allāh keeps firm those who believe, with the firm word, in worldly life and in the Hereafter. And Allāh sends astray the wrongdoers. And Allāh does what He wills.
ٱللَّهِ ٱلَّذِى لَهُۥ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ ۗ وَوَيْلٌ لِّلْكَـٰفِرِينَ مِنْ عَذَابٍ شَدِيدٍ
Allāh, to whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. And woe [i.e., destruction] to the disbelievers from a severe punishment -
جَهَنَّمَ يَصْلَوْنَهَا ۖ وَبِئْسَ ٱلْقَرَارُ
[It is] Hell, which they will [enter to] burn, and wretched is the settlement.