إِنَّ هٰؤُلاءِ يُحِبّونَ العاجِلَةَ وَيَذَرونَ وَراءَهُم يَومًا ثَقيلًا

Indeed they love this transitory life, and disregard a weighty day ahead of them.

EXEGESIS

Al-ʿājilah (transitory life) comes from the root ʿajalah, which means to make haste. Al-ʿājilah refers to this life because it offers instant, temporary gratification^{‎[su_tooltip content=”Tabrisi, 10/626.”][1][/su_tooltip]} (17:18-19, 75:20-21) as opposed to the eternal bliss of the hereafter.

The weighty day refers to the Day of Judgement by virtue of the immensity of the burden it ensues (7:187).^{‎[su_tooltip content=”Mizan, 20/141-142.”][2][/su_tooltip]}

Stating that the weighty day, Judgement Day, is behind them, implies that it was in front of them before they turned their backs to it. This imagery was chosen to express that the reality of Judgement Day cannot be escaped.^{‎[su_tooltip content=”Mizan, 20/142.”][3][/su_tooltip]} It surrounds each person from all angles irrespective of the attention they give it.

EXPOSITION

This verse and the next address the psychology of those whose excessive love for this world has barred them from the reality of the hereafter.^{‎[su_tooltip content=”Mizan, 20/142.”][4][/su_tooltip]} Indeed, it was not the lack of clarity in the divine message that caused their downfall, but instead it was their obsession with the material and the immediate that deterred them from their true well-being.^{‎[su_tooltip content=”Razi, 30/760.”][5][/su_tooltip]}

Appreciation for the bounties of this world is not in itself a vice (2:168, 5:88, 16:114, 7:32, 20:81). On the contrary, these gifts are but the favours of the Lord (14:34). It is only when the love for the bounties of this world weakens or barrs one’s consciousness of their Creator^{‎[su_tooltip content=”Razi, 30/760-761.”][6][/su_tooltip]} and of the hereafter that it becomes a true tragedy (18:32-44). It is this terrible deviation that this verse is depicting.

[1] Tabrisi, 10/626.
[2] Mizan, 20/141-142.
[3] Mizan, 20/142.
[4] Mizan, 20/142.
[5] Razi, 30/760.
[6] Razi, 30/760-761.