29:64 Al-Ankaboot (The Spider)

يخبر تعالى عن حالة الدنيا والآخرة، وفي ضمن ذلك، التزهيد في الدنيا والتشويق للأخرى، فقال: { وَمَا هَذِهِ الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا } في الحقيقة { إِلَّا لَهْوٌ وَلَعِبٌ } تلهو بها القلوب، وتلعب بها الأبدان، بسبب ما جعل اللّه فيها من الزينة واللذات، والشهوات الخالبة للقلوب المعرضة، الباهجة للعيون الغافلة، المفرحة للنفوس المبطلة الباطلة، ثم تزول سريعا، وتنقضي جميعا، ولم يحصل منها محبها إلا على الندم والحسرة والخسران.وأما الدار الآخرة، فإنها دار { الحيوان } أي: الحياة الكاملة، التي من لوازمها، أن تكون أبدان أهلها في غاية القوة، وقواهم في غاية الشدة، لأنها أبدان وقوى خلقت للحياة، وأن يكون موجودا فيها كل ما تكمل به الحياة، وتتم به اللذات، من مفرحات القلوب، وشهوات الأبدان، من المآكل، والمشارب، والمناكح، وغير ذلك، مما لا عين رأت، ولا أذن سمعت، ولا خطر على قلب بشر. { لَوْ كَانُوا يَعْلَمُونَ } لما آثروا الدنيا على الآخرة، ولو كانوا يعقلون لما رغبوا عن دار الحيوان، ورغبوا في دار اللهو واللعب، فدل ذلك على أن الذين يعلمون، لا بد أن يؤثروا الآخرة على الدنيا، لما يعلمونه من حالة الدارين.

يقول تعالى مقررا أنه لا إله إلا هو لأن المشركين الذين يعبدون معه غيره معترفون بأنه المستقل بخلق السموات والأرض الحيوان" أي الحياة الدائمة الحق الذي لا زوال له ولا انقضاء بل هي مستمرة أبد الآباد وقوله تعالى "لو كانوا يعلمون" أي لآثروا ما يبقى على ما يفنى.

Allah tells us how insignificant and transient this world is, and how it will soon end. All that it

وَإِنَّ الدَّارَ الاٌّخِرَةَ لَهِىَ الْحَيَوَانُ

(Verily, the home of the Hereafter -- that is the life indeed,) means, the true everlasting life that will never end, but will continue forever and ever.

لَوْ كَانُواْ يَعْلَمُونَ

(if they but knew.) means, they would prefer that which will last over that which will pass away. Then Allah says that at times of calamity, the idolators call upon Him alone, with no partner or associate, so why do they not do that all the time

فَإِذَا رَكِبُواْ فِى الْفُلْكِ دَعَوُاْ اللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ

(And when they embark on a ship, they invoke Allah, making their faith pure for Him only,) This is like the Ayah,

وَإِذَا مَسَّكُمُ الْضُّرُّ فِى الْبَحْرِ ضَلَّ مَن تَدْعُونَ إِلاَ إِيَّاهُ فَلَمَّا نَجَّـكُمْ إِلَى الْبَرِّ أَعْرَضْتُمْ

(And when harm touches you upon the sea, those that you call upon vanish from you except Him (Allah Alone). But when He brings you safely to land, you turn away) (17:67). Allah says here:

فَلَمَّا نَجَّاهُمْ إِلَى الْبَرِّ إِذَا هُمْ يُشْرِكُونَ

(but when He brings them safely to land, behold, they give a share of their worship to others.) Muhammad bin Ishaq reported from `Ikrimah bin Abi Jahl that when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ conquered Makkah, he (`Ikrimah) ran away, fleeing from him. When he was on the sea, headed for Ethiopia, the ship started to rock and the crew said: "O people, pray sincerely to your Lord alone, for no one can save us from this except Him." `Ikrimah said: "By Allah, if there is none who can save us on the sea except Him, then there is none who can save us on land except Him either, O Allah, I vow to You that if I come out of this, I will go and put my hand in the hand of Muhammad ﷺ and I will find him kind and merciful." And this is what indeed did happen.

لِيَكْفُرُواْ بِمَآ ءَاتَيْنَـهُمْ وَلِيَتَمَتَّعُواْ

(So that they become ingrate for that which We have given them, and that they take their enjoyment,)

And the life of this world is nothing but diversion and play whereas closeness to God pertains to concern for the Hereafter since the fruits thereof will be revealed in it. But surely the Abode of the Hereafter is indeed the true Life if they only knew this then they would not prefer this world to it.

Commentary

In the preceding verses it was said about the infidels and disbelievers that if they were asked about the creation of the earth and skies, the solar system, the water cycle and its effect on growth of vegetation, they would reply that all this is created and controlled by Allah Ta a1a. They did not believe that any one had any involvement in their creation or control, yet in their worship they associate idols with Allah. The reason for this is أَكْثَرُ‌هُمْ لَا يَعْقِلُونَ (Most of them do not understand - 29:63).

At this point the question arises that, after all, they were not insane but intelligent and sensible people. They performed many important and skillful jobs. Then, how have they lost their balance of mind? The answer to this query is given in the first of the above verses by saying that they are lost in the love of material attractions of the world, which are mortal and would disappear soon. They are totally oblivious of the life hereafter, which would last forever. The life of this world is nothing more than a pastime for amusement and fun, but the real and lasting life is that of Hereafter. وَمَا هَـٰذِهِ الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلَّا لَهْوٌ وَلَعِبٌ وَإِنَّ الدَّارَ‌ الْآخِرَ‌ةَ لَهِيَ الْحَيَوَانُ (And this worldly life is nothing but an amusement and play, and the Last Abode is the real life indeed. - 29:64). Here the word Hayawan is used in the sense of hayah (life) (Qurtubi).

In this verse the life of this world is held to be an amusement and play. It means that as amusements are finished and gone after a while and do not have any objective or lasting impact, the mundane attractions are also similar in nature.

In the next verse, yet another bad habit of the disbelievers is pointed out. Despite believing that Allah Ta’ ala is unique and solitary in His creation, they associate idols with Him ignorantly. Then, it is all the more surprising that whenever they are hit by some calamity, they have the firm belief that none of their idols had the power to take them out of that. They know well that it is only Allah who can remove the calamity, and none of their idols could do anything. To elaborate this point a paradigm is illustrated in verse 65: ` when they are on a journey in the river and there is a risk of their drowning, they call out only Allah to get rid of it, and not any of their idols'. Allah Ta’ ala listens to their prayer, as being totally helpless at that moment, they break off temporarily all their contacts with false gods and look upon Him only. So, He brings them out of the storm safely. But soon after the wretched people reach the land safely, they forget about His grace in no time, and start calling the idols as His associates. This is the meaning of the verse فَإِذَا رَ‌كِبُوا فِي الْفُلْكِ (29:65).

Note

This verse tells us that when an infidel regards himself totally helpless and calls out Allah Ta’ ala for help in the belief that no one else can save him from the calamity, at that moment Allah Ta’ ala accepts the prayer of even an infidel. It is because at that time he is desperate (a mudtarr); and Allah Ta'ala has promised to accept the prayer of a mudtarr. (Qurtubi)

The declaration in another verse وَمَا دُعَاءُ الْكَافِرِ‌ينَ إِلَّا فِي ضَلَالٍ (And the prayer of the disbelievers does not but go astray - 13:14) relates to the Hereafter, where no entreaty from them will be accepted when they would appeal for mercy against the torment.