وَ اضْرِبْ And present لَهُمْ to them مَّثَلَ the example الْحَیٰوةِ (of) the life الدُّنْیَا (of) the world كَمَآءٍ like water اَنْزَلْنٰهُ which We send down مِنَ from السَّمَآءِ the sky فَاخْتَلَطَ then mingles بِهٖ with it نَبَاتُ (the) vegetation الْاَرْضِ (of) the earth فَاَصْبَحَ then becomes هَشِیْمًا dry stalks تَذْرُوْهُ it (is) scattered الرِّیٰحُ ؕ (by) the winds وَ كَانَ And Allah اللّٰهُ And Allah عَلٰی over كُلِّ every شَیْءٍ thing مُّقْتَدِرًا (is) All Able 18. Al-Kahf Page 299 اَلْمَالُ The wealth وَ الْبَنُوْنَ and children زِیْنَةُ (are) adornment الْحَیٰوةِ (of) the life الدُّنْیَا ۚ (of) the world وَ الْبٰقِیٰتُ But the enduring الصّٰلِحٰتُ good deeds خَیْرٌ (are) better عِنْدَ near رَبِّكَ your Lord ثَوَابًا (for) reward وَّ خَیْرٌ and better اَمَلًا (for) hope وَ یَوْمَ And the Day نُسَیِّرُ We will cause (to) move الْجِبَالَ the mountains وَ تَرَی and you will see الْاَرْضَ the earth بَارِزَةً ۙ (as) a leveled plain وَّ حَشَرْنٰهُمْ and We will gather them فَلَمْ and not نُغَادِرْ We will leave behind مِنْهُمْ from them اَحَدًاۚ anyone وَ عُرِضُوْا And they will be presented عَلٰی before رَبِّكَ your Lord صَفًّا ؕ (in) rows لَقَدْ Certainly جِئْتُمُوْنَا you have come to Us كَمَا as خَلَقْنٰكُمْ We created you اَوَّلَ the first مَرَّةٍۭ ؗ time بَلْ Nay زَعَمْتُمْ you claimed اَلَّنْ that not نَّجْعَلَ We made لَكُمْ for you مَّوْعِدًا an appointment وَ وُضِعَ And (will) be placed الْكِتٰبُ the Book فَتَرَی and you will see الْمُجْرِمِیْنَ the criminals مُشْفِقِیْنَ fearful مِمَّا of what فِیْهِ (is) in it وَ یَقُوْلُوْنَ and they will say یٰوَیْلَتَنَا Oh woe to us! مَالِ What (is) for هٰذَا this الْكِتٰبِ [the] Book لَا not یُغَادِرُ leaves صَغِیْرَةً a small وَّ لَا and not كَبِیْرَةً a great اِلَّاۤ except اَحْصٰىهَا ۚ has enumerated it وَ وَجَدُوْا And they will find مَا what عَمِلُوْا they did حَاضِرًا ؕ presented وَ لَا And not یَظْلِمُ deals unjustly رَبُّكَ your Lord اَحَدًا۠ (with) anyone
(18:45) (O Prophet), propound to them the parable of the present life: it is like the vegetation of the earth which flourished luxuriantly when it mingled with the water that We sent down from the sky, but after that the same vegetation turned into stubble which the winds blew about. Allah alone has the power over all things.41
(18:46) Wealth and children are an adornment of the life of the world. But the deeds of lasting righteousness are the best in the sight of your Lord in reward, and far better a source of hope.
(18:47) Bear in mind the Day when We shall set the mountains in motion42 and you will find the earth void and bare.43 On that Day We shall muster all men together, leaving none of them behind.44
(18:48) They shall be brought before your Lord, all lined up, and shall be told: "Now, indeed, you have come before Us in the manner We created you in the first instance,45 although you thought that We shall not appoint a tryst (with Us)."
(18:49) And then the Record of their deeds shall be placed before them and you will see the guilty full of fear for what it contains, and will say: "Woe to us! What a Record this is! It leaves nothing, big or small, but encompasses it." They will find their deeds confronting them. Your Lord wrongs no one.46
41. God grants life as well as death. He enables people to rise as well as causes them to fall. He causes the blossoming of the spring, and also ordains that it will be followed by autumn. Hence, if someone happens to flourish and enjoy prosperity, he ought not to be deluded into believing that this state would necessarily last forever. It is God Who has granted man all bounties and he will be instantly deprived of them the moment God so wills.
42. This refers to the time when the present order of things will be disrupted. The earth will lose its gravitational pull and the mountains will float about as clouds. The same point has been made elsewhere in the Qur’an: ‘And you see the mountains and think that they are firmly fixed, but they shall pass by like clouds’ (al-Naml 27: 88).
43, The earth will become devoid of all vegetation and of every structure. It will turn into a barren, desolate mass of land. This virtually reiterates what was said earlier in this surah:
Surely, We have made all that is on the earth an embellishment for it in order to test people as to who of them is better in conduct. In the ultimate, We shall reduce all that is on the earth to a barren plain (verses 7-8).
44, This includes all human beings that have ever been born from the very early beginnings till the very last moment before the Day of Resurrection. This includes even those infants who may have lived after birth for no more than a single breath. All human beings who ever existed will be resurrected and will be brought together at the same time.
45. At that moment it will be impressed on all those who had denied the Hereafter that what the Messengers had informed them had indeed come about. ‘The Prophets had told people that God Who had created them in the first instance would bring them back to life. There were many who had refused to accept this, and it is they who will be asked on the Day of Resurrection whether what they had been told by the Messengers of God about being raised back to life after death had been proven true or not.
46. No one will be wronged. It will not happen that sins which a person did not commit will find a way to his record. Nor will a person be punished in excess of his actual misdeeds. And, of course, no one who is innocent will be seized and punished without justification.