اَفَحَسِبَ Do then think الَّذِیْنَ those who كَفَرُوْۤا disbelieve اَنْ that یَّتَّخِذُوْا they (can) take عِبَادِیْ My servants مِنْ besides Me دُوْنِیْۤ besides Me اَوْلِیَآءَ ؕ (as) protectors اِنَّاۤ Indeed, We اَعْتَدْنَا We have prepared جَهَنَّمَ Hell لِلْكٰفِرِیْنَ for the disbelievers نُزُلًا (as) a lodging قُلْ Say هَلْ Shall نُنَبِّئُكُمْ We inform you بِالْاَخْسَرِیْنَ of the greatest losers اَعْمَالًاؕ (as to their) deeds اَلَّذِیْنَ Those ضَلَّ is lost سَعْیُهُمْ their effort فِی in الْحَیٰوةِ the life الدُّنْیَا (of) the world وَ هُمْ while they یَحْسَبُوْنَ think اَنَّهُمْ that they یُحْسِنُوْنَ (were) acquiring good صُنْعًا (in) work اُولٰٓىِٕكَ Those الَّذِیْنَ (are) the ones who كَفَرُوْا disbelieve بِاٰیٰتِ in the Verses رَبِّهِمْ (of) their Lord وَ لِقَآىِٕهٖ and the meeting (with) Him فَحَبِطَتْ So (are) vain اَعْمَالُهُمْ their deeds فَلَا so not نُقِیْمُ We will assign لَهُمْ for them یَوْمَ (on) the Day الْقِیٰمَةِ (of) the Resurrection وَزْنًا any weight ذٰلِكَ That جَزَآؤُهُمْ (is) their recompense جَهَنَّمُ Hell بِمَا because كَفَرُوْا they disbelieved وَ اتَّخَذُوْۤا and took اٰیٰتِیْ My Verses وَ رُسُلِیْ and My Messengers هُزُوًا (in) ridicule اِنَّ Indeed الَّذِیْنَ those who اٰمَنُوْا believed وَ عَمِلُوا and did الصّٰلِحٰتِ righteous deeds كَانَتْ for them will be لَهُمْ for them will be جَنّٰتُ Gardens الْفِرْدَوْسِ (of) the Paradise نُزُلًاۙ (as) a lodging خٰلِدِیْنَ Abiding forever فِیْهَا in it لَا Not یَبْغُوْنَ they will desire عَنْهَا from it حِوَلًا any transfer قُلْ Say لَّوْ If كَانَ were الْبَحْرُ the sea مِدَادًا ink لِّكَلِمٰتِ for (the) Words رَبِّیْ (of) my Lord لَنَفِدَ surely (would be) exhausted الْبَحْرُ the sea قَبْلَ before اَنْ [that] تَنْفَدَ (were) exhausted كَلِمٰتُ (the) Words رَبِّیْ (of) my Lord وَ لَوْ even if جِئْنَا We brought بِمِثْلِهٖ (the) like (of) it مَدَدًا (as) a supplement قُلْ Say اِنَّمَاۤ Only اَنَا I بَشَرٌ (am) a man مِّثْلُكُمْ like you یُوْحٰۤی Has been revealed اِلَیَّ to me اَنَّمَاۤ that اِلٰهُكُمْ your God اِلٰهٌ (is) God وَّاحِدٌ ۚ One فَمَنْ So whoever كَانَ is یَرْجُوْا hoping لِقَآءَ (for the) meeting رَبِّهٖ (with) his Lord فَلْیَعْمَلْ let him do عَمَلًا deeds صَالِحًا righteous وَّ لَا and not یُشْرِكْ associate بِعِبَادَةِ in (the) worship رَبِّهٖۤ (of) his Lord اَحَدًا۠ anyone
(18:102) Do the unbelievers,74 then, believe that they can take any of My creatures as their guardians beside Me?75 Verily We have prepared Hell to welcome the unbelievers.
(18:103) Say, (O Muhammad): "Shall We tell you who will be the greatest losers in respect of their works?
(18:104) It will be those whose effort went astray76 in the life of the world and who believe nevertheless that they are doing good.
(18:105) Those are the ones who refused to believe in the revelations of their Lord and that they are bound to meet Him. Hence, all their deeds have come to naught, and We shall assign no weight to them on the Day of Resurrection.77
(18:106) Hell is their recompense for disbelieving and their taking My revelations and My Messengers as objects of jest.
(18:107) As for those who believe and do good works, the Gardens of Paradise shall be there to welcome them;
(18:108) there they will abide for ever, with no desire to be removed from there."78
(18:109) Say: "If the sea were to become ink to record the Words79 of my Lord, indeed the sea would be all used up before the Words of my Lord are exhausted, and it would be the same even if We were to bring an equal amount of ink."
(18:110) Say (O Muhammad): "I am no more than a human being like you; one to whom revelation is made: 'Your Lord is the One and Only God.' Hence, whoever looks forward to meet his Lord, let him do righteous works, and let him associate none with the worship of his Lord."
74. This is the conclusion of the whole sarah. In order to comprehend the context of this conclusion, one should not only consider the story of Dhu al-Qarnayn, but also the contents of the surah as a whole.
The central point of the surah is that the Prophet (peace be on him) called upon his people to give up polytheism and to embrace monotheism in its place; to give up excessive devotion to the world and to base their conduct on a strong belief in the Hereafter. The Makkan chiefs — thanks to the intoxication caused by their riches and eminence — spurned this call. Additionally, they persecuted and humiliated those righteous people who had accepted the Prophet's call. It is in this context that we ought to view the entire discourse of this surah, for these three stories which the Prophet (peace be on him) is asked about by his opponents by way of a test are narrated beautifully, and are so interwoven as to constitute an integral part of the overall discourse. With this the three stories end, and the discourse reverts to the main subject mentioned at the outset of the surah (see verses 24-59).
75. Do the unbelievers still think, despite all they have been told, that it will do them any good to take God’s creatures rather than God as their patrons and gaurdians?
76. This verse may be interpreted in two ways, one of which is reflected in our translation above. The other meaning could be that the efforts of the unbelievers were exclusively devoted to this worldly life. In other words, whatever they did was for the purpose of gaining worldly goods and they paid "no heed to God and the Hereafter. They mistook worldly life as their true ‘objective and they set their eyes on worldly success alone. Even if they believed in the existence of God, they did not care enough to find out what would please Him. Nor did they care for the fact that one day they would return to God and would be required to render their account to Him. They considered themselves no different from animals, albeit endowed with rationality, animals possessed of absolute freedom, unencumbered with any responsibility; animals whose term in life had only one purpose — to enjoy worldly life to its full.
77. No matter how great the unbelievers’ worldly attainments might be they are bound to come to an end with the end of the world itself. All that man 1s intensely proud of — his grand palaces and splendid mansions, his universities and libraries, his grand highways and wondrous vehicles of transportation, his great inventions and staggering industries, his magnificent arts and sciences, his impressive museums and art galleries— will all be left behind at the time of man’s death and will have absolutely no weight in God’s scale. If anything is to be of enduring benefit to man in the Next Life it will be the good deeds that he has performed, acts performed according to God’s directives and with the intent of seeking God’s pleasure alone.
Now, if someone’s objectives are confined to this worldly life and he wishes to see his efforts bear fruit in the present world alone, then it is quite obvious that all his acts will vanish with the extinction of the world. If he seeks any recompense in the Hereafter, then obviously he should seek it with regard to those acts which were performed to please God and to attain good results in the Hereafter, and which were in consonance with God’s command if a person did nothing of the sort, then all his striving in this world would have gone to waste.
78. For an explanation of this see al-Mu’minun 23, n. 10.
79. The inmates of Paradise could never even think of going anywhere else since one cannot imagine a better state than that of Paradise.