[They are] those whose effort is lost in worldly life, while they (18:104)

Almuntakhab Fi Tafsir Alquran Alkarim

They are those who presumed upon Providence and conducted themselves in life according to false concepts and they thought they were doing what is right

Tafseer Tafheem-ul-Quran by Syed Abu-al-A'la Maududi

(18:104) They are those, whose endeavours, in the worldly life, had all gone astray from the Right Way *76 but all along they were under the delusion that everything they were doing, was rightly directed:

[They are] those whose effort is lost in worldly life, while they meaning

*76) This verse has two meanings. The one is the same that we have adopted in the translation. The other meaning is this: "...those who confined all their endeavours to the worldly life". That is, whatever they did, they did for this world without paying any regard to God and the Hereafter. As they considered the worldly life to be the real life, they made the success and prosperity in this world their sole aim and object. Even if they professed the existence of Allah, they never paid any heed to the two implications of this profession: to lead their lives in a way to please Allah and to come out successful on the Day they shall have to render an account of what they did in this world. This was because they considered themselves to be mere rational animals who were absolutely independent and free from every kind of responsibility and had nothing else to do but to enjoy the good things of the world like animals in a meadow.
 

[They are] those whose effort is lost in worldly life, while they meaning in Urdu

وہ کہ دنیا کی زندگی میں جن کی ساری سعی و جہد راہِ راست سے بھٹکی رہی اور وہ سمجھتے رہے کہ وہ سب کچھ ٹھیک کر رہے ہیں