Surah Kahf ayat 104 Tafsir Quran 18:104

﴿الَّذِينَ ضَلَّ سَعْيُهُمْ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَهُمْ يَحْسَبُونَ أَنَّهُمْ يُحْسِنُونَ صُنْعًا﴾
[ الكهف: 104]

18:104 [They are] those whose effort is lost in worldly life, while they think that they are doing well in work."

Those whose effort goes astray in the life of this world those whose deeds are invalid while they reckon they think that they are doing good work good deeds for which they will be rewarded.

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

The Greatest Losers in respect of ( Their ) Deeds Al-Bukhari recorded from `Amr that Mus`ab who said: "I asked my father -- meaning Sa`d bin Abi Waqqas -- about Allah's saying, قُلْ هَلْ نُنَبِّئُكُم بِالاٌّخْسَرِينَ أَعْمَـلاً ( Say: "Shall We tell you the greatest losers in respect of (their ) deeds") `Are they the Haruriyyah' He said, `No, they are the Jews and Christians.
As for the Jews, they disbelieved in Muhammad ﷺ, and as for the Christians, they disbelieved in Paradise and said that there is no food or drink there, and the Haruriyyah are those who break Allah's covenant after ratifying it.' Sa`d used to call them Al-Fasiqin ( the corrupt ).
`Ali bin Abi Talib, Ad-Dahhak and others said: "They are the Haruriyyah," so this means, that according to `Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, this Ayah includes the Haruriyyah just as it includes the Jews, the Christians and others.
This does not mean that the Ayah was revealed concerning any of these groups in particular; it is more general than that, because the Ayah was revealed in Makkah, before the Qur'an addressed the Jews and Christians, and before the Khawarij existed at all.
So the Ayah is general and refers to everyone who worships Allah in a way that is not acceptable, thinking that he is right in doing that and that his deeds will be accepted, but he is mistaken and his deeds will be rejected, as Allah says: وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ خَـشِعَةٌ - عَامِلَةٌ نَّاصِبَةٌ - تَصْلَى نَاراً حَامِيَةً ( Some faces, that Day will be humiliated.
Laboring, weary.
They will enter in the hot blazing Fire. ) 88:2-4 وَقَدِمْنَآ إِلَى مَا عَمِلُواْ مِنْ عَمَلٍ فَجَعَلْنَاهُ هَبَآءً مَّنثُوراً ( And We shall turn to whatever deeds they did, and We shall make such deeds as scattered floating particles of dust. ) 25:23 وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ أَعْمَـلُهُمْ كَسَرَابٍ بِقِيعَةٍ يَحْسَبُهُ الظَّمْآنُ مَآءً حَتَّى إِذَا جَآءَهُ لَمْ يَجِدْهُ شَيْئاً ( As for those who disbelieved, their deeds are like a mirage in a desert.
The thirsty one thinks it to be water, until he comes up to it, he finds it to be nothing ) 24:39 And in this Ayah Allah says: قُلْ هَلْ نُنَبِّئُكُم ( Say: "Shall We tell you..." ) meaning, `Shall We inform you;' بِالاٌّخْسَرِينَ أَعْمَـلاً ( the greatest losers in respect of (their ) deeds) Then Allah explains who they are, and says: الَّذِينَ ضَلَّ سَعْيُهُمْ فِى الْحَيَوةِ الدُّنْيَا ( Those whose efforts have been wasted in this life ) meaning, they did deeds that do not count, deeds that are not in accordance with the prescribed way that is acceptable to Allah. وَهُمْ يَحْسَبُونَ أَنَّهُمْ يُحْسِنُونَ صُنْعًا ( while they thought that they were acquiring good by their deeds. ) means, they thought that there was some basis for their deeds and that they were accepted and loved. أُوْلَـئِكَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ بِـَايَـتِ رَبِّهِمْ وَلِقَائِهِ ( They are those who deny the Ayat of their Lord and the meeting with Him. ) they denied the signs of Allah in this world, the proofs that He has established of His Oneness and of the truth of His Messengers, and they denied the Hereafter. فَلاَ نُقِيمُ لَهُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَـمَةِ وَزْناً ( and on the Day of Resurrection, We shall assign no weight for them. ) means, `We will not make their Balance heavy because it is empty of any goodness.' Al-Bukhari recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: «إِنَّهُ لَيَأْتِي الرَّجُلُ الْعَظِيمُ السَّمِينُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ لَا يَزِنُ عِنْدَ اللهِ جَنَاحَ بَعُوضَةٍ وَقَالَ: اقْرَءُوا إِنْ شِئْتُمْ: فَلاَ نُقِيمُ لَهُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَـمَةِ وَزْناً ( A huge fat man will come forward on the Day of Resurrection and he will weigh no more than the wing of a gnat to Allah.
Recite, if you wish: ) ( and on the Day of Resurrection, We shall assign no weight for them ) It was also recorded by Muslim. ذَلِكَ جَزَآؤُهُمْ جَهَنَّمُ بِمَا كَفَرُواْ ( That shall be their recompense, Hell; because they disbelieved ) means, `We will punish them with that because of their disbelief and because they took the signs and Messengers of Allah ﷺ as a joke, mocking them and disbelieving them in the worst way.'

(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 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.

 

The Greatest Losers in respect of ( Their ) Deeds Al-Bukhari recorded from `Amr that Mus`ab who said: "I asked my father -- meaning Sa`d bin Abi Waqqas -- about Allah's saying, قُلْ هَلْ نُنَبِّئُكُم بِالاٌّخْسَرِينَ أَعْمَـلاً ( Say: "Shall We tell you the greatest losers in respect of (their ) deeds") `Are they the Haruriyyah' He said, `No, they are the Jews and Christians.
As for the Jews, they disbelieved in Muhammad ﷺ, and as for the Christians, they disbelieved in Paradise and said that there is no food or drink there, and the Haruriyyah are those who break Allah's covenant after ratifying it.' Sa`d used to call them Al-Fasiqin ( the corrupt ).
`Ali bin Abi Talib, Ad-Dahhak and others said: "They are the Haruriyyah," so this means, that according to `Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, this Ayah includes the Haruriyyah just as it includes the Jews, the Christians and others.
This does not mean that the Ayah was revealed concerning any of these groups in particular; it is more general than that, because the Ayah was revealed in Makkah, before the Qur'an addressed the Jews and Christians, and before the Khawarij existed at all.
So the Ayah is general and refers to everyone who worships Allah in a way that is not acceptable, thinking that he is right in doing that and that his deeds will be accepted, but he is mistaken and his deeds will be rejected, as Allah says: وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ خَـشِعَةٌ - عَامِلَةٌ نَّاصِبَةٌ - تَصْلَى نَاراً حَامِيَةً ( Some faces, that Day will be humiliated.
Laboring, weary.
They will enter in the hot blazing Fire. ) 88:2-4 وَقَدِمْنَآ إِلَى مَا عَمِلُواْ مِنْ عَمَلٍ فَجَعَلْنَاهُ هَبَآءً مَّنثُوراً ( And We shall turn to whatever deeds they did, and We shall make such deeds as scattered floating particles of dust. ) 25:23 وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ أَعْمَـلُهُمْ كَسَرَابٍ بِقِيعَةٍ يَحْسَبُهُ الظَّمْآنُ مَآءً حَتَّى إِذَا جَآءَهُ لَمْ يَجِدْهُ شَيْئاً ( As for those who disbelieved, their deeds are like a mirage in a desert.
The thirsty one thinks it to be water, until he comes up to it, he finds it to be nothing ) 24:39 And in this Ayah Allah says: قُلْ هَلْ نُنَبِّئُكُم ( Say: "Shall We tell you..." ) meaning, `Shall We inform you;' بِالاٌّخْسَرِينَ أَعْمَـلاً ( the greatest losers in respect of (their ) deeds) Then Allah explains who they are, and says: الَّذِينَ ضَلَّ سَعْيُهُمْ فِى الْحَيَوةِ الدُّنْيَا ( Those whose efforts have been wasted in this life ) meaning, they did deeds that do not count, deeds that are not in accordance with the prescribed way that is acceptable to Allah. وَهُمْ يَحْسَبُونَ أَنَّهُمْ يُحْسِنُونَ صُنْعًا ( while they thought that they were acquiring good by their deeds. ) means, they thought that there was some basis for their deeds and that they were accepted and loved. أُوْلَـئِكَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ بِـَايَـتِ رَبِّهِمْ وَلِقَائِهِ ( They are those who deny the Ayat of their Lord and the meeting with Him. ) they denied the signs of Allah in this world, the proofs that He has established of His Oneness and of the truth of His Messengers, and they denied the Hereafter. فَلاَ نُقِيمُ لَهُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَـمَةِ وَزْناً ( and on the Day of Resurrection, We shall assign no weight for them. ) means, `We will not make their Balance heavy because it is empty of any goodness.' Al-Bukhari recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: «إِنَّهُ لَيَأْتِي الرَّجُلُ الْعَظِيمُ السَّمِينُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ لَا يَزِنُ عِنْدَ اللهِ جَنَاحَ بَعُوضَةٍ وَقَالَ: اقْرَءُوا إِنْ شِئْتُمْ: فَلاَ نُقِيمُ لَهُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَـمَةِ وَزْناً ( A huge fat man will come forward on the Day of Resurrection and he will weigh no more than the wing of a gnat to Allah.
Recite, if you wish: ) ( and on the Day of Resurrection, We shall assign no weight for them ) It was also recorded by Muslim. ذَلِكَ جَزَآؤُهُمْ جَهَنَّمُ بِمَا كَفَرُواْ ( That shall be their recompense, Hell; because they disbelieved ) means, `We will punish them with that because of their disbelief and because they took the signs and Messengers of Allah ﷺ as a joke, mocking them and disbelieving them in the worst way.'

( Those whose effort goeth astray ) those whose works are thwarted ( in the life of the world ) these are the Kharijites; and it is also said that this refers to anchorites, ( and yet they reckon that they do good work ) and yet think that they are doing righteous works.

"Those whose efforts have been wasted in this life while they thought that they were acquiring good by their deeds!

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