Kalla sawfa taAAlamoon (surah Takathur: 3)

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

(102:3) Nay, you will soon come to know; *3

Kalla sawfa ta`lamoon

*3) That is, "You are under the delusion that the abundance of the worldly goods and surpassing others in it, is real progress and success, whereas the opposite is the case. Soon you will know its evil end and you will realize that it was a stupendous error in which you remained involved throughout your Iife. "Soon" may mean the Hereafter, for, for the Being Whose sight comprehends alI ages, from eternity to eternity, a few thousand years or a few hundred thousand years can only be a short span of the eternal time. But it can also mean death, for death is not very far away from any man, and soon after death man will come to know whether the occupations which engaged him throughout life were a means of good fortune and success for him, or of misfortune and failure.