كَلَّا بَلْ تُحِبُّونَ ٱلْعَاجِلَةَ 20
Translations
No! But you [i.e., mankind] love the immediate
Transliteration
Kallā bal tuḥibbūna al-ʿājilah
Tafsir (Explanation)
Allah refutes the disbelievers' denial of the Resurrection, asserting that their true problem is not intellectual doubt but rather their love of this fleeting worldly life (al-ʿājilah) and their preoccupation with its pleasures. Classical scholars like Ibn Kathir and Al-Qurtubi explain that this ayah reveals the root cause of rejection of the afterlife—not lack of evidence, but the human desire for immediate gratification and worldly gains that blinds people to eternal truths. The particle 'kallā' (nay/no) serves as a strong rebuttal, redirecting the discussion from theoretical disbelief to the underlying spiritual disease of prioritizing the transient over the eternal.
Revelation Context
This ayah appears in the Meccan period within Surah Al-Qiyamah, which comprehensively addresses the themes of the Day of Judgment and resurrection. The surah responds to the Meccan disbelievers who mocked and denied the resurrection; this particular ayah diagnoses their spiritual condition—that their attachment to worldly life prevents them from accepting resurrection, rather than any genuine inability to comprehend it.
Related Hadiths
The Prophet (ṣallallāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) said: 'The best of you are those who have the best manners' and warned against love of this world in multiple narrations. A relevant hadith from Jami' at-Tirmidhi discusses how preoccupation with worldly desires distances one from remembrance of Allah and preparation for the afterlife.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches us that spiritual blindness often stems not from intellectual incapacity but from the heart's attachment to worldly pleasures and immediate gratification. Believers should examine whether their own actions and priorities reflect a genuine belief in the afterlife, or whether they too are unconsciously prioritizing the fleeting over the eternal.