Allah swt is teaching us a lesson through this chapter concerning two disbelieving tribes in where the Holy Quran says بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ أَلْهَاكُمُ التَّكَاثُرُ alhākumut-takāthur Vying for increase has distracted you, Alhakum comes from the word lahw which means a distraction or amusement in which a person becomes so heedless of more important things in life and forget the blessings Allah has given them. The word takathur means vying and boasting a lot as if it’s a competition. So the verse is saying that these distractions has occupied you so much and made you heedless of more important things in life. What were these tribes distracted with? Rather than focusing on Allah and the Hereafter these tribes would busy themselves against each other in a competition. They would show pride and brag about how many people and possessions they had in their tribe. So for example, one tribe would say I got 10,000 members, and the other would say I got 12,000. To increase the number they go and count the children from each member. Still not satisfied they would go and count the friends of these members to increase the numbers. They would start counting how much land they have, how much wealth they have, soo distracted that the next verse says: حَتَّىٰ زُرْتُمُ الْمَقَابِرَ ḥattā zur'tumu l-maqābir until you visit the graves One of the meanings for this verse is that, they kept on boasting to each other who has more to the extent that they even visited the graves of their ancestors to count their numbers to add them to the list. Another meaning is until you end up in your graves, i.e death. So the verse is saying, you waste your time boasting and vying with pride so much that it will continue until you die. The next verse says: :كَلَّا سَوْفَ تَعْلَمُونَ kallā sawfa taʿlamūn No indeed, you will soon come to know They will come to know that there is a hereafter but they distracted themselves on the wrong things. People are sleeping, when they die, they wake up. They will realise all this boasting and vying was a complete waste of time and wish they can come back and fix it. The next verse says ثُمَّ كَلَّا سَوْفَ تَعْلَمُونَ thumma kallā sawfa taʿlamūn Again no indeed, you will soon come to know Why is this verse mentioned twice? Apart from the emphasis saying that you definitely will come to know about the Allah and the hereafter, the first verse refers to the realization in the grave i.e. the world of barzakh. The second verse refers to the realization when you come out of barzakh in the Hereafter, the Day of Judgement. The next verse says كَلَّا لَوْ تَعْلَمُونَ عِلْمَ الْيَقِينِ kallā law taʿlamūna ʿilmal-yaqīn No indeed! If only you had the knowledge of certainty The word yaqin means you are absolutely certain about something and it has levels. The first level is ilm al yaqeen – certainty based on knowledge, for example, you saw smoke. Out of this knowledge you were certain there is a fire but you haven’t seen the fire yet. The second level is ‘Ayn al Yaqeen – certainty based on seeing. First you saw smoke which indicated a fire. But now you have seen the fire with your own eyes. Now you are even more certain that there is a fire. The third level is Haq al Yaqeen – certainty based on truth, which means realization. You have all this knowledge about the fire, and you saw it with your eyes but now you personally experienced it by touching the fire and feeling the heat of it. So the verse indicates, you were so distracted in unnecessary things as proud people, if you had belief in the hereafter and you recognise it with ilm al yaqeen, you would never regret and waste your time on such things. The next verse says لَتَرَوُنَّ الْجَحِيمَ latarawunnal-jaḥīm You will certainly see the fire of hell Jahim is one of the names or levels of Hell and it is extremely hot. So the verse is saying if you had ilm al yaqeen, the knowledge of certainty you would have understood that in the hereafter there is accountability and that you would see the fire of hell in the future, then you would have stayed away from these distractions. The next verse says: ثُمَّ لَتَرَوُنَّهَا عَيْنَ الْيَقِينِ thumma latarawunnahā ʿaynal-yaqīn Again, you will surely see it with the eye of certainty Before you may have had ilm al yaqeen, knowledge of the hell but didn’t physically see it. But when you die you will have ayn al yaqeen, a higher degree of certainty, meaning you will clearly see it with your eyes and be completely certain about it and nothing can take that proof away from you The next verse says: ثُمَّ لَتُسْأَلُنَّ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَنِ النَّعِيمِ thumma latus'alunna yawma idhin ʿanil-naʿīm then certainly you will be questioned about the blessings (of Allah) What is this na’im, these blessings we will be asked about? Some have said it has to do with all the bounties in life. Where did you get your food and drink from? Did you earn it lawfully? How did you earn your wealth and spend it? How to you use your eyesight? Your ears? Every blessing will be accounted for. Once Abu Hanifa asked Imam al Sadiq (as) about the meaning of this verse? What is this na’im? Imam al Sadiq returned the question and said to Abu Hanifa “what do you think al na’im means”? Abu Hanifa said – “it means food and water”. Imam al-Sadiq (as) replied, "if God were to ask you about every single bite of food and every single sip you have taken, then you would have to stand there for a very long time. The "blessing al na’im" here refers to us, Ahlul-Bayt (a), this is the blessing that God will question you about, that is the Prophet (s) and his Ahl al-Bayt (as). The word na’im has a very vast sense and it covers all the blessings we earned in this life and we will be questioned about it. But more importantly the blessings of faith, obedience to the prophet and ahlul bayt and so on will also be questioned. So this surah warns of the dangers of heedlessness of the Hereafter which results from one focusing only on worldly gains. These people are driven by greed, live for the moment and devote all their energy and resources to this material world and their aim in life is only to compete against one another, bragging and boasting about how much wealth or power they have until they die. However they seem to overlook the fact that the grave is but a temporary stay, it is a bridge to another life of accountability, judgment and punishment or reward. All the wealth and power we have are all blessings from Allah and should be used in the right way by preparing for the hereafter. For each one of these blessings and comforts, we will surely be called to account on the Day of Judgement.