As for Whoever Transgressed and Preferred the Worldly Life — Hell Will Be the Refuge
tadabbur
Level: basic
akhirah
td-273
وَأَمَّا مَنۡ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِۦ وَنَهَى ٱلنَّفۡسَ عَنِ ٱلۡهَوَىٰ
— النازعات 40
Verse: "As for whoever transgressed and preferred the worldly life — Hell will be the refuge. But as for whoever feared the standing of their Lord and restrained the soul from desire — Paradise will be the refuge." (79:37-41) — A sharp binary: two paths with no third. Transgression + preferring world = Fire. Fear of Allah + restraining the soul from desire = Paradise. "Preferred" (aathara) — to prefer and choose. Whoever chose this world knowing about the hereafter — that is true misguidance. "Restrained the soul from desire" — the greater jihad: struggle against the self. Not only against the forbidden but against desire that distances from truth even in the permissible. Lesson: the difference between people of Paradise and people of Hell in this verse is summarized in: which did you prefer?
Source: Ibn Kathir (8/312); Al-Sadi
Question: What is the difference between the path to Paradise and the path to Hell in this verse?
Answer: Paradise: fear of Allah + restraining the soul from desire. Hell: transgression + preferring world over hereafter. The difference is in the choice.