The home of the Hereafter - that is the true life, if only they knew.
“The home of the Hereafter - that is the true life, if only they knew.”
This worldly life with all its temptations and enjoyments, is only amusement and play for those who are attached to it; it will expire quickly. Indeed, the abode of the afterlife is the real life, due to it being eternal. If only they knew, they would not have given preference to that which is temporary, over that which is eternal.
The plain meaning, from Al-Mukhtasar fi at-Tafsir
وَمَا هَٰذِهِ ٱلْحَيَوٰةُ ٱلدُّنْيَآ إِلَّا لَهْوٌ وَلَعِبٌ ۚ وَإِنَّ ٱلدَّارَ ٱلْءَاخِرَةَ لَهِىَ ٱلْحَيَوَانُ ۚ لَوْ كَانُوا۟ يَعْلَمُونَ
And this worldly life is not but diversion and amusement. And indeed, the home of the Hereafter - that is the eternal life, if only they knew.
What does Quran 29:64 mean?
The sentence has a first half that the quotation leaves out: this worldly life is only amusement and play. What follows in the surah is an example of what that means — people who pray sincerely to Allah when the ship is in danger, and go back to associating partners with Him the moment they reach dry land. The comparison is not between a bad life and a good one but between a short one and a real one.
Written from Al-Mukhtasar fi at-Tafsir