The Holy Quran 18:46 — Surah Al-Kahf

Arabic text

ٱلْمَالُ وَٱلْبَنُونَ زِينَةُ ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا ۖ وَٱلْبَـٰقِيَـٰتُ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتُ خَيْرٌ عِندَ رَبِّكَ ثَوَابًا وَخَيْرٌ أَمَلًا

Translation

Wealth and sons are merely adornments of this worldly life (that will not last forever). The lasting good deeds (all good actions that one does in this world, the rewards of which are everlasting) are best in the sight of your Rabb in terms of reward and best in terms of expectations (because the expected rewards in the Aakhirah are guaranteed by Allaah). (The rewards of certain good deeds continue accumulating even after a person dies because people continue to benefit from these deeds e.g. having a well dug to provide, teaching people things of benefit and building homes for the poor.)

Tafsir (excerpt) — Tafsir Usmani

Wealth and children, and the enduring good deeds: that is, after death wealth, children and so on are of no use; only those good deeds are of use whose effect or reward will endure into the future. In a hadith these words — سُبْحَانَ اللّٰهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ وَلَآ اِلٰهَ اِلَّا اللّٰهُ وَاللّٰهُ اَكْبَرُ وَلَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ اِلَّا بِاللّٰهِ…

Preview. The full text opens with JavaScript enabled.