The Holy Quran 3:178 — Surah Ali 'Imran

Arabic text

وَلَا يَحْسَبَنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوٓا۟ أَنَّمَا نُمْلِى لَهُمْ خَيْرٌ لِّأَنفُسِهِمْ ۚ إِنَّمَا نُمْلِى لَهُمْ لِيَزْدَادُوٓا۟ إِثْمًا ۚ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ مُّهِينٌ

Translation

Those who commit kufr should never think that the respite (the extra time to earn the world before punishment and their long lives that) We give them is good for them. We grant them respite only so that they increase in sin (thereby deserving more punishment) and they shall suffer a most disgracing punishment.

Tafsir (excerpt) — Tafsir Usmani

Worldly wealth is a respite for the disbelievers: that is, it is possible that the disbelievers, seeing their long lives, prosperity and abundance of wealth and riches, may think: “Had we been under wrath and rejected, why would we have been given so much ease and respite, and why would we have been kept in so good a state?

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