And of the people is he who worships Allāh on an edge.917 If he is touched by good, he is reassured by it; but if he is struck by trial, he turns on his face [to unbelief]. He has lost [this] world and the Hereafter. That is what is the manifest loss.
Notes
[917] At the edge of his religion, so to speak, i.e., with uncertainty, hypocrisy or heedlessness.
Verse 11 of Surah Al-Hajj (22:11), a Medinan surah, is in juz 17, on page 333 of the mushaf. Read it in Arabic with its transliteration, translations and tafsir, and listen to it recited by 72 reciters.
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Tafsir of verse 11
Al-Mukhtasar
Amongst people is a confused person who worships Allah in doubt. If good such as health and wealth come to him, he remains on his faith and worship of Allah, but if he is afflicted by an affliction through illness or poverty, he takes bad omen from his religion and then renounces it. He has lost his world, because his disbelief will never increase him in a share of the world which was not written for him, and he has lost his afterlife due to the punishment of Allah which will meet him. That is the clear loss.
There are some people who worship Allah on the edge [of faith]6: if something good comes to them, they are content; but if they are afflicted with a trial, they turn back7, thus losing both this world and the Hereafter. That is the evident loss.
Notes
[6] i.e., with uncertainty, hypocrisy, or heedlessness.
[7] lit., they tumble on their faces, i.e., turn back to disbelief.
And among mankind is he who worships Allâh as it were, upon the edge (i.e. in doubt): if good befalls him, he is content therewith; but if a trial befalls him, he turns back on his face (i.e. reverts to disbelief after embracing Islâm). He loses both this world and the Hereafter. That is the evident loss.
And among mankind is he who worshippeth Allah upon a narrow marge so that if good befalleth him he is content therewith, but if a trial befalleth him, he falleth away utterly. He loseth both the world and the Hereafter. That is the sheer loss.
There are among men some who serve Allah, as it were, on the verge: if good befalls them, they are, therewith, well content; but if a trial comes to them, they turn on their faces: they lose both this world and the Hereafter: that is loss for all to see!
And among men is he who serves Allah (standing) on the verge, so that if good befalls him he is satisfied therewith, but if a trial afflict him he turns back headlong; he loses this world as well as the hereafter; that is a manifest loss.
And among mankind is he who worships Allah upon the (very) edge; (Literally: as a child) so in case a charitable gain alights upon (i.e., dies) him he is composed therewith, and in case a temptation afflicts him he turns over his face; he loses the present (life) and the Hereafter; that evidently is the greatest loss.
So worship what you will besides Him." Say, "Indeed, the losers are the ones who will lose themselves and their families on the Day of Resurrection. Unquestionably, that is the manifest loss."
