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Those are the ones who bought the life of this world at the price of the Hereafter; so their punishment will not be lightened, nor will they be helped.
This verse gives the conclusion to the conduct described in the preceding verses. They knew the covenant and had acknowledged it, yet they were killing one another, driving a group of their own people out of their homes, helping one another against them in sin and aggression, and taking from the Book what they wanted while setting aside what did not suit their conduct. Now the Qur’an brings the underlying choice together in one sentence: “Those are the ones who bought the life of this world at the price of the Hereafter.”
The word for buying (ishtaraw), from the root SH R Y, uses the language of purchase and exchange. The point is therefore not simply that they loved this world more or preferred it to the Hereafter. The verse depicts a transaction: they took one thing and gave another in return. In the construction “they bought the life of this world at the price of the Hereafter,” worldly life is what they have taken, and the Hereafter is the price they have paid for it. They took the immediate advantage and lost the later outcome in the exchange.
The contrast between this world (al-dunyā) and the Hereafter (al-ākhirah) further clarifies this meaning. The word for this world is associated with nearness, while the word for the Hereafter concerns what comes afterward. A person faces something that is now near, tangible, and accessible, and something whose outcome will become apparent later. Power, wealth, position, revenge, a short-term victory, or preserving one’s standing may seem advantageous now. But if the covenant, justice, and The God’s command are set aside to retain it, a transaction has taken place in which the immediate gain has been bought through loss in the Hereafter.
Notice that the Qur’an does not define them here by an ethnic name. The context has made clear whom it is discussing, but the description now applied to them is “those who bought the life of this world at the price of the Hereafter.” This description is not confined to one people. Every person, every community, and every government can face the same choice.
The ending of the verse also has a clear connection with the sequence beginning at Al-Baqarah 2:80. There, a group had said: “The Fire will not touch us except for a few numbered days.” They had constructed a kind of assurance about their own outcome. Yet after exposing their conduct, the Qur’an does not say here that they will endure a little punishment and then it will all be over. It says: “Their punishment will not be lightened.”
The word for being lightened (yukhaffafu), from the root KH F F, concerns becoming lighter and reducing a burden. The verse does not directly provide new information about the duration of punishment, but it leaves no room for assurance that the punishment will be easy and negligible. Someone who has traded the Hereafter for worldly advantage should not comfort themselves with the notion that, whatever the consequence of their choice, a few days will pass and it will end.
It then adds: “Nor will they be helped.” Help (naṣr) is support that assists a person against difficulty and an enemy. Here, reliance on outside support is also closed off. Their punishment will neither be lightened, nor will a force come to their aid to avert the consequence of this transaction.
Thus, after a lengthy account of their errors, this verse returns the issue to a fundamental choice. A person cannot always have everything. Sometimes faithfulness to truth carries a cost. At that very moment, it becomes clear what a person is buying and what they are willing to give in return.
This world becomes dangerous when we make the Hereafter the price of obtaining its immediate advantage. The verse does not ask what name we bear; it asks which we choose when truth and our own interest confront one another.