And you will certainly find them the most eager of all people for life, even more eager than those who have associated partners with Him. Each of them wishes to be given a thousand years of life; yet being granted a long life will not move them away from the punishment. And The God sees what they do.
“You will certainly find them the most eager of all people for life”; you will find them more eager for life than anyone else.
The wording is strongly emphatic. The very people who regarded the home of the Hereafter as exclusively theirs are now described as among those who cling most greedily to life. “Life” is also indefinite in Arabic; the emphasis is on simply remaining alive and having life continue: the longer, the better.
The subtle point of the verse emerges in what follows:
“And even more than those who have associated partners with Him.”
The Qur’an does not equate the Children of Israel with those who associate partners with Him; it distinguishes between the two groups and then says that their eagerness for life exceeds even that of those who have associated partners with Him. This very comparison exposes the contradiction. Someone who speaks of the Hereafter, scripture, and a special standing with The God should not be more attached to this life than someone who makes no such claim.
“Each of them wishes that they might be given a thousand years of life”; each would love to live for a thousand years.
“A thousand years” pictures an immensely long life. The issue is not a few extra years; it is the desire to postpone life’s end as far as possible.
But more years do not resolve what must be put right through action:
“Yet being granted a long life will not move them away from the punishment”; a longer life will not remove them from it.
The word translated as “moving away” comes from the four-letter root Z Ḥ Z Ḥ, meaning to move away or set aside. The same root appears in Ali ‘Imran 3:185: “Whoever is moved away from the Fire and admitted into the Garden has indeed succeeded.” A long life, by itself, does not move anyone away from the consequences of their deeds.
This contradiction is not confined to Jews. A Muslim, a Christian, or a follower of any other faith may also speak a great deal about the Hereafter while tying all their hope and security to remaining in this world. A claim to faith in the next world becomes meaningful when life in this world is not our only possession.
The verse ends with “And The God sees what they do”; the one true deity sees what they do. Ultimately, neither the length of one’s life nor a religious claim takes the place of action.
The issue is not how many more years we can remain here; it is what we do with the years we have. Faith in the Hereafter is not established by speaking about it; it also shows itself in our relationship with this world, death, and action.