27:5

أُوْلَـٰٓئِكَ ٱلَّذِينَ لَهُمۡ سُوٓءُ ٱلۡعَذَابِ وَهُمۡ فِي ٱلۡأٓخِرَةِ هُمُ ٱلۡأَخۡسَرُونَ

Olaika allatheena lahum sooo alAAathabi wahum fee alakhirati humu alakhsaroona

Those are the ones for whom there will be the worst of punishment, and in the Hereafter they are the greatest losers.

Word by word
  1. أُوْلَـٰٓئِكَThose
  2. ٱلَّذِينَ(are) the ones
  3. لَهُمۡfor them
  4. سُوٓءُ(is) an evil
  5. ٱلۡعَذَابِ[the] punishment
  6. وَهُمۡand they
  7. فِيin
  8. ٱلۡأٓخِرَةِthe Hereafter
  9. هُمُ[they]
  10. ٱلۡأَخۡسَرُونَ(will be) the greatest losers
An-Naml · 27:5Makkah

The biggest loss is the one you never saw coming.

Where blind wandering ends


The end of the road
wandering blindlyfrom verse 4
ends in
the worst punishmenthere and there
greatest loserslost themselves and wealth
What counts as losing
losing moneya bad deal
losing yourselfthe loss that lasts

This continues the description of those who deny the Hereafter. Ibn Kathir says the punishment is in this world and the next, and that among everyone gathered, they are the ones who lose their own souls and their wealth.

You track losses closely: the stock that dropped, the deposit you never got back, the job that went to someone else. The verse points at a bigger ledger. The real loss is a life spent wandering without ever looking up.

My biggest losses are the ones that hit my bank account.

The loss that matters is losing my own self by never preparing for the return.

Try this

Write down one thing you would hate to lose. Then ask what you are doing for your next life this week.

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (shared passage from 27:1)

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ 

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

طس ۚ تِلْكَ آيَاتُ الْقُرْآنِ وَكِتَابٍ مُبِينٍ - هُدًى وَبُشْرَىٰ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ - الَّذِينَ يُقِيمُونَ الصَّلَاةَ وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ وَهُمْ بِالْآخِرَةِ هُمْ يُوقِنُونَ - إِنَّ الَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْآخِرَةِ زَيَّنَّا لَهُمْ أَعْمَالَهُمْ فَهُمْ يَعْمَهُونَ - أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ لَهُمْ سُوءُ الْعَذَابِ وَهُمْ فِي الْآخِرَةِ هُمُ الْأَخْسَرُونَ - وَإِنَّكَ لَتُلَقَّى الْقُرْآنَ مِنْ لَدُنْ حَكِيمٍ عَلِيمٍ

(1.Ta Sin. These are the Ayat of the Qur'an, and (it is) a Book (that is) clear.)(2. A guide and glad tidings for the believers.)(3. Those who perform the Salah and give the Zakah and they believe with certainty in the Hereafter.)(4. Verily, those who believe not in the Hereafter, We have made their deeds fair seeming to them, so that they wander about blindly.)(5. They are those for whom there will be an evil torment. And in the Hereafter they will be the greatest losers.)(6. And verily, you are being taught the Qur'an from One, All-Wise, All-Knowing.)

The Qur'an is Guidance and Glad Tidings for the Believers, a Warning to the Disbelievers, and it is from Allah:

In (the comments on) Surat Al-Baqarah, we discussed the letters which appear at the beginning of some Surahs.

تِلْكَ آيَاتُ الْقُرْآنِ وَكِتَابٍ مُبِينٍ

(These are the Ayat of the Qur'an, and (it is) a Book (that is) clear.) It is plain and evident.

هُدًى وَبُشْرَىٰ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ

(A guide and glad tidings for the believers.) meaning, guidance and good news may be attained from the Qur'an for those who believe in it, follow it and put it into practice. They establish obligatory prayers, pay Zakah and believe with certain faith in the Hereafter, the resurrection after death, reward and punishment for all deeds, good and bad, and Paradise and Hell. This is like the Ayat:

 قُلْ هُوَ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا هُدًى وَشِفَاءٌ ۖ وَالَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ فِي آذَانِهِمْ وَقْرٌ

(Say: "It is for those who believe, a guide and a healing. And as for those who disbelieve, there is heaviness (deafness) in their ears...")(41:44).

لِتُبَشِّرَ بِهِ الْمُتَّقِينَ وَتُنْذِرَ بِهِ قَوْمًا لُدًّا

(that you may give glad tidings to those who have Taqwa, and warn with it the Ludd (most quarrelsome) people)(19:97).

Allah says here:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْآخِرَةِ 

(Verily, those who believe not in the Hereafter,) meaning, those who deny it and think that it will never happen,

زَيَّنَّا لَهُمْ أَعْمَالَهُمْ فَهُمْ يَعْمَهُونَ

(We have made their deeds fair seeming to them, so that they wander about blindly.) means, 'We have made what they are doing seem good to them, and We have left them to continue in their misguidance, so they are lost and confused.' This is their recompense for their disbelief in the Hereafter, as Allah says:

وَنُقَلِّبُ أَفْئِدَتَهُمْ وَأَبْصَارَهُمْ كَمَا لَمْ يُؤْمِنُوا بِهِ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ 

(And We shall turn their hearts and their eyes away, as they refused to believe therein for the first time)(6:110).

أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ لَهُمْ سُوءُ الْعَذَابِ

(They are those for whom there will be an evil torment.) in this world and the Hereafter.

وَهُمْ فِي الْآخِرَةِ هُمُ الْأَخْسَرُونَ

(And in the Hereafter they will be the greatest losers.) means, no one but they, among all the people who will be gathered, will lose their souls and their wealth.

وَإِنَّكَ لَتُلَقَّى الْقُرْآنَ مِنْ لَدُنْ حَكِيمٍ عَلِيمٍ

(And verily, you are being taught the Qur'an from One, All-Wise, All-Knowing.)

وَإِنَّكَ

(And verily, you) O Muhammad. Qatadah said:

لَتُلَقَّى

(are being taught) "Are receiving."

 الْقُرْآنَ مِنْ لَدُنْ حَكِيمٍ عَلِيمٍ

(the Qur'an from One, All-Wise, All-Knowing.) from One Who is Wise in His commands and prohibitions, and Who knows all things, major and minor. Whatever He says is absolute Truth, and His rulings are entirely fair and just, as Allah says:

وَتَمَّتْ كَلِمَتُ رَبِّكَ صِدْقًا وَعَدْلًا ۚ

(And the Word of your Lord has been fulfilled in truth and in justice)(6:115).