21أَم حَسِبَ الَّذينَ اجتَرَحُوا السَّيِّئَاتِ أَن نَجعَلَهُم كَالَّذينَ آمَنوا وَعَمِلُوا الصّالِحاتِ سَواءً مَحياهُم وَمَماتُهُم ۚ ساءَ ما يَحكُمونَMuhammad AsadNow as for those who indulge in sinful doings - do they think that We place them, both in their life and their death, on an equal footing with those who have attained to faith and do righteous deeds?1 Bad, indeed, is their judgment:The meaning is twofold: "that We consider them to be equal with those who...", etc., and "that We shall deal with them in the same manner as We deal with those who...", etc. The reference to the intrinsic difference between these two categories with regard to "their life and their death" points not merely to the moral quality of their worldly existence, but also, on the one hand, to the inner peace and tranquility with which a true believer faces life's tribulations and the moment of death, and on the other, to the nagging anxiety which so often accompanies spiritual nihilism, and the "fear of the unknown" at the time of dying.