The Quran

Preface

فَلَمّا أَنجاهُم إِذا هُم يَبغونَ فِي الأَرضِ بِغَيرِ الحَقِّ ۗ يا أَيُّهَا النّاسُ إِنَّما بَغيُكُم عَلىٰ أَنفُسِكُم ۖ مَتاعَ الحَياةِ الدُّنيا ۖ ثُمَّ إِلَينا مَرجِعُكُم فَنُنَبِّئُكُم بِما كُنتُم تَعمَلونَ

Yusuf Ali

But when he delivereth them, behold! they transgress insolently through the earth in defiance of right! O mankind! your insolence¹ is against your own souls,- an enjoyment of the life of the present: in the end, to Us is your return, and We shall show you the truth of all that ye did.

In our insolence and pride we do not see how small and ephemeral is that part of us which is mortal. We shall see it at last when we appear before our Judge. In the meantime our ridiculous pretensions only hurt ourselves, (Cf. 17:67-69).