The Quran

Preface

يا أَيُّهَا النّاسُ اتَّقوا رَبَّكُم وَاخشَوا يَومًا لا يَجزي والِدٌ عَن وَلَدِهِ وَلا مَولودٌ هُوَ جازٍ عَن والِدِهِ شَيئًا ۚ إِنَّ وَعدَ اللَّهِ حَقٌّ ۖ فَلا تَغُرَّنَّكُمُ الحَياةُ الدُّنيا وَلا يَغُرَّنَّكُم بِاللَّهِ الغَرورُ

Yusuf Ali

O mankind! do your duty to your Lord, and fear (the coming of) a Day when no father can avail aught for his son, nor a son avail aught for his father.¹ Verily, the promise of God is true: let not then this present life deceive you, nor let the Chief Deceiver² deceive you about God.

On the Day of Reckoning no one can help another. The most loving father cannot help his son be a substitute for him, and vice versa. Each will have his own personal responsibilities.
The Chief Deceiver is the Power of Evil. It may make us forget that Time is fleeting and delude us by suggesting that the Reckoning may not come, whereas it is certain to come, because God’s promise is true. We must not play with Time nor be deceived by appearances. The Day may come today or tomorrow or when we least expect it (Cf. 35:5).