“Say (O Muhammad!): ‘Shall We tell you who will be the greatest losers in respect of their works? It will be those whose effort went astray in the life of the world, and who believe nevertheless that they are doing good. Those are the ones who refused to believe in the revelations of their Lord and that they are bound to meet Him. Hence all their deeds have come to naught, and We shall assign no weight to them on the Day of Resurrection’.”
(Al-Qur’ān – 18:103-105)
The efforts of unbelievers were exclusively devoted to this worldly life. Whatever they did was for the purpose of gaining worldly goods and they paid no heed to God and the Hereafter. They mistook worldly life as their true objective and they set their eyes on worldly success alone. Even if they believed in God, they did not care enough to find out what would please Him. Nor did they care for the fact that one day they would return to God and would be required to render their account to Him.
Howsoever great the unbelievers’ worldly attainments, they are bound to come to an end with the end of the world itself. All that man is intensely proud of will all be left behind at the time of man’s death and will have absolutely no weight in God’s scale. If anything is to be of enduring benefit to man in the Next Life, it will be the good deeds performed according to God’s directives and with the intent of seeking God’s pleasure alone.