All this implied that only they would be saved on the Day of...

All this implied that only they would be saved on the Day of Resurrection to the exclusion of all the others; that their deliverance and hap­piness in the next world would be unmarred by any unpleasant experience as the Fire shall not touch them but for a few days - equal in number to the day they worshipped the calf. To remove that self-delusion and conceit, Allah put a challenge to them, to show them their true face, to make them realize that their claims were without any substance.

He (Allah) told His Apostle to say to them: “If the future abode... is for you...” The “future abode” points to the felicity and happiness of that abode; the owner of a house arranges and manages it in the best possible way, and decorates it according to his taste and liking “with Allah”, that is, firmly established with Allah, by His order and His permission; the phrase has the same import here as in the verse: Surely the religion with Allah is Islam (3:19) .

“purely”, that is, unmixed with punishment or humiliation - utmost that you think possible is a punishment of just a few days. “to the exclusion of the people”, because you presume that all religions, except your own, are false. If you really think so, “then invoke death if you are truthful”. This challenge is similar to the one given in verse: Say: “O you who are Jews, if you think that you are the friends of Allah to the exclusion of other people, then invoke death if you are truthful” (62:6) .

The argument is very clear about which nobody can have any doubt whatsoever. Any man (nay! even an animal having a limited perception and sensitivity), if given total freedom to choose between comfort and discomfort, will at once opt for the comfort, without any hesitation, without any contemplation. Put before him a life polluted with trouble and turmoil and another clean and pure, and tell him to take hold of any one; naturally, and without any doubt, he will grab at the pure one.

If for any reason he is prevented from the life of his choice, he will always dream of it, and will remain looking for any opportunity to lay his hands upon it. If the Jews are truthful in their claim that the other world's pure happiness belongs to them to the exclusion of others, then they must yearn for it with their hearts, words and deeds.