And of the people is he who worships Allah on an edge. If he is touched by good, he is reassured by it; but if he is struck by trial, he turns on his face [to the other direction]. He has lost [this] world and the Hereafter. That is what is the manifest loss.
Tafseer
{ ومن الناس من يعبد الله على حرف } أي شك في عبادته، شبه بالحالِّ على حرف جبل في عدم ثباته { فإن أصابه خير } صحة وسلامة في نفسه وماله { اطمأن به وإن أصابته فتنة } محنة وسقم في نفسه وماله { انقلب على وجهه } أي رجع إلى الكفر { خسر الدنيا } بفوات ما أمله منها { والآخرة } بالكفر { ذلك هو الخسران المبين } البيِّن .
{And among the people is he who worships Allah on the verge} that is, he doubts his worship, likening it to the edge of a mountain in its lack of stability. {If good befalls him} health and safety in himself and his wealth {he is reassured thereby, but if a trial befalls him} a trial and illness in himself and his wealth {he turns back on his face} that is, he returns to disbelief. {He loses this world} by losing what he hoped for from it {and the Hereafter} by disbelief. {That is the manifest loss} the obvious.