الَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا دِينَهُمْ لَهْوًا وَلَعِبًا وَغَرَّتْهُمُ الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا فَالْيَوْمَ نَنْسَاهُمْ كَمَا نَسُوا لِقَاءَ يَوْمِهِمْ هَذَا وَمَا كَانُوا بِآيَاتِنَا يَجْحَدُونَ ﴿۵۱﴾ وَلَقَدْ جِئْنَاهُمْ بِكِتَابٍ فَصَّلْنَاهُ عَلَى عِلْمٍ هُدًى وَرَحْمَةً لِقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ ﴿۵۲﴾ هَلْ يَنْظُرُونَ إِلَّا تَأْوِيلَهُ يَوْمَ يَأْتِي تَأْوِيلُهُ يَقُولُ الَّذِينَ نَسُوهُ مِنْ قَبْلُ قَدْ جَاءَتْ رُسُلُ رَبِّنَا بِالْحَقِّ فَهَلْ لَنَا مِنْ شُفَعَاءَ فَيَشْفَعُوا لَنَا أَوْ نُرَدُّ فَنَعْمَلَ غَيْرَ الَّذِي كُنَّا نَعْمَلُ قَدْ خَسِرُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ وَضَلَّ عَنْهُمْ مَا كَانُوا يَفْتَرُونَ ﴿۵۳﴾

﴾51﴿ Allazeenat takhazoo deenahum lahwanw wa la'i-banw wa gharrat humul hayaatud dunyaa; fal Yawma nannsaahum kamaa nasoo liqaaa'a Yawmihim haazaa wa maa kaanoo bi aayaatinaa yajhadoon
﴾52﴿ Wa laqad ji'naahum bi Kitaabin fassalnaahu 'alaa 'ilmin hudanw wa rahmatal liqawminy-yu'minoon
﴾53﴿ Hal yanzuroona illaa ta'weelah; yawma ya'tee ta'weeluhoo yaqoolul lazeena nasoohu min qablu qad jaaa'at Rusulu Rabbinaa bilhaqq; fahal lanaa min shufa'aaa'a fa yashfa'oo lanaaa aw nuraddu fana'mala ghairal lazee kunnaa na'mal; qad khasirooo anfusahum wa dalla 'anhum maa kaanoo yaftaroon

﴾51﴿ They are those who took their religion as amusement and play, and the worldly life deceived them. So today We will ignore them in punishment because they forgot the meeting of this Day of theirs and because they used to deny Our signs.
﴾52﴿ And surely We brought to them a Book which We have explained in detail, with knowledge—a guidance and a mercy for a people who believe.
﴾53﴿ They are only waiting for the final outcome of (denying) this Book. On the Day its outcome comes, those who neglected this Book before will say, “Indeed, the messengers of our Lord came with the truth. (But we did not accept.) So, do we have any intercessors who could intercede for us, or could we be sent back (to the world) so that we might do differently from what we used to do?” Surely, they have brought ruin upon themselves, and all that they used to fabricate has vanished from them.

[51] Its interpretation is mentioned in verse 70 of Surah Al-An‘ām.
There are two causes of punishment: one is the denial of the Resurrection, and the other is denial of the verses (of Allah).
“Lahwan wa la‘iban” — Al-Sharbīnī mentions the difference: that spending effort on something unworthy of such effort is lahw, while seeking joy from something that cannot truly provide it is la‘b.
Al-Wāsitī said both terms indicate engagement in something purposeless. The difference is that la‘b has a quick, joyful intent, while lahw refers to being occupied by something even if it brings no real pleasure.
“Gharrathum” — ghurrah is heedlessness during wakefulness, and it refers to a person’s false hope in long life, luxurious living, wealth, status, and desires, which become causes of heedlessness from religion.
[52] This is an encouragement toward the Qur’an, and the reason behind it is the warning mentioned in the previous verse.
It means: We have brought this Book to them for the clarification of rulings, as guidance and mercy — so why do they deny it?
[53] This too is a warning about the Hereafter.
“Ta’wīlahu” — the pronoun refers to the Book, and what is meant by ta’wīl is the consequence of denying the Book, and that consequence (which is eternal punishment) will become manifest on the Day of Judgment.
“Qad jā’at rusul” — this indicates that the deniers of the Qur’an are also deniers of all the messengers, and that these deniers had already been described in the Qur’an, or the pronoun “nasūhu” refers to “yawm” (the Day), meaning that in that moment, all deniers — past and present — are included.
“Fahal lanā min shufa‘ā’” — this means it will become clear to them that either intercession is a means of salvation or returning to the world to perform good deeds — and neither of these will be possible.
“Shufa‘ā’” here refers to those forced intercessors (i.e., without Allah’s permission), as this was the belief of the polytheists regarding their idols, as mentioned in verse 18 of Surah Yūnus.
As for “nuraddu fana‘mala” (if we are returned, we will do good deeds) — its answer is found in verse 18 of Surah Al-An‘ām and verse 100 of Surah Al-Mu’minūn.