( وَقَطَّعْنَاهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ أُمَمًا ) (And We divided them throughout the earth into nations): Allah (swt) dispersed them over the earth so that they would no longer have a homeland. Their claim to have a national homeland is a baseless assertion, lacking historical, ideological, religious, and geographical foundations.

( مِّنْهُمُ الصَّالِحُونَ) (Of them some were righteous): This is called ‘consideration of possibility’.

( وَمِنْهُمْ دُونَ ذَٰلِكَ) (and of them some were otherwise): This means that the wrongdoers were fewer in number than the righteous ones.

( وَبَلَوْنَاهُم بِالْحَسَنَاتِ وَالسَّيِّئَاتِ) (And We tested them with good [times] and bad): The test comes either in the form of goodness or adversity. If goodness comes to a person and he repels then he has failed, and if he shows gratitude, then he has succeeded. Similarly, if adversity comes to a person and he endures it with patience, then he has succeeded. However, if he denies it and resists it, then he has failed.

( لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ ) (that perhaps they would return [to obedience]): This is the nature of worldly life, where mankind experience a fluctuation between joy and sorrow, health and illness, youth and old age, wealth and poverty. The worldly life is transient and ever-changing for each individual, emphasizing that it is a test:

  الَّذِي خَلَقَ الْمَوْتَ وَالْحَيَاةَ لِيَبْلُوَكُمْ أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًا

([He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed) (Al-Mulk: 2)

Therefore, the most important thing for human beings should be one’s own deeds.