And We will make them taste the light punishment rather than the greater punishment so that they may return to the aim of life.
It is stated in verses 7: 172-174: “And remember when your Lord took from the nape of the children of Adam their offspring and made them witness upon their souls by asking: ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They all said: ‘Of course, we witness!’ So that you do not say on the Day of Judgment: ‘We were heedless of this,’ or say: ‘Indeed, our forefathers associated others with Lord Allah previously, and we were their offspring after them; then are You destroying us because of the deeds of falsehood?’; and just like that Lord Allah is explaining in detail His verses so that they may return to the aim of life.”
It is stated in verse 21: 35: “Every soul will taste death, and We are testing you with bad and good as a trial, and to Us, all of you will return.” In verse 30: 41, it is mentioned: “Mischief has appeared on land and sea because of what the hands of mankind have earned so that He may let them taste something of what they have earned, so they may turn back to the aim of life.” Today, only the people of the Messenger are reading these verses. But by rejecting the soul of the Book, Adhikr—the Truth—they follow the false ways of Satan. Whatever punishment they face, they do not learn any lesson from it nor turn to the aim of life. For them, the verses they read touched, or heard will witness and argue against them, pushing them into Hellfire, as explained in verse 6: 66. See explanation 2: 6-7.