Allah Ta’aalaa states: 
الَّذِي خَلَقَ الْمَوْتَ وَالْحَيَاةَ لِيَبْلُوَكُمْ أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلاً وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْغَفُورُ
Translation:
Who has created death and life, that He may test you which of you is best in deed. And He is the All-Mighty, the Oft-Forgiving.
Tafsir:
People come into this world, live for a while and leave once death comes to them. Allah has not made man’s life and death a futile exercise, rather there is great wisdom in it.
الْمَوْتَ وَالْحَيَاةَ
In this verse Allah has mentioned death before life. There are many deep meanings that the mufassereen have extracted from this style.
1. We were created to die and then live forever.
2. The remembrance of death compels a person to be righteous.
3. First we were dead and then we came to life.
4. If there was no death people would never fear the consequences of their actions.
This life is the place to sow good deeds and the next life is where we will reap the results of our actions.
أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلاً
Allah Ta’aalaa said: “which of you have carried out the best deeds”. He did not say: “most deeds”. Not quantity but quality of the actions is demanded.
This is why on the Day of Judgement actions will not be counted, rather it will be weighed. Sometimes the weight of one action could be heavier than the weight of 1000 good deeds.
The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: Better deeds mean, a person who abstains more from evil and is always ready to obey Allah. [Qurtubi] This is taqwa, concerning which, Allah ta’aalaa has said: It is the taqwa of the hearts that reaches Allah. {Hajj: 37} Taqwa in this verse is sincerity. It is through sincerity that deeds acquire a heavy weight.
The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, “Do not abuse my Companions, for if anyone of you spent gold equal to Uhud (mountain) (in Allah’s Cause) it would not be equal to a mudd (two third of a kilogram) or even a half mudd spent by one of them.” [Bukhari 3673]
Qazi Baidhawi explains that this is due to their high level of sincerity and ikhlaas. [Fathul Bari]
So let us focus on adopting taqwa and bringing quality into our actions. May Allah grant us the tawfeeq. Ameen.
