Translation of the Commentary of the Hadith From dorar.net
Allah the Almighty has established the worldly life (ad-Dunya) as an abode of testing and tribulation. The wise individual is he who garners provisions from it for his Hereafter.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) counseled the performance of righteous deeds therein, the maintenance of God-consciousness (Taqwa) within it, and wariness of its adornments and temptations.
In this Hadith, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) states: “Indeed, the world is sweet and green.” It is sweet in taste and lush in appearance. When an object is verdant and sweet, the eye desires it first, followed by the self (an-nafs). This alludes to its allure, which causes souls to yearn for and seek it; consequently, man becomes beguiled by it and engrossed within it.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) elucidated that Allah, the Glorious and Exalted, has appointed us as successors (mustakhlifuna) in this worldly life to observe how we act. The meaning of this succession (Istikhlaf) is that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has made us successors to the generations that have passed before us, or that we succeed one another. This is to observe our conduct regarding what He has made obligatory upon us: do we execute His obedience, or do we disobey Him? For this reason, he said: “So be wary of the world.” That is: Beware lest the enjoyment and adornment of the world deceive you, thereby inducing you to abandon what Allah has commanded and to fall into that which He has forbidden, as the Almighty stated: {So let not the worldly life deceive you and let not the Deceiver deceive you about Allah} [Luqman: 33].
Then, he (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) commanded caution regarding women, stating: “And be wary of women.” That is, beware of women. The nature of this caution is that a woman, if she is a wife, may at times burden a man with expenditures he cannot bear, thereby distracting him from seeking matters of religion and compelling him to recklessly pursue the world.
Furthermore, their trial (fitnah) may manifest through the allure of men and inclining them away from the truth if they go out and intermix with them, particularly if they are unveiled (safirat) and displaying their beauty (mutabarrijat).
This may lead to falling into Zina (illicit sexual relations) in its various degrees. Thus, it behooves the believer to hold fast to Allah and to turn fervently to Him for salvation from their temptation and safety from their harm.
He (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) informed that the first trial of the Children of Israel concerned women; they were tempted by the trial of women, so they went astray and led others astray.
He (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) mentioned what befell the nations before us solely for the sake of lessons and admonition, and so that we may be wary of what they fell into and its causes. The Prophet’s (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) mention of the trial of women after the trial of the world falls under the category of mentioning the specific after the general (dhikr al-khas ba’d al-‘am) to heighten the warning, signaling that the trial caused by them is among the greatest of worldly trials.
The Hadith contains an exhortation to adhere strictly to God-consciousness (Taqwa) and to refrain from being preoccupied with the superficial aspects of the world and its adornments.
(End of the explanation. Translated by Mohammed bin Thajammul Hussain Manna.)
Saheehus-Seerah 