[2:96] And you shall find them the people most covetous of life, and the idolaters; any one of them would love that he might be given life for a thousand years; yet, his being given life shall not budge him from the chastisement. God sees what they do.
Love of life in this world is the result of heedlessness of God. The worst heedlessness is their excessive love for remaining in this world. The state of the believer is the opposite of this. The eagerness for life of those who are heedless and insolent is only because they know their failure in being obedient. The runaway slave does not want to be returned to his master. But for believers, the transition [of death] to One from Whom only good is expected is better than remaining with those against whose evil they are not secure. The prolonging of life in spite of the certainty of death holds no value for them since [death] comes unexpectedly and life is cut off. What is coming is near. When the life span is completed, there is no averting the assaults of the appointed time upon the shoulders of hope (lā maradda li-hujūmi'l-ajal ʿalā aktāfi'l-amal).