How can one reconcile His saying, the Most High: "Indeed, he was among his people in joy," with the fact that disobedience and disbelief bring forth grief, and that "whoever turns away from My remembrance - indeed, he will have a difficult life"?

If "straitened livelihood" (al-ma'ishah ad-dank) refers to the worldly life, then there is no contradiction between it and the joy of the disbeliever. This is because the disbeliever experiences moments of joy and pride through their sins and desires, as indicated by the Almighty's saying: "{Indeed, he was among his people joyful}" and His saying: "{That is because you used to rejoice on earth without right, and because you used to exult with insolence}." His joy might be a result of Allah's gradual enticement (istidraj) or due to his abandonment of acts of obedience, and this joy is fleeting.

Some exegetes (mufassirin) have held that "straitened livelihood" refers to the torment of the grave, citing Ibn al-Qayyim's statement that the Salaf interpreted the verse in this manner, as well as the Almighty's saying: "{Until, when they rejoiced in what they were given, We seized them suddenly, and they were then in despair}," and similarly, the Marfu' hadith of Abu Hurairah, which describes the torment of the deceased in his grave as the "straitened livelihood."