The jar broke up; Suhni died and her aides left her. It was thereafter that she heard the calls of Mehar.
Note: In amplification this highly philosophical verse may be split up as under:
a) The jar disintegrated. This implies that the worldly means of security and survival became extinct. None can save a person who is face to face with death. In fact as per the Quran, Allah enquired from the pagans that if they claimed to possess some power, why they did not hold back a dying man from death. At that time all earthly resources, to wit, power and pelf, sons and property are as ineffective as a broken jar in water.
b) The woman died. This means that she died at a particular time and under particular circumstances as pre-decreed by Allah. None is competent either to alter the time or the circumstances. Death means the termination of earthly existence and a sort of bridge between this world and the Hereafter. There is no need for a cause or effect in the case of death which may be assumed as a natural terminus. The disintegration of the unbaked jar can be taken as a natural sequence but not necessarily as the cause of Suhni's death.
c) The intermediate or the worldly associates, on whom a person depends so much, receded:
This means that the worldly associates including friends and relatives depart from a deceased person. In fact with his burial they leave him to his fate because they cannot help him any more.
Similarly the demigods or angels whom the polythiests worship or whose aid they invoke in this world at difficult times or whom they they worship in the hope that they will intercede with Allah and solve their problems in the Hereafter, would either reject them or plead their incompetence to advocate their case before Allah. (vide the Quranic verses quoted below).
d) Thereafter Suhni heard the calls of Mehar.
باز چوں کشتی شکست نوبت وصل لقاست
(Roomi)
Eventually when the boat of life broke up, the time for union with the beloved comes.
The above picture succinctly depicts the forlorn condition of a deceased person. It is then that his erstwhile devotion,. loyalty to Allah and righteous deeds will pay him a good dividend in the form of the Divine pleasure. Allah may come to his relief, (as Mehar did in the case of Suhni,) and make him happy by admitting him into Paradise and granting him personal interview as his Benefactor and Host. lmam Razi observes in this connection as under:
As for the fact that the soul receives the true manifestation and Divine knowledge, this does not depend on the soul's connection with the body; rather this connection is, as it were, an obstruction to achieving perfection. When this connection is broken, the Divine Manifestation becomes illumined. (lbneal lkhlaq)
The verse is also capable of second interpretation as under:
A seeker of the Truth or union with Allah has to forsake the material accoutrements, renounce the world, abandon the resources other than Allah and develop the state of self effacement. It would only be then that Allah would condescend to relent to him and guide him towards Himself.
Quranic verses:
1. And now you come to us one by one, even We created you at first, and you have left behind what We bestowed on you, and We see not with you your intercessors of whom you used to assert that they were partners with Allah in your affairs. Now you have been cut off from one another and that which you relied on has failed you.
(94, Al-lmran)
2. When those who were followed shall quit those who followed them.
(166, Al-Baqarah).
3. And their partners will say: “It was not us that you worshipped.”
4. So Allah is sufficient and witness between us and you. We were certainly unaware of your worship.
5. I shall surely show the road to Myself to those who suffer hardships in My way.(69, Ankabut).
TRADITIONS:
The man has three types of companions as under:
(1) Those that stay with him till his death. They are his possessions and influences.
(2) Those who keep him company upto his grave. They are his relatives, friends and dependents.
(3) Those that stay with him till the Day of judgement. They are his actions.
جنازہم چوں بینی مگو فراق فراق
مرا وصال و ملاقات آں زمان باشد
(Roomi)
When you see my corpse, say not: "departed", "departed". In fact the meeting and union are mine at that time.

Pot broke, maid died , all support was lost,
Then did Suhni hear, drawing nigh, Mehar's calls.

The pitcher broke, the woman died, and all the means were lost,
It was then that Sohni heard the calls of Mehar.