Overall meaning : Allah, Exalted be He, directs His Prophet to strike out for people the parable of the present, transient life: Set forth for them, Muhammad, the parable of the present life and its fleeting nature, by which they have been deluded: It is like the rain that We send down from the sky and, because of which, the various plants of the earth grow, flourish and multiply so much so that they become intertwined with each other. Then they soon turn into dry stubble scattered by the winds. Allah has absolute power over everything.
The Almighty then points out that wealth and children are in reality mere adornments, and that it is good deeds that will benefit people in the life to come: Wealth and children are the adornments of this worldly life, but good deeds of lasting merit and benefit in the hereafter are better rewarded by your Lord, and are the best thing whose benefit and good outcome a person may hope for.