Page 20 - Paradise: The Believers' Real Home

18 PARADISE

such things as wealth, family, status, and success, which are
thought to make for a good life, as nothing more than transi-
tory and deceptive. In one verse, Allah says:

Know that the life of the world is merely a game
and a diversion and ostentation, and a cause of
boasting among yourselves and trying to outdo
one another in wealth and children, like the plant-
growth after rain, which delights the cultivators.
But then it withers, you see it turning yellow, and
then it becomes broken stubble. In the hereafter
there is terrible punishment, but also forgiveness
from Allah and His good pleasure. The life of the
world is nothing but the enjoyment of delusion.
(Surat al-Hadid, 20)
Another verse explains how people are blinded by illusion
because of this earthly life:
Yet still you prefer the life of the world, when the
hereafter is better and longer lasting. (Surat al-
A'la, 16-17)

As this verse says, such people regard the life of this
world as superior to the afterlife. Such a mistaken view causes
them to turn away from faith in Allah and His Book. The
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7) and reveals that they will find themselves in Hell's eternal
agony. Surely, this imperfection does not mean that this world