Page 22 - Paradise: The Believers' Real Home

20 PARADISE

uation. When he wakes up every morning and starts his day,
his face is swollen and distorted, his mouth has a bad taste,

and there is an uncomfortable dirty feeling on his skin, hair,
and body. If he does not clean himself carefully, he cannot
leave this unpleasant state. This cleaning must be repeated
several times during the day, because after a few hours have
passed, the dirt returns. After not washing for a few days, his
need to wash himself becomes all the more obvious, coming
to a point where he makes those around him very uncomfort-
able.
The human body is not as strong or resilient as a stone or
a piece of metal; rather, it is made of an extremely perishable
material: flesh. The body is covered with a thin skin that could
be torn at any moment by the slightest accident. Structurally
speaking, flesh is very vulnerable. It can be wounded, bruised,
and twisted by the slightest blow, and, with age, begins to lose
its former youthfulness and becomes rough and wrinkled.
After death, it starts to rot. A few weeks after burial, the body
begins to disintegrate and be eaten by worms and bacteria,
until finally it mixes with the soil and disappears.
As stated earlier, this shows us our frailty and reminds us

that the imperfections in the world are specially created.
Instead of flesh, human beings could have been created from
much stronger and purer materials or could have been totally
free of pain, illness, and vileness. However, all of these things
were created to remind human beings of how poor and needy
they are in relation to Allah, and to show them just how im-