Page 11 - The Pains of the False World

I N T R O D U C T I O N

people will live their true lives. This is how Allah has re v e-
aled in the Qur'an that the Hereafter represents one's true life:
The life of this world is nothing but a game and a diver -
sion. The abode of the Hereafter—that is truly Life if
they only knew. (Surat al-'Ankabut, 64)

It is therefore a major error for any person to become disp-
roportionately infatuated with the world's transitory bles-
sings during his brief existence in this life. Recalling that the
benefits of this world are ultimately worthless, Allah has issu-
ed a warning:
... taking the goods of this lower world, and saying, "We
will be forgiven." But if similar goods come to them aga-
in they still take them. Has not a covenant been made
with them in the Book, that they should only say the
truth about Allah and have they not studied what is in it?
The Final Abode is better for those who guard against
evil. Will you not use your intellect? (Surat al-A'raf, 169)

In one of his hadiths, the Prophet Muhammad (saas) also
set out the diff e rence between Paradise and this world with
his characteristic eloquence:
Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet (saas) said, "A place in
Paradise as small as a bow is better than all that on which
the sun rises and sets (i.e. all the world)." The same hadith
is reported in these terms by Anas bin Malik, " A place in
Paradise as small as the bow or lash of one of you is better
than all the world and whatever is in it." (Bukhari)

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