Page 76 - The Pains of the False World

CONCLUSION

With characteristic wisdom, the re v e red Islamic scholar

Imam Ghazali has recommended all people to question their
consciences:
You must know that this world is not actually everlasting. Eit
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her you will leave it, or it will leave you! Hassan says that:
"Even if the blessings of this world continue, your life will one
day come to an end. That being the case what is the meaning of
chasing after the life of this world and spending one's valuable
life in doing so?"
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If you think rationally, you will see that this world is not everlas
ting. The benefits it brings cannot compensate for the damage
and troubles it will inflict. In the same way that the body grows
weary and departs in this world, so your heart is also occupied.
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In the Hereafter is a terrible suffering and long reckoning. In un
derstanding these truths you will abandon the excess things of
this world and make do with those necessary for you to worship
the Lord.

… Can the serving and worship of the Lord, with Whom you
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will remain alone and for ever, be abandoned in favor of other pe
ople? That Lord Who meets the needs of the day, is everyone's
support and everyone's shelter in times of trouble and violence.
He is everyone's partner and everyone stands in need of His
mercy. (Imam Ghazali, Minhajul Abidin, pp. 145, 157, 147)
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