Page 32 - Deep Thinking

30 DEEP THINKING

A wise person who believes in Allah and the Hereafter draws com-
pletely different scrumptious conclusions when he reflects on the fact that
the life of this world is temporary. First of all, his realization that the world
is temporary causes him to engage in zealous struggle for his real and eter-
nal life in the Hereafter. Since he knows that this life will sooner or later
end, he does not become carried away by the ambition for worldly pas-
sions and interests. He is extremely resigned. Nothing in this temporary life
annoys him. He always cherishes the hope of attaining an eternal and
pleasant life. He also enjoys worldly blessings and beauty but keeps these
things in perspective. Allah has created the world incomplete and flawed
in order to test people. The intelligent person thinks that if there is so
much beauty, which is pleasing to man even in this incomplete and flawed
world, then the beauty of Paradise should be unimaginably more attrac-
tive. He hopes to see in the Hereafter the "originals" of all the beauty he
views here. And he comprehends all of these by thinking deeply.
Therefore, it would be a great loss to worry about "what if I become
pessimistic by finally seeing the truth?", and hence, avoid thinking. For a
person who always entertains hope by virtue of his faith in Allah, and who
thinks positively, there is nothing to be pessimistic about.

Avoiding the Responsibilities that Thinking Brings

Most people think that they might be able to evade various responsi-
bilities by avoiding thinking and setting their brain to work on certain
issues. By doing so in this world, they succeed in holding themselves aloof
from many subjects. One of the greatest ways in which people are
deceived, however, is in their supposition that they can escape their
responsibilities to Allah by not thinking. This is the main reason why peo-
ple do not think about death and life after death. If man thinks that he will
die one day and remembers that there is an eternal life after death, he will
necessarily have to strive strenuously for his life after death. He, however,
deceives himself, supposing that he is saved from such responsibility when
he does not think of the existence of the Hereafter. This is a great self-
deception and if man does not attain the truth in this world by thinking,