Page 42 - The Truth of the Life of This World

state is, in a way, a different form of death, which is defined as the state
in which the soul leaves the body. Indeed, while sleeping the body lies in
bed where the spirit experiences totally different lives in completely dif-
ferent places. In one's dreams, one may well perceive oneself on a beach
on a hot summer's day, unaware that one is sleeping in bed. Death, too,

has the same outward appearance: it separates the soul from the body
which the soul uses in this world and carries him away to another world
in a new body. For this reason, Allah, in the Qur'an, the only remaining
authentic revelation which guides humanity to the true path, repeatedly
reminds us of the similarity of sleep to death.
It is He who takes your souls by night, and has knowledge of all that you
have done by day: by day He raises you up again; that a term appointed be
fulfilled; In the end unto Him will be your return; then will He show you the
truth of all that you did. (Surat al-An'am: 60)
It is Allah that takes the souls (of men) at death; and those that die not (He
takes) during their sleep: those on whom He has passed the decree of death,
He keeps back, but the rest He sends (to their bodies) for a term appointed.
Verily in this are Signs for those who reflect. (Surat az-Zumar: 42)
Totally deprived of all the functions of the senses, in other words, "in a
dead faint", a person spends up to a fourth of his life in sleep. Yet, he lit-
tle contemplates this fact, never realising that he leaves behind everything

deemed important in this world. An important exam, huge sums of money
lost on the stock exchange or a minor personal problem, in brief every-
thing that appears to be of crucial importance during the day fades away
as one falls asleep. This simply means having no relationship with the
world at all.
All the examples that have been presented so far give a clear idea about
the shortness of life and the huge amount of time spent on "compulsory"
routine tasks. When the time spent on such "compulsory" tasks is sub-
tracted, one realises the scarcity of moments left for the so-called joys of
life. In retrospect, one feels astonished at the long time spent on nourish-
ment, body-care, sleep, or working to attain better standards of living.
The calculations of the time spent on routine tasks necessary for sur-
vival are, undoubtedly, worth thinking about. As stated earlier, at least 15-

40 The Weaknesses of Man