Page 67 - The Truth of the Life of This World

forth delight (the hearts of) the tillers; soon it withers; you will see it grow
yellow; then it becomes dry and crumbles away. But in the Hereafter is a
penalty severe (for the devotees of wrong). And forgiveness from Allah and
(His) good pleasure (for the devotees of Allah). And what is the life of this
world, but goods and chattels of deception? (Surat al-Hadid: 20)
Not believing in the Hereafter or seeing it as a remote possibility is the
many people's fundamental mistake. They believe that they will never lose
their wealth. Pride makes them avoid submission to Allah and turn their
faces against His promise. The ends of such people are related as follows:

Those who rest not their hope on their meeting with Us, but are pleased and
satisfied with the life of the present, and those who heed not Our signs: Their
abode is hell, because of the (evil) they earned. (Surah Yunus: 7-8)
History has witnessed many such people. Kings, emperors, and
pharaohs thought they could secure immortality through their fabulous
wealth; the thought that there is something more valuable than wealth and
power may never even have occurred to them. This flawed mentality mis-
led their peoples, who were greatly impressed by their wealth and power.
However, all these disbelievers faced a terrible end. In the Qur'an, Allah
informs us about them:

Do they think that because We have granted them abundance of wealth and
sons, We would hasten them on in every good? Nay, they do not understand.
(Surat al-Muminun: 55- 56)
Let not their wealth nor their (following in) sons dazzle you: in reality Allah's
plan is to punish them with these things in this life, and that their souls may
perish in their (very) denial of Allah. (Surat at-Tawbah: 55)
These people actually disregard a crucial point. All wealth and every-
thing deemed important, belong to Allah. Allah, the actual Owner of
wealth, allocates His endless possessions among those whom He wills. In
return, man is expected to show his gratefulness to Allah and be a loyal
servant to Him. It should be remembered that nobody can limit one's pos-
sessions once Allah bestows them. Likewise, once somebody is deprived
of affluence, nobody except Allah has the power to sustain him. In this
way, Allah puts His people to test. However, those who forget their Creator
and the day of judgement pay no heed to this:

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