Page 176 - Allah is Known through Reason

Since Allah creates all these images, the Ultimate Owner of everything
is Allah alone. This fact is stressed in the Qur'an:

But to Allah belong all things in the heavens and on earth: And He it is that
encompasses all things. (Surat an-Nisa: 126)

It is great foolishness to cast religion away for the sake of imaginary
passions and thus lose the eternal life which is meant to be an everlasting
deprivation.
At this stage, one point should be understood. It is not said here that
"the possessions, wealth, children, spouses, friends, rank you have with
which you are being stingy, will vanish sooner or later, and therefore they
do not have any meaning", but that "all the possessions you seem to have
do not exist, but they are merely dreams composed of images which Allah
shows you to test you". As you see, there is a big difference between the
two statements.
Although one does not want to acknowledge this right away and would
rather deceive oneself by assuming everything one has truly exists, one is
finally to die and in the hereafter everything will be clear when we are
recreated. On that day "sharp is one's sight" (Surah Qaf: 22) and we will
see everything much more clearly. However, if we have spent our lives
chasing after imaginary aims, we are going to wish we had never lived this
life and say "Ah! Would that (Death) had made an end of me! Of no prof-
it to me has been my wealth! My power has perished from me!" (Surat al-
Haqqah: 27-29)
What a wise man should do, on the other hand, is to try to understand
the greatest reality of the universe here in this world, while he still has
time. Otherwise, he will spend all his life running after dreams and face a
grievous penalty at the end. In the Qur'an, the final state of those people
who run after illusions (or mirages) in this world and forget their Creator,
is stated as follows:
But the unbelievers, their deeds are like a mirage in sandy deserts,
which the man parched with thirst mistakes for water; until when he comes
up to it, he finds it to be nothing: But he finds Allah (ever) with him, and
Allah will pay him his account: and Allah is swift in taking account. (Surat
an-Nur: 39)

176 Allah is Known Through Reason