Page 18 - The Secret Behind Our Trials

THE SECRET BEHIND OUR TRIALS
to spend as he or she pleases. One of them spends this money care-
lessly and soon has nothing left, while the other person spends it in
such a way that it provides permanent benefits for himself and hu-
manity as a whole. When the first person is called to account, what
will she feel, other than great sorrow?
So, all of the property, possessions, culture, renown, respect,
beauty, and all other blessings given to human beings in this world
are opportunities for a person to prepare for the afterlife. Realizing
this, believers take full advantage of these opportunities.
Unbelievers are like those people who spent their money for
nothing. They spend their short lifespan carelessly and then suffer a
great loss in the eternal afterlife. The Qur'an describes their state, as
follows:
Say: "Shall I inform you of the greatest losers in their ac-
tions? People whose efforts in the life of this world are mis-
guided while they suppose that they are doing good." Those
are the people who reject their Lord's Signs and the meeting
with Him. Their actions will come to nothing and, on the
Day of Resurrection, We will not assign them any weight.
(Surat al-Kahf, 103-5)
Those who are not fulfilled by this life and are aware that only
the life to come is eternal know that this world's pleasures are tran-
sitory and, therefore, strive to attain the beauties of Paradise. So,
they gain much in the trade they make with Allah, for:
Allah has bought from the believers their souls and wealth
in return for the Garden. They fight in the Way of Allah, and
they kill and are killed. It is a promise binding on Him in
the Torah, the Gospel, and the Qur'an, and who is truer to
his contract than Allah? Rejoice, then, in the bargain you
have made. That is the great victory. (Surat at-Tawba, 111)

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