has an example in them; yet that imitation will not profit him in the least on the Day of Regret. As the Exalted says, “And today it will not benefit you—in that you wronged yourselves—that you are sharing in the punishment.” 39 (1)

Thus God, Magnified and Exalted, has cut off any advantage they might gain by taking comfort in one another (2) while suffering. In this world, when afflictions become widespread they turn into a diversion, and the stricken console one another—just as al-Khansāʾ said (3):

Were it not (4) for the crowds of mourners around me,
weeping for their brothers, I would have slain myself;
And though they do not lament one equal to my brother,
I soothe my soul with their shared grieving.

But the relief that comes from such mutual consolation will be absent among those who share the punishment on the Day of Resurrection.

As for the road itself: it is traversed only by expending one’s utmost effort and straining every sinew. It will never be attained through wishful thinking (5), nor reached by taking matters lightly (6). Rather, as it has been said: (7)