Section

Allah, exalted be He, has set creation between command and prohibition, bestowal and withholding; and so mankind has split into two groups.

One group met His command with abandonment, His prohibition with defiance, His bounty with heedlessness of gratitude, and His withholding with resentment. These are His enemies, and their enmity is proportional to the measure of those traits found in them.

Another group said, “We are but Your servants: if You command us, we hasten to comply; if You forbid us, we restrain ourselves and hold back from what You have prohibited; if You grant to us, we praise You; and if You withhold, we supplicate You and remember You.”

Between these people and Paradise there is only the veil of this worldly life; when death tears that veil away, they pass to lasting bliss and the delight of the eyes. Likewise, between the others and the Fire there is only the veil of life; when death rends it, they are plunged into regret and pain.

So when the armies of this world and the Hereafter clash within your heart and you wish to know to which side you belong, look: with whom do you incline and for whom do you fight? You cannot stand between the two armies; inevitably you are with one of them.

The first party recognized the deception of desire and opposed it, sought counsel from reason and consulted it, cleared their hearts for reflection on the purpose for which they were created, employed their limbs in performing what they were commanded, and devoted their moments to building what will furnish their homes in the Hereafter. They fortified themselves against the swiftness of life’s appointed term by hastening to righteous deeds. They dwelled in this world while their hearts journeyed beyond it; they made the Hereafter their homeland even before arriving there. They concerned themselves with Allah and obedience to Him in proportion to their need of Him, and they took provisions for the Hereafter according to the length of their stay therein—so He hastened for them