And if his faith is sound and unblemished before the Just Judge, he has no cause to despair of mercy and divine acceptance, for Allah is Bountiful and Generous, Forgiving and Compassionate.

Know, O Sultan, that the comfort of this life lasts only a handful of days, and even those few are clouded by toil and mixed with hardship. Because of them one may forfeit the comfort of the Hereafter—everlasting, abiding, a kingdom that knows neither limit nor end. Thus it is easy for the sensible person to persevere through these fleeting days so that he may gain a perpetual rest that will never cease.

An illustration: imagine a man who has a beloved. He is told, “If you can stay away from her for this one night, she will be yours for a thousand nights without fatigue or hardship. But if you visit her now, you will never see her again.” Though his love burns intensely and the separation pains him, he would find it bearable to forgo her for a single night in order to secure those thousand nights. The world, by comparison with the Hereafter, is worth even less; there is no likeness between the two, for the Hereafter is endless and its span cannot be grasped even in imagination.

We have devoted an entire book to describing the nature of this world, but for now we shall be content with what follows, having clarified its reality through ten examples.

First example: the sorcery of the world. The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said, “Beware of the world, for it is more bewitching than Harut and Marut. Its first spell is that it makes you think it is settled beside you, at ease with you; yet when you reflect you find it fleeing from you, ever running away, slipping off little by little, particle by particle, breath by breath.”

The world is like a shadow: when you look at it you imagine it motionless, while it is in constant passage. So too a person’s lifespan moves on continuously, diminishing at every moment. In the same way the world bids you farewell and slips away while you remain heedless, unknowing, unconscious. For this reason a poet said:

Even if worldly life abound and taste sweet in its pleasures,
It is nothing but a mirage;
Its delights depart once the savor is gone,
And vanish, passing by like scudding clouds.

Second example: another of its spells is that it shows itself to you as a friend so that you fall in love with it, making you think it stands by your side and will not pass from you to another—only to turn back and become your enemy—