(45–46) “Set forth for them the parable of the life of this world: it is like water We send down from the sky, causing the vegetation of the earth to flourish and intermingle. Then it becomes dry debris, scattered by the winds. Allah has power over all things.”
Allah Most High primarily instructs His Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—and, by extension, those who inherit his mission after him: Set forth for people the parable of the life of this world so that they may understand it properly and recognize both its outward appearance and its true reality. They may then compare it with the everlasting abode and give preference to whichever is more deserving.
The likeness of this worldly life is that of rain descending upon the earth. Its vegetation mingles with it, and every delightful kind of plant springs forth. While its blossoms and adornments please those who behold them, delight the onlookers, and captivate the heedless, suddenly they become dry debris scattered by the winds. The lush vegetation, radiant blossoms, and beautiful scenery disappear, and the earth becomes dusty soil. Eyes turn away from it, gazes lose interest in it, and it fills the heart with desolation.
Such is this world. While a person is proud of his youth, surpasses his peers and contemporaries in worldly attainments, amasses its dirhams and dinars, plucks the blossoms of its pleasures, indulges his desires at every moment, and imagines that he will continue in this way all his days, death suddenly overtakes him or his wealth is destroyed. His happiness departs, his pleasure and delight vanish, and his heart is left desolate amid suffering. He parts from his youth, strength, and wealth and remains alone with his deeds, whether righteous or evil. There the wrongdoer will bite his hands when he realizes the true condition in which he finds himself. He will wish to return to this world—not to enjoy its pleasures to the full, but to make amends for the heedlessness of which he was guilty through repentance and righteous deeds.
The intelligent, resolute person who has been granted divine guidance considers himself in this condition and says to his soul: “Suppose that you have already died—and you will inevitably die. Which of the two conditions would you choose: to be deluded by the adornments of this abode and enjoy them as grazing livestock do, or to labor for an abode whose fruit and shade are everlasting, and in which there is whatever souls desire and eyes delight in?” ⦗479⦘ By this one may know whether a servant has been granted divine success or has been forsaken, and whether he has gained or lost.