“Wealth and children are the adornment of the life of this world, but enduring righteous deeds are better with your Lord in reward and better as a basis for hope.”

Thus Allah Most High informs us that wealth and children are merely the adornment of worldly life; that is, there is nothing beyond this adornment. What remains for a person, benefits him, and brings him joy is enduring righteous deeds. These include every obligatory and recommended act of obedience relating to the rights of Allah and the rights of His servants: prayer, zakat, charity, Hajj, Umrah, glorifying and praising Allah, declaring His oneness and greatness, reciting the Quran, seeking beneficial knowledge, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, maintaining ties of kinship, honoring one’s parents, fulfilling the rights of wives, slaves, and animals, and every other form of kindness toward creation. All these are among the enduring righteous deeds.

They are better in reward with Allah and better as a basis for hope: their reward remains and multiplies throughout eternity, and one may hope for their reward, goodness, and benefit when they are most needed. These are the deeds for which those who compete should vie, toward which those who labor should race, and which the diligent should strive earnestly to attain.

Consider how, after Allah set forth the parable of this world—its condition and its passing away—He stated that what it contains is of two kinds. The first is part of its adornment, enjoyed briefly before it vanishes without bringing its possessor any lasting benefit; indeed, it may even cause him harm. This consists of wealth and children. The second remains and benefits its possessor forever: enduring righteous deeds.