this world, We give him some of it, but he will have no share in the Hereafter.”

Thus He made reward and punishment contingent upon a person’s desiring this fleeting life, the life of this world, and the harvest of this world. In the verse from Surah Hūd, He says:

“We repay them in full for their deeds therein”—until He says—“and worthless is what they used to do.”

This indicates that they had deeds that came to nothing, that they were punished for other deeds they had committed, and that the desire mentioned here necessarily entails action. When He mentioned desiring the Hereafter, He said:

“But whoever desires the Hereafter and strives for it as he ought to, while being a believer…”

That is because, although desiring the Hereafter entails working for it, reward is only for deeds that have been commanded, not for every kind of striving. Faith is also indispensable.

Another example is His saying:

“O Prophet, say to your wives: ‘If you desire the life of this world and its adornments’”—to the end of the verse—and: “But if you desire Allah and His Messenger and the Home of the Hereafter…”

This parallels the verse in Surah Hūd. It also accords with his words, “When two Muslims confront each other with their swords,” except that he said, “For he intended to kill his companion,” or, “He was eager to kill his companion.” Thus he mentioned eagerness and intent to kill, which must necessarily be accompanied by action. This is not covered by the hadith concerning pardon:

“Allah has pardoned my community for their inward thoughts.”

Another matter arising from this is a well-known issue of disagreement—between Ahl al-Sunnah and most scholars