487 – Ṣāliḥ ibn Mālik related to me; he said: Abū ʿUbayda al-Nāji related to me, from al-Hasan, who said:
You have awakened in an abode whose very residents find it blameworthy. It was created as a test, and a fixed term has been set for it; when that deadline arrives it will be extinguished. It is a house from which one is uprooted and a lodging for the traveller’s bare provisions. Allah caused its plants to sprout and spread through it every living creature; then He informed them of the destiny to which they are heading. Concerning what He brought forth for them, He commanded His servants to obey Him, ⦗208⦘ instructed them, clarified its path for them, and promised them good for following it. They are in His grasp—none of them can elude Him—and none of their deeds is hidden from Him. Thus they perform diverse deeds; their efforts differ, some disobedient, others obedient, and for each there is a recompense from Allah for what he has done, a portion that will not be diminished.
Never have I heard Allah—exalted is He—in what He entrusted to His servants and revealed to them of His Book, encourage anyone among His creation to crave this world, or approve for them contentment with it or reliance upon it. Rather, Allah has varied the signs about it and struck parables exposing its faults, forbidding attachment to it, and urging desire for something beyond it.
It has become clear to the righteous servants of Allah that the matter for which this world and its people were created is momentous, awe-inspiring at its outset, difficult—by Allah—given what awaits them; its reward and its punishment resemble nothing else. It is the abode of permanence: Allah will judge the servants by their works and lodge them in their ranks. After that, no misery will be removed from those who suffer, nor any bliss withdrawn from those who rejoice.
As for this present world, it is the domain of deeds. Whoever keeps its company while despising it, practising asceticism toward it and belittling it, prospers by it and benefits from that companionship. Whoever accompanies it with eagerness for it and love of it becomes wretched through it; it deprives him of his share with Allah, then hands him over to what he cannot endure—the punishment and wrath of Allah. Its affair is trifling, its enjoyment scant, and destruction is written upon it. Allah is the Guardian of its inheritance, while its people are shifting away from it to dwellings that never decay. However long they live here, they still die; however extended their stay, they must depart.
So beware of that station; increase your remembrance of the homecoming. Prepare yourself for it and flee from its evil. Let not the paltry, perishable enjoyment distract you. O child of Adam, sever this world from your greatest concern, hasten toward your appointed term, and do not keep saying, “Tomorrow, tomorrow,” for you do not know when you will return to Allah. O child of Adam, do not be deluded, and do not feel secure until security reaches you from Him. The greatest terror and the most horrifying events lie ahead of you; you have not yet escaped them. You must inevitably traverse ⦗209⦘ that path and witness all those events—either in safety from their evil and deliverance from their horror, or else in ruin; and after that there is neither good nor revival.