The more a person amasses the goods of this world and clings to them, the farther he drifts from the Hereafter. For that reason the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “By Allah, it is not poverty that I fear for you. What I fear is that the world will be laid open before you just as it was laid open to those who came before you, and that you will vie for it as they vied for it, whereupon it will destroy you as it destroyed them.”

Hence we sometimes observe that a person is better off during straitened or middling circumstances than he is when affluent, for wealth can beguile him and drive him to arrogance—may Allah protect us. Accordingly, He said, “And the life of this world is nothing but the enjoyment of delusion” (Aal ʿImran 3:185); that is, do not be deceived by it. Rather, devote yourselves to the Hereafter, where, if a person is kept away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise, he has thereby attained a victory unmatched by any other. We ask Allah to make us and you among those who are granted good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and whom He shields from the torment of the Fire.

The author—may Allah have mercy on him—said, while citing verses in the chapter on remembering death and curbing long hopes:

“And Allah says: ‘No soul knows what it will earn tomorrow, nor does any soul know in what land it will die’ (Luqman 31:34).”

And He, the Exalted, also says: “When their appointed time comes, they can neither delay it by an hour nor hasten it” (An-Nahl 16:61).

[Explanation]

The author—may Allah have mercy on him—states in the chapter on remembering death and the shortness of hope that