The Ephemeral World
My Dear Readers,
السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ
Al-salāmu ʿalaykum wa-raḥmatu Allāhi wa-barakātuhu.
May the Peace, Mercy and Blessings of Allah be upon you.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
Bismi Allāhi al-Raḥmāni al-Raḥīmi.
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ، نَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ، وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَسَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا. مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ، وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ.
Al-ḥamdu lillāhi, nastaʿīnuhu wa-nastaghfiruhu, wa-naʿūdhu bi-Allāhi min shurūri anfusinā wa-sayyiʾāti aʿmālinā. Man yahdihi Allāhu fa-lā muḍilla lahu, wa-man yuḍlil fa-lā hādiya lahu.
وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ.
Wa-ashhadu an lā ilāha illā Allāhu, wa-ashhadu anna Muḥammadan ʿabduhu wa-rasūluhu.
See the end note in the first post.
The Speed of Life
The rapid pace at which we live makes the familiar observation that time flies painfully apparent. Weeks fly by, and sometimes we live from weekend to weekend, pausing only to catch up on sleep. We become so absorbed in our careers and worldly goals—the end of the semester, graduation, a job, the next pay raise, a house, a car, and so on—that, before we realize it, years have passed. All we may have to show for them are a few inches around the waist and a few strands of gray hair.
If, at any point in history, we doubted that this world is temporary and will not last for us, surely that doubt is now gone. We harbor no illusions about our mortality, nor do we believe in the permanence of this world. We know it will all end sooner or later; for each of us, it will end the moment we close our eyes for the last time. If we expect—or believe—that the life Hereafter is lasting, then our goals in the life of this world become much simpler. What, then, should our relationship be with this ephemeral world?
Let us begin with what the Qur’an advises.
What the Qur’an Says About This World
اعْلَمُوا أَنَّمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا لَعِبٌ وَلَهْوٌ وَزِينَةٌ وَتَفَاخُرٌ بَيْنَكُمْ وَتَكَاثُرٌ فِي الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَوْلَادِ ۖ كَمَثَلِ غَيْثٍ أَعْجَبَ الْكُفَّارَ نَبَاتُهُ ثُمَّ يَهِيجُ فَتَرَاهُ مُصْفَرًّا ثُمَّ يَكُونُ حُطَامًا ۖ وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ عَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ وَمَغْفِرَةٌ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَرِضْوَانٌ ۚ وَمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلَّا مَتَاعُ الْغُرُورِ
Iʿlamū annamā al-ḥayātu al-dunyā laʿibun wa-lahwun wa-zīnatun wa-tafākhurun baynakum wa-takāthurun fī al-amwāli wa-al-awlādi; ka-mathali ghaythin aʿjaba al-kuffāra nabātuhu thumma yahīju fa-tarāhu muṣfarran thumma yakūnu ḥuṭāman; wa-fī al-ākhirati ʿadhābun shadīdun wa-maghfiratun mina Allāhi wa-riḍwānun; wa-mā al-ḥayātu al-dunyā illā matāʿu al-ghurūri.
KNOW [O people] that the life of this world is but a play and a passing delight, and a beautiful show, and [the cause of] your boastful vying with one another, and [of your] greed for more and more riches and children. Its parable is that of [life-giving] rain: the herbage which it causes to grow delights the tillers of the soil; but then it withers, and thou canst see it turn yellow; and in the end it crumbles into dust. But [the abiding truth of man’s condition will become fully apparent] in the life to come: [either] suffering severe, or God’s forgiveness and His goodly acceptance: for the life of this world is nothing but an enjoyment of self-delusion.
زُيِّنَ لِلنَّاسِ حُبُّ الشَّهَوَاتِ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ وَالْبَنِينَ وَالْقَنَاطِيرِ الْمُقَنْطَرَةِ مِنَ الذَّهَبِ وَالْفِضَّةِ وَالْخَيْلِ الْمُسَوَّمَةِ وَالْأَنْعَامِ وَالْحَرْثِ ۗ ذَٰلِكَ مَتَاعُ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا ۖ وَاللَّهُ عِنْدَهُ حُسْنُ الْمَآبِ
Zuyyina li-al-nāsi ḥubbu al-shahawāti mina al-nisāʾi wa-al-banīna wa-al-qanāṭīri al-muqanṭarati mina al-dhahabi wa-al-fiḍḍati wa-al-khayli al-musawwamati wa-al-anʿāmi wa-al-ḥarthi. Dhālika matāʿu al-ḥayāti al-dunyā, wa-Allāhu ʿindahu ḥusnu al-maʾābi.
ALLURING unto man is the enjoyment of worldly desires through women, and children, and heaped-up treasures of gold and silver, and horses of high mark, and cattle, and lands. All this may be enjoyed in the life of this world—but the most beauteous of all goals is with God.
مَنْ كَانَ يُرِيدُ حَرْثَ الْآخِرَةِ نَزِدْ لَهُ فِي حَرْثِهِ ۖ وَمَنْ كَانَ يُرِيدُ حَرْثَ الدُّنْيَا نُؤْتِهِ مِنْهَا وَمَا لَهُ فِي الْآخِرَةِ مِنْ نَصِيبٍ
Man kāna yurīdu ḥartha al-ākhirati nazid lahu fī ḥarthihi; wa-man kāna yurīdu ḥartha al-dunyā nuʾtihi minhā, wa-mā lahu fī al-ākhirati min naṣībin.
To him who desires a harvest in the life to come, We shall grant an increase in his harvest; whereas to him who desires [but] a harvest in this world, We [may] give something thereof—but he will have no share in [the blessings of] the life to come.
These three āyāt are only a selection from the many that warn us against falling in love with this world. Yet we spend our lives pursuing it, barely devoting a fraction of our time or other resources to the life to come.
Four Ways of Relating to the World
There are those among us who unabashedly pursue this world without regard for the consequences in their life Hereafter. May Allah guide them and us.
Then there are those who are apologetic in their approach, paying lip service to the dīn and the ākhirah, while their actions show that the life of this world—the ḥayāt al-dunyā—occupies most of their lives. This, to me, appears to describe the majority among us. May Allah forgive them and us, and show them and us the right path. Āyah 42:20 should be considered particularly carefully by such people. After reading it, should any among us Muslims who believe in the lasting life of the Hereafter still desire this world at the expense of the life to come? Are we truly paying heed to the advice of our Maker?
Then there is another minority among us that deludes itself in pursuing this world, convincing itself that its intentions are for the ākhirah. This is a self-righteous, though self-harming, state of mind. May Allah enlighten them and us, and awaken them from their delusions and us from ours.
Lastly, there are believers among us whose hearts are occupied with their Beloved. The Hereafter becomes the natural result, no matter what they may be doing in this world. May Allah bless them and make us all aspire to be like them.
Like a Stranger or a Wayfarer
Such are the people about whom the Prophet ﷺ said, as Ibn ʿUmar رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ relates in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī:
كُنْ فِي الدُّنْيَا كَأَنَّكَ غَرِيبٌ، أَوْ عَابِرُ سَبِيلٍ.
Kun fī al-dunyā ka-annaka gharībun aw ʿābiru sabīlin.
“Be in this world like a stranger or a wayfarer.”
The Prophet ﷺ also reportedly warned us:
“By Allah, this world in comparison to the Hereafter is nothing but as though one of you dipped his finger in the sea. So ponder how much (of sea water), the finger returns with?”
“What is there between myself and the world? This world and I are just like a rider who stops to rest beneath the shade of a tree then goes and leaves it.”
This is further reinforced by Ibn ʿUmar’s own counsel:
وَكَانَ ابْنُ عُمَرَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا يَقُولُ: إِذَا أَمْسَيْتَ فَلَا تَنْتَظِرِ الصَّبَاحَ، وَإِذَا أَصْبَحْتَ فَلَا تَنْتَظِرِ الْمَسَاءَ، وَخُذْ مِنْ صِحَّتِكَ لِمَرَضِكَ، وَمِنْ حَيَاتِكَ لِمَوْتِكَ.
Wa-kāna Ibnu ʿUmara raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhumā yaqūlu: Idhā amsayta fa-lā tantaẓiri al-ṣabāḥa, wa-idhā aṣbaḥta fa-lā tantaẓiri al-masāʾa, wa-khudh min ṣiḥḥatika li-maraḍika, wa-min ḥayātika li-mawtika.
“In the evening do not expect [to live until] the morning, and in the morning do not expect [to live until] the evening. Take [advantage of] your health before times of sickness, and [take advantage of] your life before your death.”
Six Things of This World
In his exegesis of verse 57:20 above, Imam al-Qurṭubī narrates advice from Sayyidinā ʿAlī عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ to ʿAmmār رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ:
وَعَنْ عَلِيٍّ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ لِعَمَّارٍ:لَا تَحْزَنْ عَلَى الدُّنْيَا، فَإِنَّ الدُّنْيَا سِتَّةُ أَشْيَاءَ: مَأْكُولٌ، وَمَشْرُوبٌ، وَمَلْبُوسٌ، وَمَشْمُومٌ، وَمَرْكُوبٌ، وَمَنْكُوحٌ.فَأَحْسَنُ طَعَامِهَا الْعَسَلُ، وَهُوَ بَزْقَةُ ذُبَابَةٍ.وَأَكْثَرُ شَرَابِهَا الْمَاءُ، يَسْتَوِي فِيهِ جَمِيعُ الْحَيَوَانِ.وَأَفْضَلُ مَلْبُوسِهَا الدِّيبَاجُ، وَهُوَ نَسْجُ دُودَةٍ.وَأَفْضَلُ الْمَشْمُومِ الْمِسْكُ، وَهُوَ دَمُ فَأْرَةٍ.وَأَفْضَلُ الْمَرْكُوبِ الْفَرَسُ، وَعَلَيْهَا يُقْتَلُ الرِّجَالُ.وَأَمَّا الْمَنْكُوحُ فَالنِّسَاءُ، وَهُوَ مَبَالٌ فِي مَبَالٍ. وَاللَّهِ إِنَّ الْمَرْأَةَ لَتُزَيِّنُ أَحْسَنَهَا، يُرَادُ بِهِ أَقْبَحُهَا.Wa-ʿan ʿAliyyin raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu qāla li-ʿAmmārin:Lā taḥzan ʿalā al-dunyā, fa-inna al-dunyā sittatu ashyāʾin: maʾkūlun, wa-mashrūbun, wa-malbūsun, wa-mashmūmun, wa-markūbun, wa-mankūḥun.Fa-aḥsanu ṭaʿāmihā al-ʿasalu, wa-huwa bazqatu dhubābatin.Wa-aktharu sharābihā al-māʾu, yastawī fīhi jamīʿu al-ḥayawāni.Wa-afḍalu malbūsihā al-dībāju, wa-huwa nasju dūdatin.Wa-afḍalu al-mashmūmi al-misku, wa-huwa damu faʾratin.Wa-afḍalu al-markūbi al-farasu, wa-ʿalayhā yuqtalu al-rijālu.Wa-ammā al-mankūḥu fa-al-nisāʾu, wa-huwa mabālun fī mabālin. Wa-Allāhi inna al-marʾata la-tuzayyinu aḥsanahā, yurādu bihi aqbaḥuhā.It is related that ʿAlī (may God grant him peace) said to ʿAmmār (may God be pleased with him):
“Do not grieve over this world, for the world amounts to six things: something eaten, something drunk, something worn, something smelled, something ridden, and something sought in sexual relations.
As for its finest food, it is honey—yet it is but the spittle of a fly. Its most common drink is water, in which all animals are alike. Its finest clothing is silken brocade, yet it is the weaving of a worm. Its finest fragrance is musk, yet it is the sanguine extract of a mouse (deer). Its finest mount is the horse—yet upon it humans are killed.
And as for what is sought in intimate relations with women—it is ‘a place of urine entering a place of urine.’ By God, a woman adorns the best of what is in her, while what one is really after is the most repulsive of what is in her.”
Notes on nuance: بَزْقَةٌ is a deliberately coarse word, something like “spittle”; وَهُوَ مَبَالٌ فِي مَبَالٍ is intentionally jarring and reductive, meant to strip away glamour; and يُرَادُ بِهِ suggests “what one is really after,” beneath the outward attraction.
This really shook ʿAmmār, and he never thought of the world as he had before hearing this advice. I hope this jolts us awake too. May Allah guide us, help us remember our purpose in this life, and prevent us from being waylaid into spending our time and resources on trivial pursuits.
In addition to al-Qurṭubī, the quotation—or variants of it—appears in several classical works of Qur’anic commentary, such as Tafsīr al-Thaʿlabī, and in ascetic literature. Al-Zabīdī, for example, cites it in Itḥāf al-Sādah al-Muttaqīn, although I could not locate his reference to Abū Nuʿaym reporting it in Ḥilyat al-Awliyāʾ.
No comments:
Post a Comment