Chapter 7 - On Blaming the World

Imam Sadiq (a.s) said: “Whenever there are more people who are sleeping than people who are not, more of those who are sleeping will succeed than those who are not.”

world is short-lived and your life is even much shorter. Therefore you can only get a little out of this short life.”

“They have not died except due to God's wrath. Had they died one by one, they would have buried each other.” The disciples said: “O' Spirit of God! Ask God to revive them so that they could tell us what they did so that we can avoid those deeds.” Jesus (a.s) then called upon God. A voice from Heaven said: “Call them.” At nighttime Jesus (a.s) went on top of a hill and said: “O' residents of this village!” Someone said: “O' Spirit of God! Yes.” Jesus (a.s) said: “Woe to you! What were your deeds?” The man said: “Worship of false gods and love for this world, little fear of God, high ambitions, being delved in ignorance, and pleasure-seeking.” Jesus (a.s) asked: “How did you love this world?” He said: “Just as a child loves his mother, and we got happy whenever it turned towards us and cried whenever it turned away from us.” Jesus (a.s) asked: “How did you worship false gods?” He said: “We followed those who committed sins.” Jesus (a.s) asked: “What was your final end?” He said: “One night we were all healthy and went to sleep. But in the morning we were all in 'Havieh'“. Jesus (a.s) asked: “What is 'Havieh'. He replied: “It is Sejjeen”. Jesus (a.s) asked: “What is Sejjeen?” He replied: “It is mountains full of blazing fire that will burn us until the Resurrection Day.” Jesus (a.s) asked: “What did you say?” He said: We said: “Return us to the world and we will be abstinent there. But we were told that we were liars.” Jesus (a.s) said: “Woe to you. How come you only talk with me?” He said: “O' spirit of God! They have fiery mouthpieces put on them and are in the hands of angry and stern angels. I am among them, but I am not one of them. When the punishment descended upon them, it overtook me too. I am now hanging over Hell by a very fine piece of thread, and do not know whether I will fall into Hell, or be saved from it.” Jesus (a.s) faced his disciples and said: “O' Friends of God! Eating bread and coarse salt, and sleeping in trash yards is the utmost prosperity if it is combined with the prosperity of this world and the Hereafter.”

“Glory to God. He would not entrap those whom He loves in this world even if it was all filled with good things, and He would not save whomever He willed from this world if it was filled with evil.”

Imam Sadiq (a.s) said: “All evil is placed in a house and its key is love for this world. All good is placed in a house and its key is abstinence in this world.”

“Your Lord greets you and says: “I will convert all the deserts of Mecca to gold for you without the least reduction in your Heavenly ranks.” God's Prophet (a.s) looked at the deserts and said: “O' Lord! I shall thank you on the days I am full, and I shall beg from you on the days I am hungry.”

“What do I have to do with this world, and what does this world have to do with me? The story of me and the world is similar to that of a man who is riding on a hot day and reaches a tree. He takes a nap under the shade of the tree for a short while, and then goes on leaving the tree behind.”

Imam Sadiq (a.s) said: “You can read in Imam Ali's book that this world is like a snake which feels soft but has a lethal poison inside. Any wise man will avoid it, but ignorant children will be attracted to it.”

The story of a greedy man in this world is similar to the story of a silk worm. The more silk it winds around itself, the harder it will get for it to exit, until it finally dies in grief.”

“What do I have to do with this world? The story of me and the world is similar to that of a man who is riding and reaches a tree. He rests under the shade of the tree for a short while, and then leaves the tree when its shade goes away.”

Imam Sadiq (a.s) said: “God will make poor whoever spends his days and nights just worried about the li fe of this world, and will disrupt his affairs, and he will not get anything more than what God has established as his share of daily bread. But God will make self-sufficient in the heart whoever spends his days and nights just worried about the life of the Hereafter, and will settle his affairs for him.”

Imam Sadiq (a.s) said: “If the heart loses the love for this world even for a tiny bit, it has not been fooled.”

Imam Sadiq (a.s) said: “Strengthen your religion as the people of this world strengthen their worldly life. This world is a witness through which we can recognize the depth of the Hereafter. Always recognize the Hereafter through the blessings of this world, and try to learn lessons from them.”

Imam Sadiq (a.s) said: “There are many who seek this world, but cannot attain it; and there are many who attain this world, but leave it behind. Let not seeking this world hinder you from performing your deeds. Always ask for this world from its Owner and the One who grants it. There were many who where greedy in this world but were knocked down by it. They were so involved with this world that they neglected to work for the Hereafter until their life was finished, and the time for their death approached.”

“Money destroyed those before you, and it will destroy you too.”

Imam Sadiq (a.s) said: “God has made His friends subject to being attacked by His enemies.”

God's Prophet (a.s) said: “The world is a prison for a believer and a cause of his grief. But it is the Heaven for the pagans, and is a source of comfort for them.”

God's Prophet (a.s) said: “The world is a prison for a believer. Are there any prisons in which there is any good?”

a man complained to Imam Sadiq (a.s) about his hard life. The Imam asked: “How is it my fault? You have chosen it yourself.” The man asked: “When did I choose it?” Imam Sadiq (a.s) said: “ God offered you this world and the Hereafter. You preferred the Hereafter. In this world the believers are guests of the pagans. In this world you eat, drink, wear clothes and get married. But in the Hereafter, they will not eat, drink, wear clothes or get married. They will ask you to intercede on their behalf in the Hereafter, and you will not intercede for them. God the Almighty said that they would ask you: “Pour down to us water or anything that God doth provide for your sustenance” but they will be told that: “Both these things hath God forbidden to those who rejected Him.” [The Holy Quran: Araf 7:50]

“The love for this world is the root of all sins. This world is of two types: the world that is a means of our delivery to the Hereafter, and the damned world.”

“I will advise myself and you to fear God, the God whose disobedience is not permissible, and there is not any one else on whom we can place any hopes, or can make us self-sufficient. In fact whoever feared God became honorable, strong, satisfied and their intelligence was raised above that of the people of the world. Their bodies are with the people of this world but their heart and intellect are attentive to the Hereafter. Their spiritual illumination of the heart has put out any love for this world that their eyes might have experienced. They recognize the forbidden things in this world and abstain from the doubtful things. By God they have even abandoned the purely allowed things in this world except for a little they are obliged to, and that being a piece of cloth to cover them. Even then they use the most rugged clothes, and the worst food they can get, and they do not place any hopes on them either. They only place their hopes on the Creator of the two worlds. Thus they will work hard, and strain their bodies until their bones can be seen and their eyes are filled with tears. God will reward them with physical and mental strength, and increase their reward in the Hereafter. Reject the lowest form of existence that is this world since love for this world will make you deaf, dumb, blind, and humiliated. Try to compensate during the rest of your life, since those who lived before you were ruined because they insisted on their high hopes, and their procrastinations, and then suddenly the time of death approached by God's order while they were negligent. Then they were placed in the coffin and dispatched to their dark and narrow graves and left their family and children. You leave the world with an attentive heart, having cut off hopes in the world and everyone in it, and go towards God with an unbreakable determination. May God help you and us to obey Him, and succeed in pleasing Him.”

“The soul of one who does not get calmed by God's condolences will not get relieved from regretting in this world. His worries will increase and his fury will not be cured. Whoever does not recognize any blessings of God other than his food, drinks and clothing, is not really doing enough good deeds. His punishment will arrive soon.”

“The similitude of this world and the Hereafter can be best understood from the following example. Consider dipping your finger into the sea. How much water sticks to your finger when you withdraw it from the sea.”

Jesus (a.s) said: “The similitude of the world and the Hereafter is like that of a man with two wives. Whomever he pleases, the other one will get angry with him.”

God's Prophet (a.s) said: “The world is the house of those who do not have a house, and the capital of those who do not have any capital. Whoever collects it is not intelligent; and whoever follows lustful desires does not have any understanding. Whoever opposes the world has no knowledge of it. Whoever is envious of the world does not comprehend it, and whoever strives for it, does not have certitude.”

Prophet (a.s) recited the verse:“Is one whose heart God has opened to Islam, so that he has received enlightenment from God, (no better than one hard- hearted)?” [The Holy Quran: Zumar 39:22] and said: “When the light shines in the heart, it opens it and illuminates it.” He was asked: “O' Prophet of God! Is there any sign with which this can be recognized.” He said: “Abstaining from the world, and turning to the Hereafter, and being ready for death before it descends.”

Ameer al-Momineen (a.s) said: “O' world! Get away from me. Do you want to fool me? Or are you eager for me? You can never do that. Go and fool someone else. I do not need you. I have divorced you, and will never return to you. Life in you is short, and your problems are too many. Your ambitions are base. O' how little are the provisions for and how far is the trip; how great is the entrance place, and how rough is the place to sleep!”

Imam Ali (a.s) said: “The world fools, harms and passes by. God the Almighty did not establish the world as a reward for His friends, or a penalty for His enemies. The people in this world are similar to a caravan having a short rest along the way, and the caravan leader suddenly hollers at them to depart.”

God's Prophet (a.s) said: “Being attracted to this world increases sorrow and grief, and abstaining form this world will comfort the heart and the body.”

Imam Sadiq (a.s) said: “Whoever gets attached to this world has only grabbed continual grief, unattainable aspirations and unreachable hopes.”

Imam Sadiq (a.s) said: “I am amazed at the one who is stingy both when the world is running in his favor and when it is not. Charity will not affect the world running in your favor and neither will stinginess help when the world is not running in your favor.”

Ameer al-Momineen (a.s) in one of his sermons said: “O' People! This world is an ephemeral house, but Hereafter is an eternal home. Therefore take something from this world which is your passage for your eternal home. Do not be impudent near those who know your secrets. Take your hearts out of this world before they take your bodies out of it. You live in this world but you are created for the Hereafter. The world is like a poison that those who do not know it will eat. Whenever one dies the angels ask: “What has he sent ahead?”, but the people ask: “What has he collected?” Then now send something ahead that is noble and will remain for you. Do not leave anything behind that will be a burden for you. One who has been deprived of spending his wealth in the way of God is really the one who is deprived, and will be envious of those whose scale of good deeds and charity is heavy and get a good place in Heaven and safely pass over the Bridge to the Hereafter.”

“O' Israelites! Do not grieve about what you have lost of the goods of this world, as long as your religion is intact, just as the people (who are attached to this world) will not grieve over the loss of their religion as long as their world has remained intact.”

Imam Sadiq (a.s) said: “Whenever the world favors someone it will even give him the goods of other people, and whenever it turns its back on someone, it will even take away his own goods.”

Ameer al-Momineen (a.s) said: “How can I describe a house (i.e. this world) which starts with hardship and ends in destruction. There is reckoning for the illegitimate things, and there is punishment for the forbidden things. Whoever gets rich in this house will become rebellious, and whoever gets needy will get sad. Whoever goes after this world will lose it, and it will go after whoever abandons it. Whoever looks at it will gain insight, but whoever looks for it will get blinded by it.”

God's Prophet (a.s) passed by an insane man and asked what had happened to him. They said: “He is insane.” The Prophet (a.s) said: “His brain is injured. A real insane person is one who prefers this world to the Hereafter.”

God's Prophet (a.s) said: “O' Lord! Please anyone who believes in You, and witnesses to my Prophethood with (the reward of) meeting You. Ease your destiny for him, and give him a little wealth.”

Imam Sadiq (a.s) said: “The world appeared to Jesus (a.s) as a green-eyed woman. He said: “O' woman! How many times have you been married? She said: “Many times.” He asked: “Have they all divorced you?” She said: “No. I have killed them all.” He said: “Woe to your remaining husbands who do not learn any lessons from the destiny of your previous husbands!”

Imam Baqir (a.s) said: “Consider this world to be like a place you have stopped and intend to leave after a short time. Or think of it like some property you have obtained in sleep, and you see nothing in your hand when you wake up. Whenever you see a dead person, assume it is you, and think that you have asked the Lord to return you to this world, and He has done so. Now act like a person who has seen the results of his actions.”

“Try to remain unknown if you can. Do not be afraid of getting blamed by the people, since you will be praised by God. Ameer al-Momineen said: “There is no good in this world except for two people: those who add to their good deeds everyday, and those who compensate for their sins by repenting, but how do they know that their repentance is accepted? I swear by God that even if he prostrates so much that his neck breaks, God will not accept his repentance except through the friendship of us, the holy household (of the Prophet). Know that others who benefit from this world are those who respect our rights and hope to receive rewards through us, and are content with their food, clothing and head covering. In this affair they are fearful.

“You cannot gather wealth unless you have real stinginess, long aspirations, extensive greed, cutting off from the relations of kin and preferring this world to the Hereafter.”

“Persevere. God will soon make things easy for you.” He was quiet for a while, and then faced that man and said: “Tell me how is the Kufa jail?” He said: “May God maintain your health. It is narrow and stinking, and the prisoners there feel bad.” Then the Imam (a.s) said: “You are in a prison, too. Do you want a relief. Do you know that this world is a prison for the believers?”

God's Prophet (a.s) said: “O' Lord! I seek refuge in You from this world, since this world prevents me from paying attention to the Hereafter.”