On Detachment from the World (Zuhd fī al-Dunyā) and Its Worthlessness in the Sight of God
Kitāb al-Iʿtibār wa-Sulwat al-ʿĀrifīn by Imām al-Muwaffaq bi-llāh al-Ḥusayn ibn Ismāʿīl al-Jurjānī (d. 430 AH)
Chapter: On Detachment from the World (Zuhd fī al-Dunyā) and Its Worthlessness in the Sight of God
God Almighty said:
“Set forth to them the parable of the life of this world: it is like water which We send down from the sky, and the vegetation of the earth mingles with it; then it becomes dry stubble scattered by the winds. And God has power over all things.”
(Surat al-Kahf 18:45)
And He said:
“This worldly life is nothing but play and amusement; but the abode of the Hereafter is the true life, if they only knew.”
(Surat al-ʿAnkabūt 29:64)
And He said:
“Know that the life of this world is but play, amusement, adornment, boasting among you, and rivalry in wealth and children — like the rain whose growth pleases the farmers; then it withers, and you see it turn yellow, then it becomes debris. But in the Hereafter there is severe punishment and forgiveness from God and His good pleasure. And the life of this world is nothing but a deceptive enjoyment.”
(Surat al-Ḥadīd 57:20)
And He said:
“O mankind! Fear your Lord, and fear a Day when no father can avail his son, nor can a son avail his father in anything. Indeed, the promise of God is true; so let not the worldly life deceive you, nor let the Deceiver deceive you concerning God.”
(Surat Luqmān 31:33)
Traditions and Sayings
ʿAbū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad narrated to us, saying: ʿAbū Aḥmad al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Saʿīd narrated to me, who said: Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Zuhayr narrated to me, who said: Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq narrated to me, who said: Abū Aḥmad al-Zubayrī narrated to us, from Sufyān [al-Thawrī], from Layth ibn Abī Sulaym, from Mujāhid, from Ibn ʿUmar, who said:
The Messenger of God ﷺ took hold of part of my body and said:
“Be in this world as though you were a stranger or a traveler passing along the road. And count yourself among the people of the graves.
Then he said to me, O Ibn ʿUmar,
When you rise in the morning, do not think of the evening, and when you reach the evening, do not think of the morning. Take from your health for your illness, and from your life before your death; for, O servant of God, you do not know what your name will be tomorrow.”
From the Commander of the Faithful, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (peace be upon him):
“Whoever combines six traits will not lack for any means to reach Paradise, nor will he have any escape from Hell:
He knows God, so he obeys Him;
He knows Satan, so he disobeys him;
He knows truth, so he follows it;
He knows falsehood, so he avoids it;
He knows this world, so he renounces it;
And he knows the Hereafter, so he seeks it.”
And he (ʿAlī عليه السلام) said:
“This world is more insignificant to me than the sneeze of a goat in the wilderness.”
And he said also:
“O world, your rein is on your neck — go away, for I have divorced you (i.e., renounced you).”
And he also said:
(As narrated by Abū Ḥātim Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥasan, from Zayd ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd al-Hāshimī, from al-Muʿtamar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb Abū al-Dunyā:)
“The Commander of the Faithful ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib said:
‘The world deceives, harms, and passes away.’”
One of the wise men said:
“The world is the wine of Satan — whoever becomes intoxicated by it will not awaken except in the camp of the dead, remorseful among the losers.”
And the Messenger of God ﷺ said:
“People are asleep; when they die, they awaken.”
And one of the wise said, as related through ʿĀʾisha (may God be pleased with her):
“The world is like water — drink only enough to quench your thirst, for what exceeds that brings affliction and sorrow.”
And among the admonitions of the People of the Prophet’s Household (peace be upon them), from the Commander of the Faithful ʿAlī (peace be upon him):
“The world is like salty water: the more the thirsty man drinks of it, the thirstier he becomes, until it kills him.”
And it is related from Jesus (ʿĪsā, peace be upon him):
“Among the signs of the world’s insignificance in the sight of God is that none disobey Him except within it, and none attain what is with God except by renouncing it.”
And al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī said:
“O son of Adam, your day is your guest—so treat it well, or it will depart cursing you. The same applies to your night.”
And one of the wise men said:
“The world is the merchant’s shop of the believers; the night and the day are their capital; righteous deeds are their merchandise; eternal Paradise is their profit; and the everlasting Fire is their loss.”
The author (al-Muwaffaq bi-llāh) said:
“If there were nothing to prove the worthlessness of this world except that its own devoted lover—he who is infatuated by its glitter and deceived by its splendor—himself condemns it, that would suffice. There is no sweetness in it but that bitterness accompanies it twice over.”
As the Commander of the Faithful ʿAlī (peace be upon him) said:
“Do not eat honey except with poison;
Time cuts none but through them.
The sweetness of your world is venomous;
Your pleasures are bound with sorrow.”
And he (ʿAlī, peace be upon him) also said:
“When one side of the world becomes sweet and pleasant, another side turns bitter and departs.”
And a poet versified this meaning:
“It is the habit of the days that their turns are mixed—
when one side brings joy, the other brings grief.”
And another said:
“Joy is but the sister of sorrow, pledged to meet her—
they are two sisters bound for tonight or tomorrow.
And when you hear of one who has perished, then know
the road he traveled is yours—so take provision for it.”
And from Ḥātim al-Aṣamm, al-Fuḍayl (ibn ʿIyāḍ), and others:
“The likeness of this world is that of your shadow: if you chase it, it flees; if you turn from it, it follows.”
And one of the wise men said:
“The world is a ruin—and more desolate than it is the heart of the one who builds it. The Hereafter is a place of cultivation—and more flourishing than it is the heart of the one who seeks it.”
And it is narrated in the admonitions of the People of the House (peace be upon them):
That Abū Dharr (may God’s mercy be upon him) was asked, “Why do we dislike death?”
He said: “Because you have built up the world and ruined the Hereafter—so you hate to move from a place of construction to a place of ruin.”
And it is also narrated therein:
“A king calls out every day: O son of Adam! Beget children for death, gather wealth for destruction, and build for ruin.”
And nothing is more striking, concise, or penetrating to the heart than the saying of God, Most High:
‘Until when they rejoiced in what they were given, We seized them suddenly, and lo! they were in despair.’
(Surat al-Anʿām 6:44)
And Jesus (peace be upon him) said:
“The world is a bridge—cross over it, but do not build upon it.”
And in one of the writings of the People of the House (peace be upon them):
It is mentioned that among the admonitions of Luqmān to his son was this:
“O my son, people before you gathered wealth for their children, but what they gathered did not remain, nor did those for whom they gathered remain.
You are but a hired servant: you have been commanded to work and promised a wage—so fulfill your work and seek your full payment.
Do not be in this world like a sheep in a green pasture—feeding until it grows fat, and its very fatness becomes its doom.
Rather, regard this world as a bridge over a river: cross it and leave it behind, never to return. Cross it, but do not build upon it, for you were not commanded to build it.
And know that tomorrow you will be asked about four things:
—Your youth: how did you spend it?
—Your life: how did you use it?
—Your wealth: from where did you earn it, and in what did you spend it?
So prepare for that and ready your answer.
Do not grieve over what has passed you of the world—for its vanities do not last, and its abundance is not free from affliction.
Take precaution, strive in your duty, lift the veil from your eyes, know the favor of your Lord, make use of your free time before it is taken from you, before your appointed time arrives and your decree is sealed, and you are prevented from what you wish.”
And al-Bāqir, Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī (peace be upon him), said to Jābir al-Juʿfī:
“O Jābir, look upon this world as a dwelling you have stopped in, intending to depart that very day; or like wealth you earned in a dream—when you wake, it is gone from your hand.
And when you attend a funeral, be as one who has asked to return to this world to act as one who has witnessed death with his own eyes.
For indeed, the likeness of the world to the people of knowledge is like the shadow of the afternoon—it diminishes and fades.”
From the author (al-Muwaffaq bi-llāh):
“Indeed, this world is like the shade of a traveler—
The shadow of the caravan quickly passes its peak and vanishes.”
And from Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn (ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn, peace be upon him):
“Dreams of sleep—or like a vanishing shadow—
The intelligent man is not deceived by such as these.”
Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad narrated to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAbd Allāh narrated to us, who said: ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Ismāʿīl narrated to us, who said: al-Rabān ibn al-Zughulī narrated to us, who said: ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn Rūḥ narrated to us, who said: [Abū] al-Miqdām narrated to us from al-Ḥasan [al-Baṣrī], that the Messenger of God ﷺ used to say:
“What have I to do with this world? What have I to do with it! My likeness and the likeness of this world is only that of a rider who passes by a tree, rests in its shade for an hour of the day, then departs and leaves it behind.”
And Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad narrated to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAbd Allāh narrated to us, who said: al-Qāsim ibn ʿAbbād al-Khaṭṭābī narrated to us, who said: Isḥāq ibn Isrāʾīl narrated to us, who said: Muslim ibn Khālid narrated to us from al-ʿAlāʾ ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, from his father, from Abū Hurayrah, who said:
The Messenger of God ﷺ said:
“The world is the prison of the believer and the paradise of the disbeliever.”
And from the Commander of the Faithful ʿAlī (peace be upon him):
“The world is a dwelling of toil, of transience, and of tears.”
And from Zayd ibn ʿAlī (peace be upon him):
“The world is a dwelling of hardship, perishing, change, and lessons.
Among its hardships is that Time has drawn its bow—its arrows never miss, and its wounds never heal.
It shoots the living with death, and the healthy with ruin.
It eats but is never full; it drinks but is never quenched.
Among its hardships is that a man gathers what he does not eat, and builds what he will not inhabit—then he departs to God Most High, having neither carried his wealth nor borne his buildings with him.”
Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad narrated to us, saying:
Abū Aḥmad al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAbd Allāh narrated to us, saying:
Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Duraid narrated to us, saying:
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, the nephew of al-Aṣmaʿī, narrated to us from his uncle, who said:
“I once performed the ḥajj and descended at a place called Ṣurba on a Friday.
Behold—an Arab came forth, having wrapped his turban and slung his bow over his shoulder.
He ascended the pulpit, praised God, then said:
‘O people! The world is but a place of passage, and the Hereafter is the place of settlement.
So take from your place of passing for your place of abiding.
Do not tear away your veils before Him to whom no secrets are hidden.
No one receives a day of his life except by losing a day of his appointed term.
Yesterday is a lesson; today is a treasure; and tomorrow—who knows to whom it belongs?
So reform what you are heading toward, and be mindful of what you will return to.
Remove your hearts from the world before your bodies are removed from it.
For in it you were created, and to another you were summoned.
Know that there is no strong one stronger than the Creator, and no weak one weaker than the created.
There is no escape from God except to Him.
And how can one flee who turns within the very hand of Him who seeks him?
“Every soul shall taste death, and you shall be paid in full your rewards on the Day of Resurrection.
Whoever is saved from the Fire and admitted to Paradise has indeed triumphed.
And the life of this world is nothing but the enjoyment of deception.”’
(Āl ʿImrān 3:185)”
It is also related:
When Hārūn ibn Muḥammad, known as al-Rashīd, conquered Ankara, he found at its gate a great stone erected, upon which was an inscription in Greek.
Its translation was:“O son of Adam, seize opportunity when it comes, and entrust all affairs to their true Master.
Let not excessive joy drive you to sin, nor burden yourself with the worry of a day that has not yet come.
If it is decreed for you, God will bring its provision.
Be not like the deluded who hoard wealth—for how many have we seen gather it for the husband of their widow, or leave it stored for the treasury of another!
Let the wise among the Greeks read this writing every morning.”
From the Author (al-Muwaffaq bi-llāh):
O reproacher, cease to blame and chide,
For love’s intent is higher than all love’s pride.I’ve seen the lures of worldly days displayed —
They are but dreams the dreamer’s mind has made.I reined my hopes, for I well knew their rein
Would one day loose the reins that hold me sane.The surplus of its beauty is delusion’s snare,
While the soul’s true life is in the lasting lair.Its every death is but deceit renewed,
True fragrance blooms in the Abode of Good.So do not venture into sin, remembering
That you shall struggle humbled in the dust’s burying.Nor strike your passion with every dart —
But watch what recompense awaits at the end’s part.For every sower must one day reap his grain;
What you have planted shall return again.Sow good — for that is the harvest that will stay,
The crop of goodness never fades away.Your hands shall rue their grasp on vanity’s gleam —
A lightning flash that faded ere it could redeem.
And from the Commander of the Faithful ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (peace be upon him):
“Whoever keeps company with the world
Is like one who grasps water—
The clefts of his fingers betray him.”
And Sufyān al-Thawrī said:
“The world is a house of crookedness, not a house of balance;
A dwelling of sorrow, not a dwelling of joy.
Whoever knows it as it is will not rejoice in its ease,
Nor grieve at its hardship.”
Further Sayings on the World (al-Dunyā)
And from one of the wise men:
“When a discerning man tests the world,
It reveals itself to him as an enemy dressed in a friend’s clothing.”
Al-Aṣmaʿī said:
“I heard Abū ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAlāʾ say:
I was walking through one of my estates when I heard someone reciting:‘Whoever makes the world his greatest concern
Holds fast to nothing but the rope of delusion.’So Abū ʿAmr engraved that line upon the gem of his ring.”
Al-Aṣbagh ibn Nubāta said:
“I was sitting with the Commander of the Faithful ʿAlī (peace be upon him) when a man came to him and complained about the world.
The Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) said:‘The world is a house of truth for whoever deals with it truthfully;
A place of wealth for whoever takes provision from it;
A dwelling of health for whoever understands it rightly.It is the mosque of God’s beloved ones,
The place of His revelation,
The place of prayer for His angels,
And the marketplace of His friends —
In it they earned Paradise and profited by His mercy.So who can blame the world after it has already declared its departure,
Proclaimed its ending,
And described itself and its people?It has displayed its afflictions as warnings of affliction,
And its pleasures as a call toward true joy.
It brings grief in the evening and ease in the morning —
A warning and an encouragement, a fear and a hope.Those who blame it are the ones who will do so on the morning of regret;
But others will praise it, for it reminded them and they remembered,
It spoke to them and they believed.O you who reproach the world while being deceived by its delusion!
When did the world ever draw near to you? When did it deceive you?
Was it by the dwellings of your forefathers beneath the dust?
Or by the resting-places of your mothers in decay?How many have you nursed with your own hands?
How many have you tended in sickness?
Seeking for them healing and consulting physicians —
Yet your intercession did not avail them,
Nor your efforts prolong their life.The world has shown you yourself in their likeness,
And in their death it has displayed your own.A morning will come when your weeping will not help you,
And your loved ones will not avail you.’”
Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad narrated to us, saying:
Abū Aḥmad al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAbd Allāh narrated to us, saying:
Abū Bakr ibn Duraid narrated to us, saying:
Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Suwayd ibn Manjūf narrated to us, saying:
Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Qurashī narrated to us, saying:
Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥasan narrated from Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad, from his father, who said:
“Then ʿAlī (peace be upon him) turned to al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī (peace be upon him) and said:
‘People blame the world — yet it is their mount that carries them to the Hereafter.’”
And Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad narrated to us, saying:
Abū Aḥmad al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAbd Allāh narrated to us, saying:
Abū Bakr ibn Duraid narrated to us, saying:
Abū Ḥātim narrated from Abū ʿUbayda, who said:
“A man said to the Commander of the Faithful ʿAlī (peace be upon him):
‘Describe the world for us.’He replied:
What can I describe of a dwelling where whoever is sound in it feels secure,
But whoever falls ill regrets;
Whoever becomes poor grieves,
And whoever grows rich is tried?Its lawful is subject to reckoning,
And its unlawful leads to punishment.
On the Miseries and Deceptions of the World
And from one of the wise men:
“The world is abundant in calamities,
Murky in its pleasures,
And never truly delights one companion with another.”
(20) Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad told us, saying: Abū Aḥmad al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAbd Allāh told us, saying: Ibn Munīʿ told us, saying: Abū Naṣr al-Tammār told us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Salamah narrated from Thābit, from Anas (may God be pleased with him), who said:
The Messenger of God ﷺ said:
“Paradise is surrounded by hardships, and Hell is surrounded by desires.”
Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad told us, saying: Abū Aḥmad al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAbd Allāh told us, saying: al-Qāsim ibn al-Ḥasan al-Zubaydī told me: Maḥmūd al-Warrāq told me from ʿAbd al-Majīd from his father, who said:
It was said to al-Bāqir Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī (peace be upon him):
“Who among people is the most honored in rank?”
He said:
“He who does not stain himself with the world — whatever hands it passes through.”
Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad told us, saying: Abū Aḥmad al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAbd Allāh told us, saying: Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr al-Tustarī told us, saying: al-Ḥārith ibn Muḥammad al-Tamīmī told us, saying: al-Madāʾinī narrated from Saʿīd ibn Abī Saʿīd, who said:
Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥanafiyyah said:
“Whoever’s soul is noble in his own eyes, the world appears small in his sight.”
From the Author (al-Muwaffaq bi-llāh):
“If there were nothing in this world except that it compels one to associate with the vile and the base,
and to befriend the foolish and the lowly — that alone would suffice (to show its disgrace).”
As one of the wise said:
“Whoever seeks the world must befriend the ignoble — for its Creator has condemned it.
Whoever turns away from it, people turn toward him in love;
and whoever inclines toward it, people turn away from him and avoid him.
Love of the world is the root of every sin.
Its sweetness brings bitterness in the Hereafter,
while its bitterness brings sweetness in the Hereafter.
Of its vileness is that none disobey God except within it,
and none attain what is with God except by abandoning it.
The value of all things lies in their endings —
and the world is nothing at its end.
The height of its pursuits revolves around two abominations
to which ultimate blame is attached.”
As the Commander of the Faithful ʿAlī (peace be upon him) recited:
“For if you grant your belly all it craves,
And your lusts their fill —
They will both reach the furthest limit of disgrace.”
And it is related of one of the wise:
When asked about the world, he pointed to a dunghill full of filth and said:
“This is the world and its greed.
Will you exchange the everlasting bliss and the eternal spirit for this?
Would you trade deliverance from its foulness for the highest joy and hope?
Would you barter gold for clay, or treasure for dust —
merely out of your preference for the low and fleeting over the high and lasting?”
The Worthlessness of the World Before God
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad ibn Faḍālah told us, saying: Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl told us, saying: Makhḥūl ibn al-Faḍl told us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Maḥmūd al-Marwazī told us, saying: al-Khallāl told us, from Ibn al-Mubārak, from Mujālid, from Qays ibn Abī Ḥāzim, from al-Mustawrid ibn Shaddād, who said:
“I was among the group that stood with the Messenger of God ﷺ beside a dead lamb.
He said:
‘Do you see how worthless this is to its owners?’
They said: ‘Because of its worthlessness, they threw it away, O Messenger of God!’
He said:
‘By God, the world is more worthless to God than this lamb is to its owners.’”
And the Prophet ﷺ said:
“If the world were worth in God’s sight even the wing of a mosquito, He would not have given a disbeliever a single sip of its water.”
Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad told us, saying: Abū Aḥmad al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAbd Allāh told us, saying: Sīrān ibn Muḥammad gave us permission to narrate, saying: Muḥammad ibn Marzūq told us, saying: ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Ḥarb told us, saying:
A group from the people of al-Jazīrah narrated from Muḥammad ibn Ādam, from Qanbar, the freedman of the Commander of the Faithful ʿAlī (peace be upon him), who said:
The Messenger of God ﷺ said:
“In this world, you are a guest, and what is in your hand is a borrowed trust.
The guest will depart, and the borrowed thing must be returned.”
And one of the wise said:
“The world is the field of the Hereafter —
Some sow in it the seeds of higher ranks (in Paradise),
And some sow in it the seeds of lower depths (in Hell).”
And Ghaylān said:
“Sweet is its nursing, bitter its weaning;
Truth is forsaken in it, and falsehood is followed.”
And one of the wise said:
“O son of Adam, since the day you fell from your mother’s womb,
You have been destroying your lifespan;
And soon you will tread upon the very ground that shall be your grave.”
And al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī said:
“If you wish to see what the world will be after you,
Then look at it after the death of another.”(It is also related that the Prophet ﷺ said the same.)
And al-Fuḍayl (ibn ʿIyāḍ) used to say:
“Place evil in a house, and make its key your eyes.
Do not gaze at the luxury of kings and the softness of their garments;
But look instead at the swiftness of their departure and the evil of their end.”
The Author (al-Muwaffaq bi-llāh) said:
“Among the astonishing conditions of this world is that people are unanimous in blaming it, yet they continue to milk its pleasures.”
As someone has said:
They blame their world and yet enjoy its store —
I’ve never seen a thing reviled and milked the more!
Every human being is in pursuit of the world,
And soon the world itself will turn into nothing.
From the Admonitions of the People of the House (peace be upon them):
“On the Day of Resurrection the world will adorn itself and say:
‘My Lord, grant me a share in some of Your friends.’God Most High will say:
‘You are too insignificant to be given any part in the affair of My friends — vanish!’”
For truly, the world is nothing but fleeting sensation and dreams of sleep —
And when you rest in the lodging of the grave, it is as though you had never been.
As one poet said:
It is as though you never lived a day at all,
When you find your resting place within the grave.
And another said:
The world does not remain for any living being,
Nor does any living being remain for the world.
The Author said:
Thus the one of insight and experience — the rightly guided and intelligent seeker —
does not loosen the reins of his passion, nor heed the call of deceitful desire.For the world is but a passing cloud that soon will scatter,
a mirage that swiftly dissolves —
and he who prefers it over the eternal, everlasting abode
(where “no weariness shall touch them therein, nor shall they ever be expelled” — [al-Ḥijr 15:48],
and “for you therein is whatever your souls desire, and for you therein is whatever you ask — a hospitality from the Forgiving, the Merciful” — [Fuṣṣilat 41:31-32])
has indeed chosen the perishing over the perpetual.
It is narrated that the Messenger of God ﷺ once sent a sheep to the house of ʿĀʾishah and instructed that it be given away in charity.
Later he asked her about it.
She said: “Nothing remains but the shoulder.”
He said:
“All of it remains — except the shoulder.”
This was to teach that whatever is offered for the sake of God endures forever,
while what is consumed perishes and does not last —
as God the Exalted said:
“Wealth and children are the adornment of this worldly life, but the everlasting good deeds are far better with your Lord in reward and in hope.”
(al-Kahf 18:46)
Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn [Muḥammad] ibn Aḥmad narrated to us, saying:
Abū Aḥmad al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAbd Allāh told us, saying:
Bakr ibn Aḥmad told us, saying:
Ibn al-Ashʿath told us, saying:
Hushaym told us, saying:
Yaḥyā ibn Isḥāq narrated from Anas ibn Mālik, who said:
The Prophet ﷺ said:
“Beneath the wall mentioned by God in the Qurʾān there was a golden tablet upon which was written:‘In the Name of God, the Most Merciful, the Compassionate.
Wondrous is the one who believes in death — how then can he rejoice?
Wondrous is the one who believes in destiny — how then can he grieve?
Wondrous is the one who is certain of Hell — how then can he laugh?
Wondrous is the one who sees the world’s passing and the turning of its people — how then can he find peace in it?
There is no god but God; Muḥammad is the Messenger of God.’”*
Anas said:
“Gold neither rusts nor decays.”
And this saying has been attributed also to al-Ṣādiq (peace be upon him) in some of his admonitions.
And it is related from Zayd ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī (peace be upon them):
Through al-ʿAlkī, who narrated from Ḥātim ibn Qabīṣah al-Muhallabī, from his father, that:
Zayd used to supplicate during his night prayer, saying:
**“O God, I ask You for detachment from the world and hatred for it and its people;
for its good is meager, its evil ever-ready;
its purity is turbid, its newness grows old, its best becomes bitter.
What has passed from it is grief,
and what is attained of it is a trial —
except for one whom You protect by Your grace.So I ask You for protection from it,
and that You not make me among those who are content with it or rely upon it;
for whoever rests secure in it — You abandon him,
and whoever trusts in it — it betrays him.”**
(Sermons and Admonitions Concerning the World and the Hereafter
Abū al-Ḥusayn al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar al-Wabrī narrated to us, saying:
The judge Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar al-Jaʿābī, the ḥāfiẓ, told us, saying:
al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad told us, from his father, from his father, from Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad, from his father, from ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn, from al-Ḥusayn (peace be upon them all):
I saw the Messenger of God ﷺ stand and deliver a sermon to his Companions. He said:
“O people! It is as though death were written for others and not for us;
as though the truth were made obligatory upon others and not upon us;
as though those we carry to their graves are travelers soon to return to us.
We settle them in their tombs and then consume their inheritance,
as though we ourselves would live forever after them.
We have forgotten every admonition and feel safe from every calamity.Blessed is he whose own faults occupy him from the faults of others.
Blessed is he whose earnings are pure, whose inner self is sound, whose outward conduct is good, and whose character is upright.
Blessed is he who humbles himself without disgrace, who spends of what he has gathered without sin,
who associates with people of knowledge and wisdom, and who shows mercy to the poor and the humble.
Blessed is he who spends the surplus of his wealth and restrains the surplus of his tongue,
whom the Sunnah suffices and who does not deviate from it to innovation.”Then he descended from the pulpit.
And the same chain relates from al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī (peace be upon him):
“It is as though I see the Commander of the Faithful ʿAlī (peace be upon him) standing and preaching, saying:
‘O people! The world has turned its back and is departing,
and the Hereafter has come forward, drawing near.
Each of the two has its children—so be among the children of the Hereafter, not the children of the world.
Be among those who renounce the world and long for the Hereafter.
Make the earth your bed, the dust your carpet, and water your perfume.
Dismantle the structures of this world!Whoever yearns for Paradise forgets desires;
whoever fears the Fire avoids the forbidden;
whoever awaits death hastens to good deeds;
whoever renounces the world finds calamities light upon him.Truly, God has servants—some of them, if they act as the people of Hell, are cast into Hell and tormented therein;
others, if they act for Paradise, enter it and dwell therein forever.
Their hearts are sorrowful, their evils restrained, their needs few, their souls chaste.
They endured but a few short days, and their end is eternal rest.By night they stand on their feet, tears streaming down their cheeks; they cry and plead to their Lord, asking Him to free their necks from the Fire.
By day they are wise, learned, compassionate, devout, righteous, humble—
like nestlings, so that one who sees them says, “They are ill,” though no illness is upon them;
or says, “They are mad,” yet what has mixed with them is the remembrance of the Fire and what it holds.’”
And it is related that the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) once delivered a sermon.
He praised God and said:
“O people! You are upon the back of a journey; you are dwelling in a truce.
Your travel is swift. You have seen how night and day wear away all that is new,
bring near all that is distant, and fulfill every promise.
So prepare your provisions for the Day of Return.”
And one of the wise said:
“Strange, O son of Adam! Why do you not renounce the world and flee from it?
How strange that you love it as though ignorant of it!
Why do you weep over the world while you are enamored of it?
Alas for you, O son of Adam — how ugly is what proceeds from you!
You are heedless, negligent, deluded, unjust to yourself.
Depart hungry, and tomorrow you will be envied, and your end will be praiseworthy.”
And Ibn al-Sammāk said in one of his admonitions:
“God has given you respite as though He had neglected you.
Will you not be ashamed before God as you would be ashamed before one whose sight you cannot bear?”
From the Author (al-Muwaffaq bi-llāh):
Death hangs upon the necks of all servants,
while the world folds up behind them.
Whoever works for his world harms his Hereafter;
whoever works for his Hereafter may harm his world —
yet the Hereafter is more deserving, for it endures while this one perishes.
The Hereafter is like a mother, the world like a wet-nurse:
whoever prefers his true mother is secure,
but whoever prefers the nurse loses them both.
Whoever chooses the Hereafter gains his world;
whoever chooses the world loses both.
From the Author in Verse:
Suppose the whole wide world became your own —
Is not death the end of everyone?
And another poet said:
Suppose the world were offered you unearned —
Is not its fate to pass away and turn?
From the Admonitions of the People of the House (peace be upon them):
It is said that Jesus (ʿĪsā, peace be upon him) used to say:
“O son of Adam, the world existed before you were,
and it will continue when you are gone.
Your only share of it is the span of your life—
so do not squander yourself,
for truly lost is he who wastes the days of his life.”
And from the Commander of the Faithful ʿAlī (peace be upon him):
“You are but a number of days; whenever a day passes, part of you has passed away.”
And from al-Bāqir (peace be upon him):
“Soon you will be as the beloved departed, a fading image, a memory cut off.”
From the Author (closing reflection):
You have passed the stages of your life —
from infancy, to youth, to maturity, to manhood —
and now you have alighted in the field of old age.
What then do you await?
Beyond it there is no abode but the grave:
the severing of hopes, the loss of remedy.Is it not time to awaken from heedlessness,
and to cease being deceived by delay?