.030: The world is a storehouse of treasures
Text of the Hadith:
عن عبد الله بن عباس قال: سمعت رسول الله (صلي الله عليه و آله و سلم) يقول:أيها الناس، بسط الامل متقدم حلول الأجل، و المعاد مضمار العمل، فمغتبط بما احتقب غانم، و متيسر بمافاته ايها الناس،الطمع فقر، و الياس غني و القناعة راحة، و العزلة عبادة ، و العمل كنز،و الدنيا معدن...فبادروا العمل و أنتم في مهل الانفاس،و جده الاحلاس، قبل أن تأخذوا بالكظم، فلا ينفع الندم
English translation:
It has been narrated from Abdillah ibn `Abbas that he said, I heard the Messenger of Allah (blessings of Allah be upon him and his family) say: O Mankind! Before death comes to a person, all sorts of wishes and desires are placed in front of him, and the Resurrection Day is a field of trial and a competition. (On this day, people will be in one of two groups) The (poor) person will posses (the good form) of envy (Al-Ghibtah). In that same amount as the wealth which he gives (in the way of Allah), will he be successful and dignified. The other type of person is that rich person who possessed things however did not make use of his wealth and did not spend it in the way of Allah and thus, he will be in grief and upset. O People! Surely greed is (actually) poverty, and disregarding (that which other people have) is richness, and contentment (with what one possesses) is comfort and distancing one’s self (from people) is worship, and (righteous) actions are a treasure, and this world is the mine (of treasures). Thus while you have the opportunity, strive to perform good deeds even if the time remaining for you (on this Earth) is as much as the time between two breaths or the time it takes to mount upon your saddle, before the way of breathing is taken (away from you) at which time any remorse will be of no use.(1)
Commentary of Hadith:
The Noble Prophet (blessings of Allah be upon him and his family) has brought forth two points in this Hadith:
1. Before the time of parting (from this world) and before death comes to a person, all of the wishes and desires (which the person possesses) will be presented in front of him.
This part of the hadith may point to the fact that as a person gets older, his desires or wishes also increase these desires also become spiritually devoid and less logical as times goes on.(2)
Thus, this is the danger bell to that person no matter how old he is whose wishes and desires (for material things) increase. It is this same thing which will prevent that person from just as he must do make the best of this world in order to be able to have a better life in the next world.
2. The Resurrection Day is the field and area of actions. The reason why the `Arabs refer to the competition ground as aمضمار
is due to the fact that before they would start a horseback riding competition, they would first look to find an open area to practice in and it is here that they would try to get their horses to run as much as they could and it is through this act that they would accomplish two things:
1. The horse would get more training and experience.
2. The horse would get thinner and fitter.
The wordمضمار
is also in the meaning of becoming thinner and thus, in the 24th speech recorded in Nahjul Balagha it is mentioned that, Today is the day of the competition ground.
This world which we are in is the training ground and the competition is the next life. From this expression, we can deduce that sometimes the area of competition the competition ground is also referred to as theمضمار
since it is there that the horses would run and would also get thinner and fitter.
In any case, according to this commandment from the Prophet (blessings of Allah be upon him and his family), the Resurrection Day is the competition ground of acts. We should not think that a person will be able to reach to any status in life with long desires and hopes. At that place (on the Day of Resurrection) it is the actions of each person which will compete with one another, and the person who had more good deeds will be the winner of this competition and whoever had less good deeds which were polluted (with evil and sin) would be the loser.
This world tries to keep you busy with longings and desires where as in the market of the Resurrection, these longings and desires will serve absolutely no purpose rather, it is only those actions which produce fruits or benefits which will be of use to us.
From the next sentence, we understand that people are of two types:
One group are those who are envious of others or مغتبط where as the second group are those who are content orمتيسر
Some people have stated that the first word actually means one who is happy or joyous however according to our opinion, it refers to a poor person who is envious and jealous of others and in that same amount that he spends his wealth in the way of Allah (Glory and Greatness be to Him), in that same amount does he attain happiness and success.
There are some people who possess everything (materialistically speaking) however since they are not able to make use of their wealth, thus, they are always upset and discontent.
In the next sentence, there are six points which have been mentioned:
1) and 2) The wealth and poverty of a person are related to the inside (spiritual aspects) of a person and are not related to his apparent aspects. If a person who possesses everything was to own all that is within the world, he would still be poor and the opposite of this is true as well as if a person who does not pay any attention to the material world, even if he did not possess anything, he would still be rich. It is the soul which must be full (of spiritual blessings) and which must remain self-sufficient and needless (of others) since the best wealth of a person is his internal and spiritual wealth. Thus, one who possesses everything (materialistically) is actually poor, and disregarding wealth and material pleasures of this world are the true wealth of a person:
أن الطمع فقر، و الياس غني
3) A person is in need of rest and relaxation, and if he wishes to find this rest and relaxation, then he must do so by searching deep within himself since it is through contentment that a person finds ease and comfort:
و القناعة راحة
and it is owing to greed that a person is put through difficulties and challenges.
4) In order for a person to continuously be in the worship and servitude of Allah (Glory and Greatness be to Him), he must sit in a quiet and tranquil area by this, we do not mean that he distances himself entirely from the people rather, we mean that during the 24 hour period, he must put aside some time for himself to be with his soul and his Allah. The best time to engage in this contemplation is the last part of the night just before the rising of the sun when normally, most people are asleep. The worship and prayer with full attention and presence of the heart in the middle of the night gives the heart and soul of the person spiritual energy:
و العزلة عبادة
5 and 6) The treasures and riches of a person are his actions, and this world is the quarry (where these treasures can be extracted). I have heard various explanations and similitudes in relation to the world - for example it has been said that this world is the planting ground for the next life or that this life is a house of admonition and a bridge to cross (to the next life), however it is only in this hadith that it has been mentioned that this world is a quarry, and this is the only place where I have seen this similitude. This world is a mine out of which treasures are extracted.
Thus in summary, for that person who makes use of this world (for the next life), this world is not such a bad place.
From these sentences we can deduce that in reality, the world is not something despised and despicable, rather, it is us who have made this world something reviled:
و العمل كنز و الدنيا معدن
In closing, the Prophet (blessings of Allah be upon him and his family) has ended his dialogue with a discussion on the end of the life of a person and has stated that, Of those issues which are hidden from people is that of the end of his life. Not a single person knows exactly when he or she will die.
In the Quran, we read the following:
ما تدري نفس ماذا تكسب غدا و ما تدري نفس بأي أرض تموت
And no soul knows that which it will earn tomorrow and no soul knows in which land it will die.(3)
Thus, it is from the wisdom of Allah (Glory and Greatness be to Him) that a person is kept unaware of the time when he will die and keeping this hidden has two benefits which have been mentioned in the book, Tawhid al- Mufaddhal. If man knew the time span of his life, then his existence on this Earth would not fall out of the following two scopes:
1. If he knew he had a long life, then in this scenario, negligence would overtake him and he would reassure himself that, I have 10, 20 or 50 years left to live and thus, the need to ask forgiveness for my sins can be delayed and it is not necessary to make haste in asking for forgiveness. At this time, the person would continue to perform sins and pollute himself with negligence and falling into carelessness.
2. If a person knew that he would life for one more hour, one day, one month or even one more year, then life would have no meaning for him as he would say to himself, I am only going to live one more month, so then why should I go through all of this struggle ? Thus, the pleasure and enjoyment from life would be gone and a person would fall into despair.
This issue has other benefits to it which make a person lean towards the two states at any given time - meaning that he is constantly in a state of fear and hope (خوف و رجا
). From one point of view, he does not stop stretching his hand forth and at the same time, he does not come close to sins since he does not know if he is going to live another hour. In the Islamic narrations this issue has been mentioned quite frequently.
In this hadith, two topics have been mentioned and I personally understand these two in the following way: In that time period that we have been given respite and are still breathing, we must work this wording may allude to the fact that in between each breath that a person takes (when he breathes in and then exhales), the time period between this cycle is something very short. Incidentally, it has also been mentioned that between the beats of the heart of the person, there is a very short time period of rest which is referred to as the respite of he heart and thus in summary, we see that even in between the breaths which a person takes, there is also a respite between each one and this is the shortest period of time that a person is able to imagine.
The Prophet (blessings of Allah be upon him and his family) has then stated, just as you are given the respite to live, during the time when you are inhaling and exhaling each breath, in that same amount of time between each breathing, you should not have hopes in living in this life for a long period as it is possible that when you exhale you may never inhale again. Therefore, in this short period of time, you must work towards righteous actions:
فبادروا العمل و أنتم في مهل الأنفاس
In the past, it was common place that when a noble person mounted his steed, he would place a cloth or some material on the horse (and then mount it) and thus, the Prophet has said, If you have been given respite during your life even for that period that it would take to put on and take off the cloth from your house meaning such a short period of time then you must work towards righteous actions since it is very likely that in the next instant, your life would come to a close.
و جدة الإحلاس
Before the time that you breathe your next breath and do some action that you would later feel guilty about and which has no benefit to you after which there is no turning back, you should perform righteous deeds.
If a person has even a small amount of knowledge in relation to the laws of universe, then he would know how close death is to a person. In the body of a person, we see two important organs which can easily stop working: the heart and the brain. There are a series of thin veins which are responsible for the nutrients going to the heart and if these thin veins were to break, then a part of the heart would stop working and a person would end up having a heart attack.
Within the brain of the person too, there are various capillary veins and if even one of these was to lose its power, then the brain would stop working - and how tragic it would be if that part of the brain that stopped working happened to be the control centre of the brain which could happen even if the heart was working properly and was healthy since it is the brain which commands the heart in its activities.
Or can we imagine if one of the veins were to lose its power which controls actions of one side of the body as in this case, one side of the person’s body would become paralyzed. Or if due to an impact on one of the veins, if a person was to develop a blood clot, then in this event too, a person would lose the faculty of movement.
We see that when we are eating food and are swallowing our morsels, this small tongue that we have which is inside the throat of a person actually covers over the air pipe which is in our throat and if this act was to take place with even the slightest delay, then we know that a small amount of food would get caught in our wind pipe and if through coughing, we could not release or remove this food, then without doubt, our death would be sealed.
Thus in summary, if a person does a bit of contemplation on the creation and at his own life, then slowly he would definitely develop thoughts in his own mind that tonight if he goes to sleep, is there not a possibility that he will not wake up in the morning ?
In any case, these events that take place both within us and outside of our bodies are numerous. If we just take for example these travels that we take which is now a part of everyone’s life we see that all travels and journeys that we take are full of dangers even if a person is careful and vigilant - however it is possible that others may not have this same vigilance.
Thus, while we are able to and as long as we have the strength and energy, we must go forth to righteous actions and all the actions that we do, we should leave with Allah (Glory and Greatness be to Him) for their accountability. Can we truly say that all the actions that we have performed have been sincerely for Allah (Glory and Greatness be to Him) and that no amount of insincerity or material gain were involved in them?
We must seek refuge with Allah (Glory and Greatness be to Him) since when a person enters into the presence of the Most High and sees his hands empty (of good deeds) and when he is given his book of records in his hand, he will scream out, just as it has been mentioned in the Quran:
يا ويلتنا مال هذا الكتاب لا يغادر صغيرة و لا كبيرة إلا أحصيها و وجدوا ما عملوا حاضرا
Ah! Woe to us! What a book is this! It leaves out nothing small or great but takes account thereof! They will find all that they did placed before them.
2 Without doubt, wishes and desires or in the language of the `Arabs, Aml (امل
) - is the thing which keeps the wheels of life of a person in constant motion, and if this quality was to be removed from the hearts of the people of the world for even one day, then surely the entire system of organization and harmony of the people would be disrupted and very few people would have any reason to stay active, and strive and struggle towards a purpose.
However if this same characteristic and trait transgresses the boundaries and turns into those long desires that are far from reach, then this would lead to the worst of traits including misguidedness and bad fortune for the person. This can be compared to the water of life which rains down from the skies however, if this rain was to pour down in large amounts, then it would then lead to the destruction and ultimate drowning of a person.
These long desires are the same ones which have been mentioned in verses 1 to 5 of Surah al-Hijr and it is stated that this is the same thing which leads to negligence of Allah (Glory and Greatness be to Him), the truth and the realities around Him. { 1_Alif. Lam. Ra. These are the Ayats of Revelation of a Quran that makes things clear
2_ Again and again will those who disbelieve wish that they had bowed (to Allah’s Will) in Islam.
3_ Leave them alone to enjoy (the good things of this life) and to please themselves: let (false) Hope amuse them: soon will knowledge (undeceive them).
4_ Never did We destroy a population that had not a term decreed and assigned beforehand.
5_ Neither can a people anticipate its term nor delay it.}
Thus, these long desires and wishes that one can not attain or reach to keep a person so busy and preoccupied that he drowns himself in the world of imagination and fantasy and thus, removes himself completely from the realities of life and makes himself a stranger to this life and the ultimate aims and purposes of why we are here.
In the well known hadith which has been narrated in Nahjul Balagha in speech 42 from `Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) which also speaks on the reality of this issue, it has been mentioned that:
أيها الناس،إن أخوف ما أخاف ما أخاف عليكم اثنان:إتباع الهوي و طول الأمل فأما الهوي فيصد عن الحق و أما طول الأمل فينسي الأخرة
O people! Surely the most frightening of things which I frighten you about are these two: Following the lower passions and having long desires. So then as for following your lower passions, this will distract you from The Truth and as for having long desires, this will cause you to forget the next life.
And truly how many people who possessed great abilities, talents and the capacity (to achieve in this life) have been transformed and changed into weak individuals due to the negative effects of having long desires and wishes. In such a state, the person is no longer any worth or benefit to the society rather, he has even trampled upon his own self worth and greatness and has distanced himself from any form of perfection, just as we read in the Supplication of Kumayl:
وحبسني عن نفعي بعد أملي
Principally, those desires which go beyond limits always keep a person in trouble and preoccupied, and thus we see that day and night he must strive and struggle thinking to himself that he is working towards his own happiness, welfare and well-being whereas we see that actually, he is going towards nothing except loss, failure and discontent. It is these sorts of people who normally in this state that they find themselves in end their lives through suicide, and it is their painful and sorrowful life and example which can be used by others who have the spiritual eyes to see (the realities) and the spiritual ears (to hear and understand the truth) as a source of inspiration and learning.
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Author: Ayatullah Seyyed Muhammad Shirazi
