This world and the hereafter are two different paths

Question 165: Allah the Exalted’s saying, {Whoever should desire the immediate – We hasten for him from it what We will to whom We intend. Then We have made for him Hell, which he will [enter to] burn, censured and banished. ۞ But whoever desires the Hereafter and exerts the effort due to it while he is a believer – it is those whose effort is ever appreciated [by Allah ].} [1]

Answer: In the Name of Allah, the Abundantly Merciful, the Intensely Merciful,
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers upon Muhammad and the progeny of Muhammad, the Imams and the Mahdis.

This world and the hereafter are two different paths, this is to the east and that is to the west. So whoever faces toward one of them he has given the other his back. Therefore they do not gather in the eyes of a human being, nor do they gather in the heart of a human being. Love for this world and love for the hereafter do not gather in the heart of a human being. [2] How? By Allah this world is not worth the wing of a fly to Him, and if this world had any worth with Allah then the disbeliever would not have had a drink of water in it. [3] How? By Allah, He has not looked toward the world of the bodies since He created it. [4] How? And how?

{so let not the worldly life delude you and be not deceived about Allah by the Deceiver.} 5

{Whoever should desire the immediate}: meaning this world, {We hasten for him from it what We will to whom We intend.}: meaning Allah gives him from it if Allah wants to, and Allah gives what He wants of His givings to whoever He wants to give. So perhaps the human being requests this world and loses the hereafter, however he does not receive anything from this world, thus he loses this world and the hereafter.

Then the consequence, of requesting this world, in the hereafter is a great loss, {Then We have made for him Hell, which he will [enter to] burn, censured and banished.} 6

{But whoever desires the Hereafter and strives/exerts the effort due to it while he is a believer -}: desiring this world does not require anything except for the intention and turning away from the hereafter, as for desiring the hereafter indeed it requires faith in the greatest successor of Allah and the proof [of Allah] (the Hujjah) in every age, and it requires striving with the successor of Allah and the proof [of Allah] upon the people in every age. And this striving is one of the loans which Allah, the Exalted, said regarding it: {Who is it that would loan Allah a goodly loan so He will multiply it for him and he will have a noble reward?} [7]

“And loan Allah”: meaning he connects with the Imam by a connection (Sila), [8] either materially in terms of money, or he strives/exerts his efforts with the successor of Allah, and he strives with the successor of Allah by his tongue and his hand, and the latter connection is most certainly better than the first.

And those are the ones who strive with the successor of Allah after believing in him; because believing in him is believing in Allah swt, {their effort/striving is ever appreciated [by Allah ].} And the One Who appreciates them is Allah swt; because they loaned Allah swt, so He swt made this matter (striving/exerting effort with the Imam) a loan to Allah and upon Allah is to repay him. So the repayment of Allah is appreciation to those ones, because they are grateful servants/worshippers, they appreciated the blessing of Allah upon them through the successor of Allah and they strove/exerted effort with him toward Allah, {And few of My servants are grateful.} [9]

And Allah’s appreciation of a servant is the best of all blessings; because certainly it is specifically for the progeny of Muhammad pbut. Thus the one who Allah appreciates is as though he is from them, “Salman is from us Ahlul Bayt.” [10] Look at what Allah, the Exalted, said in their Surah which is (Has there [not] come): {[And it will be said], “Indeed, this is for you a reward, and your effort has been appreciated.”} [11] And those whose effort has been appreciated in Surah (Has there [not] come) they are: Muhammad pbuhap, Ali, Fatimah, Al-Hassan, Al-Hussein, the Imams and the Mahdis pbut. Thus whoever strives like them and supports them and strives with them by/with his money, heart, tongue and his hand is from them, {it is those whose effort is ever appreciated [by Allah ].} 12 meaning, from us Ahlul Bayt.

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1 – 17:18 & 19

2 – The Messenger of Allah pbuhap said, “This world and the hereafter have to be chosen between, because when you get close to one of them you get further away from the other.” ‘Awali Al-La’ali: volume 1, page 278, hadith no. 106. And Ali pbuh said, “Certainly this world and the hereafter are like two disparate enemies or two roads running in opposite directions. Whoever likes the world and assumes it, hates the hereafter and becomes its enemy. They are like the east and the west and a walker between them; the more he walks towards one direction the more he gets further from the other. A man has to choose one of them.” Nahj Al-Balagha: short saying (103).

3 – Imam Al-Sadiq pbuh in his advice to one of his companions said, “O Fudayl ibn Yasar, had the world been worth the wing of a fly, Allah, the Majestic, the Glorious, would not have allowed His enemies to drink even a drop of water from it.” Al-Kafi: volume 2, page 246, hadith no. 5.

4 – In Al-Mulla Sadr Al-Mut’alheen’s interpretation of Surah Al-Fatihah, the Messenger of Allah pbuhap said, “Certainly Allah has not looked toward the bodies since He created them.” And in Al-Jami’ Al-Sagheer by Al-Siyouti: volume 1, page 273, hadith no. 1780, the Messenger of Allah pbuhap said, “Certainly Allah the Exalted has not created a creation more hateful to Him than this world, and has not looked toward it since He created it because of His hatred to it.”

5 – 35:5

6 – 17:18

7 – 57:11

8 – See: Al-Kafi: Volume 1, page 537, door of ‘Connection to the Imam’, and in this door are seven Hadiths, from them are:
Narrated from al-Khaybari and Yunus ibn Zubyan who both have said we heard abu ‘Abdallah pbuh say the following, “There is nothing more beloved to Allah than the Dirhams taken out (of one’s property) to pay to the Imam pbuh. On the Day of Judgment Allah will make his Dirham as [big as] the mountain of ’Uhud.” He then said, “Allah, the Most High has said in His book, {One who generously lends/loans to God will be paid back in many multiples of the loan. . . .}” (2:245) The Imam pbuh said, “By Allah this is a special reference to the Sila (connection/payment) made to the Imam.”

And from Ishaq ibn ‘Ammar from abu Ibrahim (a.s.) who has said the following, “The narrator has said that he asked abu Ibrahim (a.s.) about the words of Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Gracious, {Whoever gives a virtuous loan to God will receive double from Him in addition to an honorable reward.} (57:11). The Imam (a.s.) said, “It was revealed about the Sila (connection/payments) to the Imam.”

9 – 34:13

10 – ‘Ayoun Akhbar Al-Ridha pbuh: volume 1, page 70, hadith no. 282.

11 – 76:22

12 – 17:19