ATTACHMENT OF THE WORLD

All praise is due to God who discloses the merits and demerits of the world to His friends. They weighed its benefits and harms on the scale and found that its harms are greater than its benefits. The world is like a beautiful unchaste woman who attrates the people towards her by her beauty but she has got such secret diseases which destroy one who goes unto her. If you do good to the world for one hour, it does you harm for one year. If you carry on business with the worldly people, you gain no benefit but loss. He who seeks the world faces many dangers and difficulties which cannot be enumerated. Who so wants it, it flees away from him; and who so does not want it, it goes to him.

THE WORLD IS AN ENEMY OF GOD

The cause is that the world cuts the ways of divine service. For this reason, God keeps an eye on it since He created it. The world is an enemy of the friends of God. The cause is that it presents itself with its best grandeurs just like an unchaste woman dressed with various beautiful dresses. The world is also an enemy of the enemies of God. The cause is that the world entraps them in its net of love after deceiving them and opens its door of love for them. They are deceived by its love and get attached to it.

The result is that they are dishonored and disgraced and they go away from it. Their hearts are pierced for its separation and fortune bids them adieu for ever. Then there is no limit to their remose and they therefore seek refuge to God. They have purchased this world in exchange of the next world.

When the harms of the world are many, we should know its snares and charms and then save ourselves from its deceptions and love.

3:153The Book of Destructive evils Vol-III

EVILS OF THE WORLD

There are innumberable verses of the Quran regarding the evils of the world. The goal of the Prophet was to turn away the people from the evils and harms of the world and so there is no necessity of collecting verses from the Quran about it. I shall mention only some Hadis.

(1) It has been narrated that the Prophet was once passing by a dead goat and said to his companions : Don't you look to the dead animal ? Its owner is now looking at it with hate. By One in whose hand there is my life, just as this dead goat is more an object of hate to its owner, the world is likewise more an object of hatred to God. If the value of the world would have been like the wing of a mosquito, He would not have given a drought of water to an unbeliever to drink. (2) The Prophet said : The world is a prison to a believer and a Paradise to an unbeliever. (3) He said. The world is caused and all the things in it are cursed. 94) He said: He who loves the world injures his hereafter and he who loves his hereafter injures his world. So take what will last for ever by giving up what will not last. (5) He said : Love of the world is the root of all sins. (6) Zaid-b-Akram reported : We were once with hazrat Abu Bakr. He ordered for water and honey which were brought to him. He lifted them to drink but began to weep. On being asked the reason, he said : Once I was with the Holy Prophet and saw that be was wiping out something from his body. tasked him: 0 Prophet of God, what are you throwing out ? He said : This is the world. It came to me with beautiful face. I said : Be off. The world said : You have saved yourself from me, but those who will come after you will not be safe from my hand.

(7) the Prophet stood by a place full of human bones and said to the people : Do you like to look at the world ? He then took a rotten cloth and melted bone and said. This is the world. He said that the wealth and pleasures of the world will be ruined like the rotten cloth and all the people will be melted like the melted bone. (8) The Prophet said : This world is sweet and fresh and God made you His representatives therein. He is looking how you act therein. (9) When the children of Israil were given enormouse wealth and when they were engrossed therein, they were attached to the worldly pleasures, love of women and precious scents and dresses. (10) Jesus Christ said : Don't take the world as you lord. It you do so, it will make you slaves. Hoard up 3:154your wealth with such One who will not destroy it. Guards of wealth of this world cannot be relied on, but you can rely on the guards of God. He also said : 0 my disciples, I have leveled the world with earth for you. Don't take it up after me. One of the evils of the world is that the people commit sins therein. Another evil of the world is that the next world cannot be acquired unless this world is given up. So take care and think that the world has passed away and don't live therein with happiness. Know that the root of all evils is attachment for the world. Many a time the present greed becomes the cause of man's calamities.

(11) Jesus Christ also said : The world lies behind you and you take seat thereon. Therein the kings and women stand as stumbling blocks against you. Don't dispute with the kins regarding this world, as they will not stand in your way if you give up connection with hem and their affairs. Save yourselves from women with fastings and prayers. He also said : The world searches for the people and the people search for the world. The world searches for one who searches for the next world till his provision does not become complete for him. The next world searches for one who searches for the world till his death. Thereafter it catches his neck and climbs upon him. He also said God created nothing so obnoxious than the world. He did not look at it on the day He created it.

(15) It has been reported that Hazrat Solaiman was roaming in air and birds were giving him shade and men and Jin were on his right and left sides. He met a hermit of Banu Israil on the way and the hermit said to him : 0 son of David, the Almighty God has given you reign and power. At this, Solaiman said : One Tasbih (praise of God) in the book of deeds of a believer is more superior than my reign, as what has been given to the son of David will end but Tasbih will remain, (16) The Prophet said Excessive wealth has kept you forgetful. The son of Adam says My wealth, my wealth. Have you got any other wealth than what you have eaten and ended, what you have put on and got old, what you have given in charity and remained lasting ?

(17) The Prophet said : He who has got no abode takes the world as his abode. He who has got no wisdom makes enmity for it. He who has got no power of doing justice, coverts it. He who has got no sure faith makes efforts for it. (18) He said : He who gets up at dawn with the world as his object of thought is not 3:155God-fearing in any matter. God gives him four conducts in his mind-(1) such anxiety as has got no end, (2) such engagement as has got no limit, (3) such poverty as can never make him rich. (4) and such hope which has got no end.

(19) Hazrat Abu Hurairah reported: The Prophet said to me 0 Abu Hurairah, shall I show you what obnoxious things are there in this world ? I said : 0 Prophet of God, show me. Then he caught my hand and took me to a valley of Madina and showed me a place full of carcasses, stools and urine, rotten clothes and bones and hides. He said : 0 Abu Hurairah, there were in their beads greed like you greed and hopes like you hopes, but to-day those are with the rotten remains and those will be consumed by earth after some days. All these are of the world. If you can weep at the sad plight of the world, then weep. Then we began to weep.

(20) Hazrat Daud-b-Hallal reported that it is written in the Scripture of Abraham : 0 world, how ignoble you are to religious men. You have presented yourself to them with your grandeurs, but hatred has been cast at you in their hearts and for that they have turned away from you. There is nothing so obnoxious to Me like you. Every act of your is mean and comes to destruction. I have recorded for you on the day I created you that you will not stay with anybody forever and that he who loves you will be miser. Thanks to those pious men who seek Me with pleasure in their hearts, those in whose hearts there is truth and who stand on right path. Happy are they as they will get rewards of what their hands have acquired. When they will come to Me from the graves, light will move forward in front of them and the angels will surround them. They will get mercy as they all hoped it from Me.

(21) The Prophet said : There will appear such persons on the Resurrcetion Day whose merits will be high like the hillock of Tohama but they will be ordered to go to Hell. The comapnious asked : 0 Prophet of God, did they say prayers ? He replied : Yes, they observe prayers and fastings and prayed also at night but whenever anything of the world came to them, they jumped upon it. The Prophet said in his sermon : A believer will live with two fears. One fear is for his fate which is past and he does not know what was recorded therein. Another fear is his book of deeds which yet remains and he does not know what has been recorded by God therein for him. So a servant should gather 3:156world, from for his r world, fm his life fo death, from his youth for his old age because the present world has been created for you good and you have been created for the next world. By One in w hose hand there is my life, there is no field for labour except Paradise and Hell and there is no abode after the world.

(22) Jesus Christ said : Love of both this world and the next cannot remain united in the heart of a believer just as water and fire cannot remain united. Hazrat Gabriel asked the Prophet Noah : 0 one having a very long life, how have you found the world ? He said : It is like an abode having two doors. I have entered through one door and come out of another.

(23) Jesus Christ was asked : Why do you not construct a house to live in ? He said : The abode of our predecessors is sufficient. The Prophet said : Beware of the world, as it is a sorcerer greater then Harut and Marut.

(24) Hazrat Hasan Basari said : Once the Prophet came out to his companions and said: Who is one amongst you who does not wish bright eye sight after his blindness ? Beware, the more he is attached to the world and the longer is his hopes, the more God makes his heart blind ; and the more one gives up the world and the more he curtails his hopes, God gives him more wisdom without education and guides him more without guidance. Beware, there will come such a people after you whose kingdom will not be alright without pride and miserliness and who will not love except for passion. Beware, whoever reaches that age and remains patient over poverty even though he can acquire wealth and remains patient over hatred even though he can earn love, and remains patient over dishonor even though he can earn honour and he has got no other object for these things than the pleasure of God, will get rewards of fifty truthful men.

(25) It has been reported that the Prophet Jesus Christ began to search for regue having fallen in storm, lightning and thunders, til he found a tent and came to it, but when he found a beautiful, woman therein he returned from there. Thereafter he came to a cave wherein there was a tiger. Then he placed his hand upon the ground and said : 0 Lord, you have given shelter to everything, but not to me. God then revealed to him : Your shelter is God's mercy. I shall get you married on the 3:157Resurrection Day with one hundred Hurs whom I have created with My hands. Your marriage ceremony will continue for four thousand years, one day of which is equal to the age of this world. I will order a proclaimer to proclaim : Those who were religious and asectic will join this marriage ceremony.

(26) Jesus Christ said : Alas for one who is addited to the world. How can he die after leaving the world and its fortunes ? How does the world play deception with him and he puts trusts in it? The world plays treachery withhim but he lives out of its fear. What he does not love comes to him, what he loves goes away from him. What has been promised for them must come. Alas for one whose only object of thought is this world and whose actions are sins. How can he appear to-morrow with sins?

(27) It has been reported that God revealed to Moses : 0 Moses, what necessity have you got in the abode of the sinners (world) ? It is not your abode. Drive out your thoughts from it and remain aloof on the strength of your wisdom. What a bad house it is ? It is a good abode for one who does good therein. 0 Moses, I am searching for one who commits therein oppression secretly, so that I may take his virtues and give them to one oppressed.

(28) It has been reported that the Prophet once sent Hazrat Abu Obaidah to the province of Bahrain. He went there and returned with enormous wealth from the inhabitants and placed it before the Prophet. The Ansars came to know of it and assembled for morning prayer to the mosque. After prayer the Prophet said : You have perhaps heard about the riches brought by Abu Obaidah. Then he said : I don't fear for your poverty but I fear for your enormous wealth as our previous nations got it. They got enormous wealth and engaged in quarrels with one another. As they were destroyed by this wealth, you will likewise be destroyed by it.

(29) The Prophet said: I fear that you will be given the plenties of the world. He was asked : Who are the plenties of the world ? He said : Riches and treasures of the world. The Prophet said: Don't keep mind engaged in the thoughts of the world.

(30) Jesus Christ said to his disciples : In order to get peace of this world as well as of the next, it is more preferable to eat bread with only salt, to wear gunny bag and to sleep in stables.

3:158(31) Hazrat Anas reported that the Prophet had a she camel named Ajwa which defeated all camels. A desert Arab came with a camel which defeated Ajwa. The Muslims were grieved to see this and the Prophet said : It is a duty of God that He does not raise up a thing without lowering it. (32) Jesus Christ once said Who is there who constructs a house in the currents of sea ? It is the world. Don't take it as your permanent abode. (33) Jesus Christ was once asked : Give me such short advice by virtue of which God will love us. He said : Hate the world and God will love you.

(34) The Prophet said: If you had known what I know, you would have laughed little and wept much. Hate the world and love the next world. (35) Abu Dara's said : Had you known what I know from the Prophet, you would. have ccme out to every elevated place and wept for salvation of your soul, given up the riches and treasures of the world except what is essentially necessary for you. (36) Jesus Christ said : 0 my disciples, be satisfied with little of worldly riches but with greater divine service, as the worldly addicted man remains satisfied with little of divine service but greater worldly riches.

(37) Jesus Christ said: It is of greater virtuous act to give up the world for those who search the world for religion. (38) The Prophet of Islam said : The world will be broadened for you after me but it will consume your faith in such a way as fire consumes a dry wood. (39) God sent revelation to Moses : 0 Moses, don't be addicted to the world, as you will not come to me with a greater sin than this. (40) Once Moses passed by a man who was weeping. He found the man in the same condition when he was returning. Then Moses prayed to God : 0 Lord, your servant is weeping for fear of you. God said : 0 son of Imran, if his tears flow over his head and he keeps his hands raised up till they fall down, I shall not forgive him as he loves the world.

Wise sayings Hazrat Ali said'- He who has got six virtues leaves nothing for search for Paradise and for salvation from Hell- obeying God after knowing Him, following truth after knowing it, disobeying the devil after knowing him, saving himself from falsehood after knowing it, giving up the world after knowing it, and search for the next world after knowing it. Hazrat Hasan Basari said : God shows mercy on him who competes with another in matters of religion and He throws one. 3:159on his neck who competes with you in matters of the world. Loqman advised his son : 0 darling, the world is a deep sea and many people are drowned therein. Make God-fear as your boat, Iman as your oar, God-reliance as your sail, so that you may get salvation, or else I don't see the cause of your salvation.

The saint Fazil said: We should ponder deeply over the Quranic verse : I have made adornments for the world. I have created them with the object that I will see who among them is great in good works. A hermit was questioned : What do you think about time? He said : Time destroys the body, creates new hopes, takes death near and removes light distant. A certain sage said : success in the world means failure, cleanliness therein means uncleanliness and its dwellers remain in fear of loss of wealth, of clamity and impending death. One man said to the saint Abu Hazem : I have got no abode in the world, yet I complain to you about my attachment to the world. He said Look to what God granted you regarding wealth. Don't take except what is lawful. Don't spend except for things for which you should spend. If you conduct yourself in such a way, attachment for the world will not harm you. The saint Fazil said If the transient world was made of gold and ever-lasting and the next world of clay, it would have been our duty to love the clay-made next world than the world made of gold. How futile is it to love transient earth-made world than to ever-lasting gold-made next world.

The wise Loqman said to his son: 0 darling, sell your world in exchange of your next world. You will then get benefit in both the worlds. Don't sell your next world in exchange of this world, you will then be a loser in both the worlds. Hazrat Ibn Abbas said : God divided the world into three parts-(1) one part for the believers, (2) one part for the hypocrites and (3) one part for the infidels. A believer gathers his provision therein, a hypocrite adorns it and an infidel makes enjoyments therein. Hazrat Baheli said : After the Prophet became the messenger of God, the armies of the devil came to him and said : One Prophet has appeared and one nation has come out. What shall we do now ? The devil said Do they love the world ? They said : Yes. The devil said : I have got no anxiety about them even though they do not worship idols provided they love the world. I will come to them 3:160morning and evening with three advices-(1) acquire wealth unjsutly,(2) spend money in improper places and (3) be miser in places where expenditure is necessary. All' sins arise out of these three matters.

Hazrat Ali was once asked about the world. He said in short that accounts will be taken of lawful things in the world and punishment will be given of unlawful things. Abu Solaiman Darani said : When there is the next world in the mind of a man, the world stands before him. When there is the world in his mind, the next world does not come in, as the next world is honourable but the world is an object of hatred. Malek-b-Dinar said : The thoughts of the world will come out of your mind in proportion to your sorrows for the next world. Hazrat Ali said : This world and the next world are like two-co-wives. A co-wife will be dissatisfied in proportion to your giving satisfaction to another co-wife.

Hazrat Hasan Basari said: I saw such men to whom this world was more an object of hatred than the trodden mud. They had no attention to whom it went, to whom it rested and from whom it set in. Once Hazrat Omar went to visit Syria when Abyu Obadah was its governor. He came riding on a she camel to receive Hazrat Omar. The she-camel had a rope tied with her nose. Hazrat Omar conversed with him and then came to his abode but found nothing therein except a sword, a shield and a wood stand for placing the Quran therein. The Caliph asked him Why have you not kept other necessary things in your house ? The governor said : 0 Commander of the Faithful, these things will carry me to the place of questions and answers (grave). The wise Loqman said to his son : 0 darling, you are drifting away from this world from the day in which you were born and advacnirg towards the next world. The ~bode to which you are proceeding is better than the abode from which you are drifting away.

The saint Farnil-b-Iyaz said: Wonderful is the man who roams merrily even though the knows that death is inevitable. Wonderful is the man who laughs even though he knows that Hell is a truth. Wonderful is the man who remains satisfied with the world even though he knows that it is transient. Wonderful is the man who keeps himself engaged in earning wealth even though he knows that fate is true.

3:161Once an old man of 200 years of age came to the Caliph Muwayiah who asked him what he wanted from him. The old man said : I wish to get from you the life that has passed and to remove death which is near. He said : I have got no power over that. He said : Then I have got nothing to ask from you. Hazrat Hasan basari said : The life of a man will not go out of the world without repentance for three things-(1) he could not enjoy with satisfaction what be hoarded, (2) he could not fulfill what he hoped for, (3) and he could not do actions which ought to have been done for the next world. A certain sage was asked : For whom is this world ? He said : For those who give up this world. He was asked : for whom is the next world, He said : For those who want it.

The saint Ihya-b-Ma'az said: The wise men are three-(1) he who gives up the world before the world gives him up, (2) he who keeps himself prepared for his grave before he enters it, (3) and he who keeps God satisfied before he meets Him. Hazrat Ali said : The following six things are the world-(1), food, (2) drink .(3) dress, (4) conveyance, (5) woman and (6) scents, Honey is the best of foods and it comes from the mouths of bees. Water is the best of drinks. Both the virtuous and the sinners enjoy it. Silk cloth is the best of dresses and it is the saliva of worms. Horse is the best of conveyance. The Prophet fought riding on it. Woman is the best of coveted things to a man. He takes pleasures in penetrating his genital organ into female vazinal canal. Thus vazina is the most coveted thing in a woman. Musk is the best of scents and it is the blood of deer.

Hazrat Hasan Basari once wrote to Caliph Abdul Aziz : This worlds is transient, not ever-lasting. Adam was sent to the world as a sort of punishment. 0 Commander of the Faithful, fear the world. Giving up the world means gathering provision from the world for the next world. To remain in want in the world means to posses wealth in the hereafter. Every moment of the world destroys a man. He who honours the world, is humiliated by it. He who hoards up for the world, is thrown into wants. The condition of the world is like poison. He who does not know it eats it and therein there lies his destruction. Live in the world like the person who treats his wound and bears hardship for a time for fear of long sufferings and keeps patience of bitter pills for fear of too many medicines. So fear this abode of deception, 3:162deceit and treachery. Treasures of the world were presented to our prophet. Had he accepted them, he would not have received honour like the wing of a fly.

There is in Hadis Qudsi that God said to Moses : When you see some wealth coming to you, tell it: Punishment of sin will soon come. When you see poverty coming to you, say : Welcome to you, thanks to the sign of the religious men. If you like, follow Jesus Christ as he used to say : Hunger is my curry, God-fear is my sign, Sufi cloth is my dress, sun-rays in cold season is my provision, morning is my lamp, my feet are my conveyances, what the earth grows is my food. I pass nights having nothing and I pass my days having nothing. Who is a richer man than myself?

Hazrat Ohab-b-Munabbah said : When God sent Moses and Haron to Pharaoh, He said : Don't fear him, his forelock is in my hand. He cannot move his tongue without My permission -and cannot breathe. Hazrat Ali said in his sermon : 0 people, know that you are dead and you will be raised up after you are deal. Let not the world's life deceive you. This world's life is surrounded by dangers and difficulties, its destruction and its treachery are well known to all. What is therein will pass away along with the world and the world will roam in the midst of its votaries.

ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE WORLD