REVIVAL OF RELIGIOUS LEARNINGS IMAM GHAZZALI'S
IHYA ULUM-ID-DIN
Translated by
FAZL-UL-KARIM
VOL. III






CONTENTS OF BOOK III
THE BOOK OF DESTRUCTIVE EVILS


CONTENTS


CHAPTER VI
Evils of the world 153



THE REVIVAL OF RELIGIOUS LEARNINGS
The Book of Destructive Evils




CHAPTER VI
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.
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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
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your 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
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God-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
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world, 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



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Resurrection 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.
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(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.
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on 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
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morning 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.


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Once 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,
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deceit 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

(1) First illustration: The world is moving towards destruction. The world promises that it is lasting, but it breaks its promise immediately after that, Look to the world. It is motionless and steady, but really it is always moving.

(2) Second illustration: The world is like a shade. Shade seems to be steady at its outward look, but really it is moving and constantly drifting. .

(3) Third illustration: The world is like dream of night and like the different ideas in dream. The Prophet said : The world is like a dream and like happiness and punishment in dream. Eunus-b- Obaaid said : I found myself like a sleeping man in the world. He sees what he likes and does not like and then he wakes up from sleep in this condition. Similarly the people are asleep and riseup at death.



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(4) Fourth illustration: The world is like an unchaste woman The world at first treats well and then leads to destruction. The world dresses itself like an unchaste woman and calls the people towards her. Whenever she takes the people to her house, she ruins them. Jesus Christ saw the world in his mind's eye like an old woman dressed nicely and asked her : How many husbands have you taken ? She said : There is no limit. He asked : Have all of them died during your life time or have they divorce you once after another ? The woman said : I have ruined all of them. Jesus Christ said : Woe to yourremaining husbands. Thy do not take lessons seeing the condition of your previous husbands. They do not take care even tough you have runined them one after another.
(5) Fifth illustration: The world is like anugly old woman. The outer form of the world is one kind and its secret form is another. Its outer form is nice but its inner form is ugly and poisonous. So the world can well be compared to an old and ulgy woman. The saint Abu Bakr-b-Iyash said : I saw the world in dream as an ugly woman with dislevelled hairs. She is beating drum with her hands and many people are dancing behind her. When she came forward, she said : If I can win over you, it will be good. I will deceive you as I have deceived these people. Then Abu Bakr wept: I saw this woman before I came to Bagdad.

(6) Sixth ill illustration: Know, 0 dear readers, that a man has got three conditions-0) one condition is that he was nothing at one time and that was before his birth. (2) The second condition is that he will not see the world after his death till resurrection. (3) The third condition is the time between these two times-the time of life. This is the time of life's span. Now compare this short time with the endless time before and after. For this reason, the Prophet said : 'I am in this world like a sojourner who travels in scorching rays of the sun and then sleeps for a time under the shade of a tree on the way and then rises up and walks. He who looks to the world with this angle of vision, can not be addicted to this world. He cannot look how his days pass by, whether in sorrows and difficulties or in joy and happiness. He does not construct any building or a house of wood up to his death. One day he saw a companion constructing a house of wood and said : I am seeing that death is faster than this house. Jesus Christ said : The world is like a bridge. Cross it
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ut do not live in it. This is a clear illustration as this world's life s drifting towards the next world. The beginning of this bridge is the birth place and the end is grave. To construct houses on the road and to adorn them is foolishness in the extreme as it shall
hang to be crossed.
J7) Seventh illustration: At first, if seems that there is joy and happiness in the world but it is difficult to get out of it safe. Hazrat Ali wrote to Salman Faresi : The world is like a snake which is smooth on touch but whose poison is destructive. So be areful of what seems therefrom liking to you. When you are ertain that you shall have to part from it, you should give up all thoughts about it. The more you enjoy the objects of happiness in the world, the more it will be the cause of your sorrows.
(8) Eight illustration: The Prophet said : The worldly addicted man i~ like one who walks upon water. Can he walk upon water without getting his feet wetted in water ? This is a lesson for those who think that their soul is pure though their body is in worldly happiness. Worldly attachment becomes a stumbling block to getting pleasures in divine services. Jesus Christ said : I tell you with truth, the worldly addicted man does not get pleasure in divine service as a diseased man does not get any taste in delicious foods. I tell you with true that if you do not hold under control your riding animal, its nature will change and you will feel difficulty in riding on it. Similar is the condition of mind. If you cannot keep the mind under control by constant divine service and remembrance of death, it will become hard and harsh. The Prophet said : There are difficulties and danger sin the world. The good work of any of you is like a pot. If its upper portion is clean, its inner portion is also clean and if its upper portion is unclean, its inner portion also is unclean.
(9) Ninth illustration: The Prophet said : The world is like a torn cloth from its beginning to end. The end of the cloth is hanging up with a thread which will soon be torn.
(10) Tenth illustration: Jesus Christ said : The searcher for the world is like one who drinks water of sea. The more he will drink the saltish water of the sea, the more his thirst will increase and ultimately he will meet with his end.
(11) Eleventh illustration: The temptations and greed of the world conduce to happiness as the greed for food is enjoyable to
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belly. Everyone will see his greed of the world stency and an. object of hatred at the time of his death as the delicious foods become obnoxious in stomach. The more the food is delicious and tasteful, the more the stool gives out obnoxious smell. Similarly the more the temptations are delicious to heart, the more it will become troublesome at the time of death. The more a man has got worldly riches, the more are his pangs of separation at the time of his death. What is the meaning of death except the leaving of the worldly riches ? The Prophet said : God likened the world to the food of men and likened the food to the world.
(12) Twelveth illustration: The Prophet said : What is this. world in comparison with the next world ? This world is like that scanty water which a finger catches when it is put into sea.
(13) Thirteenth illustration: Know, 0 dear readers, that the worldly men are like the people in their carelessness who got on a boat and the boatman held it up with an island and asked the boarders to clear their natural calls. Some of them returned soon after their calls of nature and some sat in the island heartily enjoying the songs of birds, seeing the beautiful brids and beasts and other charming things of the island. They returned after sometime only to find their places in the boat made too narrow. Some of them totllay forgot the boat and settled in the island without heeding the boatman's words that they should return soon to their boat. As a result they stayed in the island and died soon after without getting food and drink. This is the illustration of the world. Those who forgot their permanent abode and are engrossed in worldly enjoyments, they meet with spiritual death and destroy themselves. Nothing will go tight them at the time of their death except good deeds.
(14) Fourteenth illustration: Hazrat Hasan Basari reported : I heard that the Prophet gave advice to his companions : The world is like a company of people who were travelling through a desert. Their provisions ran short and they faced death. When they where in this this condition, they found a man coming towards them from a distance. When he came, he said to them : If I can take you to a fountains and a good garden, will you obey me they said : Yes, we shall not disobey you. We swear in the name of God. He then took them to a fountain and a garden full of vegetables and fruits. Thus they saved their lives after eating them. The man said : 0 people, now you may go. Some of them
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obeyed him and went away from that place. Those who disobeyed were soon caught by enemies and were either killed or made captives.
(15) Fifteenth illustration. This world is like guest or rest house built for the travellers and not for permanent residence therein. The rest house is to be enjoyed only temporarily. This world is similarly a rest house for the travellers of the next world who will take benefit therefrom for their permanent residence.
SPECIAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORLD
What is the world? Which portion of the world is to be accepted and which to be rejected ? Which is good in the world and which is bad ? This world and the next world are two conditions of your mind. everything before death is world and everything after death is next world. The thing which gives you pleasure before death increases your greed and gives you taste is the world for you and the thing which will give you pleasure after death is the next world.
THREE KINDS OF THINGS ARE NOT WORLD.-(1) The things that will go to the next world with a man and knowledge and actions. The objects of knowledge are God, His attributes, His actions, His sovereignty over heaven and earth, etc. Actions mean the actions done for the sake of God and His pleasure. The learned man is he who possesses these two attributes. To him knowledge of the former is greatest, for which he gives up food; drink and'even marriage, as the happiness of the former is greater than that of the latter. This knowledge is a portion of the world, yet it cannot be called world. It is included within the next world. A certain sage said : I fear death as it will destroy my might prayer. Another sage said : 0 God, give me strength in the grave to pray, to bow and prostrate. The Prophet said : Three things of the world are dear to me-wife, scent and prayer. Even prayer was considered as belonging to the world. The things which can be perceived by the five senses are of this world. Prayer is done by movements of bodily organs and therefore it is included within the world.
(2) Things of the second kind. These things are also not included within the world and these are such things as are absolutely necessary for a man in-this world. What is not absolutely necessary is world. What is not done for the next

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world is world and not next world, just as to enjoy lawful things in excess of necessity, to enjoy silver and gold, horse, cattle, landed property, houses and buildings, dress and delicious foods of various kinds. Hazrat Omar reported that he had appointed Abu Darda'a as governor of the province of Hems. The governor erected a latrine with two dirhams' expense. Hazrat Omar wrote to him on getting this news : From Omar, Commander of the Faithful, to Abu Darda'a. You have got ample worldly adornments in the places of Chosroes and Byzantines, but God proposes to destroy them. When this letter of mine reaches you, you and your family must come to Damsscus and stay there till death. Hazrat Omar thought it even unnecessary.

(3) Things of the third kind. The things of the third kind are in the intermediary between the above two classes. This is to work with the object of doing next worldly actions, such as taking food and drink only to save life, to wear coarse cloth only to cover private parts and to do such wogks from which there is no escape. So what is necessary of food and drink to save life and health is not world.
THREE THINGS WILL GO WITH A MAN
AT THE TIME OF HIS DEATH

(1) purity of heart, (2) satisfaction arising out of the remembrance of God (3) and engagement of mind in divine love. Purity of mind cannot be attained if one cannot control himself from worldly passions and temptations. Satisfaction cannot be gained unless there is constant remembrance of God and keeping patience therein. These three things will be the causes of satisfaction. By death the existence of man does not end but he returns to God after separation from his dear things of the world. From this, it is known that a traveler towards the next world must necessarily possess three qualities-Zikr (remembrance of God), Fikr (good thought) and meditation and pious actions which prevent him from worldly greeds. To such a man, the enjoyments of the world are bitter. If there is no health, these qualities cannot be attained and dress and an abode for habitations. So these things are also necessary. If a man takes these things to the proportion of necessity with the object of the next world, he cannot be addicted to the world. For him the world is a seed ground for the future.
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There are two classes of these thing.-Lawful and unlawful. Unlawful things lead to the punishment in the next world and lawful things stand as blocks to higher ranks. To wait for rendering account on the Resurrection Day is a sort of punishment. The Prophet said : There are accounts for the lawful things of the world and punishment for the unlawful things. He also said : There is also punishment for the lawful things but this punishment is lighter than that of unlwful things.
So everything in the world is cursed, small or great, lawful or unlawful. The proportion of a thing which helps God-fear is not world. He whose Marfat or God's knowledge is strong takes great care of the world. Jesus Christ once was sleeping placing his head on a stone. The devil came to him and said : You have become attached to the world. At this, he threw away the stone at him. Hazrat Solaiman entertained his people with various dishes, but himself ate husk of wheat. Our Prophet was pesented the treasures of the world, but he kept himself hungry for some days and bound stones in his belly to reduce the pangs of hunger. For this reason, the prophets and friends of God were given the most severe trails, so that they may enjoy enternal happiness of the next world. So what is not done for the sake of God is called world and what is done for His sake is not world.
Question. What are the things for the. sake of God? Answer. All things are divided into three classes.
(1) What is not done for the sake of God, such as sins, prophibited things and unnecessary. lawful things. These are the things of the world, (2) What is done for the sake of God. (3) Worldly actions done for the sake of God, such as food and drink, marriage etc. The second class of things are again sub-divided into three classes. (1) Fikr or meditation about the creatious of God, (2) Zikr or remembrance of God and (3) abstaining from worldly greeds and passions. When these things are done for the sake of God and not for show, they appertain to the third class. They are food, drink, marriage etc. If they are done for the sake of God, they are next worldly actions but if they are done to satisfy just, they are worldly actions. The Prophet said : He who, searches lawful things of the world to show glory or boast will meet with God in His enraged condition, but he who searches the world to abstain'from begging and to
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Vol-III Attachment of the world 171
save him will come on the Resurrection Day with face bright as full moon. God says : He who restrains himself from vain desires will have paradise as his destination-19:40Q.
FIVE THINGS OF VAIN DESIRES: Passion or vain desire is composed of five things. God says of them in the following verse Know that this world's life is a mere sport, vain plays and adornment, mutual boast and increase in wealth and children-57 : 20Q. In another verse, seven things have been counted as vain desires-3:14 Q.-Men have been given the vain desires of women, children, hoarded wealth of silver and gold, horses of good quality, quadrupeds and crops. These are things of this world's life.
Now you have come to know what is world and what is not world. Food, dress and abode to the extent of almost necessity and if done to please God are not world. What is in excess of these things is called world. There are things which are absolutely necessary and things which are simply necessary. There is the middle course between these two kinds which is best and the middle course keeps near the border line of absolute necessity.
The §aint Wais Qarni was regarded by his country men as a mad man as he subjected himself to strict rigours of life. They constructed for him a hut which he visited once a year or once in two or three years. He used to go out before Azan for morning prayer and returned home after Isha or night prayer. His food were the stones of dried grapes and he used to put on the torn pieces of cloth after sewing which he gathered from heaps of refuges in markets. Often the boys threw stones at him. He said to the body's : Throw small stones as my ablution might break for bleeding if large stones are thrown at me. The Prophet looked his actions with honour and said: I am feeling the breath of God from the land of Yemen. This is a hint at Wais Qarni. Hazrat Omar delivered this sermon to the people after taking charge of Khilafat : 0 people, let the inhabitants of Iraq stand up and let others sit down. A party of men stood up. Then he said : Let the inhabitants of Kufa stand up and let others sit down. When it was done he said : Let the people of Murad clan remain standing and let others down. He said afterwards : Let the inhabitants of Qarn remain standing and let others sit down. Except one man, all others sat down. Then Omar said to him : Do you know Wais-b-Amr Qarni ? He said : I know, 0 Commander of the
Faithful, why do you ask about him? By God, there is nobody more insane, stupid and fool than him. Hazrat Omar began to weep and said : I heard from the Prophet that owing to his intercession a great many people like the numbers of Rabia and Modar clans will get salvation.
Haran-b-Hayan said: When I heard this from Hazrat Omar, I came to Kufa and searched for Wais Qarni and found him at noon washing cloths in the bank of the Tigirs. I found him strong and stout, with bald head, thick beard, and broad face. I asked him How are yot%0 wais ? He replied : 0 Haran, son of Hayan, how are you ? Who did tell you my address ? I said : God. I wondered how he came to know my name when he did not see me before. I asked him: How have you come to know my name and the name of my father? He said : The Almighty gave me this information. My soul recognized your soul when I talked with you. Similarly a believer can recognise another believer. I said: Tell me a Hadis of the Prophet. He said : I never had any companionship with the Holy Prophet but I saw some of his companions and heard some traditions from them. Then he recited the Quranic verse : I have not created the heavens and earth and what is between them out of sport. I created them with truth, but most people do not know-44: 39 Q. When he read up to this, he raised a loud shriek and said : 0 Haran, your father Hayan has died and you will soon die. Hazrat Adam, his wife Hawa, prophets Noah, Moses, David and even Muhammad, the world Prophet, died. Hazrat Abu Bakr died and my friend Hazrat Omar also has just expired. Alas, 0 Omar, alas, 0 Omar. I said : Hazrat Omar has not died. I saw him alive when I left him. He said: My Lord has just now given me the news that Omar has expired. Then he said to Haran : Walk in the path of God's Book and the believers and pious men. The news of your and my death have come. Don't be unmindful even for a twinkling of an eye. When you will return to your people, give sermons to them. Don't go a single step from the Jamaat of a Muslims. Invoke for me and for you. Haran I entrust you to God. May God shower mercy on you. You will not see me again. I am going this way and you go that way.
MEANING OF THIS WORLD
AND THE NEXT WORLD
It will be clear to you from what has been described above that the things on which the sun casts its rays and the things
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which the earth grows are all included within the limit of this world, and the things if done for the sake of God and the things contrary to the above are the next world. Whatever is absolutely necessary to gain strength for divine service is an action of the next world if taken in accordance with the wishes of God. If a pilgrim is on his way to pilgrimage and takes care of things necessary for his pilgrirmage, such as provisions of himself and his conveyance, pilgrimage is not nulligied therefore and he is engaged then in the actions of pilgrimage. Similarly body is the carrier of soul and walks along the distance of life. So efforts to gain and preserve strength of body for acquiring knowledge and good works are not called world, but included within the next world. The saint Tanafusi said : I was attached to the door of Banu Shaiba of the Ka'ba for seven days. On the eighth day, I heard and unknown voice : Be careful, God makes the internal eye of one blind, who takes from the world kings in excess of what is necessary for him.
REAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORLD
Know, 0; dear readers, that the making of the world is-(1) the things which exist in the world, (2) the things with which man have got connection, (3) and the things for the adornment of which men are engaged.
(1) The things which exist in the world are the earth and the things that are on it. God says : I have created whatever is in the earth as adornment in order to try who among them is best in action. The earth is a bed for the children of Adam and for their rest. Whatever is grown is divided into three classes-(1) mineral substances, (2) plants and (3) animals. Animals are men, birds and beasts. Man wants to subdue birds, beasts and even men called slaves and wants also women for enjoyment. These are the world. Men' love women, children, gold and silver, crops and quardrnped animals. Man has got two connections with these things-internal and external. The meaning of internal connection is to love these things with heart, to engage with them in enjoyment and turn all thoughts for them. His heart then becomes addicted to the world like a slave. For this reason, all evils, such as pride, treachery, show, hatred, name and fame, flattery, love of wealth enter the heart. This is the internal connection with the world. The meaning of outer connection so that of the body to take recourse to business and industry. So
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there is the connection of mind with love and connection of body with the things. All the things are for food of the body, but food of the soul is the intention with which food is taken for the sake of God. The man who forgets his goal and soul living in the world is like the pilgrim who remains always engaged with his conveying animal and forgets his, pilgrimage. The pilgrim towards the next world remembers his goal and does only what is necessary to take him to the destination.

CAUSES OF ENGAGEMENT IN THE WORLD: The three causes are to gather food, dress and abode. Food is for preservation of the body, dress is for protection of the body from heat and cold, and abode is for protection of the body and to keep away the causes of destruction of lives and wealth, God created these things for the benefit of mankind. There are five necessary things for man which are the basis of industry and main causes of his engagement-(1) cultivation, (2) grazing, (3) hunting, (4) weaving and (5) construction. Cvultivation is for growing crops And food stuffs. Grazing is for maintaining beasts and quardrupeds. Weaving is for making cloths and dresses and construction is for making houses for habitation. For smooth living, administrative-works, judicial works and military work, are necessary. So mankind is divided into three classes from the point of view of-these works-(1) cultivators and industrialists, .(2) sofdiers, and (3) offices of government.'

The leligious men are of different:classes: One -class of religiou6 men think that ,this wvrJd -is a.house of dangers, difficgltiesand labourand•think also.thatthey wiil.be owners of fortune hi thq next world irrespective bf'aiittons good or bad. Another class of religious nien think that natural passiors must be uprooted for salvation and- it is not sufficient only to bring them under control. Another class think that it is impossible to observe religious rules and that God has got no necessity for the divine service of men. Another class think that divine service is not necessary as it is sufficient to have knowledge of God. Another class of menn rightly think that there is salvation in following the prophets especially the last Prophet of Arabia. They do not give up the world, nor uproot their passions. They take from the world whatever absolutely necessary for them. The Prophet said that out of many parties, only one party will get salvation. The companions asked : 0 Prophet of God, who are

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they ? He said : People of Sunnat and Jamaat. The Prophet was asked : Who are the people of Sunnat and Jamaat ? He said : Those who tread my path and the path of my companions ? They did not take the world for its sake but for religion. They did not give up the world but really they renunciated the world. They adopted the middle course in their actions and did not go to the extremes.

****End of Chapter 6 - Volume 3 *****

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