Nahj al-Balāgha

١٣١. وَقَالَ (عليه ‏السلام): وَقَدْ سَمِعَ رَجُلًا يَذُمُّ الدُّنْيَا أَيُّهَا الذَّامُّ لِلدُّنْيَا الْمُغْتَرُّ بِغُرُورِهَا الْمَخْدُوعُ بِأَبَاطِيلِهَا أَ تَغْتَرُّ بِالدُّنْيَا ثُمَّ تَذُمُّهَا أَنْتَ الْمُتَجَرِّمُ عَلَيْهَا أَمْ هِيَ الْمُتَجَرِّمَةُ عَلَيْكَ مَتَى اسْتَهْوَتْكَ أَمْ مَتَى غَرَّتْكَ أَ بِمَصَارِعِ آبَائِكَ مِنَ الْبِلَى أَمْ بِمَضَاجِعِ أُمَّهَاتِكَ تَحْتَ الثَّرَى كَمْ عَلَّلْتَ بِكَفَّيْكَ وَكَمْ مَرَّضْتَ بِيَدَيْكَ تَبْتَغِى لَهُمُ الشِّفَاءَ وَتَسْتَوْصِفُ لَهُمُ الْأَطِبَّاءَ غَدَاةَ لَا يُغْنِى عَنْهُمْ دَوَاؤُكَ وَلَا يُجْدِى عَلَيْهِمْ بُكَاؤُكَ لَمْ يَنْفَعْ أَحَدَهُمْ إِشْفَاقُكَ وَلَمْ تُسْعَفْ فِيهِ بِطَلِبَتِكَ وَلَمْ تَدْفَعْ عَنْهُ بِقُوَّتِكَ وَقَدْ مَثَّلَتْ لَكَ بِهِ الدُّنْيَا نَفْسَكَ وَبِمَصْرَعِهِ مَصْرَعَكَ.

131. Amīr al-mu’minīn, peace be upon him, heard a man abusing the world and said: O you who abuse the world, O you who have been deceived by its deceit and cheated by its wrongs. Do you covet the world and then abuse it? Do you accuse it or it should accuse you? When did it bewilder you or deceive you whether by the decay and fall of your forefathers, or by the sleeping places of your mothers under the ground? How much you looked after them in their illness and nursed them during sickness, desiring them to be cured and consulting physicians for them in the morning when your medicine did not avail them and your wailing for them did not benefit them. Your mourning over them did not prove useful to them and you could not achieve your aims. You could not ward off (death) from them with all your power. In fact, through the dying man the world presented an illustration for you and showed you by the example of his falling down how you would (also) fall.

إِنَّ الدُّنْيَا دَارُ صِدْقٍ لِمَنْ صَدَقَهَا وَدَارُ عَافِيَةٍ لِمَنْ فَهِمَ عَنْهَا وَدَارُ غِنًى لِمَنْ تَزَوَّدَ مِنْهَا وَدَارُ مَوْعِظَةٍ لِمَنِ اتَّعَظَ بِهَا مَسْجِدُ أَحِبَّاءِ اللَّهِ وَمُصَلَّى مَلَائِكَةِ اللَّهِ وَمَهْبِطُ وَحْيِ اللَّهِ وَمَتْجَرُ أَوْلِيَاءِ اللَّهِ اكْتَسَبُوا فِيهَا الرَّحْمَةَ وَرَبِحُوا فِيهَا الْجَنَّةَ.

Certainly, this world is a house of truth for him who appreciates it; a place of safety for him who understands it; a house of riches for him who collects provision from it (for the next world); and a house of instructions for him who draws instruction from it. It is the place of worship for the lovers of Allāh; the place of praying for the angels of Allāh; the place where the revelation of Allāh descends; and the marketing place for those devoted to Allāh. Herein they earned mercy and herein they acquired Paradise by way of profit.

فَمَنْ ذَا يَذُمُّهَا وَقَدْ آذَنَتْ بِبَيْنِهَا وَنَادَتْ بِفِرَاقِهَا وَنَعَتْ نَفْسَهَا وَأَهْلَهَا فَمَثَّلَتْ لَهُمْ بِبَلَائِهَا الْبَلَاءَ وَشَوَّقَتْهُمْ بِسُرُورِهَا إِلَى السُّرُورِ رَاحَتْ بِعَافِيَةٍ وَابْتَكَرَتْ بِفَجِيعَةٍ تَرْغِيباً وَتَرْهِيباً وَتَخْوِيفاً وَتَحْذِيراً فَذَمَّهَا رِجَالٌ غَدَاةَ النَّدَامَةِ وَحَمِدَهَا آخَرُونَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ ذَكَّرَتْهُمُ الدُّنْيَا فَتَذَكَّرُوا وَحَدَّثَتْهُمْ فَصَدَّقُوا وَوَعَظَتْهُمْ فَاتَّعَظُوا.

Therefore, who can abuse it when it has announced its departure and called out that it would leave! It had given news of its own destruction and the death of its people. By its hardship it set an example of their hardships. By its pleasures it created eagerness for the pleasures (of the next world). It brings ease in the evening and grief in the morning by way of persuasion, dissuasion, alarm and warning. People abuse it on the morning of their repentance but there are others who will praise it on the Day of Judgement. The world recalled to them the next life and they bore it in mind. It related to them (things of the next life) and they acknowledged them. It preached to them and they took lesson therefrom. [1]