Page 321
wa-lā tamuddanna ʿaynayka ʾilā mā mattaʿnā bihī ʾazwājan minhum zahrata l-ḥayāti d-dunyā li-naftinahum fīhi wa-rizqu rabbika khayrun wa-ʾabqā
Do not extend your glance toward what We have provided certain groups of them as a glitter of the life of this world, so that We may test them thereby. The provision of your Lord is better and more lasting.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Ta Ha – Verse 131
131. “And do not stretch your eyes to that thing which We have given parties of them to enjoy; (this is) the splendour of the life of the world that We may try them in it; and the provision of your Lord is better and more lasting.”
There has been narrated a tradition from Imam Sadiq (as) who said:
“Whoever longs for the people’s help, his sorrow will prolong and his rage will remain.” 1
The Qur’an considers the wealth of the world as goodness, virtue, and adornment and counts the enjoyment of it lawful and permissible, yet it condemns intensive love unto it, because the life in this world is like a bud or a blossom, which has a short lifetime and, with a faint wind or breeze easily vanishes. In this verse the Prophet (S) has been ordered some instructions which are completive to the statement of patience that was mentioned in the previous verse. These instructions, in fact, are for all Muslims.
At first, it says:
Yes, these worldly bounties are temporary and unstable. They are blossoms of the life of this world, the blossoms which soon open, and fade soon and fall on the ground. They remain stable only for a few days. The verse says:
In the meantime, all these are for that they may be tried by them. The verse continues saying:
And, however, whatever Allah has provided as sustenance for you is better and is more lasting. The verse says:
Allah has bestowed on you kinds of bounties and graces, including: Faith and Islam, the Qur’an and Divine Signs, lawful and pure provisions, and finally, the permanent blessings of the Hereafter. These provisions are stable and everlasting.
Footnotes