Mawlana Majlisi On The Reality Of The World The great...

Mawlana Majlisi On The Reality Of The World The great researcher and peerless traditionist Mawla na Majlisi (M)[^2] states: “Let it be known to you that that which can be deduced from all the verses of the Quran and the traditions in this regard, according to our understanding of them, is that ‘the accursed world’ is the sum total of all those things that prevent man from obeying God and keep him from His love and from seeking the Hereafter.

Therefore ‘the world’ and ‘the Hereafter’ are antithetical to each other: whatever causes His good pleasure and one’s nearness to Him belongs to ‘the Hereafter,’ even though apparently it should seem to be a matter of the world-such as the trade, the agriculture, the industry and the crafts whose purpose is to provide subsistence for one’s family for the sake of obedience to God’s command, for spending one’s income for charitable purposes and the welfare of the poor and needy, and to avoid dependence on others and beseeching their help.

All these activities are meant for the Hereafter, though people should consider them to be for the sake of the world. On the other hand, heretical exercises in spiritual self-discipline, sanctimonious deeds and the like, though they might be performed with great devotion and care, are meant for the world, as they cause alienation from God and do not bring man near to Him.

Such are the deeds and the practices of the infidels and those who oppose the right path.”[^3] Another researcher remarks: “Your ‘world’ and ‘Hereafter’ are two inner states of your heart: that which is nearer and is concerned with the life before death is ‘the world’, and whatever that follows it and is concerned with the life after death is ‘the Hereafter’.

Therefore, everything that earns you pleasure and joy and provokes your lust before death, it is ‘the world’ for you.” The Author’s View This pauper says: ‘the world’ may sometimes be regarded as meaning the lowest level of existence and the abode of change, transition, and annihilation. ‘The Hereafter’ signifies return from this lower mode of existence to the higher, celestial plane, one’s inner world, which is the abode of permanence, stability, and eternity.

These two worlds exist for every individual. The first one is the terrestrial realm of development and emergence, which is the lower plane of observable worldly existence. The other is the hidden, inward, and celestial level of existence, which is the higher plane of being of the Hereafter.