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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Theological Instructions LESSON FIFTY-ONE: A COMPARISON BETWEEN THIS WORLD AND THE HEREAFTER Introduction It is possible to employ our knowledge acquired through wisdom and tradition and compare and evaluate this world and the Hereafter in different ways.

Fortunately, such a comparison has been made in the Holy Qur’an, and it is possible to use Qur’anic assumptions for a true evaluation of life in this world and in the Hereafter and explore the priority of life in the Hereafter. The finiteness of this World and infiniteness of the Hereafter The first remarkable difference between this world and the Hereafter is the finite life of this world and the endless life in the world following it.

Anyone’s life in this world will sooner or later come to its end. Even though a person may live in this world for hundreds or thousands of years, his life will eventually come to its end at the time of nature’s final evolution and when the first trumpet is blown, as explained in the previous lessons.

On the other hand, about eighty verses of the Holy Qur’an express the eternity of life in the Hereafter (refer to verses cited in previous lesson re: the eternity of Paradise and Hell), and it is obvious that any finite life, no matter how long it is, will not be comparable to an infinite life. Therefore, the Hereafter due to its infinity has great priority over this world; this has been a matter of concern in a number of verses.

Words like infinite - ‘Abqaa’ (al- Kahf: 46, Maryam:76, Tāha:73,131, al-Qasas:60, Ghāfir:39, al-A’la: 17), and finite - qalīl (Āl-‘Imrān:197, al-Nisā’:77, al-Tawbah:38, al-Nahl:117), have been employed to explain the Hereafter and this world respectively. In some other verses, such concepts have been expressed by making a simulation between worldly life and a plant, which is green for a few days, then changes to yellow, and later fades and dies (Yūnus:24, Kahf:45-46, Hadīd:2).

Finally, in one verse, it is stated that, “what is with Allah shall last” (al-Nahl:96). Isolation of Blessing from Punishment Another fundamental difference between the worldly life and the Hereafter is that this world’s pleasure and life is mixed with suffering and hardship. It is unlikely that a group of people will always live in happiness and tranquility while another group live in sadness and anxiety.

Rather, all people are involved, more or less, in happiness, pleasure and peace together with suffering, sadness and anxiety.