It is in these verses that the crux of the Quran's logic comes to light...

It is in these verses that the crux of the Quran's logic comes to light: Wealth and sons are the adornment of the worldly life; but the abiding things, the deeds of righteousness (which survive one's death and continue to benefit other people), are better with God in reward and better in hope. (18:46) This verse, as can be seen, speaks of the ultimate aspiration of man. His ultimate aspiration is the thing for which he lives and without which life has no meaning in his eyes.

Surely those who look not to encounter Us and are well-pleased with the present life and are at rest in it, and those who are heedless of Our signs, those-their refuge is the Fire, for that they have been earning. (10:7-8) In this verse, that which is considered execrable is the absence of hope in the next life and the satisfaction and contentment with material things. 3. So turn thou from him who turns away from Our remembrance, and desires only the present life.

That is their attainment of knowledge ... (53:29-30) 4. And they rejoice in this world's life; and this world's life is nothing compared with the Hereafter but a temporary enjoyment. (13:26) They know an outward part of the present life, but of the Hereafter they are heedless. (30:7) There are many other verses which have a similar meaning.

In all of them the same theme recurs, that is the negation of the world as the goal and ideal of man's highest aspirations and the ultimate object of his desire, and the only source of his happiness and delight. It is held that this form of relation between man and the world, instead of putting the world at man's disposal, sacrifices man to it and dispossesses him of his humanity. In the Nahj al-balaghah as in the Quran we encounter a similar twofold argument.

In the first set of statements the transitory nature of the world is depicted in profound, forceful metaphors, allegories and parables put in precise and elegant phrases which follow one another in an absorbing rhythm. In the second category, conclusions are drawn which are exactly the same as those derived by the Quran. In Khutbah 32, people are at first divided into two categories: the worldly and the otherworldly. The worldly people are again divided into four groups.

In the first group are put those who are meek and tractable like sheep. They are the most innocuous of creatures, never seen to commit any overt injustice or aggression, or covert deceit or subversion.