In the past when people wanted to travel from one city to another...

In the past when people wanted to travel from one city to another, they would take into consideration the distance between the two points and divide this stretch of land over the amount of distance which they had the ability to cover per day and along the way, would setup a camp to rest.

For example, a hundred kilometer trip would be referred to as a 'three-stage' trip meaning that a person would start his trip by leaving in the morning and whatever place he reached to in the evening would be taken as a resting place and they would rest and sleep (and this would be the first stage of their trip). Obviously, even stopping to rest and sleep at night was also for some purpose such as: Rest.[^2] Protection from the dangers of thieves and wild animals.

On these long journeys, there were also people who used to wander around the paths with water (for the travellers to make use of). Those who were travelling and needed water or help with preparing their animals for the next leg of the journey would be provided this assistance by these people. The travelers who reached such a resting spot during the period of their trip never considered that a place as their permanent home.

Without doubt, if our outlook for this world was like these travellers such that it is not our permanent abode and that eventually we must return back to our original home, then our state of affairs would definitely be different than they are right now and we would definitely go through a complete spiritual change.

Our true life is reserved for 'that' place and in the Noble Qur'an we read that: وَ مَا هٌذِهِ الْحَيٌوةُ الدُّنْـيَا إِلاَّ لَهْوٌ وَ لَعِبٌ وَ إِنَّ الدَّارَ الآخِرَةَ لَهِيَ الْحَيَوَانُ لَوْ كَانُوا يَعْلَمُونَ “And the life of this world[^3] is nothing more than sport and play and surely the abode of the next life - that is the (true meaning) of life - if only they had any intelligence.”[^4] If we truly had this vision in ourselves we would not bother fighting for things like a piece of land or status, or other trivial things.

The resting places that existed in the olden days on the roads differ from the life of this world since the travellers knew that when they reached such a house or locality at night time, they would stay there until the morning and then once the sun was up, they would proceed on their journey. However no one can guarantee us that we will be alive in this world until the morning time until the afternoon?

✦ ✦ ✦