Following desires prevents the attainment of the truth...

Following desires prevents the attainment of the truth, and far-fetched hopes cause forgetfulness of the Hereafter. Indeed, the world has passed swiftly by, and only a small portion of it remains like the remnants poured out of a water vessel; and indeed, the Hereafter has approached. Each of them (the world and the Hereafter) has their children.

Therefore, be of the children of the Hereafter, and do not be of the children of this world, for every child will be attached to his mother on the Day of Judgment.

Today is (the day of) action and no accounting, and tomorrow is (the day of) accounting and no action.” [^3] As you will notice, in this sermon, Imam ‘Ali (as), not only mentions the hazards of far-fetched hopes, which is to forget about the Hereafter, but also shows us how to struggle against these hopes by paying attention to the Hereafter.

He states that the results of our wrong-doings beget dangerous consequences in the other world, and there will be no way to compensate for them at that time. Of course, we should be aware that not all our hopes can be fulfilled. By drawing a square on the ground and by passing a line in the middle of it the Great Prophet (S) depicted this fact.[^4] Imam ‘Ali (as) mentions the same idea in the expression he uses "المؤمِّل ما لا يدرك" (hoping for what is unattainable).

The Follower of the path of those who have perished "السالك سبيل من قد هلك" What is meant by this expression is that the child from the day it is born is on the scale of growth and it develops: It finishes infancy and then arrives at the youth and then reaches old age and finally passes away. This process includes everybody: both our ancestors and our descendants. Thus, my son!