A FOOL’S PARADISE
WHAT a shock it will be for man to realize that his activities on earth have amounted to nothing. People take pride in asserting themselves, but they would do better to discover their humility and abject helplessness in the presence of God. They seek to justify their errors, but they would do better to admit them. They have been given tongues with which to praise God, but they praise human beings instead.
They have been endowed with the emotions of love and fear to offer to God, but they prefer to offer them to other objects. Hoarding wealth is their greatest aim in life, whereas it should be to give their wealth in God’s cause.
True virtue lies in being kind to the weak, but they ignore the weak and hail the mighty. They prefer to engage in noisy, worthless pursuits, but they would do better to delve into the silent world of meanings. Individual progress lies in being able to criticize themselves, but they never cease to criticize others.
They were expected to consider worldly wealth as worthless, but they have striven after it relentlessly, as if it were the source of all goodness.
Only those are in the right, who measure up to the standard set by God.
Today people recognize only the cruelties and injustice perpetrated by others. What will become of them when they learn of the cruelties and injustice perpetrated by themselves?
People have taken shelter in objects other than God, and think that they have gained a firm footing in life. But what will become of them when they find that there is no real refuge, save in God?
People justify themselves by means of words. What will become of them when they learn that there is no substance to their words?
By accumulating worldly amenities, they feel sure that they have all they need to succeed in both the worlds. What a shock they will receive when they learn that death has obliterated all in its wake! People unendingly compile lists of others’ wrongdoings. What will become of them when they learn that all mistakes they have made have been observed by the angels of God, and that they will be confronted with the entire list on the day of reckoning?
People consider that the problems of this life are the real problems. What will be their state when they learn that the real problem is that of accountability after death and leading on to an eternal life, far from this ephemeral life?
True virtue lies in being kind to the weak.
People have set up their own standards about what is right and what is wrong and, when they measure up to their self-devised standards, they think they are in the right. How shocked they will be when they learn that only those were in the right, who lived up to the standard set by God!
People think that they are fortunate when they are welcomed by a host of people. But what will happen when they will find that only those are fortunate, who are to be welcomed by God and his angels?
Man is living in a fool’s paradise of his own making, but the resurrection will shatter all his dreams. Then, only those who take refuge in God’s mercy will be saved.
Not descending to intolerant behaviour,
in spite of facing unpleasant situations,
is a clear proof of self-control.
One who has this ability becomes
so strengthened by it that
no one can defeat him.