CHAPTER III
THE KNOWLEDGE OF THIS WORLD
This world is a stage or market-place passed by pilgrims
on their way to the next. It is here that they are to provide themselves
with provisions for the way; or, to put it plainly, man acquires here,
by the use of his bodily senses, some knowledge of the works of God, and,
through them, of God Himself, the sight of whom will constitute his future
beatitude. It is for the acquirement of this knowledge that the spirit
of man has descended into this world of water and clay. As long as his
senses remain with him he is said to be "in this world"; when they depart,
and only his essential attributes remain, he is said to have gone to "the
next world."
While man is in this world, two things are necessary for
him: first, the protection and nurture of his soul; secondly, the care
and nurture of his body. The proper nourishment of the soul, as above shown,
is the knowledge and love of God, and to be absorbed in the love of anything
but God is the ruin of the soul. The body, so to speak, is simply the riding
animal of the soul and perishes while the soul endures. The soul should
take care of the body, just as a pilgrim on his way to Mecca takes care
of his camel; but if the pilgrim spends his whole time in feeding and adorning
his camel, the caravan will leave him behind; and he will perish in the
desert.
Man's bodily needs are simple, being comprised under three
heads: food, clothing, and a dwelling place; but the bodily desires which
were implanted in him with a view to procuring these are apt to rebel against
reason, which is of later growth than they. Accordingly, as we saw above,
they require to be curbed and restrained by the divine laws promulgated
by the prophets.
Considering the world with which we have for a time to
do, we find it divided into three departments -- animal, vegetable, and
mineral. The products of all three are continually needed by man and have
given rise to three principal occupations -- those of the weaver, the builder,
and the worker in metal. These, again, have many subordinate branches,
such as tailors, masons, smiths, etc. None can be quite independent of
others; this gives rise to various business connections and relations and
those too frequently afford occasions, for hatred, envy, jealousy, and
other maladies of the soul. Hence come quarrels and strife, and the need
of political and civil government and knowledge of law.
Thus the occupations and businesses of the world have
become more and more complicated and troublesome, chiefly owing to the
fact that men have forgotten that their real necessities are only three
-- clothing, food, and shelter -- and that these exist only with the object
of making the body a fit vehicle for the soul in its journey towards the
next world. They have fallen into the same mistake as the pilgrim to Mecca,
mentioned above, who, forgetting the object of his pilgrimage and himself,
should spend his whole time in feeding and adorning his camel. Unless a
man maintains the strictest watch he is certain to be fascinated and entangled
by the world, which, as the Prophet said, is "a more potent sorcerer than
Harut and Marut." [1]
The deceitful character of the world comes out in the
following ways. In the first place, it pretends that it will always remain
with you, while, as a matter of fact, it is slipping away from you, moment
by moment, and bidding you farewell, like a shadow which seems stationary,
but is actually always moving. Again, the world presents itself under the
guise of a radiant but immoral sorceress, pretends to be in love with you,
fondles you, and then goes off to your enemies, leaving you to die of chagrin
and despair. Jesus (upon whom be peace!) saw the world revealed in the
form of an ugly old hag. He asked her how many husbands she had possessed;
she replied that they were countless. He asked whether they had died or
been divorced; she said that she had slain them all. "I marvel," he said,
"at the fools who see what you have done to others, and still desire you."
This sorceress decks herself out in gorgeous and jewelled
apparel and veils her face. Then she goes forth to seduce, men, too many
of whom follow her to their own destruction. The Prophet has said that
on the Judgment Day the world will appear in the form of a hideous witch
with green eyes and projecting teeth. Men, beholding her, will say, "Mercy
on us! who is this?" The angels will answer, "this is the world for whose
sake you quarrelled and fought and embittered one another's lives." Then
she will be cast into hell, whence she will cry out, "O Lord! where are
those, my former lovers? God will then command that they be cast after
her.
Whoever will seriously contemplate the past eternity during
which the world was not in existence, and the future eternity during which
it will not be in existence, will see that it is essentially like a journey,
in which the stages are represented by years, the leagues by months, the
miles by days, and the steps by moments. What words, then, can picture
the folly of the man who endeavours to make it his permanent abode, and
forms plans ten years ahead regarding things he may never need, seeing
that very possibly he may be under the ground in ten days!
Those who have indulged without limit in the pleasures
of the world, at the time of death will be like a man who has gorged himself
to repletion on delicious viands and then vomits them up. The deliciousness
has gone, but the disgrace remains. The greater the abundance of the possessions
which they have enjoyed in the shape of gardens, male and female slaves,
gold, silver, etc., the more keenly they will feel the bitterness of parting
from them. This is a bitterness which will outlast death, for the soul
which has contracted covetousness as a fixed habit will necessarily in
the next world suffer from the pangs of unsatisfied desire.
Another dangerous property of worldly things is that they
at first appear as more trifles, but each of these so-called "trifles"
branches out into countless ramifications until they swallow up the whole
of a man's time and energy. Jesus (on whom be peace!) said, "The lover
of the world is like a man drinking sea-water; the more he drinks, the
more thirsty he gets, till at last he perishes with thirst unquenched."
The Prophet said, "You can no more mix with the world without being contaminated
by it than you can go into water without getting wet."
The world is like a table spread for successive relays
of guests who come and go. There are gold and silver dishes, abundance
of food and perfumes. The wise guest eats as much as is sufficient for
him, smells the perfumes, thanks his host, and departs. The foolish guest,
on the other hand, tries to carry off some of the gold and silver dishes,
only to find them wrenched out of his hands and himself thrust forth, disappointed
and disgraced.
We may close these illustrations of the deceitfulness
of the world with the following short parable. Suppose a ship to arrive
at a certain well wooded island. The captain of the ship tells the passengers
he will stop a few hours there, and that they can go on shore for a short
time, but warns them not to delay too long. Accordingly the passengers
disembark and stroll in different directions. The wisest, however, return
after a short time, and, finding the ship empty, choose the most comfortable
places in it. A second band of the passengers spend a somewhat longer time
on the island, admiring the foliage of the trees and listening to the song
of the birds. Coming on board, they find the best places in the ship already
occupied, and have to content themselves with the less comfortable ones.
A third party wander still farther, and, finding some brilliantly coloured
stones, carry them back to the ship. Their lateness in coming on board
compels them to stow themselves away in the lower parts of the ship, where
they find their loads of stones, which by this time have lost all their
brilliancy, very much in their way. The last group go so far in their wanderings
that they get quite out of reach of the captain's voice calling them to
come on board, and at last he has to sail away without them. They wander
about in a hopeless condition and finally either perish of hunger or fall
a prey to wild beasts.
The first group represents the faithful who keep aloof
from the world altogether and the last group the infidels who care only
for this world and nothing for the next. The two intermediate classes are
those who preserve their faith, but entangle themselves more or less with
the vanities of things present.
Although we have said so much against the world, it must
be remembered that there are some things in the world which are not of
it,
such as knowledge and good deeds. A man carries what knowledge he posseses
with him into the next world, and, though his good deeds have passed, yet
the effect of them remains in his character. Especially is this the case
with acts of devotion, which result in the perpetual remembrance and love
of God. These are among "those good things" which, as the Koran
says, "pass not away."
Other good things there are in the world, such as marriage,
food, clothing, etc., which a wise man uses just in proportion as they
help him to attain to the next world. Other things which engross the mind
causing it to cleave to this world and to be careless of the next, are
purely evil and were alluded to by the Prophet when he said, "The world
is a curse, and all which is in it is a curse, except the remembrance of
God, and that which aids it."
1. Two fallen angels.
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