Maulana Wahiduddin Khan | The Sunday Guardian | Nov 19, 2017
Unlike other beings, we are conscious of the past, the present and the future. We cherish a very pleasant consciousness of the future, aspirations of a better life, or of the fulfillment of our dreams. Our lives centre on our constant efforts to improve our future. But this perfect future does not seem to ever materialise. This is a part of God’s creation plan.
Our perfect future will not materialise in this world, but in the next. Those who have passed the test will find it, while those who have failed will not. This world is only a pathway to our final destination—Paradise.
In this world, everyone suffers from frustration and failure. The reason for this is that everyone wants to make a perfect life in this world, which is not possible, because this limited and ephemeral world was not created for that purpose.
Despite all our efforts, we are doomed to fail to make a perfect life. The present world is not Paradise; it only introduces the concept of paradise to us. We are allowed to see only glimpses of perfection in this world, which only increases our desire for complete perfection—Paradise.
This life is a journey, not the destination. But we sometimes mistake it for a destination, and life becomes just a missed opportunity.
The life of this world is a journey. Not the destination. It is a time to sow, not to reap. Here, our actions and thoughts are being recorded so as to determine if we are worthy of being settled in the noble society of Paradise in the hereafter.
The present world is limited. It does not have the means to fulfill our unlimited desires. It has the means to provide us subsistence at the physical level, but does not have the means to give us fulfillment at the spiritual level.