Quran Garden

English Quran Tafsir

Verse 14

a continuation

Beautified for people are the love of desires of women, sons, heaped piles of gold and silver, and distinguished horses, cattle, and tilth; Such are the enjoyments of the worldly life; yet with God is the best resort. (Chapter 3, Verse 14)

What makes people deviate away from the path of their Lord into ruin? We answer that every human being has a weakness; a key or desire that can easily lead down the wrong path.  For some, the key is the opposite sex, while for others, the key maybe money, or children.  There are many examples of men who steal from their jobs to give their children a better life.  How many people you know who go into usurious debt to buy a luxury car?

Look at the vast majority of advertisements on TV and in magazines.  They are specifically designed to lure people into following their desires.  They dangle the keys of sex, riches, and countless other traps to seduce you.  Here you may ask: If God wanted us to stay on His path, then why did He create all these distractions? We answer that the key word you have to understand is ‘Beautified.’  It is the act of artificially embellishing something beyond its true nature.  Allah mentioned it in the passive voice, because this ‘beatification’ can come from many sources. 

Allah created a world full of beauty and assigned each blessing in life a suitable task.  He created the opposite sex to provide comfort through compassion and kindness in marriage.  God says:

Another of His signs is that He created spouses from among yourselves for you to live with in tranquillity: He ordained love and kindness between you. There truly are signs in this for those who re?ect. (30:21)

Allah wants us to enjoy long-term relationships under the umbrella of marriage.  A lawful relationship satisfies sexual desires, protects the society from the ills of promiscuity, and provides a healthy environment for raising children.  Compare that to illicit relationships that often leave behind single parents unable to properly provide for the child. 

What about the desire for family and children? Allah teaches how to properly channel it for our benefit and the benefit of the society.  Prophet Zachariah supplicated:

‘Lord, my bones have weakened and my hair is ashen grey, but never, Lord, have I ever prayed to You in vain:  I fear what my  relatives will do when I am gone, for my wife is barren. So grant me a successor –a gift from You– to be my heir and the heir of the family of Jacob. And make him, my Lord, pleasing to You.’ (19:4-6)

Zachariah (peace be upon him) prayed for a son that would inherit the wisdom and teachings of the family of Jacob.  He asked for an obedient child who reveres God and preserves His message on earth.  Prophets and messengers do not leave wealth to their heirs; rather they leave the treasures of God’s word.   

Similar is the case of wealth, tilth and livestock.  Each can be used for the sake of God, and help the poor.  

In fact, each desire can be directed either towards God or towards sin.  You have the power to make you desires work for you rather than against you.  Listen to the supplication of the righteous as they direct their desires in the right direction: 

Those who pray, ‘Our Lord, give us joy in our spouses and offspring. Make us good examples to those who are aware of You’. (25:74)

God ends the verse with: ‘Such are the enjoyments of the worldly life; yet with God is the best resort.’  An enjoyment is typically something temporary and superficial.  For something to be a true pleasure, it should satisfy four requirements: First, it has to be of a good nature; second, it has to increase with time.  Third, it has to be continuous; and lastly, it has to follow you wherever you go.  In other words, true pleasure –that is good and everlasting- can only be given to you from an everlasting power that does not change. 

Let’s measure the supposed pleasures of this life against these four requirements:  If you look at the opposite sex, money, children, cars, horses, cattle, and property, you will quickly find that none of them satisfy any of the requirements of true pleasure.  Your spouse can be evil in nature.  You car can give you trouble.  Your children –even if they are the best- may die any time.  Your farm may cost you all your savings and so on. 

Let’s say that you are lucky enough to have the best spouse, tons of money, the best cars, and livestock, all living on the best piece of land on earth; let us also concede that none of these things will be taken away from you.  How long do you think this will last? At the very most a few decades until you die.  

The worldly life is measured by your age, not by the age of the universe itself.  Your life lasts 75 on average –in reality you may die today-.  If the universe lasts for one day or a million years after you die, it does not make any difference.  No one lives forever, thus, the enjoyments of this life are of little value.  As for those who wish to live for a hundred years or more, Allah reminds them:

And whomever We give a long life, We cause him to decline in wellbeing. Then will they not apply reason?  (36:68)

It is of God’s wisdom that He does not inform you of the time you will remain on earth. When a child is born, he or she does not bring down a card specifying how many years he or she will live.  It is said that the concealment of your lifespan is the loudest form of declaration.  Let me explain this further: Allah had concealed the time of death and its cause from every man and woman.  Thus, each person can anticipate death at every moment.  This uncertainty about death makes it omnipresent at every moment of every day.  It is the loudest form of declaration.  This, in turn, makes any life desire –whether for the opposite sex, money, or property- of very little value.     

Perhaps, the best indicator of the small value of this world is its name in the Noble Quran.  God calls our life in this world: ‘The Dunya,’ which translates literally into: ‘The lowest.’  It’s opposite, then, must be the highest.  God calls the afterlife: ‘The Akhera’ which means ‘the destination,’ or the ‘true goal.’   

Now let’s examine the pleasures of paradise.  Remember the four criteria for true pleasure? A truly good nature that is continuous, increases with time, and follows you wherever you go.  Isn’t that the definition of paradise? It is good because Allah created it pure and perfect in every way.  It is everlasting and, more importantly, you are guaranteed immortality in it.   God says:

On the Day when you see the believers, both men and women, with their light radiating out ahead of them and to their right, ‘Glad tidings to you this day, there are Gardens graced with ?owing rivers where you will stay forever: that is truly the supreme triumph!’ (57:12)

So when the Allah asks you not run after the desires of this world, is He burdening you or setting you free? We answer that God teachings may look like a burden to the superficial.  But in reality, God teachings give you the ultimate benefit and freedom.  Let me explain.  Take a moment to think about all the luxuries and pleasures in our world…..the fancy hotels you want to stay in, the fine restaurants you would like to eat at, the beach resorts and spas you would love to visit, the designer clothes, luxury and sport cars and so on.  All these items and experiences are the work of humans, and they are limited by our capabilities and imagination.  Now compare that to the pleasures and luxuries that God Almighty, who is limitless in his knowledge and capability, has prepared for you in Paradise.  Everything pales in comparison. 

So when Allah asks you to lower your gaze from the opposite sex, it is not a limitation of your freedom, because Allah wants to give you your eye’s fill in the eternity of the Hereafter.    Similarly, when Allah asks you to give a small share of your wealth to feed the poor, it is not an assault on your wealth, because Allah wants to give you far superior things limitlessly in the Hereafter.  Indeed, ‘with God is the best resort.’