Imam Ali’s Sayings on This World Part 2
Be cautious of this world, for it is the net of the devil and the [place of] corruption of faith.
Keep away from love of this world for it is the root of every misdeed and the source of every affliction.
Be careful that death does not descend upon him whild you are a fugitive [who has run away] from Allah in your seeking [the pleasures of] this world.
Beware of selling your share from your Lord and your rank with Him for the worthless of this world.
Do not be infatuated with this world, for it brings you wretchedness and tribulation and impels you to sell the eternal for the transient.
Beware of letting your [lower self] overwhelm you in that which it presumes [of this world] while you do not overcome it in that which you are certain [of the Hereafter], for indeed this is from the gravest of evils.
Donot be deceived by what you see the peole of this world inclined towards and what they rush greedily after, for allah has informed you about it and has exposed its faults and evils for you.
Do not let this world get the better of you, for indeed its present is bitter and its future is distressful.
Verily this world is an abode where no one remains safe except by renouncing its pleasures and none is saved from it by anything that is part of it.Is there no freeman who would forsake this leftover for those who deserve it.Verily this world has elapsed and is on the verge of expiry: its good has been shunned, its novelty has become old and its fat has become lean.
Indeed, what must one who has been created for the Hereafter do with this world? And what can one do with wealth when it will be taken away from him shortly while its accountability and consequences remain with him?
Verily today is the time for perparation and tomorrow is the race; the prize is Paradise and [at] the [other] extreme is hell.
Verily that which was advancing towards this world has turned back from it, and that which has turned back has advanced towards it; and the righteous servants of Allah have decided to depart and have sold the little of this world that does not last for the abundance of the Hereafter that does not perish.
Do you not see the poeple of this world passing the evenings and mornings in deifferent states? The dead being mourned and the living being condoled, the victim being afflicted and the visitor visiting him [to ask about his condition], and another who is sacrificing himself; and the one who is seeking this world while death seeks him; and the one who is heedless but not neglected; and those who remain behind continue to follow the footsteps of those who preceded [them].
The gravest of errors is loving this world.
The gravest of afflictions and wretchedness is [caused by] infatuations with this world.
The people of this world are the target of calamities, the dispersal of afflictions and the spoils of adversities.
