(154) It is related by Shaddad that he heard the Apostle of God say: “The likeness of this world as compared to the Hereafter is that someone of you took out his finger after dipping it into a river and then say how much water it had brought with itself.”
-Muslim
Commentary.-It shows that the existing world is an insignificant before the world to come as the water on the finger is as compared to the river in which it is dipped. This is only a way of saying or else the present world does not bear even as much resemblance to the Hereafter. The world and all that is in it is finite and ephemeral while the Hereafter is infinite and eternal and it is an accepted principle of mathematics that the finite and the ephemeral has nothing in common with the infinite and the everlasting. Such being the case, one who strives to the utmost for his worldly aims and interests but makes no preparation for life after death is a loser through and through.
(155) Jabir related to us that the Apostle of God once passed by a dead and ear-crept young goat whose carcass was lying on the road. He inquired from those who were with him at that time, “Will anyone of you like to buy this dead kid for a dirham?” “We will not buy it at any price,” they replied. The Prophet, thereupon, said, “I swear in the name of God that in His sight this world is as hateful and worthless as the dead kid is in your sight.”
-Muslim
Commentary.-The unbounded passion God had granted to the Prophet for the guidance and upliftment of mankind can be imagined from the above report. The Prophet is going on the road when he comes across the dead body of a kid, and, instead of turning his gaze away from it in revulsion and passing on quickly, he makes use of the incident to impart a valuable moral teaching to the Companions and tells them that the world is was valueless in the judgement of the Lord as the carcass of the young goat was in their judgement. They should, therefore, not make it the object of their desires and exertions but strive sincerely for the Hereafter.
(156) It is related by Sahl bin S'aad that the Apostle of God said: “Had this world been to Allah equivalent to the value of the wing of a gnat, He would not have given a sip of water therefrom to the Infidel.”
-Tirmidhi and Ibn-i-Maja
Commentary.-Whatever the Infidels, the Unbelievers and the deniers of God and the Apostle are getting from the world [and it is a great deal, no doubt] is simply due to the fact that this world is altogether vain and valueless in the sight of God. Were it not so, He would not have given even a draught of water to the rebels and transgressors. Thus, in the Hereafter, which is of real worth and importance in the judgement of the Lord, not as much as a drop of fresh water will be given to them.