Aslam

These traditions and historical narratives show that the learned man who is given to lust and worldly love will be disgraced and put to endless tortures and one who is a learned man of the hereafter will get sal vatic n and gain nearness of God.

SIGNS OF THE LEARNED MAN OF THE HEREAFTER

There are many signs of the learned man of the hereafter. (1)
He does not seek the world by his learning He considers the world as insignificant and the hereafter as great and ever-lasting.
He considers this world and the next world as diametrically opposed to each other like two hostile friends of a man, or like two co- wives. If one friend or co-wife is pleased, the other friend

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or co-wife becomes displeased. The two worlds are like two scales of a balance, the lower the one falls, the other rises up higher. Or they are like the east and the west. The more one advances towards the east, the more he goes distant from the west. Or the two worlds are like two pitchers, one is full and another empty. The more you pour water from the full pitcher into the empty one, the more the full pitcher will become less and the empty one more in water. There is defect in the intellect of a man who has not come to know that the happiness of this world will soon pass away, as this matter has been established as true by veritable sights and experiences. He who does not recognise the grave nature and stability of the next world is an unbeliever bereft of faith. He who does not consider this world and the next world as opposed to each other does not know the religion of the Prophets and does not believe the Quran from first to last. Such a learned man is not included within the category of the learned men of the hereafter, he who knows these things but does not love the next world more than this world is in the hand of the devil.

God said in the scripture of David: If any learned man loves his passion more than his love for Myself, My treatment with him is that I deprive him of the pleasure of communion with Me. O David, don't take the message of God to such a learned man. The world captivated him and he will turn you from My love. Such a man is a robber in the pathway of My servants. When you see such a man who searches Me, he is a true servant. O David, I write one as a man of sound judgement who flees towards Me. I will never punish such a person.' For this reason, Hasan Basari said: Death of the heart is the punishment of a learned man and death of the heart means search of this world in exchange of the actions of the next world. Hazrat Ihya-b-Muaz said: When the world is sought by learning and wisdom,* his light goes gradually. Hazrat Sayeed-b- Musayyeb said: When you see a learned man frequenting the houses of rulers, he is a robber.
Hazrat Omar said: When you see a learned man addicted to this world, disregard him for the sake of your religion, because every learned man is addicted to his object of love.