True Success: Finding God
Most people want to live a long life. That is why there has always been much research on this subject. In ancient times, kings used to patronize the science of medicine, thinking that this could help them live long. In present times, a lot of research is being conducted on this issue in medical circles.
An individual craves for longevity. The real question, however, is not the length of one’s life but, rather, its quality, the kind of life one leads. Suppose a person lives very long but his life is full of sorrow or his quality of life is miserable. What is the use of his living so long? His long life will only magnify his misery, not solve it.
A human being is born and then passes through various stages—childhood, youth, middle age and then old age. In this long period, he continuously faces all sorts of problems and challenges. Given this, the real issue is the quality of a person’s life, not the length of his lifespan.
The Quran (35:34) tells us that when the inhabitants of Paradise enter this noble abode they will utter these words of gratitude: “Praise be to God who has taken away all sorrow from us. Our Lord is forgiving and appreciative.” Here the word ‘sorrow’ is very significant. It includes all that which makes the life of this world bereft of joy. It includes all those things that in terms of the physical body or external circumstances are a cause for misery for a person in this present world. In terms of what he is seeking, the real issue is to acquire a life free of all sorrow. If sorrow exists, nothing can give one true happiness.
Human beings are born with the desire for an ideal world of joy. All of a person’s hopes and engagements in the present world are devoted to seeking to obtain this ideal. People repeatedly form opinions about different things, thinking that if they obtain them they would be able to attain the ideal world of their dreams. But then, after making all kinds of efforts throughout their life for this purpose and even after being able to obtain many things that they hankered after, most people fail to get the desired happiness that they had sought for.
The reality is that an individual’s true success is only this—that he finds and discovers God, his Lord and Sustainer. Other than this, nothing will give a person the joy that he innately seeks.
