The Eternal Journey
A man without faith lives on earth as if he will stay here forever, while a man of faith lives like a traveller on the way to the next world.
Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (1859-1943) went to Azamgarh, U.P., by train. A disciple of his, a railway guard, came to meet him at a station. A villager appeared and presented Maulana with a bundle of sugarcane. The gift was accepted, and Maulana asked one of his companions to have it weighed and place it in the luggage compartment. “There is no need to have it booked,” the guard volunteered, “I will speak to the guard on this train. He will look after it.” “But the guard will only accompany this train,” Maulana replied, “and I am going on further.” The guard thought that Maulana Thanawi would be changing trains at some station. “Never mind,” he said, “I will tell the guard to inform the guard on the next train. You will not have to bother about it.” “But I am going on still further,” Maulana repeated. Astonished, the guard asked: “Where are you going? You told me a moment ago you were going to Azamgarh.” Maulana Thanawi remained silent for a moment and then replied: “I am going on to eternity. Which guard will accompany me there?”
The same is accurate, not only for rail journeys but also for all matters in life. Every affair should be looked at in its eternal context. A “guard” may give someone temporary support in this world, but when he reaches the next world, there will be no one to lend a helping hand. If a man keeps in mind that he is on the way to the Hereafter, then he will consider everything that will become worthless there as worthless now, no matter how great a worldly price it may seem to command. He will give weight only to those things that will be of consequence in the next world, no matter how inconsequential they may seem now.
In this world, a man may have command of impressive words that he uses to defy the truth; but in the next world, he will find himself lost for words. He may wield his power unjustly, content that his victims will never be able to avenge his wrongs, but in the next world, he will be divested of all power. Beguiled by wealth, he may become proud in this world, but in the next world, he will have nothing to be proud of; he will have left his wealth behind.
It is the fundamental difference between a man of the true faith and a disbeliever. A disbeliever lives on earth as if he will stay here forever, while the hallmark of true faith is the belief that a man is on the way to the next world. Of course, then, the distinction between belief and disbelief is a psychological one; but these two different attitudes to life make for vastly different practical lives—so different that one leads to Hell, while the other paves the way to the gardens of Paradise.
