The Paradise of this World,
the Paradise of the Hereafter
The present world is a testing ground and the Hereafter is the home of reward. Discovering the present as an introduction to Paradise makes one deserving of eternal Paradise.
According to the Quran, the present world is exactly similar to the world Hereafter. (2:25) All those things which will be present in the Paradise of the Hereafter are all present in the Paradise of this world. The only difference is that in the Paradise of the Hereafter, everything will be perfect, while in the Paradise of this world, everything is in a state of imperfection. That is why the Quran says that man has been granted everything in this world according to need (14:34), whereas in the Paradise of the Hereafter, all things will be granted to man according to his desires. (41:31).
The Hereafter is the home of reward, while the present world is a testing ground. Due to the exigencies of putting man to the test, the present world is a world of toil and struggle (90:4), and is, thus, full of problems. In other words, the Paradise of the Hereafter is a flower without thorns. By contrast, the Paradise of this world is a flower with thorns. The trial of man in this world is to take the flowers and avoid the thorns. Avoidance of thorns is the real test in this world.
One who takes the flowers and pays no attention to the thorns, has passed the test. He will lead his life in this world with feelings of thanksgiving. This is, in actual fact, what is desired by the Lord. On the contrary, one who fails to ignore the presence of thorns will always live a life of complaint. He will remain deprived of the worship of thanksgiving in this world and will, as a result, be deprived from entering into Paradise in the Hereafter. Discovering the present as being Paradise in actual fact makes one deserving of the Paradise of the Hereafter. But man is full of hatred and constantly complaining because of the presence of “thorns”. But you must remember that the thorns of the present world are to be avoided and not to be protested about. Those who do not understand this will experience only deprivation. They will have no success.
