Imam Hadi (peace be upon him) said: “Indeed, Allah has made this world a place of trial and test, and the Hereafter a place of reward and recompense. The trial of this world has been made the cause for the reward of the Hereafter, and the reward of the Hereafter is given in return for the trial of this world.”[1]
Also, Imam Hadi (peace be upon him) said in another narration: “The world is a marketplace where some gain profit and others suffer loss.”[2]
The difference between this world and the Hereafter is that this world is the place for planting and sowing seeds, while the Hereafter is the place for harvesting and reaping. In the Hereafter, there is no room for preparation or the completion of deeds; whatever exists is the product and result—like the day when the results of students’ exams are announced. If a student asks at the time the results are announced to be allowed to answer again, the response they will receive is that the time for exams has passed, and now is the time for grading. The Prophets call out: “O people, engage in righteous deeds and prepare provisions for your final home!” This is because the time for deeds is limited, and the wise person takes advantage of this limited opportunity in this world to build their eternal and everlasting home in the Hereafter.
However, if a person does not act wisely and their limited time passes, and by the command of the Almighty, the soul departs from the body, it is too late. At that time, no matter how much they cry out to be returned to do good deeds, the answer they will receive is, “It is not possible!”[3] If the disconnection of an unripe fruit from a tree could be reversed and the sweetness restored, it would be possible to return to this world, but the reality is that the law of creation does not allow it.
Indeed, the total period of human existence is like a working year. This world and the Hereafter are like two seasons of the year. This world is the season for planting and acting, while the Hereafter is the season for harvesting the fruits and the time for measuring the consequences of deeds in terms of punishment or reward. How wonderful it would be if, as Imam Hadi (peace be upon him) stated, we are among those who profit and receive the reward of the Hereafter!
(Excerpted from the book “Divine Justice,” authored by Martyr Murtadha Mutahhari, with condensation and additions)
Footnotes:
[1] Tohf al-‘Uqoul, p. 483
[2] Same
[3] This refers to verses 99 and 100 of Surah Al-Mu’minun: “Until death comes to one of them, he says: ‘My Lord, return me! Perhaps I may do righteous work in that which I left behind.’ But no! It is but a word he is saying. And behind them is a barrier until the Day they are resurrected.”