Shaykh al-Mufīd mentions an interesting narration74 from Imam al-Sajjād (a). He spoke to his companions one day and said to them:
O’ my brothers, I advise you concerning the abode of the
Hereafter and I do not advise you concerning the abode of this world. Indeed, you are eager for this world and cling to it. Has it not reached you what ʿĪsā ibn Maryam (a) said to his disciples? He said to them:
'The world is a bridge, so pass over it and do not build upon it.' He75 also said: 'Which one of you would build a house upon the waves of the sea? That is the abode of this world, so do not take it as a place of settlement.'76 This world is a bridge that we are meant to pass on, so we should not dwell on it. Neither can we build anything on the waves of the sea; they are ever changing, lacking all permanence or stability. This world bears the same characteristics.
It is clear from the words of the Imam (a) that he warns his companions against being concerned with the abode of this world and advises them to always focus on the Hereafter.
In their supplications, the Imams (a) taught us to always invoke Allah Almighty to make the Hereafter the focus of our knowledge and our concern. They also taught us to supplicate to Allah Almighty to remove the love of the world from our hearts. The noble hadith says:
... So the Prophets and the scholars, after knowing that,
said, 'The love of the world is the root of every sin.'77 If a person can remove the love of the world from his heart, he will be closer to achieving what Allah Almighty desires.
The world distracts a person from doing good deeds. As mentioned in the narration, we were not created to indulge in this worldly life; rather, it is nothing but a path or a bridge created for humankind to cross over to the Hereafter. So we must not dwell on it and be preoccupied with it.
What is required of a person is to live in this world and provide for himself and his family the means of living as is customary. However, we must not be more concerned with the world than we are with the Hereafter. The noble verse states,
One should care about the Hereafter, our eternal abode, while not forgetting their share of the world. Each person should give due consideration to their sustenance from this life, no more.
But for a person to have all their thoughts consumed by the world, its pleasures, blessings, and comforts, and to think about it twenty-four hours a day, this is the major flaw that a person can fall into. Especially for us, seekers of knowledge!
We should not make the world our greatest concern or the extent of our knowledge. On the contrary, we should consider the Hereafter more important and the what preoccupies our thoughts.
We should care more about the Hereafter and train ourselves to rid ourselves of worldly attachments. We must behave in a way that there are no worldly ties binding us to this worldly life. Let us accustom ourselves to that because, ultimately, we are destined to depart from this life and bid farewell to those we love, including loved ones and friends!
We need to train ourselves not to be preoccupied with this world and not to care about it more than necessary. Perhaps that may allow us to reach the level attained by - at least - the companions of the Imams (a), let alone the Imams themselves.