What is the interpretation of this hadith: “Work for your worldly life as if you will live forever, and work for your Hereafter as if you will die tomorrow”?
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The questioner : You are inquiring about this hadith: “Work for your worldly life as if you will live forever, and work for your Hereafter as if you will die tomorrow”?
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.
This well-known saying is not authentic from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); it is one of the fabricated hadiths. Moreover, its meaning is not what many people assume, which is to care for worldly affairs and be negligent of the Hereafter. Rather, its meaning is the opposite: to hasten and rush in completing the deeds of the Hereafter and to be slow in completing worldly affairs. Because his saying: “Work for your worldly life as if you will live forever” means that what does not end today will end tomorrow, and what does not end tomorrow will end the day after tomorrow, so work with patience and without haste. If today passes, what will not pass is the day that comes tomorrow, and so on.
As for the Hereafter, work for your Hereafter as if you will die tomorrow, meaning: hasten with the work and do not be negligent, and consider it as if you will die tomorrow. In fact, I say: consider it as if you will die before tomorrow, because a person does not know when death will come to him. And Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) said: “When you reach the morning, do not expect the evening, and when you reach the evening, do not expect the morning, and take from your health for your sickness, and from your life for your death”. This is the meaning of this well-known saying.
So the answer is that this is not authentic from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and its meaning is not as many people understand it, which is to perfect worldly work and not perfect the deeds of the Hereafter. Rather, its meaning is to hasten in the deeds of the Hereafter and not delay or be lax in them. As for worldly affairs, the matter is broad; what does not end today will end tomorrow, and so on.
The questioner : May Allah bless you. You are asking about a noble verse. I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan:[Al-Qiyamah 75:2]?
The Shaykh : This phrase is an oath conjoined to a preceding phrase, which is also an oath:[Al-Qiyamah 75:1-2] And the meaning of the verse is that Allah the Exalted swears by the self-reproaching soul, which is the soul that reproaches a person for doing good, and this is the soul that commands evil, or it reproaches a person for doing evil, and this is the soul at peace. That is because a person has two souls: a soul that commands evil and a soul at peace. The soul at peace commands him to do good and forbids him from evil, and the soul that commands evil commands him to do evil and persists with him. The self-reproaching soul is a comprehensive description of both, and it is a description of both souls. So the soul at peace reproaches a person for leaving good and doing evil, and the soul that commands evil reproaches him for doing good and for leaving evil. So reproach is a description of both souls.
So Allah swears by the self-reproaching soul because the self-reproaching soul is the one that moves a person and changes his directions toward good or evil.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.
This well-known saying is not authentic from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); it is one of the fabricated hadiths. Moreover, its meaning is not what many people assume, which is to care for worldly affairs and be negligent of the Hereafter. Rather, its meaning is the opposite: to hasten and rush in completing the deeds of the Hereafter and to be slow in completing worldly affairs. Because his saying: “Work for your worldly life as if you will live forever” means that what does not end today will end tomorrow, and what does not end tomorrow will end the day after tomorrow, so work with patience and without haste. If today passes, what will not pass is the day that comes tomorrow, and so on.
As for the Hereafter, work for your Hereafter as if you will die tomorrow, meaning: hasten with the work and do not be negligent, and consider it as if you will die tomorrow. In fact, I say: consider it as if you will die before tomorrow, because a person does not know when death will come to him. And Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) said: “When you reach the morning, do not expect the evening, and when you reach the evening, do not expect the morning, and take from your health for your sickness, and from your life for your death”. This is the meaning of this well-known saying.
So the answer is that this is not authentic from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and its meaning is not as many people understand it, which is to perfect worldly work and not perfect the deeds of the Hereafter. Rather, its meaning is to hasten in the deeds of the Hereafter and not delay or be lax in them. As for worldly affairs, the matter is broad; what does not end today will end tomorrow, and so on.
The questioner : May Allah bless you. You are asking about a noble verse. I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan:
And I swear by the reproaching soul [to the certainty of resurrection].
وَلا أُقْسِمُ بِالنَّفْسِ اللَّوَّامَةِThe Shaykh : This phrase is an oath conjoined to a preceding phrase, which is also an oath:
(1) I swear by the Day of Resurrection (2) And I swear by the reproaching soul [to the certainty of resurrection].
لا أُقْسِمُ بِيَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ * وَلا أُقْسِمُ بِالنَّفْسِ اللَّوَّامَةِSo Allah swears by the self-reproaching soul because the self-reproaching soul is the one that moves a person and changes his directions toward good or evil.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.