the two Houses, he will get only the goodness of this world if he does good deeds.
"Those who desire the life of the present and its glitter, to them we shall pay {the price of} their deeds therein". The Exalted Allah announces to all human beings a fact saying to them: "If you do good aiming at this world, I shall reward you in it, but if you do good for My sake, desirous of My reward and My satisfaction, I shall bestow upon you what I give My righteous slaves and close beloveds. "Those who desire the life of the present and its glitter, to them we shall pay {the price of} their deeds therein" i.e., they will be given their reward, complete and not deficient, "without diminution".
Oh brethren, this is not related only to matters connected with the Hereafter. It refers also to any material deed not intended for the sake of the Exalted Allah. It is related that the Beloved, Al Mustafa (PBUH), said that the first people by which the Hell Fire will be ignited and scorched by are three:
-The first is a religious scholar. The Exalted Allah will make him stand before Him to ask him about the reason of getting his knowledge. After asking him, he will say: "Oh Allah, it was for Your sake". The Exalted Allah will say: "No, you lie". The angels will also say: "No, you lie. You learned religious knowledge so that people would say that you were knowledgeable. Your reward in the worldly life was so that you get universal prizes. It was to be said that you were the most knowledgeable man, and it was said so. Consequently, he will be taken to Hell Fire.
Then, the benevolent who used to spend a lot of charity for the welfare of people will be asked by the Exalted Allah: "Why did you spend your wealth?" the man will say: "Oh my Lord, to satisfy You". The Exalted Allah will say: "No, you lie. You did that so that people would say that you were bountiful and generous, and it was said so". Consequently, he will driven to Hell Fire.
Then the holy fighter who did well in the battle field and was given badges of honor , the one who defended his country and honor as a hero, will be brought before the Exalted Allah and be asked: "Why did you fight?" He will say: "For Your sake". The Exalted Allah will say: "No. you lie". The angels will say: "No, you lie. You fought so that people would say that you were brave, and it was said so". So he will be taken to Hell Fire.
This Qur'anic text does not address only the one who disbelieves in the Hereafter. It rather addresses all people who should make all their deeds intended for the sake of the Exalted Allah.
"Those who desire the life of the present and its glitter, to them we shall pay {the price of} their deeds therein, without diminution. They are those for whom there is nothing in the Hereafter but the fire", for they have already got their reward in this life when they blind their hearts and become heedless of the invisible truths, "vain are the designs they frame therein", i.e., his good worldly deed will not be valued in the Hereafter. It will be worthless like the fake coins that are no more used.

"and of no effect are the deeds that they do". Their good deeds become equal to the invalid ones, because they have already received the reward that the Exalted Allah has given them in this world.
After this announcement on the part of the Exalted Allah, He reveals the discrepancy between this group and the second one that are safe because they make the certain truth their fundamental. Their faith is unlike that of the Buddhists, the Magians or the pagans who invent superstitions.
Listen to the Exalted Allah's words concerning this group: "Can they be {like} those who excepts a clear {sign} from their Lord". This is the method that the Exalted Allah wants us to follow. He, Exalted He is, does not want us to be imitators like parrots.
"Can they be {like} those who excepts a clear {sign} from their Lord". This group set out from two fixed truths in their faith:
They testify that the Holy Qur'an is sent by the Exalted Allah, and that it is full of miraculous words, and that Muhammad (PBUH) is the Messenger of Allah, the unlettered Prophet who was fond of seclusion, and got away from people. When Gabriel pressed him, he said: "I don't know reading".
Gabriel said to him: "Read! In the name of thy Lord" (Al 'Alaq, 1). Consequently, he read and taught people the Qur'an so that the most knowledgeable people were astonished at his knowledge. He revealed truth so that the Exalted Allah called him 'Certain Evidence'. The Exalted Allah revealed a Surah called Al Bayyinah (the Evidence), in which He stated that the fundamentals of faith are belief in both, the Holy Qur'an and Muhammad (PBUH). He said:
"Those who reject {Truth}, among the People of the Book and among the Polytheists, were not going to depart {from their ways} until there should come to them Clear Evidence, a Messenger from Allah, rehearsing scriptures kept pure and Holy" (Al Bayyinah, 1-2).
If you think carefully about the character of Muhammad (PBUH) you find that he got out of his seclusion to overwhelm the world with his lights, his guidance and his mercy that were inspired to him. What the world needs today, and all mankind till the Exalted Allah inherits the earth and all it contains, is the character of Muhammad (PBUH).
We are in the month whose title is Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah. It is the month that draws our attention to the character the Exalted Allah makes a light and Imam.
The believer's belief in the invisible is not haphazard or chaotic. It is rather derived from a comprehensive understanding of the character of our Master, Muhammad (PBUH) as well as the Holy Manuscripts of the Qur'an that consists of knowledge, comprehension, wisdom and guidance.
"Can they be {like} those who are certain of a clear {sign} from their Lord, and whom a witness from Himself doth teach". Oh brethren, the Holy Qur'an surprises us with a marvelous statement. After seeing this certain evidence presented by an unmistakable witness, the Exalted Allah refers to this matter in His words: "Soon will We show them Our Signs in the {furthest} regions {of the earth}, and in their own souls" (Fussilat, 53), i.e., the marvels that the Holy Qur'an tells about will appear, so will the marvels that Muhammad (PBUH) told about.

"and whom a witness from Himself doth teach", i.e., a witness (Muhammad {PBUH}) from the Exalted Allah, not from anybody else), will follow to teach people the purport of the Holy Qur'an. Every day, you hear about a truth mentioned in the Holy Qur'an appear clearly evident before you, so is the case with the truths told by our Master Muhammad (PBUH). Every day you are confronted with a new evidence. You read the Holy Qur'an and try to understand the character of Muhammad (PBUH). You find succeeding evidences continuously presented to you from that certain evidence.
"as did the book of Moses before it". If you want to be more certain of the information of the Holy Qur'an concerning the Prophet, Muhammad (PBUH), you can refer to a previous historical witness (still dealt with by humanity, i.e., the Book of Moses), as well as the evidences that will happen in the future proving the veracity of these truths.

On asking one of the Christian religious scholars, whom I knew to be truthful, about the subject of believing in our Master, Muhammad (PBUH) because the Exalted Allah told us in the Holy Qur'an about his description in the Scriptures as well as in the Bible saying: "Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find mentioned in their own {Scriptures} in the Law and the Gospel- for he commands them what is just and forbids them what is evil; he allows them as lawful what is good {and pure} and prohibits them from what is bad {and impure}; he releases them from their heavy burdens and from the yokes that are upon them" (Al A'raf, 157), and I asked him to swear by Allah to tell the truth.
He said: "As for his description in the Scriptures, I wonder why the Jews do not believe in him because he is the expected prophet described accurately in the Old Testament, but as for Christianity, this description is ascribed to Christ instead of Muhammad (PBUTH).
Accordingly, the accurate researcher can see what is mentioned in history, and what will happen in the future. What other proof do you seek?
The witness is Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH), as well as the Holy Qur'an. In addition to that, you still have another certain evidence. It is the future that will come until the Exalted Allah inherits the earth and what it contains. Every day, we witness a proof about the veracity of what the Holy Qur'an mentions, and our Prophet (PBUH) said. Moreover, you have a historical report that said: "Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah" (Al Fath, 29).
Why don't you believe? What is your excuse in not believing?
"as did the book of Moses before it, a guide and a mercy?" i.e., Muhammad (PBUH) is a guide and mercy, "they believe therein".

That is, the belief in these evident truths of those who become certain after getting proof and careful inspection is valued, "they believe therein; but those of the sects that reject it, the fire will be their promised meeting place".
Consequently, when our Lord, Exalted He is, declares that "Those who desire the life of the present and its glitter, to them we shall pay {the price of} their deeds therein", He rewards the materialist for his good deeds in this life, but Hell will be his abode in the Hereafter. It is not an arbitrary issue. It is a matter based on certain historical evidence and witness, but the unbeliever turns away from this truth!

Notice the Qur'anic expression when it summarizes all those who turn away from the Holy Qur'an and from Muhammad (PBUH) expressing them in one word, saying: "the sects". Briefly speaking, it says: "Each sect rejoices in that which is with itself". (Al Mu'minun, 53).
Every law, positive or Heavenly, revealed anciently, is valueless after the revelation of the certain evidences, that are, Muhammad and the Qur'an. The Exalted Allah briefly calls them "Sects". They are the different inclinations of people who deviate from the Truth that exists only in the Qur'an and Muhammad (PBUH).
"Be not then in doubt thereon", i.e., do not doubt the veracity of this appointment. This is declaration that cancels all other possibilities. The Messenger of Allah (PBUH), would not doubt the veracity of this appointment, Allah forbid. It is rather a Heavenly confirmation of this truth: "but those of the sects that reject it, the fire will be their promised meeting place. Be not then in doubt thereon", the appointment is certainly true, "for it is the truth from thy Lord; yet many among men do not believe".
"Who doth more wrong than those who invent a lie against Allah?". This is the summary of the methods the other sects adopt as referred to above, i.e., the other inclination that deviate from the Qur'an and Muhammad (PBUH). "Invent a lie against Allah", means the one who perverts a heavenly method or sets a human method of his own.
The text also summarizes the purport in brief expressions that include challenge, in addition to presenting scientific, logical, and rhetorical strong facts.
"Who doth more wrong than those who invent a lie against Allah?". Those who deviate from Truth are expressed in one word, that is "Sects", and their purport is expressed in "who invent a lie against Allah".
"They will be turned back to the presence of their Lord", i.e., the Doomsday, "and the witnesses will say". Oh brethren, who are the witnesses?
They are those who, on the Doomsday, will stand to decide description and end conveying honestly what the Exalted Allah wants.
The witnesses are the Messengers (PBUTH). The Exalted Allah said: "How then if we brought from each people a witness, and we brought thee as a witness against these people" (An Nisa', 41). The Messengers are the witnesses, and the Messenger of Allah (PBUH), our Master Muhammad, is the witness of the witnesses.
"How then if we brought from each people a witness, and we brought thee as a witness against these people" (An Nisa', 41). On That Day, the witnesses will stand headed by their leader, the certain evidence, Muhammad (PBUH).
Listen to the declaration that will be announced by these witnesses. What will the witnesses say about the description of the materialists who were given their opportunity, as well as the certain evidence, in the worldly life by the Exalted Allah but they turned away from them?
The witnesses' words include two issues:
First issue: They will mention the description of the materialists.
Second issue: They will mention their end.
Concerning their description:
First: The materialists are described as liars, for they lied when they said they had a method superior to the method of the Qur'an, and to the Heavenly Inspiration. The witnesses will say, as is told by the Qur'anic text: "These are the ones who lied against their Lord", i.e., those who are called "Sects".
Second: They will be dismissed from the Mercy of Allah, though His Mercy is spacious: "behold the curse of Allah is on those who do wrong". The curse means their being dismissed from Mercy. This is oppression that deserves dismissal. They were oppressors in their thinking and in their behavior.
Third: The materialists conspire to hinder people from following the path of the Qur'an. They plotted, day and night, and put plans to turn people away from the way of truth: "Those who would hinder {men} from the path of Allah".
The first description is their being liars; the second is their being dismissed from the Mercy of Allah; the third is their being conspirators to turn people from the way of the Only Truth.
Fourth: They seek crookedness and behavioral deviation "and would seek in it something crooked".
They put plans for the spreading of immorality. They plan to make the generation corrupted and to cut man from his humanity so that he changes into a machine: "and would seek in it something crooked".
Fifth: They make all their accounts based on materialism and are cut from the invisible: "These were they who denied the Hereafter".‏
Then, the report that mentions the five qualities of the materialists follows to present the end.
What is their destiny? What is their end?
First: Is there any trace of them: "Let not the strutting about of the Unbelievers through the land deceive thee. Little is it for enjoyment; their ultimate abode is Hell; what an evil bed! {to lie on}" (Al Umran, 196-197).
Consequently, first: They will be destroyed after they have existed and have done wrong. That is, after that, they will be annihilated. "By no means will they escape {from Allah's torment} on earth". They will not live permanently on the earth. There should be an end for man, and the end will certainly come.
Second: Supporters and soldiers who surround them and aid them in this world will disappear, and they will be moved to a world where they find no aid or support: "Nor have they protectors besides Allah". They will find no one to protect them and serve them.
Third: They will suffer double torture that exceeds the torture of the other sinners, because they seek crookedness, and are corrupted, in addition to corrupting the others. Consequently, the sin of all the corrupted will be recorded in their account, because they are the cause of their corruption, "Their penalty will be doubled".
Fourth: They impair their hearing and seeing in this life, so the Exalted Allah will make their hearing and seeing impaired in the Hereafter: "They lost the power to hear, and they did not see". The Exalted Allah refers to this meaning in another verse: "Their eyes will be cast down", their eyes are humble, and they cannot see, "Their eyes will be cast down, ignominy will cover them; seeing that they had been summoned aforetime to bow in adoration, while they were whole, (and had refused}" (Al Qalam, 43).
In this life, they refrain from prostrating to Allah. Instead, they prostrate to their whims, their lusts, and their self-interests: "They will further say: Had we but listened or used our intelligence, We should not {now} be among the Companions of the Blazing Fire!" (Al Mulk, 10).
Is then one who walks headlong, with his face grovelling, better guided, or one who walks evenly on a Straight Way" (Al Mulk, 22).
They are in a state of losing the faculty of employing the senses. The arrogant and haughty people will be gathered like small particles treated by the other people's feet on the Doomsday (as is related in the Prophetic Hadith). "They lost the power to hear, and they did not see".
Fifth: They will face perpetual loss in the Hereafter: "They are the ones who have lost their own souls".
Sixth: Nothing of their lying and the falsehood they say, when they dispute about their methods, will remain at the appearance of truth: "and the {fancies} they invented have left them in the lurch".
Seventh: The witnesses, the Messengers (PBUTH) will decide the matter decisively saying "Without a doubt, these are the very ones who will lose most in the Hereafter".
That is, definitely, they are more losers than those who lose little of the material and believe in the invisible in this life.
Do you prefer to lose little of the material for the sake of Allah, or you prefer to lose the Hereafter because of material interest?
Answer yourself by yourself.
Answer this question: Do you want to be the most loser (the most loser is the one who loses a lot). He is the one who will be surprised to have a tremendous loss, "Without a doubt, these are the very ones who will lose most in the Hereafter". No loss is greater than his.
Oh brethren, in the end of this statement, the Exalted Allah presents a brief conclusion with no details in this instance, because the purpose is to draw our attention to the danger of desiring the material. As usual, the Exalted Allah does not end a text but to remind us of the right method or draw our attention to it.
Religion is mentioned in three brief marvelous expressions: "But those who believe and work righteousness, and humble themselves before their Lord will be Companions of the Garden, to dwell therein forever".
Oh brethren, these are the three pillars of religion:
"But those who believe", i.e., those whose hearts communicate with the invisible by means of the certain evidence, i.e., through a certainty that depends on proofs.
"and work righteousness". It is the first fundamental or first pillar of faith, and is referred to by the pillar of Islam, namely, the disciplined good deed.
Then the third pillar of the people of faith is mentioned, namely the pillar of Ihsan (worshipping Allah as if you saw Him, for if you do not see Him, yet He sees you). The Exalted Allah said: and humble themselves before their Lord". Humbleness implies stillness and surrendering to their Lord, to their Sponsor. Their Lord is their Master, so their souls turn to Him and are attracted to His Divine Presence. They depend on Him, they entrust Him with their affairs, and rely on Him.
"They will be Companions of the Garden, to dwell therein forever"
"These two kinds {of men} may be compared to the blind and deaf, and those who can see and hear well. Are they equal when compared? will ye not then take heed" (Hud, 24).
Oh brethren, it is a Qur'anic statement that goes deep into the souls. It presents logic to whoever pretends to be logical, reality to whoever pretends to be realistic, and verification to whoever pretends to like verification.
Allahum…, do not let our hearts be directed but to You, and do not make our dependence but on You.
I say my words and ask Allah's forgiveness.