Meditation: On Worldly Success
Placing the petty, the evil and the mediocre in context in an age of collapse
O my soul! The World is a crucible whose ultimate, valid purpose is purification of the soul;1 it is not an end in itself.2
It has final merit insofar as it corresponds with, anticipates and prepares for Eternity.
Accumulation of the World’s coin is not the principal thing; rather, it is the ability to transmute the currency of temporality into that of Eternity.3
To understand that success as understood by the World is a fraudulent measure, look at those who are thought to have it. At close quarters, it seems that wealth and status have made them rich and free, but at each step removed, the more fragile, weak and contingent they are seen to be.4
How then to understand the advancement of so many beyond their objective merits? One must remember that every trade entails payment. Everything must be paid for. And such men are stealing themselves poor.
The satan is the enemy of our soul. He exacts a price, and he never fails to collect.5
Worldly success is a trial like any other. If it becomes your lot, accept it. If not, accept it. It is an imposter both coming and going.
Fear God and breathe the air of the Garden in order to know the value of things and place men in their right perspective.6
This post forms part of the Meditations series, the introduction to which is here.
The footnotes below lead to the online version of The Qur’an: A Complete Revelation. It is free to use and is designed to aid students of both the Qur’anic text in English and of the original Arabic. You can download the full work free or purchase it in hardback (at 10% less than with online bookstores).
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This is beautiful and timely. Thank you.