The Sunday Guardian | 21st Oct. 2012 

Our world possesses a vast array of material things, which are attractive and give innumerable comforts. to mankind. These are provided in this world to test man and are not intended for his pleasure. If man were to look at these things from the point of view of his being tested, he would avail of them only as a matter of necessity and then too would use them with utmost care and responsibility. But man is usually unable to be consistently responsible.

The lure of material things and his own never-ending greed cause man to pursue worldly ends unceasingly. In this way he passes his days until the time comes for him to depart from this world. At that time he leaves all his life's earnings behind him. In the next world he finds himself all of a sudden in a state of total deprivation, having nothing with him to stand by him in the next stage of his life. This has been described in the Quran as thus:

"Greed for more and more distracted you (from God) till you reached the grave. But you will soon come to know. But you will soon come to know." (102:1-4)

Man craves for more and more money, for gathering more material comforts around him. He thinks incessantly of this world until his call for the next world comes. Only then does the realization dawn on him that all his savings will be of no avail in that world where he has to live for all eternity. That is to say, he has saved nothing for the world to come.