The Book of Life

The terms saraf and israf literally mean wastefulness— that is, spending one’s wealth on what is unnecessary, driven by desire rather than genuine need. Every person lives between two forces: need and desire. To spend in line with one’s needs is lawful, but to spend merely to satisfy desire is something for which a person will be answerable in the Hereafter. A MESSAGE OF HOPE I n the Quran, while describing human difficulties, it is said that when unfavourable situations arise, adopt patience and trust in God. God is your Guardian; after hardship, He will create ease for you: “God will bring about ease after hardship” (65:7). Just as the earth is always turning, the circumstances of human life also keep changing. A person should never lose hope under any condition. He should always give preference to hope over despair. The present should never make him lose confidence in the future. If the coming of night is seen from the standpoint of today, it appears as the arrival of darkness. But if you look at it from the standpoint of tomorrow, it becomes the prelude to a bright morning. The season of autumn may seem, on the surface, to be a time