Whoever Wants the Hurried World and Whoever Wants the Hereafter and Strives for It

Occasion: Transcript of an Isha khatira delivered at Bayt Al-Karim on August 19, 2026 Source: Transcript of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed AbouSeif, watch the original video on YouTube

Dr. Ahmed opened with a supplication: that God grant us all good, in this life and the next; that He save us from disgrace in this world and from the punishment of the Hereafter; that He not tie our hearts to our worldly life but make us among those who intend the Hereafter; and that He keep our hearts safe from the scheming and whispers of Satan.

Then he turned to his listeners: my dear brothers, in Surah al-Isra', God says:

﴿مَنْ كَانَ يُرِيدُ الْعَاجِلَةَ عَجَّلْنَا لَهُ فِيهَا مَا نَشَاءُ لِمَنْ نُرِيدُ﴾

Whoever wants the hurried world, We hasten for him in it whatever We will, for whomever We will.^[1]

He paused at the verb of will, yurīd, and at al-ʿājila, the hurried one. Then he recalled the saying of the Prophet ﷺ:

«لَوْ كَانَتِ الدُّنْيَا تَعْدِلُ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ جَنَاحَ بَعُوضَةٍ مَا سَقَى الْكَافِرَ مِنْهَا شَرْبَةَ مَاءٍ»

If this world weighed with God as much as the wing of a mosquito, He would not give a disbeliever a drink of water from it.^[2]

He explained it with an everyday picture: if I had in my hand something of real value, I would think before giving it to just anybody. So the Prophet ﷺ tells us that this world has no such value with God; but the faith, al-dīn, He gives only to those He loves.

Then he turned to the second verse and its verb of will: ﴿وَمَنْ أَرَادَ الْآخِرَةَ وَسَعَىٰ لَهَا سَعْيَهَا﴾, and whoever wants the Hereafter and strives for it with its due striving. Here he drew a comparison from business. Look at a man with a business mind: wherever he finds a place to put his money and invest it, he runs there, with a mentality of sacrifice, thinking of what he will earn by that route. The same mind, he said, is what the one who wants the Hereafter should bring to it.

And the verse ends: ﴿فَأُولَٰئِكَ كَانَ سَعْيُهُمْ مَشْكُورًا﴾, those, their striving is appreciated.^[3]

He closed with the prayer: ﴿رَبَّنَا اغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا وَإِسْرَافَنَا فِي أَمْرِنَا﴾, Our Lord, forgive us our sins and our excesses in our affairs.^[4]

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: Al-Isra' 17:18. The speaker recited this part of the verse; its continuation does not appear in this transcript. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: This saying is reported by al-Tirmidhi from Sahl ibn Saʿd. ^[3]: Editor's documentation: Al-Isra' 17:19. The speaker recited the phrases above; the words between them (including "while a believer") are not clear in this transcript. ^[4]: Editor's documentation: Al ʿImran 3:147, as the speaker recited it. The transcript breaks off at this point.