“Whoever desires immediate benefits in this fleeting life, We hasten to grant the benefits in the present life that We please to whomsoever We like but thereafter We decree for him Hell wherein he shall burn, condemned and rejected. But he who desires the Hereafter and strives for it as he should, and is a true believer, his striving will come to fruition.” (Al-Qur’ān – 17:18-19)
The Qur’ān employs the term ‘this fleeting life’ to signify the present world. By contrast, the term Akhirah is used to denote one whose benefits and gains will be available later, after the present world. Immediate success and prosperity in this world will be at the cost of those in the Hereafter. Not only that, excessive worldliness and lack of concern about accountability in the Hereafter will have given such an essentially wrong twist to the lives of such people that they will end up suffering the torments of Hell.
The Qur’ān warns one who does not believe in the Hereafter or is not willing to wait patiently to receive his reward there, and who keeps his attention focused on the present world. The success and prosperity in this world, will be totally excluded from success and prosperity of such a person in the Hereafter. In contrast, he who seeks success in the Hereafter will receive full reward for his efforts towards that end – a reward that will fully correspond to that effort, both qualitatively and quantitatively. So far as this worldly life is concerned, God is still the Giver of all the provisions and sustenance.