Shaddad bin Aus relates that the Holy Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) said, “The wise man is really one who keeps his ‘self’ under control and devotes himself to acts beneficial in the next world, while the foolish man is one who devotes himself to his evil desires and cherishes false hopes in his relation to God.” (Tirmidhi)
This hadīth distinguishes between a wise man and a foolish man. The former realises the transitoriness of this physical world while the latter spends his life in the enjoyment of mundane pleasures.
The hadīth brings into light two features of such a person who is wise, spends his life in accordance with God’s commandments. One, he keeps his self under perfect control; he is not a slave to his desires. That is, he submits all his desires, wishes and dreams to the Will of Allah. The other feature is that he spends his worldly life, keeping an eye on Life after Death. He curbs his desires just to seek the pleasure of God; he also earns and spends only within the permissible limits.
Contrarily, a foolish person devotes his life to the fulfilment of his evil desires in total violation of moral codes of life. He fails to distinguish good from evil. The hadīth points out the folly of such a person when he hopes that God will admit him to Paradise anyhow. Even in the so-called enlightened era of today some people are labouring under the burden of the same erroneous notions.