“Then Allah will ask them: ‘For how many years did you stay on the earth?’ They will say: ‘We stayed for a day or part of a day. Ask of those who keep count of this.’ He will say: ‘You stayed only for a while, if you only knew that.’ Did you imagine that We created you without any purpose, and that you will not be brought back to Us?’” (Al-Qur’ān – 23:112-115)
The Messengers used to tell the unbelievers that the life of the world was meant merely to test them. It was a life so ephemeral that they should not consider it to be their real life. They were told that the real abode will be in the World to Come wherein they will remain forever. They were, therefore, counselled not to engage in deeds which whilst yielding some transient pleasure, will nonetheless destroy all their prospects in the eternal life of the Hereafter. Yet the unbelievers did not pay any heed to the Messengers. They were bent on denying the Hereafter and believed that the Next Life was simply a figment of the Messengers’ imagination. They suffered from the illusion that the life of the world was all that there was and, hence, is ought to be enjoyed to the maximum. The unbelievers’ remorse later on though will be to no avail. They should have realised while they were alive that the After-Life is a reality. Instead, they wasted the opportunity that was made available to them, totally ruining their prospects in the ever-ending life of the Hereafter.