Tradition

اَلدُّنْيا خُلِقَتْ لِغَيْرِها وَ لَمْ تُخْلَقْ لِنَفْسِها

Imam ‘Ali (‘a) is narrated to have said: “The world has been created for another purpose and not for its own sake.”1

Brief Commentary

Some people become confused when they see some verses of the Quran and various traditions praising the world and mentioning how it is the ‘marketplace of the saints,’ while other traditions mention the complete opposite, censuring the world and considering it a dangerous and deceptive realm. Such verses and traditions seem to be in contradiction with one another.

Yet, this tradition clears up this misunderstanding and explains that if the world is taken as a means for reaching human perfection and growth, then it becomes something positive and beloved. At the same time, if it becomes an end in itself and the means of sin, arrogance, and rebellion against God, then it becomes the most hated and dangerous thing possible.

• 1. From Safinat al-Bihar, vol. 1, Bihar Al-Anwar vol. 70, p. 133, Sharh Nahj Al-Balaghah, vol. 20, p. 181, Nahj Al-Balaghah p. 557.