Companions, their followers and scholars of Islam, deeply understanding religion, well-versed in the Koran and Sunnah, were extremely vigilant with regard to worldly benefits. Through the centuries their warnings fly to us, opening our eyes to a simple, albeit strange at first glance, truth: the more a person hungers for worldly goods, the more quickly they run away from him, and the more indifferent he is to them, the easier they find him.

The man tells them in all sincerity: I do not need you, I do not crave you, I am indifferent to you, and if you are with me, then only in my hands, but not in my heart. And you are surprised to see how this world humbly, humbly follows such a person, seeks him, comes to him, offers himself to him – while the person himself is not attached to worldly goods and does not try to compete with anyone in obtaining them. He attracts them like a magnet, and his heart is absolutely free from them and their presence or absence in no way affects his connection with the Almighty, which is strong and which is most important for him in the world.

And the opposite case is when the worldly becomes an end in itself for a person. You look and wonder how the thirst for wealth and luxury kills a man in the descendant of Adam, turning him into an animal, concerned only with filling the womb and carnal pleasures. Such rushes after worldly goods, trying to catch them by the tail, like some firebird, forgetting about everything else. He chases after them, like a traveler after a mirage in a waterless desert, and they only move away from him. And he runs after them, losing time, strength and health, so that in the end he will fall exhausted and have not reached his goal and no longer get up. And to understand that all this was in vain and that the object of his aspirations was absolutely insignificant.

And sometimes it happens differently: the Wise Lord, knowing about the insignificance and baseness of this or that incurably greedy person, throws worldly blessings in his face, and for the time being he naively rejoices, finding the only thing that he longs for and that occupies his heart and thoughts. But then disappointment always comes, as in the fairy tale about the golden antelope, where an incredibly greedy hero in love with wealth demanded gold until he was buried under its thickness, and then it turned into stones. And for these people, wealth, which was the purpose of their existence and actually replaced the faith and contentment of the Most High, will turn into Hellfire on the Day of Judgment.

Therefore, God-fearing and wise people from among our righteous predecessors, acquiring worldly goods, every now and then wondered: is this not an alarming sign, is it a warning?

And we also need to look into our hearts more often in order to understand: it was the Lord who showed you mercy so that you continue to work on His path, or in your attachment to the worldly and painful dependence on it, you fell so low that the Almighty threw you these not worthy and mosquito-winged decorations to distract you from what is of real benefit? ..