Many of us are also trapped inside the belly of the whale of our own desires and objects of worship. It is our own selves which we become enslaved to. And that imprisonment is the result of putting anything where only God should be in our hearts. In so doing we create the worst and most painful of prisons; because while a worldly prison can only take away what is temporary and inherently imperfect, this spiritual prison takes away what is ultimate, unending and perfect: Allah and our relationship to Him.
"The beauty of the tests of Allah (swt) is that after notifying us that they're coming, He gives us the exact recipe for succeeding in them: Sabr (patience) and Taqwa (God-consciousness).
"Who are we acting for? Who is testing us? Who is watching, really? CNN, C-Span, the American public? No. They're all a part of the illusion; all a part of the test. They're all just a creation of the test. We act for one judge and one judge alone. We act for the only true Reality (al-Haqq). We act because we know He is watching, and He is the only One who will judge this test.
"Jihaad (striving) against the soul has four stages: Firstly: To strive in learning guidance and the religion of truth, without which there will be no success. Indeed, there can be no true happiness, nor any delight in this world and in the Hereafter, except through it. Secondly: Striving to act upon what has been learnt, since knowledge without action will not benefit, rather it will cause harm. Thirdly: Striving to invite others towards it and to teach those who do not know, otherwise he may be considered from those who hide what Allaah has revealed of guidance and clear explanation. Such knowledge will neither benefit, nor save a person from the punishment of Allaah. Fourthly: Striving to be patient and persevering against those who oppose this da'wah (call) to Allaah and those who seek to cause harm - patiently bearing all these hardships for the sake of Allaah.
When these four stages are completed then such a person is considered to be amongst the Rabbaaniyyoon [the Godly ones]. The Salaf were agreed that a Scholar does not deserve the title of Rabbaanee until he recognises and knows the truth, acts upon it, and teaches it to others. So whosoever has knowledge, acts upon it, and teaches this knowledge to others, is considered from the Rabbaaniyyoon.
"We die as we lived. Whatever was most important in life, will consume us at death. Whatever attachments we had will become evident then.
And in that heaven, complete peace is not something of a moment. It is a state, eternal.
"Everything changes. So if you don't like something today, just wait. It'll change tomorrow.
"If money is the focus, you will find that no matter how much money you have, you will always fear losing it. This preoccupation is poverty itself. That is why the Prophet ﷺ says about such people that poverty is always in front of their eyes. That is all they see. No matter how much they have, there is no contentment, only greed for more and fear of loss.
"The more we run after the dunya, the more it runs away from us.