Today's Jewel

You spend more time planning your vacation than planning your eternity. Let that sink in while you're comparing flight prices for the third hour straight.

Al-Ghazālī didn't say the material world is bad. He said attachment to it is the problem. There's a difference between using wealth and being used by it. Between enjoying beauty and being enslaved to it. Between having possessions and being possessed by them.

The Qur'an uses cutting words: play, amusement, glitter. This is how the Divine describes the life you're taking so seriously. You're stressed about things that are, cosmically speaking, toys. The promotion, the likes, the house, the car—toys. Expensive toys, sure, but still toys.

The Prophet ﷺ lived simply despite having access to wealth. He could have had anything. He chose to have little. Not because he was miserable, but because he understood: the less you own, the more freedom you have. Every possession is a string tying you to this world. Cut the strings; gain freedom.

But you're convinced that the next purchase will finally satisfy you. It won't. The hedonic treadmill keeps spinning. You get what you wanted, feel good for a moment, then want something else. The wanting never stops. Unless you step off the treadmill entirely.

Al-Ghazālī wrote about people who spend their whole lives accumulating wealth they'll never use, preparing for a future that never comes. Then death arrives and says, "Surprise! Time's up. Leave it all behind." You came with nothing; you'll leave with nothing. The middle part? That's just a rental period.

This isn't about becoming a monk (though al-Ghazālī tried that too). It's about perspective. Hold your possessions lightly. Enjoy them without being defined by them. Remember they're temporary—you're temporary—and the only thing that matters is what you did with your temporariness.

The verse continues: "But the life of the Hereafter is better and more lasting." Everything you're chasing is a mirage. The real treasure is the investment in the next life: good deeds, sincere faith, helping others. That's the currency that transfers. Everything else stays behind.

You can't take your Netflix watchlist to the grave. You can't take your Instagram followers. You can't take your car or your house or your wardrobe. You can take your character. Choose wisely what you're building.