People of wisdom state:
We should fear evil people more than we fear the Devil because the Devil’s deceit is weak compared with that of an evil friend. For this reason, when a person intends to get married, set up home, start up in business, or travel to somewhere, he should always prefer the pious people who are ahead of him in knowledge and good deeds, so that he can get salvation in the hereafter. If the opposite is done, he who is a slave to his nafs may fall into ruin any moment. The worst friend is he who has love of money, property, and transient, worldly things.

Hadrat Imam-i Rabbani says that one should leave that city if there is a possibility that one may come across there such a person who is attached to worldly objects, money, and property. It is wajib to move from a district where sinners live to the one where there are pious Muslims. When a person meets sinners, the evil in their hearts begins to flow into his heart. They influence him to get attached to worldly things, which will bring him to ruin. Our Master the Prophet states, “The love of the world is the root of sins and errors.” In other words, the love of the world, money, property, worldly things, that is, the love of anything other than the love of Allah, is the root of all tragedies and evils. It is the worst of all evils.

A person’s love of money and wealth results in his losing the religion, the faith, and even the world (Allah forbid). Hadrat Imam-i Rabbani says, speaking of the world, “It is like a flamboyant prostitute in heavy make-up.” It is very attractive, so man may be deceived by its appearance and fall in love with it. However, he will be trapped and come to grief the moment he obtains it.

We must be careful to protect our faith and die Muslims. To that end, we should repeat Kalima at-tawhid many times every day, read the Qur’an al-karim, talk about Islam and notable figures of Islam, keep the company of righteous and pious people, thereby filling our hearts with the love of Allah and staying away from the love of money and wealth.

Islam is a medicine, and man is ill. Medicine is needed to cure a patient. The patient has to take the medicine, even if it may have a bitter taste. That is, he has to carry out the orders of Islam, even though his nafs finds them difficult to do. Or else, the pain and sufferings in the hereafter cannot even be compared with those in the world. If a spark from the fire of the hereafter landed on the earth, the earth would burn to ashes and cease to exist. Man, because of his heedlessness and ignorance, fails to contemplate the calamities he will experience in the world to come. Instead, he eats, drinks, strolls, dances, and roars with laughter. However, he who reflects on the terrifying events of the Day of Judgment cries and moans to such an extent that he cannot eat and drink anything. In the end, he will be skin and bones. In order not to face scary calamities on the Day of Judgment, we must make an effort to carry out what our religion has commanded and to refrain from what it has prohibited.