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Let us reflect on what comes after the Day of Judgment, when people depart to either Paradise or Hell. How long will we remain in Paradise or Hell? A million years? No—it will be infinite. By God, O Ayman, I do not think any of us can truly grasp the meaning of "infinity." It is a terrifying and horrifying concept.
If a person were to be consumed by the thought of infinity, they would never lift their head from the prostration in prayer, nor would they ever cease worshipping Allah in all its forms.
You are a software engineer, and you work with mathematics. If one of us were to live in this world for a thousand years, how much would those thousand years amount to compared to the "infinity" of the Hereafter?
Mathematically, the answer is (zero). Just as if I asked you: what is the weight of an ant’s eye compared to a whale? It would be pretentious to say (0.000001); instead, you would say it is practically "zero." And so it is with this world compared to the Hereafter.
The Prophet ﷺ said:
"The life of this world compared to the Hereafter is only like one of you dipping his finger in the sea. Let him see how much water he brings back."
Go to the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean, dip your finger in, then pull it out. How much water clings to your finger compared to the ocean? Nothing—literally nothing. Thus, this world compared to the Hereafter is nothing.
What is truly terrifying is that what we do in this brief world determines our fate in that infinite realm. This is no joke, and the difference in fate is not slight—like one person living on the third floor and another in the penthouse with a better view. No! The difference in fate is immense.
Allah the Exalted says of some people: Their Lord gives them good tidings of a mercy from Him and [His] approval and of gardens for them wherein is enduring pleasure, wherein they will abide forever. Indeed, Allah has prepared for them a great reward.
In contrast, there are those who transgress against Allah and His Messenger: Indeed, those who harm Allah and His Messenger—Allah has cursed them in this world and the Hereafter and prepared for them a humiliating punishment.
Consider how the Lord of the Worlds describes the people of Hell: Then they will be cast into it, they and the deviators, and the soldiers of Iblis all together.
Reflect on the word "cast" (fakubkibū), and consider the humiliation. How insignificant a person becomes in the sight of Allah when they dare to defy Him, only to be cast into Hell as if they were discarded trash. Thus, one realizes that the difference in fate is terrifying: Indeed, those who distort Our verses are not concealed from Us. Then is he who is thrown into the Fire better, or he who comes secure on the Day of Resurrection? Do whatever you will; indeed, He is Seeing of what you do.