The Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam — Page 158
152 the life after death. Similarly the chain of worldly preoccupations will become visible round his feet, and the fire of worldly desires will appear in full blaze. A vicious person conceals a whole hell of worldly greed and desires inside himself, and perceives the burning sensation of this hell at the time of his failures and frustrations. So when he is cast away from his mortal desires and becomes subject to eternal despair, God Almighty will cause his sorrow to be manifested physically in the shape of fire; as is said: وَحِيْلَ بَيْنَهُمْ وَبَيْنَ مَا يَشْتَهُونَ 198 That is, a barrier will be placed between them and that which they yearn after, and that will be the root of their torment. The chain of seventy cubits is an indication that a wicked one often attains the age of seventy years and sometimes, leaving aside his years of childhood and extreme old age, he is granted a period of seventy years which he could employ for work wisely and with good sense. But an unfortunate one spends these seventy years caught in the coil of worldly preoccupations and does not desire to be free of them. Thus God Almighty affirms in this verse that the seventy years that such a one spends in worldly pursuits will be manifested as a chain of seventy cubits in the Hereafter, one cubit for each year. It must be kept in 198. And a barrier will be placed between them and that which they long for, (The Holy Quran, Sabā' 34:55)