The Essence of Islam – Volume II — Page 466
466 Essence of Islām II but through God's power. Fifth Means The fifth means of achieving the purpose of life is striving in the cause of Allah with one's property and one's faculties and one's life and one's reason, as He says: جاهِدُوا بِأَمْوَالِكُمْ وَ انْفُسِكُمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ 245 ومِمَّا رَزَقْنَهُمْ يُنْفِقُونَ 246 وَالَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا فِينَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا 247 Dedicate in the path of Allah your possessions, your lives, and your selves to their fullest capacity. And devote to the Divine cause all that you have been granted by God including reason, knowledge, under- standing and skill. And those who strive after Us in every way, We guide them along the paths that lead to Us. Sixth Means The sixth means for achieving the purpose of life is steadfastness; that is to say, that a seeker should not become tired and should not be daunted by trials, as Allah the Exalted says: لان الَّذِينَ قَالُوا رَبُّنَا اللهُ ثُمَّ اسْتَقَامُوا تَتَنَزَّلُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْمَلَئِكَةُ الا تَخَافُوا وَ لا تَحْزَنُوا وَ ابْشِرُوا بِالْجَنَّةِ الَّتِي كُنْتُمْ تُوعَدُونَ . 245 Al-Tauba, 9:41 [Publisher] 246 Al-Baqarah, 2:4 [Publisher] 247 Al-'Ankabūt, 29:70 [Publisher]