Good Works & Knowledge

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

Shaykh Shams ad-Din Muhammad at-Tabriz (q.s.) wrote, in Manaqib al-‘Arifin, “At a gathering, people were discussing whether the world had existed eternally.  Shams ad-Din said, ‘Of what importance is the eternity of the world to you?  Find out whether you are eternal or newly Created!  Use your time in this life to discover your own situation, not to research the eternity of the world! 

The purpose of the world is for good works, because a good action brings tranquillity to the soul.  Tranquillity of the soul opens one's need for God, and it causes faith in the life of the Hereafter.  A person might have a hundred thousand skills and artful knowledge, but if there are no good works, there is no need for God or belief in the Hereafter; one has nothing.  If there is no knowledge, no Arabic or Turkish, but there are good works, it is the honour and glory of this world and the world to come.  Everyone is pursuing knowledge and profit; pursue good works, which is the kernel, the rest is just the outer shell.’”