What is with Allah is better and more lasting

Everything you have been given is only mata‘. In other words, it is the temporary means and pleasures particular to this worldly life.

This ayah requires us to reconsider everything we own and value.

Allah asks us to compare these things with what He Himself has prepared, and presents us with two qualities we must take into account: ‎خَيۡرٌ‎ (better) and ‎أَبۡقَىٰ‎ (more lasting).

Do you have a car? The vehicle Allah has prepared for you in Paradise is better and more lasting. Do you have a house here? The house Allah has prepared for you is better and more lasting.

You should approach everything you enjoy in this life from this perspective. First, accept that it is not the best there is. Second, realize that it will not last forever.

This is a hard truth to internalize. When you walk into your home, can you truly think, “This house is not mine forever”? When you are with your children, your spouse or your parents, can you sincerely think, “This togetherness is temporary”?

Living with this awareness is hard. But it is a truth we must embrace. We must tell ourselves, with complete conviction: what is with Allah is better and more lasting.

This perspective is ‎لِلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَلَىٰ رَبِّهِمۡ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ‎, “for those who have believed and upon their Lord rely.”

Those who do not rely on Allah, however, think differently. They prefer this world. They believe that this is all there is, and so they live entirely for whatever they can get in the moment. They give no thought to anything better or more lasting that will come afterward.

But the believers know the truth. They work for this world with their eyes fixed on that eternal reward, which is both superior in quality and endless in duration.