اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ بِجَمِیعِ مَحَامِدِه کُلِّهَا عَلَی جَمِیعِ نِعَمِهِ کُلِّهَا… اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ مالِکِ الْمُلْکِ مُجْرِی الْفُلْکِ مُسَخِّرِ الرِّیاحِ فالِقِ الاْصْباحِ دَیّانِ الدّینِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمینَ اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی حِلْمِهِ بَعْدَ عِلمِهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی عَفْوِهِ بَعْدَ قُدْرَتِهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی طُولِ اَناتِهِ فی غَضَبِهِ وَهُوَ قادِرٌ عَلی ما یُریدُ
و نشهد أن لا اله الا الله وحده لا شریک له، و أَنَّ محمداً عبده و رسوله ارسله بالهدی و دین الحق لیظهره علی الدین کله و لو کره المشرکون
اوصیکم عبادالله و نفسی بتقوی الله و اتباع امره و نهیه، و اخوفکم من عقابه
The twenty-first sign of the Righetous:
تَرَاهُ قَرِيباً أَمَلُهُ
You see him while his is close to his dream.
Unfulfilled wishes are one of the weaknesses of human beings, which is the source of many mental illnesses. Of course, the principle of the existence of “desire” and “wishes” for man is a divine blessing, because if there were no desire, many human efforts would not have been made. Holy Prophet says:
الْأَمَلُ رَحْمَةٌ لِأُمَّتِي، وَ لَوْ لَا الْأَمَلُ مَا أَرْضَعَتْ أُمٌّ وَلَداً وَ لَا غَرَسَ غَارِسٌ شَجَراً
Wishing is a mercy for my nation, and if it were not for wishing, no mother would breastfeed her child and no gardener would plant a tree.
If desire becomes a “goal” and is accompanied by planning, it can lead man to the highest goals. But care must be taken that the desires that make man move and strive do not go beyond the reasonable and do not entangle him in material things. Holy Quran says:
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ ارْتَدُّوا عَلى أَدْبارِهِمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ ما تَبَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الْهُدَى الشَّيْطانُ سَوَّلَ لَهُمْ وَ أَمْلى لَهُم
Indeed, those who relapse ˹into disbelief˺ after ˹true˺ guidance has become clear to them, ˹it is˺ Satan ˹that˺ has tempted them, luring them with false hopes. (Muhammad 25)
And the Qur’an also says:
ذَرْهُمْ يَأْكُلُوا وَ يَتَمَتَّعُوا وَ يُلْهِهِمُ الْأَمَلُ فَسَوْفَ يَعْلَمُونَ
˹So˺ let them eat and enjoy themselves and be diverted by ˹false˺ hope, for they will soon know. (al-Hijr 3)
This verse is people who understand nothing but material pleasure and every action they take is to achieve these pleasures. The interpretation of “درهم” (leave them) in the verse shows that this group has no hope of guiding them as long as they have unattainable desires, otherwise the Holy Prophet would never have been commissioned to leave them alone.
People who have unattainable wishes die while they are saddened by the regret of not achieving many of their wishes, and therefore it will be very difficult for them to leave the world. Amir al-muminin says:
إِنَّمَا هَلَكَ مَنْ كَانَ قَبْلَكُمْ بِطُولِ آمَالِهِمْ وَ تَغَيُّبِ آجَالِهِمْ حَتَّى نَزَلَ بِهِمُ الْمَوْعُودُ الَّذِي تُرَدُّ عَنْهُ الْمَعْذِرَةُ وَ تُرْفَعُ عَنْهُ التَّوْبَةُ وَ تَحُلُّ مَعَهُ الْقَارِعَةُ وَ النِّقْمَةُ(نهج البلاغة (صبحي صالح)، ص٢٠٥)
Those who were before you perished only because of unattainable desires in their lives, until what was promised came, death that rejects the proofs, and when it comes, the doors of repentance are closed, and serious incidents and punishments happen at the same time with it.
Prolonged desires are far more frightening and dangerous in the eyes of God’s saints than it comes to people’s minds. Amir al-Mo’menin paints the real face of a prolonged dreams very scary and says:
أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّ أَخْوَفَ مَا أَخَافُ عَلَيْكُمُ [اثْنَتَانِ] اثْنَانِ اتِّبَاعُ الْهَوَى وَ طُولُ الْأَمَلِ فَأَمَّا اتِّبَاعُ الْهَوَى فَيَصُدُّ عَنِ الْحَقِّ وَ أَمَّا طُولُ الْأَمَلِ فَيُنْسِي الْآخِرَة(نهج البلاغة (صبحي صالح)، ص٨٣)
O people! Indeed, the most frightening things that I fear for you are two things: following the evil passion and prolonging the desire, but following the devil passion prevents you from following the path of truth, and prolonging the desire causes you to forget the Hereafter.
Some results of prolonging dreams
- Bad behavior
For people who have high aspirations, the ultimate goal is to achieve these aspirations. Therefore, in order to achieve these desires, they do not hesitate to do anything right or wrong.
Amir Al-Muminin says:
مَنْ أَطَالَ أَمَلَهُ سَاءَ عَمَلُهُ
who has prolonged wishes will have a bad deed.
And he also says:
أَطْوَلُ النَّاسِ أَمَلًا أَسْوَؤُهُمْ عَمَلًا
Among the people, the one who has the prolonged desire will have the worst deed.
Therefore, by shortening their desires, the pious people free themselves from material attachments and purify their deeds. In a narration from t of Amir Al-muminin, we read:
مَنْ قَصُرَ أَمَلُهُ حَسُنَ عَمَلُهُ؛
Whoever shortens his desire, his deeds will be good.
- Ingratitude
One who is afflicted with great and unattainable desires despises any blessing lower than what he desires, and does not enjoy it, and will be ungrateful to the divine blessings. Therefore, in a narration from Amir Al-muminin, it is stated:
تَجَنَّبُوا الْمُنَى فَإِنَّهَا تَذْهَبُ بِبَهْجَةِ نِعَمِ اللَّهِ عِنْدَكُمْ وَ تُلْزِمُ اسْتِصْغَارَهَا لَدَيْكُمْ وَ عَلَى قِلَّةِ الشُّكْرِ مِنْكُم؛
Avoid great desires that take away the beauty and joy of God’s blessings from you and make them small in your eyes and lead to a less gratitude (and ingratitude) on your part.
- Cruelty of heart and distance from God
Unattainable desires cause the cruelty of the heart, and the cruelty of the heart deprives man of the sweetness of nearness to God. In the prayers that Moses (peace be upon him) had with the Almighty God, the Almighty God said to him:
يَا مُوسَى لَا تُطَوِّلْ فِي الدُّنْيَا أَمَلَكَ فَيَقْسُوَ قَلْبُكَ وَ الْقَاسِي الْقَلْبِ مِنِّي بَعِيدٌ
O Moses! Do not prolong your wish in the world that if you do so, you will become hard-hearted and the one who is hard-hearted is far from me.
The pious people, in order to achieve nearness to God, avoid prolonged desires and rely only on God Almighty.