in worship, acts of piety and good deeds in order to reach it, even if these deeds may be difficult to do at the time.

At the same time, Hell is a place full of terror, pain and punishment, yet it is very easy to reach. This is because it’s covered by desires of the nafs. There is great fear for anyone who lives their life fulfilling the impermissible desires of their nafs; they may ultimately be made to enter Hell in the end.

All of us want to enter Paradise and be saved from punishment in Hell. In order to achieve this, we should try our best to stand in opposition to our nafs. Not only should we work to avoid impermissible desires, but we should also keep control of our permissible ones. Not controlling one’s permissible desires can lead to eventually becoming engrossed in them. Let us mention a beautiful hadith discussing this issue.

The Companion Abū Hurayrah رَضِىَ الـلّٰـهُ عَـنْهُ reports how the Messenger of Allah صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم said:

When Allah created Paradise and Hell, He sent Jibrīl to Paradise and ordered, “Look upon it and its bounties I have prepared for those who shall reside therein”. Jibrīl then went, saw Paradise and the bounties Allah prepared for the people who will enter it, and then presented himself in the court of Allah. “O Lord!”, he exclaimed, “By Your Might! Whoever hears of this Paradise will certainly strive to enter it.” Then with Allah’s command, Paradise was covered with hardships and difficulties, and He ordered Jibrīl, “Go, look at Paradise and its bounties again, which I have prepared for those who shall reside therein.” 

Jibrīl returned, and found Paradise was now covered with hardships and difficulties. He presented himself in the court of Allah and said, “By Your Might! I now fear nobody will be able to