This excerpt is taken from Sheikh Abu Hamza Abdul Khaliq Siddiqi's book Sahih Fazail-e-Amaal.
Egoistic desires destroy and ruin a person, and conversely, whoever has placed the fear of Allah in their heart, and has lived in this world with the faith that they will have to stand before their Lord on the Day of Judgment, and under the influence of this faith, has kept themselves away from following the desires of the self, on that day their abode will be Paradise (Jannat al-Adn), whose blessings no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart can imagine. Allah Almighty says:
﴿وَأَمَّا مَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ وَنَهَى النَّفْسَ عَنِ الْهَوَىٰ . فَإِنَّ الْجَنَّةَ هِيَ الْمَأْوَىٰ .﴾
"And whoever fears the standing before their Lord and restrains the soul from [unlawful] desires, then indeed, Paradise will be [their] refuge."
Reference: (79-An-Nazi'at:40)
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) explained this noble verse with the words:
حجبت النار بالشهوات، وحجبت الجنة بالمكاره .
"Hellfire is veiled with desires of the self, and Paradise is veiled with difficult and unpleasant deeds."
Reference: Sahih Bukhari, Book of Riqaq, Chapter: The Veiling of Hellfire by Desires, No: 6487 – Sahih Muslim, The Beginning of the Book of Paradise and Description of its Blessings and its People, No: 7130
Meaning, whoever chases after egoistic desires has, in effect, lifted the veil of Hellfire. Now they will enter Hell. And whoever endures hardships and remains patient in calamities has lifted the veil of Paradise. Now they will enter Paradise.
It is narrated from Fudhala bin Ubaid (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "Except for the one who guards the frontier in the way of Allah, the deeds of every deceased person come to an end with their death, because their deeds are increased until the Day of Resurrection, and they are also protected from the trial of the grave. And I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) say: The Mujahid (one who struggles in the way of Allah) is the one who struggles against his own self."
Reference: Sunan Tirmidhi, Chapters on the Virtues of Jihad, No: 1621 - Al-Silsilah al-Sahihah, No: 549.
