The reason for envy and jealousy is that when several hands reach out after a single object, when several eyes are fixed on a single position, when several stomachs  hunger for a single loaf of bread, first envy arises as a result of conflict, dispute and  rivalry,  and then jealousy. Since many people desire the same thing in the world, and because the world, narrow and transitory as it is, cannot satisfy the limitless desires of man, people  become rivals of each other. However, in the hereafter a five-hundred-year paradise will be  given to a single individual; seventy thousand palaces and houris will be granted to him; and  every one of the people of

Paradise will be perfectly satisfied with his share.8   It is thus clear that there is no cause for rivalry in the hereafter, nor can there be rivalry. In that case, neither should

there  be  any rivalry with  respect  to  those  good  deeds  that  entail  reward  in  the hereafter;  there  is  no  room  for  jealousy  here.  The  one  jealous  here  is  either  a hypocrite, seeking worldly result through the performance of good deeds, or a sincere but  ignorant  devotee,  not   knowing  the  true  purpose  of  good  deeds  and  not comprehending  that  sincerity is  the  spirit  and  foundation of  all  good  deeds.  By cultivating a kind of rivalry and hostility toward God’s saints, he is in fact placing in doubt the breadth of God’s compassion.

An  instance  supporting  this  truth:  One  of  my  former  companions  nurtured hostility to someone. His enemy’s good deeds and sanctity were once favourably described in his presence. He was not jealous or upset. Then someone said,  “That  enemy of  yours is courageous and strong.” We saw a strong vein of jealousy and rivalry suddenly appearing in that man. We said to him:

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8  An important question raised by a significant person: According to tradition a five-hundred-year paradise will be given to everyone in Paradise. How can worldly intelligence comprehend this truth?

The Answer: In this world everyone has his private and temporally limited world as broad as the world, the pillar of which is his life. He makes use of his world through his inner and outer senses. He says to himself, “The sun is my lamp, the stars are my candles.” The existence of other creatures and animate beings in no way negates his ownership of these; on the contrary, they brighten and illumine

his world. In the same way, although on an infinitely higher plane, in addition to the garden of each believer that contains thousands of palaces and houris, there is a private five-hundred-year paradise for everyone, apart from the general Paradise. He will benefit from this paradise and eternity through his senses and feelings, according to the degree of development they have reached. The fact that others share in the general Paradise in no way harms his ownership or benefit, but on the contrary strengthens these, and adorns that vast Paradise. Man in this world benefits from a garden lasting an hour, a spectacle lasting a day, a country lasting a month and a journey lasting a year, with his mouth, his ear, his eye, his taste and all his other senses. So too, in that realm of eternity, his sense of smell and touch, which in this transient world barely profit from a garden lasting an hour, will benefit as if from a

garden lasting a year. The sense of sight and hearing which here barely profit from an excursion lasting a year, will there be able to benefit from a five-hundred-year excursion in a manner fitting that realm, adorned from end to end. Every believer will benefit there according to his spiritual rank, and gain delight and pleasure through his senses that will expand and develop in relation to the reward he has earned in this world and the good deeds he has performed.