It is reported from Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah (رحمه الله) that he said:

“Verily, in this dunyá there is a paradise, and whoever does not enter that paradise will not enter the Paradise of the Hereafter.”

The scholars explain that paradise in the worldly life is the sweetness of worship. Many of us may ask: When will we truly taste this sweetness, though we worship Allāh day after day, some of us for 20, 30, 40, or even 50 years?

Reflect upon the words of the Salaf, those who tasted this sweetness and entered this paradise of the dunyá. And perhaps, by Allāh’s mercy, He will allow us to enter this paradise here, before granting us entry into the greatest Paradise in the Hereafter.

Nasr b. Mahmūd al-Balkhī (d. 305 AH) narrated that Aḥmad b. Ḥarb (d. 234 AH) said:

I worshipped Allāh for fifty years, but I did not taste the sweetness of worship until I abandoned three things:

1. I gave up seeking the approval of people, and only then was I able to speak the truth.
2. I gave up the company of the wicked, and only then did I find the companionship of the righteous.
3. I gave up the pleasures of this world, and only then did I find the sweetness of the Hereafter.

And it was said: He once prayed for rain for the people in Bukhārā, and they did not leave except while walking in the rain. May Allāh have mercy on him.

Source: Siyar ʾAʿlām al-Nubalā 11/34
Compiled and translated by: Munīb al-Ṣumālī