Many years ago there lived a King who built himself a huge and magnificent palace. No one had seen anything like it before. The turrets rose into the sky and many expensive materials were used in its construction. The King invited one and all to come and view his palace and left a guest book at the entrance for them to sign and leave comments in.

He took pleasure in reading the various praises that people visiting the palace had written for him in the book. However, he came across two comments that were not in keeping with the general feeling. These two comments were not in praise of the palace; on the contrary, they criticized it. The King was upset and summoned the authors of the comments. At first, neither of them was ready to explain his comment but, after the King assured them that their lives were not in danger, they disclosed the reasons.

"O King! There are two weaknesses in this palace. The first of these is that some day, the palace will turn into ruins, and the second one is that it does not have anything to ensure that its owner will not be separated from it one day. In a life of just a few days, why do we have to attach ourselves to such worldly, material things?" (Bikhre Moti)

Man will soon die and leave behind all his worldly possessions. What will accompany him the journey to the Hereafter are his noble deeds.

"Wealth and children are an adornment of the life of the world, but lasting righteous deeds are better with your Lord in reward and better in hope." (18:46)

Wisdom therefore dictates that man should focus his attention to things that are imperishable and highly rewardable.

Source: 40 Sparks of Wisdom