64 Preface وَما هٰذِهِ الحَياةُ الدُّنيا إِلّا لَهوٌ وَلَعِبٌ ۚ وَإِنَّ الدّارَ الآخِرَةَ لَهِيَ الحَيَوانُ ۚ لَو كانوا يَعلَمونَYusuf AliWhat is the life of this world but amusement and play?1 but verily the Home in the Hereafter,- that is life indeed, if they but knew. Cf. 6:32. Amusement and play have no lasting significance except as preparing us for the serious work of life. So this life is but an interlude, a preparation for the real Life, which is in the Hereafter. This world’s vanities are therefore to be taken for what they are worth; but they are not to be allowed to deflect our minds from the requirements of the inner life that really matters.