Nahjul Balagha Part 1, The Sermons
Sermon 63: Beware! Surely this world is a place...
About the transience of the world
ومن خطبة له (عليه السلام)
يحذر من فتنة الدنيا
Beware! Surely this world is a place from which protection cannot be sought except while one is in it. The action which is performed only for this world cannot secure salvation. People are tested in it through calamities.
Those who have taken worldly pleasures here will be taken out from them (by death) and will be questioned about them. And whatever (good actions) they have achieved for the other world, they will get them there and stay in them. For the intelligent this world is like the shade - one moment it is spread out and extended but soon it shrinks and contracts.
أَلاَ وإنَّ الدُّنْيَا دَارٌ لاَ يُسْلَمُ مِنْهَا إِلاَّ فِيهَا، وَلاَ يُنْجَى بِشَيْءٍ كَانَ لَهَا، ابْتُلِيَ النَّاسُ بِهَا فِتْنَةً، فَمَا أَخَذُوهُ مِنْهَا لَهَا أُخْرِجُوا مِنْهُ وَحُوسِبُوا عَلَيْهِ، وَمَا أَخَذُوهُ مِنْهَا لِغَيْرِهَا قَدِمُوا عَلَيْهِ وَأَقَامُوا فِيهِ؛ فَإِنَّهَا عِنْدَ ذَوِي الْعُقُولِ كَفَيْءِ الظِّلِّ، بِيْنَا تَرَاهُ سَابِغاًحَتَّى قَلَصَ وَزَائِداً حَتَّى نَقَصَ.
Alternative Sources for Sermon 63
(1) Al-'Amidi, Ghurar, under inna, 10, 88, 199.