الدنيا
al-Dunyā
The nearer life of this world, whose values rank below those of the Hereafter, and by extension a life given over to pursuing such values.
What it means
Al-dunyā comes from a root meaning “nearer” or “lower”. It is the life in front of us, set against al-ākhira, the life to come. The Quran calls it “only the enjoyment of delusion” when it becomes the whole aim of a person (3:185), and says: “This worldly life is nothing but diversion and play; the home of the Hereafter is the true life” (29:64).
The term therefore carries a judgment of value as well as of place. A person described as devoted to al-dunyā has made the lower goods of wealth, rank and comfort the center of life. The Quran does not forbid the good things of this world, and asks believers for “good in this world and good in the Hereafter” (2:201). The fault lies in letting the lower values rule.
Often misunderstood as
Rendered “the world” or “worldliness”, which loses the contrast of nearer and lower values against those of the Hereafter that the Arabic holds.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 32, listed as AL DUNYĀ. The definition is restated here.