What should be our main concern in our life? 

What should be our main concern in our life? 

In order to answer this question, lets first have a look at two incidents from the life of Imam Ali (as): 

Once, the Imam was having a conversation with the Prophet (s) in the month of Ramadan, during which the prophet started to cry. When the Imam asked him the reason the Prophet (s) said; O’ Ali, I cry because of what will be done to you in the month of Ramadan, I see the day when your beard will be colored with the blood of your head. Then, Imam Ali asked, O’ Messenger of Allah, will I die then as a faithful man? The prophet (s) replied: Your faith will be safe. 1

And when the prediction of the Prophet (s) came true and Imam Ali (as) was struck on his head by a sword coated with poison while performing the prayer of morning in the mosque, he said: "By the Lord of Ka'ba, I have succeeded.” And he passed away (reached martyrdom) two days later [on the 21st of Ramadan] due to the injury.

divine salvation or prosperity and to make sure that in the end we depart this world while having faith is the last stage of perfection for which we all must strive and which must be our main concern. 

Look how a divine leader like Imam Ali is so much worried about his end, and when he is sure that he is leaving this world with a pure faith in Allah, he is relieved, and this shows that divine salvation or prosperity and to make sure that in the end we depart this world while having faith is the last stage of perfection for which we all must strive and which must be our main concern.

Being a believer at the moment should not make us confident about our destiny, for history is full of people who lived with piety for a period of time but then they changed the course of their lives and became wretched.

Being a believer at the moment should not make us confident about our destiny, for history is full of people who lived with piety for a period of time but then they changed the course of their lives and became wretched, the most evident example of which is Satan, about whom Imam Ali says, 

You should take a lesson from what Allah did with Satan; namely He nullified his great acts and extensive efforts on account of the vanity of one moment, although Satan had worshipped Allah for six thousand years - whether by the reckoning of this world or of the next world is not known. Who now can remain safe from Allah after Satan by committing a similar disobedience? None at all. 3

1 al-Amali, p. 193.
1 Khasa'is al- 'A'immah, p.63
3 Nahj al-Balagha, sermon. 192 
Answered by Saeed Mahmoudzade.