﴿ نِسَآؤُكُمْ حَرْثٌۭ لَّكُمْ فَأْتُوا۟ حَرْثَكُمْ أَنَّىٰ شِئْتُمْ ۖ وَقَدِّمُوا۟ لِأَنفُسِكُمْ ۚ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَٱعْلَمُوٓا۟ أَنَّكُم مُّلَٰقُوهُ ۗ وَبَشِّرِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ﴾

“Your wives are your tilth; go, then, unto your tilth as you may desire, but first provide something for your souls, and remain conscious of God, and know that you are destined to meet Him. And give glad tidings unto those who believe.”

Doing good works means acting with the Hereafter in mind. In the knowledge that there is an eternal side to life, which is more important than the temporal side, it is for eternity that we should strive. Should our actions on earth profit us in this life, but be harmful to our everlasting life, we shall have lived our lives in vain. What we do on earth will be judged after death. We should take care to ensure that our deeds measure up well on God’s scale of justice, for if they fail to do so, there is no way we can avoid His punishment.