Dunya

Dunyā (دُنْيا) is a word in Arabic (also Persian, Dari, Pashto, Bengali, Punjabi, Urdu, Hindi, Turkish and loanword in Malay language and Indonesian language dunia) which means the temporal world—and its earthly concerns and possessions—as opposed to the eternal spiritual realm, or the hereafter (ākhira). Dunyā literally means 'closer' or 'lower'. In the Qur'an, dunyā and ākhira represent oppositions in temporal, spatial and moral dimensions: now and later, below and above, evil and good, respectively. Two Qur'anic ayat (verses) illustrating these points are: