Hazrat Moulana Muhammad Ilyaas (rahmatullahi ‘alaih) once mentioned: Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) has mentioned in his mubaarak hadeeth:
الدنيا سجن المؤمن وجنة الكافر
The dunya is the prison of a believer and the paradise of a disbeliever
The meaning of this hadeeth is that our purpose for being sent to this world is not to fulfill our desires and make this world our paradise. Rather, our purpose for being sent to this world is to remain obedient to the commands of Allah Ta‘ala and oppose our desires which lead us towards His disobedience. In this way, the restrictions on our nafs are resembled to a prison. However, if we begin to emulate the kuffaar in obeying our nafs and following our desires, we will be no different to the kuffaar who obey their nafs and have made this world their paradise. (Malfoozaat Hazrat Moulana Muhammad Ilyaas (rahmatullahi ‘alaih) pg. 34)
Source: Ihyaauddeen.co.za