What is reality?

وما الحياة الدنيا إلا متاع الغرور 

“And what is the life of this world except the enjoyment of delusion.” [Aal-3:185]

Reality is the state of things as they actually exists, it is seeing the world for what it really is. Allah says, the reality of this world is like a fool's paradise - all the excitement this world offers is are based false hopes and illusions. The indulgences are brief and the pleasures are short-lived. The reality of this world is that it is not forever and it is not the final destination of human beings. 

الحياة الدنيا - “Al-Hayaat-ud-Dunyaa” – literally means ‘the closer life or the inferior life’ as

الدنيا -“Ad-Dunyaa” is the feminine word of

الدني - “Adnaa”, which means ‘closer, lower, inferior, less in duration, less in number, less in quality’

The life of this world is not the actual life, it is only a part of our alternate better existence in the Hereafter. 

متاع - “ Mataa’ ” – literally means gratification, a transient object of delight, pleasure, enjoyment, necessity of life or maintenance.

متاع - Mataa’ is something you use  and it does not satiate one's desires, the more mataa' you have, the more you covet it. This could be a new car, house, etc. You will always see something else and you’ll want more.  It can be something insignificant as well. The Arabs prior to the revelation of Quran used to call the rag utensil they used to wash to their dishes with as متاع/

غرور - "Ghurur” – literally means self-deception, guile, illusion, delusion, gullible, conceit, to make vain promises, to lull into false security. It originates from the verb

غار - “Ghaara” which means to take advantage of someone while they are not paying attention.

غرور -  ”Ghurur” is a form of ignorance that causes you to believe lies and delusion to be the truth, and bad to be good. It is caused by the presence of doubtful matters. lblees deludes us ( غرور) as much as we allow him.

Al-Mustawrid Al-Fihry related from the Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam that he said,"The Dunya, as compared to the Hereafter is just like when one of you dips his finger in the sea! Let him see how much (water) it (his finger) will carry." (Sahih Al-Jami')
Ibn al-Jawzi makes the following beautiful analogy:“The dunya is more enchanting than (the magic) of Haroot and Maroot. For Haroot and Maroot taught (what caused) separation between a man and a wife; while the dunya causes separation between the slave and his Rubb!”

Life is a temporary - whether it is extremely comfortable or difficulty, it will soon fade away. Therefore, take obedience to Allah and do not be misled by the passing charms of this inferior worldly life.