Bismillahir Rahmaanir Raheem
This life is a journey. We are
all on a journey and we are traveling all the time.
Even if the person is a couch
potato, and passing his life in inactivity and idleness, he too is traveling.
If the person is sitting, lying down or sleeping, he too is traveling. The
person is in a car: The car is moving and covering distance, and
simultaneously, the journey of life too is continuing. The person’s life is moving on and on.
One breath follows another. And every breath of life is
part of that journey. Seconds are ticking away. Minutes slip through the
hourglass of time. Days and nights bring a close to weeks and weeks bring a
close to months and months bring a close to the years. Hazrat Hasan Basri (Rahmatullahi
‘Alayh) had so aptly said: "O Son
of Aadam! You are nothing but a number of days. Whenever a day passes, a part
of you is gone."
Every day, every week, every
month is part of the journey – like how a person travels 10 kms, 100 kms, 500
kms, 1000 kms…
Every passing year of life is
like a station which we reach. And no one knows how many stations he has to
travel through before he arrives at his destination. …For some, there is just
one station – and they die at the tender age of one; some stop at 10 stations
and at the age of 10, they disembark. Others have to travel through 50
stations, 60 stations, even 100 stations in life before they reach the end of
the journey.
Most of us have the experience
of flight travel or even traveling by train. We stop here and there in transit
and then we arrive at the destination. The pilot informs the passengers when
the plane begins its descent for landing, and when the plane lands and comes to
a standstill, the pilot announces that all
passengers must disembark…
This is the reality of life. When
we reach the end of this worldly life, the Command is given that the soul now
disembarks. And we have already seen so
many disembark : seniors and juniors, rich and poor, kings, presidents, subjects – all
have to disembark.
Therefore we have to be thrifty with time; we have to be
prudent and cautious in regard to time. Use it productively and constructively,
usefully and efficiently.
Time can be likened to the root of a young tree –a sapling. If a person looks after the sapling, and waters the root,
it will grow into a big tree, with its branches and leaves spreading out, providing
extensive shelter and a tree which gives a lot of fruit.
We will say that the person took
care of his life and the most precious commodity of his life was his time. Now
that time bears fruit because the person carried out good deeds in the time
given to him, engaging himself in Salaah, Zikrullah, Tilawah; spending days in
fasting, in giving Zakaah and Sadaqaat, striving in earning Halaal sustenance, as
well as controlling his gazes when in the shopping centres, markets,
universities, colleges, or wherever else, and controlling his heart from the
evil desires of nafs and shaytaan. All
of these noble deeds were done in time.
That tree bears fruit, and he
will enjoy those delicious fruits in the grave and in the Hereafter. On the Day
of Qiyaamah, he will also enjoy the extensive shelter which his good deeds will
offer him, Insha-Allah.
Allah Ta’ala also uses the
analogy of a tree in the Qur’aan Shareef:
“See you not
how Allah sets forth a parable? A goodly word as a goodly tree, whose root is
firmly fixed, and its branches (reach) to the sky (i.e. very high).”
[Surah Ibrahim 14 : 24]
Here, Allah Ta’ala likens the
Believer’s Imaan and his deeds to a tree, with roots, deeply entrenched, a bark
which is strong and sturdy, and branches, extending high up.
The real dividends and the real
earnings and the greatest of all enjoyments, will be experienced in Jannah when
he will behold the beauty of Allah Ta’ala with his own eyes. SubhanAllah.
‘That veil,
which was covering Allah Ta’ala’s
Countenance,
will be removed.
Now will be
the time to smile for those
who took
that grief on their hearts,
and
restrained themselves from all evil.’
As for the person who falls for
the temptations of nafs and shaytaan, he will have to deal with the
consequences of squandering the wealth of life and wasting the fortune of time.
His is a bad investment, where the shares drop completely. He may be left with
a meagre 20% or 10 %, or he may end up with nothing. If it was spent in
disbelief, the net result is the fire of Jahannum – May Allah Ta’ala save us.
If it was spent in sins, then we have been warned of punishment in the grave as
well as in the Hereafter.
Allah Ta’ala likens the
disbeliever to a bad tree - because his words and deeds are bad. The roots of
the tree are not fixed and not firmly established, and does not stand the test
of time.
“And the
parable of an evil word is that of an evil tree uprooted from the surface of
earth, having no stability.”
[Surah Ibrahim 14: 26]
The deeds of the disbeliever are described as:
“The deeds
of those who disbelieve their Lord are like ashes blown away by the wind on a
stormy day. They will not be able to gain anything out of what they did. That
is the wandering away from the path.”
[Surah Ibrahim 14: 18]
Their deeds are wasted due to
their disbelief in Allah Ta’ala. Thus their time of life was wasted and no good
awaits them in the Hereafter. (May Allah Ta’ala protect us all).
…When time is lost, life is lost. Sometimes the Hereafter
is lost. What a great loss when the person loses out the opportunity of making
real investments – which would bring him great, great profits in both worlds.
How sad if he reaches the Aakhirah as a pauper, or worse still, as a loser –
losing out on Jannah forever. May Allah Ta’ala protect us all.
Let us reflect over the
words of Rasulullah (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa-Sallam)
and reflect over which category we are in:
““The intelligent one is he who
suppresses his desires and practises for what is after death, and the foolish
one is he who makes his nafs follow its desires and (he) places hope on Allah.”[1]
…So let us not waste time on
those things that will not benefit us in any way.
May Allah Ta’ala grant us the
Taufeeq of preparation for the journey to the the Hereafter.
[1] Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah
By Hazrat Maulana Yunus Patel Saheb (Rahmatullahi ‘Alayh)
