| THE FUTURE UNKNOWN - HOW TO TACKLE | for everyone |
The extent of attention that one directs to the future or the present greatly affects one's spiritual well-being. There are some people who give an extraordinary importance to the future; as a result they miss the opportunity to benefit from the present. Even if no danger should threaten them presently, they are afraid that some unpleasant accident may befall them. They are overwhelmed by a fear, which is as strong as they would feel in the face of a real danger.
However, one must remember that the past has no influence on the present and the future too is unforeseeable. The future events that should make one worried and concerned are those which are definite. But it goes without saying that such events are few and rarely do events turn out according to one's forecasts.
William John Reilly, a researcher belonging to the Carnegie Institute, writes:
If you reflect you will see that amongst your friends, and even within your own family, those who have a positive way of thinking fascinate you more than the others. You like to be with them most of the time. Of course, there are also cynics amongst them who create trouble and headaches for you.
Those who have a positive way of thinking are happier, livelier and more active. They get things done and make them work. They might make many mistakes, but then they have the perspicacity to acknowledge their mistakes and correct them. They have the determination to start all over again. They don't waste time worrying or getting upset over something that will never happen.
In every twenty-four hours about more than twenty million meteorites enter the earth's atmosphere. But there is no reliable record of any person getting killed anywhere due to the falling of any of these meteors.
Mark Twain said, "I am an old man and I know many calamities and misfortunes. But most of them have never happened."
Life is a continuous stream of problems, and these have to be confronted with a determination. Many of the problems that engage out mind, which we allow to upset us and spoil several hours of our life, and at times a whole day, are actually insignificant and of no consequence. The difficulty is that at the time we are not capable of noticing their insignificance.[3]
And then whether these probable dangers really take place or not, the present anxiety has no result except diminishing one's physical and spiritual capacities. In different stages of life one may encounter events that block the way of success. These events are not exceptional and happen for every one. We cannot alter the eternal laws of nature and make things happen according to our wishes.
That was in relation to external dangers. As to the dangers that threaten man from within, they are no less significant than the external ones and sometimes are of a more serious character. There is a destructive force in every individual that threatens his life. This danger that accumulates within man's being is the same as anxiety and anguish, and the person who carries it within him may be unconscious of its presence.
Should the physical and mental energies that are consumed by fear and anxiety concerning imaginary dangers be spent in fruitful tasks, that can yield valuable and brilliant results. Everyone can recall the amount of precious time that he has spent musing about the ways of encountering possible accidents. Exceptions aside, one may say that the actual hardships and misfortunes that most persons face are quite insignificant in comparison to the imaginary calamities that torment them.
Kronin writes:
Make a list of the things that you consider the causes of your worries and anxieties. When these causes are down on the paper you will see that, in general, most of them are vague, indistinct and unimportant.
Most of the time the balance sheet of our worries and cares appears as follows. Forty percent of them are such calamities as will never take place. Thirty percent of them relate to the past or the future sorrows, which not even the sympathies of the whole world can alter. Twelve percent of them consist of unfounded fear of loss of health. An eight percent may really be causes for worry and anxiety. A realistic examination will lead us further to drop some of these latter causes. Then, we will see that that which we usually fear most only happens rarely in actual reality.
Many are the woes that trouble our hearts on account of melancholic self-pity. There is only one remedy for the disease of egoism. We should bring about such a change in our world that we cease regarding ourselves as its centre and axis. Rather, we should take others into account and realize the fact that our being is a part of the human society and that our life depends upon and is subject to the welfare and misfortune of the family, community, nation and group to which we belong.
After these difficulties are finally analyzed and no solution is found, to immerse oneself in sorrow and grief is a kind of faithlessness; for such a despair signifies the absence of faith in the need for God's help. No wisdom or philosophy, however sublime, can be of benefit to a man who locks himself in the prison of sorrow and grief. If we employ wisdom by following the lead of reason, we will be able to elevate our lives to a height beyond the reach of our inner number-one enemy, and attain a real spiritual peace.[4]
Mental anxiety visibly affects all the tasks one performs and sometimes lead one unconsciously into deviant paths and to make irrational responses. Another harm caused by mental worry is that it deprives one of self-confidence.
Many people make it their habit to constantly complain regarding their ill fortune and fate and are never satisfied with their life. They imagine that they cannot prosper in life unless all their affairs are set in order and unless they possess considerable wealth and all the means of comfort. They look for happiness in the distant horizons of the future while they squander the great asset of life, the precious moments of today, for the sake of the future's dream, whereas if they really care for their happiness they would discover it in plain and peaceful lives; because that which is of basic significance in life is the present, and the future, which appears to be a heaven in their eyes, would assume the appearance of a frightful hell as soon as they reach it.
One who is tired and fed up with his present state of life and awaits better days that lie beyond the dark and uncertain horizon, must wake up from the slumber of nescience and seek his lost ideal in these wearisome days of today, not in an imaginary and unknown future. The obstacles that he sees in the way of realization of his goals may be the product of his own thinking, and his success and triumphs may lie hidden in the present itself.
If the seed of today should remain unsown, tomorrow will not yield its fruit. Life cannot be lived twice so that one may make amends for his earlier mistakes.
A wise human being derives the maximum benefit from the passing moments of life, which pass quietly and soundlessly like rain drops falling into the dark ocean of extinction and annihilation. He does not let them go in vain. As a result, with each day his situation improves, the horizon of his life becomes more radiant, and his soul becomes vaster.
He remains steady and unmoved like the centre in a wheel in the face of accidents and unpleasant events. Should the wave of a calamity pass over his head, he is not swept off his feet. He draws benefit from pleasant events and takes lesson from undesirable incidents. He does not expect the world to change in order that events happen according to his wishes. Finally, he spends the hours of his life in such a way that at the end of the day he does not have any regret or remorse.
There are some others who care neither for the present nor the future. The today does not interest them and they expect nothing from the future.
Rather, they live in constant agitation due to the regret of having lost the opportunities offered by the past and which now lie buried in the graveyard of nonexistence. Instead of pursuing their way with earnestness and composure on the plain of life, they always look behind themselves like someone lost in a vast desert. They keep reviewing the errors and inauspicious happenings of the past and waste their lives. What is surprising is that while they let the present slip, they regret for the moments of the past.
There is no doubt that ruminating over the mistakes and unhappy episodes of the past and burning oneself in the flames of sorrow and regret does not do any good. Moreover, it exhausts and debilitates the soul and lets one's vital powers go waste so that one remains no longer capable of choosing the right course in life in conformity with his interests.
What we have said concerning giving attention to the present does not mean that one should do something today without paying attention to its evil consequences in the future. What we mean is that one should not let one's peace of mind be disturbed by regret for the past and fear regarding the future.
| THE EFFECTIVENESS OF GOOD SPIRITS | for everyone |
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF GOOD SPIRITS
Ali, the Commander of the Faithful, may peace be upon him, says:
Keep your good spirits in adversities and maintain a lively disposition in times of affliction.[28]
Always maintain an attitude of satisfaction and conciliation in life in order to be pleasing.[29]
Present-day psychologists also consider sportfulness and maintaining an appearance of gaity and cheerfulness as an effective and beneficial way of alleviating painful crises as well as an edifying factor of personality. They offer the following advice: Try to maintain a pleasant expression on your face. Make an effort to always appear so lively and free of sadness and somberness that everyone who meets you thinks that he has met the best of his friends. If you feel dejected or nervous, try not to manifest this dejection and sadness in your encounter with others. Try to appear cheerful and satisfied.
When you are in good spirits and you impress upon people as being jolly and hearty, others too will act in a genial manner towards you. They will open up in talking to you, and you all will derive pleasure from one another's company. When you get into in a cheerful state, there appears an effective behavioural mode in your conduct that attracts others.
The first step for being happy and lively are the expressions on one's face. Don't scowl; always keep a smile on your lips. These expression will undoubtedly produce an effect in you and will lighten your inner heaviness.
Otherwise sullenness will become a habit with you. People try to avoid morose and gloomy persons. A lively face attracts others, and there is nothing great about looking stern and grim. Some people imagine that if they always keep a stern look on their face, others will be impressed or overawed by them. This is not true. Whenever you feel sad, bring a smile on your lips and you will see how quickly your sadness disappears.[30]
| IF YOU IN SORROW- UNBURDEN IT | for everyone |
IF YOU IN SORROW- UNBURDEN IT
Similarly, fellow-feeling for suffering friends, and helping them in relieving their inner tensions and solving their difficulties to the extent of one's capacity is one of the crucial as well as valuable duties of every human being. Someone whose friendship rests on real affection should not be indifferent to or oblivious of his friends in times of crisis. This matter has been given complete attention in the traditions of religious leaders and it has been pointed out that the man of faith is a source of comfort to others.
The Noble Messenger, may God's blessings be upon him and his Family, said:
The best of works near God is to make happy a brother in faith by relieving him of hunger, distress and sorrow.[25]
Imam al-Sadiq, may peace be upon him, said:
Whenever one of you is affected by distress and sorrow, he must bring it to the knowledge of his brother so that he may remove the gloom of grief and agony from your heart.[26]
Schachter, the well-known psychologist, says:
If you are unhappy and distressed by your own conduct and condition and are unable to solve your own problem, confide your difficulty to someone that you rely upon and who is wise. Keeping a painful thought, fear, or anxiety to oneself only makes it more persistent and bothersome. Express your secret thought and seek advice from a wise and experienced person. Fear and bad thoughts dwindle and disappear on confronting people. Don't refrain from unburdening yourself before a psychiatrist or a wise friend; for, troublesome thoughts that are consigned to the unconscious will always remain an impediment between us and our mental peace and happiness.
It should be known that the suppression of thoughts is of two kinds. Either it occurs naturally without our knowledge and will; that is, our ingenious mind suppresses every troublesome thought without even our noticing it and casts it into the depths of the memory. Or sometimes, knowingly and voluntarily, we banish painful thoughts and insist on not recalling them.
This action is called 'repression' in the jargon of psychology. However, that does not ID the least diminish the distress arising from that thought, and the more we try to forget it, the more it oppresses us, causing us greater pain and mortification.
In any case, a troublesome and distressing thought that we suppress or repress, knowingly or unknowingly, does not leave us alone. Secretly or openly, it continues to torment us, and as long as we do not confide it to some wise person and seek his help and advice, we will not get rid of the suffering and torment.[27]
| SINS AND GOD'S FORGIVENESS | for everyone |
It was narrated that in the days that Prophet Moses (pbuh) wandered with Bani Israel (Children of Israel) in the desart, an intense drought befell them. Together, they raised their hands towards the heavens praying for the blessed rain to come. Then, to the astonishment of Prophet Moses (pbuh) and all those watching, the few scattered clouds that were in the sky vanished, the heat poured down, and the drought intensified.
‘Let him separate himself from the congregation,’ Allah (SWT) told Prophet Moses (pbuh). ‘Only then shall I shower you all with rain.’
Prophet Moses (pbuh) then called out to the throngs of humanity, ‘There is a person amongst us who has disobeyed Allah (SWT) for forty years. Let him separate himself from the congregation and only then shall we be rescued from the drought.’
That man waited, looking left and right, hoping that someone else would step forward, but no one did. Sweat poured forth from his brow and he knew that he was the one. The man knew that if he stayed amongst the congregation all would die of thirst and that if he stepped forward he would be humiliated for all eternity.
He raised his hands with a sincerity he had never known before, with humility he had never tasted, and as tears poured down on both cheeks he said, ‘O Allah, have mercy on me! O Allah, hide my sins! O Allah, forgive me!’
As Prophet Moses (pbuh) and the people of Bani Israel (Children of Israel) waited for the sinner to step forward, the clouds hugged the sky and the rain poured. Prophet Moses (pbuh) asked Allah (SWT), ‘O Allah, you blessed us with rain even though the sinner did not come forward.’
And Allah (SWT) replied, ‘O Moses, it is for the repentance of that very person that I blessed all of Bani Israel (Children of Israel) with water.’
Prophet Moses (pbuh), wanting to know who this blessed man was, asked, ‘Show him to me O Allah!’
Allah (SWT) replied, ‘O Moses, I hid his sins for forty years, do you think that after his repentance I shall expose him?’
| THANKS ALLAH | for everyone |
In Egypt dwelt two sons of a nobleman, one of whom acquired learning and the other gained wealth; the former became the most learned man of his time and the other Prince of Egypt. Afterwards the rich man looked with contempt on his learned brother, and said, 'I have arrived at monarchy, and you have continued in the same state of poverty.' He replied, 'o, brother, it behoveth me to be the more thankful to the divine creator since I have found the inheritance of the prophets, that is wisdom; and you have got the portion of Pharaoh, and Haman, or the Kingdom of Egypt.'
I am the ant, which men tread under their feet
And not the wasp, of whose sting they complain.
How shall I express my grateful sense of such blessing.
That I am not possessed of the means of oppressing mankind ?
| ON MARRIAGE,,, | for everyone |
Marry those among you who are single, or the virtuous ones among yourselves, male or female: if they are in poverty, Allah will give them means out of His grace: for Allah encompasseth all, and he knoweth all things.(24:32)
source:
The Holy Quran ( Surah24, Light, verse 32 )
| HADEES OF OUR 12TH IMAM (A.S.) | for everyone |
Imam Mahdi (AS) said to Zuhri twice: "Those who delay the performance of morning prayers until the setting of stars and of the evening prayers until the appearance of stars -- are out of Allah's blessings."
| THE ILL EFFECTS OF SLANDER | for everyone |
| STILL POSSIBLE | for everyone |
Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.
| THE COURAGE | for everyone |
| THE SAYING OF THE HOLY PROPHET (S.A.W.S.) | for everyone |
The Holy Prophet [s.a] said: ‘Someone who possesses knowldege on a subject but conceals it when he is asked will be bridled with reins of fire.’ (Therefore, if a person possesses information that would help a bewildered person and improve his situation but he remains silent, he has surely committed a great sin.)
| HAPPINESS WHERE IT LIVES? | for everyone |
Do you know where happiness lives?
It lives in the sky,
Where every thing is blue.
Do you know where happiness lives?
It lives in the mountain,
Where every thing is high.
Do you know where happiness lives?
It lives in the sea,
Where every thing is clean.
So if you want to see happiness,
Go to the sky,
And the mountain,
And the sea.
Be blue,
And high,
And clean.
| YOUR KEY TO SUCCESS | for everyone |
Every successful person has a painful story.
Every painful story has a successful ending.
Accept the pain and get ready for success.
| LOOK,,,,,, | for everyone |
Look BACK and thank God,
Look FORWARD and trust God,
Look AROUND and serve God,
Look WITHIN and find God!
| I LOVE YOU,, | for everyone |
End your day by privately looking directly into your eyes in the mirror and saying, ‘I love you!’ Do this for thirty days and watch how you transform.
| Don"t wait until everything is just right | for everyone |
Don"t wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.”
Mark Victor Hansen
| A REPLY TO SAMMARA 1/7- SAYED AMAR NAKHWANI | for everyone |
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gxn6yKOMM_o&feature=related
| Is praying in front of a grave shirk in Islam or not? | for everyone |
| Is combining Salah haram or not? | for everyone |
Many times the Shia are attacked by the Ahlul Sunni wa Jamma on the way we combine the Duhr prayer with the Asr and the Mughrib with the Isha. They claim that this is haram and that Salah is intended to be prayed individually. They also claim that this was only done by the Prophet (saw) when he was on a journey, state of fear or during rainfall, and this sunna of the prophet can’t be practiced any other way. So how do we respond to this? First of let me make it clear that Shia do not say that there is anything whatsoever wrong with praying the individual prayers separately. We claim that the Duhr and Asr prayers and Mughrib and Isha prayers can be offered either together or separately and that it is mustahab action to pray them separately.
When we read Quran we read that we are supposed to pray, But the Quran does not tell you how to pray. For this we follow the Sunna (the way) of Prophet(saw). So when we read the Quran on when to pray it splits times of prayer into THREE sections. Examples:
Quran Surah: 11 (HUD) Verse:114- And keep up prayer in the two parts of the day and in the first hour of the night; surely good deeds take away evil deeds; this is a reminder to the mindful.
Quran Surah: 17 (The Israelites) Verse: 78- Keep up prayer from the declining Sun till the darkness of the night and the morning recitation; surely the morning recitation is witnessed.
Quran Surah: 20 (Taha) Verse:130- Bear then patiently what they say, and glorify your Lord by praising Him before the rising of sun and before it’s setting, and during hours of the night do also glorify Him and during parts of the day that you may be well pleased.
So even Quran has split Salah into three sections. The closest verse in the Quran that could possibly be indicated for five prayers is the last example I used. But even this verse does not directly say five. In fact if you try to explain the verse like that, then tafaseer (explanation) of the verse could indicate more then five. When it says parts of the day, we know it as two times a day, but without the knowledge of when to pray as the verse indicates which comes from the hadith it could range form 1-100. Lets say for example the parts of the day means 2 hours long. I could pray for two hours straight and it would still be parts of the day. And the same for when it says glorify him in the hours of the night. The only Salah that is separate is the morning.
Now we examine Hadith. It would be pointless to present Shia hadith on this subject because Ahlul Sunna wa Jamma would say we don’t except your hadith. So I will produce only Sunni hadith on if combining Salah at anytime of life is allowed. But before I do that I will explain why Allah(swt) has allowed us to do this. In fact that it is a blessing of his mercy to mankind.
It is for the convenience of the umma (people). Because people are often busy with their own affairs and have their own duties, like in countries where the work system is not structured for a Islamic system so Muslims are not able to offer their daily prayers according to time. Also some jobs require long hours of continuous, undisturbed work. Therefore in order to avoid missing the second of the two prayers Allah(swt) has made it convenient for you to combine the Duhr with the Asr and Mughrib with the Isha.Also this way you can have prayed Friday prayer (Jammah) with the Asr prayer after in Jammah increasing your reward.
Sahih Bukhari Volume 1, Book 10, Number 537- Narrated Ibn ‘Abbas: The Prophet prayed seven Rakat together and eight Rakat together.
Sahih Muslim Book 004, Number 1515- Ibn ‘Abbas reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) observed the noon and afternoon prayers together, and the sunset and Isha’ prayers together without being in a state of fear or in a state of journey.
Sahih Muslim Book 004, Number 1516- Ibn ‘Abbas reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) observed the noon and afternoon prayers together in Medina without being in a state of fear or in a state of journey. (Abu Zubair said: I asked Sa’id [one of the narrators] why he did that. He said: I asked Ibn ‘Abbas as you have asked me, and he replied that he [the Holy Prophet] wanted that no one among his Ummah should be put to [unnecessary] hardship.)
Sahih Muslim Book 004, Number 1520- Ibn ‘Abbas reported that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) combined the noon prayer with the afternoon prayer and the sunset prayer with the ‘Isha’ prayer in Medina without being in a state of danger or rainfall. And in the hadith transmitted by Waki’ (the words are):” I said to Ibn ‘Abbas: What prompted him to do that? He said: So that his (Prophet’s) Ummah should not be put to (unnecessary) hardship.” And in the hadith transmitted by Mu’awiya (the words are):” It was said to Ibn ‘Abbas: What did he intend thereby? He said he wanted that his Ummah should not be put to unnecessary hardship.”
Sahih Muslim Book 004, Number 1523- ‘Abdullah b. Shaqiq reported: Ibn ‘Abbas one day addressed us in the afternoon (after the afternoon prayer) till the sun disappeared and the stars appeared, and the people began to say: Prayer, prayer. A person from Banu Tamim came there. He neither slackened nor turned away, but (continued crying): Prayer, prayer. Ibn ‘Abbas said: May you be deprived of your mother, do you teach me Sunnah? And then he said: I saw the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) combining the noon and afternoon prayers and the sunset and ‘Isha’ prayers. ‘Abdullah b. Shaqiq said: Some doubt was created in my mind about it. So I came to Abu Huraira and asked him (about it) and he testified his assertion.
There are so many more but this sufficient evidence. Let alone there from the two greatest book that Sunni consider Sahih.
So after examining all the irrefutable evidence, combining Duhr and Asr prayers and Mughrib and Ishaprayers, is in harmony with the Qur’an and the Sunnah of Prophet(saw). The fact that this Sunnah is not generally practiced by Ahlul Sunna wa jamma does not make it default in our lives. As the famous Sunni commentator of Sahih Muslim, Al-Nawawi Says- When a Sunnah (way of the Prophet (saw) )is confirmed authentic, it is not abandoned just because some, most or all people abandon it.
| BEAUTIFUL LECTURE OF IMAM ALI (A.S.)- MAN AND THIS WORLD | for everyone |
So now, certainly I frighten you from this world for it is sweet and green, surrounded by lusts, and liked for its immediate enjoyments. It excites wonder with small things, is ornamented with (false) hopes and decorated with deception. Its rejoicing does not last and its afflictions cannot be avoided. It is deceitful, harmful, changing, perishable, exhaustible, liable to destruction, eating away and destructive. When it reaches the extremity of desires of those who incline towards it and feel happy with it, the position is just what Allah, the Glorified, says (in the Qur’an):
No one secures enjoyment from its freshness but he has to face hardship from its calamities. No one would pass the evening under the wing of safety but that his morning would be under the feathers of the wing-tip of fear. It is deceitful, and all that is there in it is deception. It is perishable and all that is on it is to perish. There is no good in its provisions except in piety. Whoever takes little from it collects much of what would give him safety, while one who takes much from it takes much of what would ruin him. He would shortly depart from his collection. How many people relied on it but it distressed them; (how many) felt peaceful with it but it tumbled them down; how many were prestigious but it made them low and how many were proud but it made them disgraceful.
Its authority is changing. Its life is dirty. Its sweet water is bitter. Its sweetness is like myrrh. Its foods are poisons. Its means are weak. The living in it is exposed to death; the healthy in it is exposed to disease. Its realm is (liable to be) snatched away. The strong in it is (liable to be) defeated and the rich is (liable to be) afflicted with misfortune. The neighbor in it is (liable to be) plundered.
Are you not (residing) in the houses of those before you, who were of longer ages, better traces, had bigger desires, were more in numbers and had greater armies. How they devoted themselves to the world and how they showed preference to it! Then they left it without any provision that could convey them through, or the back (of a beast for riding) to carry them.
Did you get the news that the world was ever generous enough to present ransom for them, or gave them any support or afforded them good company? It rather inflicted them with troubles, made them languid with calamities, molested them with catastrophes, threw them down on their noses, trampled them under hoofs and helped the vicissitudes of time against them. You have observed its strangeness towards those who went near it, acquired it and appropriated it, till they depart from it for good. Did it give them any provision other than starvation or make them stay in other than narrow places, or give them light other than gloom, or give them in the end anything other than repentance? Is this what you much ask for or remain satisfied with, or towards which you feel greedy? How bad is this abode for him who did not suspect it (to be so) and did not entertain fear from it?
You should know as you do know, that you have to leave it and depart from it. While in it, take lesson from those “who proclaimed ‘who is more powerful than we’” (Qur’an , 41 :15) but they were carried to their graves, though not as riders. They were then made to stay in the graves, but not as guests. Graves were made for them from the surface of the ground. Their shrouds were made from earth. Old bones were made their neighbor. They are neighbors who do not answer a caller nor ward off trouble, nor pay heed to a mourner.
If they get rain they do not feel happy, and if they face famine they do not get disappointed. They are together but each one apart. They are close together but do not see each other. They are near but do not meet. They are enduring and have no hatred. They are ignorant and their malice has died away. There is no fear of trouble from them and no hope of their warding off (troubles). They have exchanged the back (surface) of the earth with its stomach (interior), vastness with narrowness, family with loneliness, and light with darkness. They have come to it (this world) as they had left it with bare feet and naked bodies. They departed from it with their acts towards the continuing life and everlasting house as Allah has said:
- … like the water which We send down from heaven, and the herbage of the earth becomes tangled on account of it, then it becomes dry stubble which the winds scatter; for Allah over all things hath power. (18:45)
No one secures enjoyment from its freshness but he has to face hardship from its calamities. No one would pass the evening under the wing of safety but that his morning would be under the feathers of the wing-tip of fear. It is deceitful, and all that is there in it is deception. It is perishable and all that is on it is to perish. There is no good in its provisions except in piety. Whoever takes little from it collects much of what would give him safety, while one who takes much from it takes much of what would ruin him. He would shortly depart from his collection. How many people relied on it but it distressed them; (how many) felt peaceful with it but it tumbled them down; how many were prestigious but it made them low and how many were proud but it made them disgraceful.
Its authority is changing. Its life is dirty. Its sweet water is bitter. Its sweetness is like myrrh. Its foods are poisons. Its means are weak. The living in it is exposed to death; the healthy in it is exposed to disease. Its realm is (liable to be) snatched away. The strong in it is (liable to be) defeated and the rich is (liable to be) afflicted with misfortune. The neighbor in it is (liable to be) plundered.
Are you not (residing) in the houses of those before you, who were of longer ages, better traces, had bigger desires, were more in numbers and had greater armies. How they devoted themselves to the world and how they showed preference to it! Then they left it without any provision that could convey them through, or the back (of a beast for riding) to carry them.
Did you get the news that the world was ever generous enough to present ransom for them, or gave them any support or afforded them good company? It rather inflicted them with troubles, made them languid with calamities, molested them with catastrophes, threw them down on their noses, trampled them under hoofs and helped the vicissitudes of time against them. You have observed its strangeness towards those who went near it, acquired it and appropriated it, till they depart from it for good. Did it give them any provision other than starvation or make them stay in other than narrow places, or give them light other than gloom, or give them in the end anything other than repentance? Is this what you much ask for or remain satisfied with, or towards which you feel greedy? How bad is this abode for him who did not suspect it (to be so) and did not entertain fear from it?
You should know as you do know, that you have to leave it and depart from it. While in it, take lesson from those “who proclaimed ‘who is more powerful than we’” (Qur’an , 41 :15) but they were carried to their graves, though not as riders. They were then made to stay in the graves, but not as guests. Graves were made for them from the surface of the ground. Their shrouds were made from earth. Old bones were made their neighbor. They are neighbors who do not answer a caller nor ward off trouble, nor pay heed to a mourner.
If they get rain they do not feel happy, and if they face famine they do not get disappointed. They are together but each one apart. They are close together but do not see each other. They are near but do not meet. They are enduring and have no hatred. They are ignorant and their malice has died away. There is no fear of trouble from them and no hope of their warding off (troubles). They have exchanged the back (surface) of the earth with its stomach (interior), vastness with narrowness, family with loneliness, and light with darkness. They have come to it (this world) as they had left it with bare feet and naked bodies. They departed from it with their acts towards the continuing life and everlasting house as Allah has said:
- . . . As We caused the first creation, so will We get it return. (It is) a promise binding Us, verily We were doing it. (Qur’an , 21 :104)
posted by ABBAS ALAM @ 08:11
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