Heart Talk

One day a man came to Ibrahim Ibn Adham and said, ‘O Abu Ishaq! I have indulged myself in sins and disobedience, so please advise me what I can do to deliver myself from this dilemma.’ To that Ibrahim responded, ‘if you meet five conditions and commit yourself to them you will save yourself from the evils of disobedience and sins.’

The man: ‘Go ahead, tell me what they are, O Abu Ishaq.’
Ibrahim: ‘The first is to reject Allah’s provision when you intend to disobey Him.’

The man: ‘How could I do that since all that which is on earth is part of Allah’s provision?’
Ibrahim: ‘O man! Does it make sense that you eat from Allah’s provision and disobey Him?!’

The man: ‘No. Tell me about the next condition.’
Ibrahim: ‘Do not stay in Allah’s land when you want to disobey Him.’

The man: ‘But this is even tougher! Where do you want me to stay?’
Ibrahim: ‘O man! Do you think it is acceptable to eat from Allah’s provision, live in his land and still disobey Him?!’

The man: ‘No. Tell me about the third.’
Ibrahim: ‘If you choose to disobey Allah, eat from His land and stay in His land, then you had better seek a place where you can disobey Him without Him seeing you.’

The man: ‘What are you talking about? No secret can be kept from Allah.’
Ibrahim: ‘O man! You want to eat from Allah’s provision, stay in His land, and yet disobey Him right before His sight?!’

The man: ‘No, I do not. Tell me about the fourth.’
Ibrahim: ‘If the Angel of death comes to you to take your life, say to him, ‘please wait until I make a true tawbah (repentance).”

The man: ‘The Angel will never grant me that.’
Ibrahim: ‘O man! If you know that you cannot avoid death, and you know that when death comes, no respite or delay will be granted, then, how on earth could you delay tawbah?!’

The man: ‘Tell me about the fith.’
Ibrahim: ‘If the Guardians of Hellfire come in the Day of Judgement to take you to Hellfire, do not go with them.’

The man: ‘How is that possible? They would not let go of me.’
Ibrahim; ‘Then how on earth do you expect to be rescued on the day of Judgement?!’

The man: ‘That is enough, O Ibrahim! That is enough for me: I hereby repent to Allah and plead for His forgiveness.’

***

So the moral of this story is: You can’t hide nor fool God, and one will always get what deserves. It is not a matter of scaring one anther but making more aware. God is merciful, it has been said:

‘…Yet I am All-forgiving to Him who repents and believes, and does good works, and at last is guided …’
Qura’an: 20; 82

That however shouldn’t suggest, that one: I’m sorry, will do the work and grand paradise.

Prophet SAWS said:

‘Paradise is nearer to any of you than the leather strap of his shoe, and so is the Hellfire.’

Sahih Bukhari

Most important is, how one feels at the end of the day, just before going to sleep, while recalling events from whole day…satisfied, scared, ashamed, upset, proud???…

So before the day is over, ask yourself, what good had been done today and what good can still be done.

One never knows if gonna see next dawn…don’t loose time- Carpe diem!!!

हुए मरके हम जो रुसवा हुए क्यों न गर्क-ए- दरया
न कहीं जनाज़ा उठता न कहीं मजार होता।

ہوے مرکے ہم جو رسوہ ہوے کیوں نہ گرک دریہ
نہ کہیں جنازہ اٹھتہ نہ کہیں مزار ہوتا

hue marke ham jo rusva hue kyun na gark-e-darya
na kaheen janaazaa utthata na kaheen mazaar hota

“The shame I endured after death, why did I not drown in the sea?
There would have been no funeral, nor a grave to be seen.”

~ Mirza Ghalib

~ by Amina on July 12, 2008.