Choose your destination…
As for rest stops, they are intended for the traveler who typically gets fatigued, tired, and bored
The abode where one finds solace, security, and peace are those “houses which Allah has ordered to be to be raised to honor and that His name be mentioned therein”
Those who don’t know them are like those who die leaving nothing behind as if they have never been alive
Or like those who live with no purpose or meaning
As for the traveler, there must have been a destination
With no such destination a traveler is like a water wheel bull
Which aimlessly turns around the water wheel in such never-ending cycle
Or like a ship that has set sail with no destination
tossed by rough seas until it drowns with its people
So, what’s our destination, slaves of Allah? “A paradise as wide as are the heavens and the earth, prepared for the pious” (Aal `Imran 3:133)
When you aim high, you need to work hard to achieve your goal
Paradise is surrounded with difficulties, and who truly desires it have to overcome the difficulties
And those who, by Allah’s will, are meant for Paradise are granted rewards for such difficulties
It’s all about difficulties!
To find a pearl you have to dive deep into the ocean
And if someone desires to dwell in a garden of delight, let them know they have first, in this life, to pay its price
15 years of one’s nearly 100-year life span is spent in adolescence and immaturity
Then, 30 years after the seventieth year, if happened, are of weakness and inability
Sleeping, eating, and earning one’s bread are more than the half.
Yet, worship takes a little time of one’s life
Life is short, so make use of it, achieve your goals and be mindful
The Hereafter worth it. Doesn’t it?
He has failed, lost and regressed who purchased the delight of an hour for Paradise
This is ultimate transgression and humiliation. By Allah! There is no life but the life of the Hereafter
Where there’s certainty and contentment in the company of those who don’t harm or betray
Where so many delights and pleasures
Following one’s desires is the humiliation. I believe that there’s no pleasant end without overcoming hardships
The harder you work the more you have of it.
And excellent qualities need hard work
By Allah! It has never been given for a small price
Nor stagnate
It has been always there for whoever pays more
And the price is: doing one’s best
While idle people have come late, the devotees have hastened to pay whatever price
Until the commodity reaches a people whom He (Allah) loves and who love Him
They are humble toward the believers, powerful against the disbelievers,
They have recognized the greatness, uniqueness and the rewards of what they have bought
And the exaltedness of He Who made the bargain
They have then recognized how they could have been deceived if they had sold it for a low price to anyone else
So, they have given Him the pledge of allegiance and mutual consent
So, their bargain would be profitable.
They, when young, sough with Allah honor and power
They have been granted it
It is the commodity of Allah, and it is enough! Allah’s commodity is precious
And it requires perseverance, effort, patience, sacrifice and trial
Those who stay clear from sins will get their desires fulfilled, and those who follow their personal pleasures will certainly regret for it
O Commodity of Allah! You are not low-priced, you are just beyond the reach of the sluggard
O Commodity of Allah! Only one of a thousand may reach you!
O Commodity of Allah! Where are the purchasers while you’re still at hand!
O Commodity of Allah! Is there any trader? In worldly life the price is still affordable!
O Commodity of Allah! Unless you are surrounded with all kinds of undesirable things
No one will stay away from you, and there will be no second life of Judgment!
But it is surrounded with all kinds of disliked undesirable things becoming beyond the reach of the laggard
But it is within reach of those seeking closeness to the Exalted and by His permission
So, work hard for your Hereafter! Work hard for your Hereafter and you will find results
Comfort is only found on the Last Day
Come towards gardens of perpetual bliss! Such are our true destinations and the place of comfort.
And come towards the meadows of the Garden, and come towards a living where no weariness affects us