The Wealth of Time

[SAFAH]

The Wealth of Time

by Hazrat Maulana Yunus Patel Saheb (rahmatullah alayh)

 

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 has 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 depart. 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. All of us have to disembark at some stage. 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 there is no good that awaits them in the Hereafter. (May Allah Ta’ala protect us all from such an end).

 

…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.” (Tirmizi and Ibn Majah)

 

…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 Aakhirah.