28. THE RELIGIOUS ZEAL OF THE BELIEVER IS FOR THE HEREAFTER
The religious zeal of the believer [for worship] is linked to the Hereafter, for everything in this world encourages him to remember the Hereafter. This is because whoever is occupied with a matter, his endeavours will be dedicated to serve what is of his interest.
Do you not see that if labourers were to enter an inhabited house, each one of them will nodce what he is concerned with, i.e. the draper will check out the furniture and attempt to estimate its value, the carpenter will check out the roof, the constructor will check out the walls, and the weaver will check out the woven fabrics.
As for the believer, if he sees darkness he remembers the darkness of the grave, and if he experiences pain he remembers the punishment in the Hereafter, and if he hears a terrifying sound, he remembers the blowing of the horn on the Day of Judgment. If he sees the people asleep, he remembers the dead in the graves, and if he sees delight (pleasure) he remembers Paradise; for his religious zeal is bound to what is in the Hereafter, therefore he is preoccupied from everything else.
The greatest of all that he imagines is that he imagines the eternal bliss of Paradise, and that his dwelling will never cease and he will neither be anxious nor disturbed forever more.
Imagining himself basking in these everlasting pleasures that do not perish, makes him overwhelmed and overjoyed; making the obstacles he finds in the way leading him to Paradise bearable and easy to handle— such as pain, illness, tribulation, the loss a loved one, the attack of death and experiencing anguishes.
Longing to visit the Kab’ah makes the traveller mind not the plentiful sands in the way, and the one who yearns for good health does not mind the bitterness of medicine because such a person knows that the quality of the fruit depends on the quality of the seed, hence he chooses the best of seeds and takes advantage of the fertile season [i.e. his youth] without showing any tepidness.
When the believer imagines entering Hellfire and the punishments therein, his life shows discomfort and his anxiety increases. In both cases, whether he imagines the pleasures of Paradise or the disturbances of Fire, he becomes preoccupied with his Hereafter and so ignores the worldly life and all that it has therein; for either his heart wanders in the wilderness of longing [for Paradise] or is perplexed in the desert of fear [from the Fire], hence he cannot notice the pleasures of this worldly life.
When death is about to befall him, he strongly believes he will be saved. All the while continuing to hope for salvation for himself, therefore the agony of death eases upon him, when he is placed into his grave and the Angels come to ask him, the Angels would say to each other: ‘leave him, for he has never rested [in his life] except now.’
I ask Allah, Exalted be He, to endow us with complete heedfulness that encourages us to seek virtues and good deeds, and prevents us from choosing the lowly deeds and profanities; for only Allah guides and facilitates while the rest are of no benefit.
(Source: al-Hafiz Abu’l-Faraj ibn al-jawzl [d. 597AH] “CAPTURED THOUGHTS being” a translation of his masterpiece ‘Sayd al-K hatir)
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