Constant Awareness of Being ‘Prepared’
By
Imâm Ibn al-Jawzee
It is a duty upon every
sane person to be prepared for his departure [from this world], for one does not
know when he will be served by his Lord’s commands [to take away his soul] nor
does he know how long it is going to be before he will be summoned [for the Day
of Judgment].
I have seen so many
people enchanted by their youth. They have forgotten that their peers no longer
exist, yet they are preoccupied with prolonged hopes [to stay alive].
A person in the process
of acquiring knowledge may tell himself: ‘I will acquire knowledge today and
will adopt it the following day.’ Such [postponement] may leave him in his
deviation whilst giving himself a break [for the day]! Delaying his readiness to
achieve repentance, whilst exposing himself to be indulged in [sins, such as]
backbiting or listening to such (backbiting) or getting involved in a Shubhah
(suspected, Halâl or Harâm) matter. He hopes to cancel it out
(i.e. the bad deed/s) through his would be observance, the following day,
forgetting that death may be sudden.
The wise one is he who values each and every moment of his life, observing one’s due duties. Then, if death were to come suddenly, one would be ready [to face The Judge, Allâh, subhânahu wa ta‘âlâ]. However, if one is granted his wish [in his life being prolonged] that would mean the increasing of [one’s scale of] good deeds.
