The fickleness of time

Over the last few days I’ve seen two things related to time that have deeply hit:

“Time is a strange thing. It keeps flying and you can't seem to make it out. Also, so many things seem to have changed over the past few years. But when you look at it on a daily basis, it feels as if nothing new is happening... as if all the days are just the same. But maybe they're not as we perceive them to be. A few years later too, its gonna be a completely different thing with our lives. So many things will have changed. Lets hope for the best... That all the unforeseen changes about to come are for the betterment of our lives.”

(Going through the comment section because you’re either gonna see something so hilarious that will have you wheezing or something deeply profound>>>)

And then this:

“This one is about time.. and how deluded we are by it. When I think about time, I think about instagram reels. How a whole day, a month even, is trimmed down to a meager 30 seconds - the highlights. And Allah will ask a group of people, who mocked at and made a laughingstock of those who spent their lives seeking Allah, in fear and in hope, "what number of years did you stay on earth?"

and they will reply, "we stayed a day or part of a day." and Allah will say, "you only stayed but a little while if only you knew. Did you think we created you in play without any purpose and that you would not be brought back to Us?"

How much of time are we making futile investments of. How much of time do we think we have? Regardless, in the end, all that matters, is all that matters. So, what will be your highlights when you return to Allaah;

Exalted is He, besides Whom there is no deity worthy of worship, the Lord of the Honorable Throne?”

Back in the day (this could range from yesterday to a year ago), I would say “what a coincidence” but of course I know there are no coincidences with my Lord and He plans everything down to the t. Sometimes it’s clearly obvious, other times it’s subtle (He is Al Lateef after all الله اكبر !).

Allah swears by time in this beautiful surah:

وَٱلۡعَصۡرِ

“By time “ 103:1

إِنَّ ٱلۡإِنسَٰنَ لَفِى خُسۡرٍ

“Indeed, mankind is in loss,” 103:2

إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ وَتَوَاصَوۡاْ بِٱلۡحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوۡاْ بِٱلصَّبۡرِ

“Except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience.” 103:3

“Ash-Shafi’i may Allah have mercy upon him,

commentated:

If Allah had not revealed any other surah besides this one to establish the proof over His creation, it would have sufficed them.”

So ironic that you find many western authors writing books and going on all sorts of quests to find their “purpose”. Yet, here we are blessed as Muslims having a purpose and not living by it, or even choosing when to like the deen is not all-encompassing(SubhanAllah, Allah is Al Wasi- The Vast, The All-Embracing, The Boundless sksksksksk). What is the worth of a life lived if not in service to Allah? What is the essence of all the dunya achievements you’ve made if they can’t come anywhere close to the achievements you’ve gotten towards getting closer to Allah, the one who created the heavens, the earth and time itself?

ءَأَنتُمۡ أَشَدُّ خَلۡقًا أَمِ ٱلسَّمَآءُۚ بَنَىٰهَا

“Are you a more difficult creation or is the heaven? Allah constructed it.” 79:27

Many of us aren’t at the same stage we were a year ago professionally/academically. How about spiritually? Are you still reading the same surahs in salah? Have you still not taken any steps to know your Lord more than the knowledge you got as a child? Even if you’ve learnt more, have you been acting on it? Revising? Has it made you more humble or given you a sense of arrogance? What primarily drives the decisions you make and your total approach to life? Maybe it’s because we think being a Muslim is separate from living in the dunya. It is not to say that one ignores the dunya in its entirety, that’s unrealistic. But it is to constantly fight the urge to live a life that doesn’t please him. Once again, the religion is all-encompassing after all. It is to approach everything from  a lens of only pleasing Him. This looks like not transgressing against yourself. Understanding that you will be questioned for how you used your time, body and soul. Approaching all your relationships- family, friends, random strangers you meet, work, school, literally everything from a standpoint that they are simply means. That Allah is ultimately the end. And this is so beautiful because you don’t have to worry about showing up as more than one person, just a slave of Allah. Knowing that as much as there might be grey areas, sometimes they aren’t really grey. Making “God-centered decisions” knowing He will suffice you. Resisting the urge to unconsciously do things (me to me: use your brain; whenever I feel the urge to just act on vibes with zero thoughts), knowing that if there’s an intention to please Allah then surely there will be a reward. Like fr, Who is better to please than Allah? And again what is the essence of a life lived if not in service to Him? This day will not come by again, as will the other days that have passed by. It shouldn’t be a cause for regret but more of an understanding that everything is truly temporary. Rather than thinking “those were good times” for your whole life without actually appreciating when you’re living in good times, how about you actively dial into appreciating the good of this season? A different chapter of your life may begin on a random day and there are certain things that you have now that you may never have the pleasure of enjoying again. This may look like less responsibilities and more free time currently, as opposed to how it would look in the future. And that should be one of the many reasons to thank Allah. To appreciate every season you’re in, to not take the ebbs and flows so personally, to resist the urge to live life on autopilot, to make God-centered decisions and ultimately, to live a life in service to Him.