A Warning, a Lesson, and a Reminder for Young People

A Warning, a Lesson, and a Reminder for Young People

A Warning, a Lesson, and a Reminder Given to Several Helpless Youths

One day, several sincere young men came to visit me. They wished to hear from me a powerful warning, so that they might protect themselves against the temptations of life, youth, and the base desires of the nafs.

Just as I had previously said to the young people who sought help from the Risale-i Nur, I said to them:

Your youth will certainly pass away. If you do not remain within the bounds of the lawful, your youth will be squandered, and it will bring you far more misery and torment in this world, in the grave, and in the Hereafter than the pleasure you derive from it. But if you spend this blessing—your youth—in chastity, honour, and obedience, as an expression of gratitude and in accordance with Islamic upbringing, then that youth will continue to exist spiritually and will become the means of attaining an eternal youth.

As for life itself: if it is not illumined by īmān, or if the influence of īmān is weakened by sins, it will bring far more sorrow, pain, and anxiety than the apparent and fleeting pleasure it offers. For man possesses intellect and the power of thought; thus, unlike the animals, he is by nature connected not only with the present, but also with the past and the future. Through this connection with time, he can experience both suffering and joy from the present, as well as from the past and the future.

Since an animal has no power of reflection, its present pleasure is not disturbed by sorrow over what has happened in the past, nor by fear of what is yet to come. But a man who lives in foolishness and heedlessness allows his present pleasure to be embittered by grief over the past and anxiety about the future. Especially when that pleasure is unlawful, it becomes like poisoned honey: outwardly sweet, but in reality harmful.

Thus, in terms of the pleasure of life, man sinks a hundred times lower than an animal. For the life of a person of misguidance and heedlessness—as well as his existence and his entire universe—is confined to the day in which he finds himself. For him, all past times and the worlds of the past are non-existent and dead. Because he possesses intellect, the past evokes in him darkness and emptiness. The future too, from the perspective of his unbelief, is non-existent. And the eternal separations that arise from that non-existence continually cast shadows of darkness upon him through his power of thought.

But when faith truly gives life to life, then both the past and the future are illumined by the light of faith and acquire existence. Like the present, they bestow—through faith—upon the soul and heart of man exalted and spiritual forms of joy, and lights of existence.

This truth is explained more deeply in the Seventh Hope of The Treatise for the Elderly; it is worth consulting.

Indeed, such is life. If you truly wish to benefit from life, then give life to your life through īmān, adorn it with the commandments of Allah, and preserve it by refraining from sins.

As I have previously told other young people, I now wish to explain to you the reality of death—which is observable everywhere and at all times—by means of an example:

Imagine that here, before our very eyes, a gallows has been erected. Beside it is a booth where lottery tickets are being distributed for an extraordinarily great prize. We, the ten people gathered here, will without exception be summoned at an unknown moment. Since none of us knows when that will be, at any moment we may receive one of two announcements:

“Come, take your ticket of death and mount the gallows.”

Or:

“Come, a winning ticket worth millions of gold pieces has been prepared for you. Take it!”

While we are waiting, two people suddenly appear at the door.

One of them is a scantily clad, beautiful, and seductive woman, holding in her hand a cake that appears delicious but is in reality poisoned. She offers it to us.

The other is an honest, sincere, and trustworthy man, who says:

“I have brought you a talisman and an instruction. If you read this instruction and follow it, and do not eat from that cake, you will be saved from the gallows.

Moreover, through this talisman you will receive a unique lottery ticket for an extraordinary prize. Look at that gallows. You see with your own eyes that those who eat from the cake eventually end up there, and along the way they suffer terrible pains because of the poison it contains. As for those who win the great prize, though they may not be visible, millions of witnesses have reported that they use that gallows as a step by which to enter a palace full of rewards.

Look through the windows. Great authorities are proclaiming loudly and clearly:

‘Just as you see with your own eyes those who are walking toward the gallows, be just as certain—clearly and without doubt—that the possessors of the talisman will receive this lottery ticket.’”

Indeed, as in this example, the unlawful enjoyments of youth, which seem pleasurable but are in reality poisoned, lead a person to lose his faith, the admission ticket to eternal treasures and felicity. As a result, he falls directly into death, which is like the gallows, and into the grave, which outwardly appears to be a gate to eternal annihilation. And since the hour of death is unknown, it may come unexpectedly—whether a person is young or old—and at any moment bring his life to an end.

But if man distances himself from those poisoned pleasures and turns to īmān and the obligations of Islam—the talisman of the Qur’an—then he will receive the lottery ticket of eternal happiness: a ticket to which 124,000 prophets, countless awliyā and seekers of truth have borne witness, and of which they have shown the proofs.

In short: youth will pass away. If it is squandered in sin and dissipation, it will result in thousands of forms of pain and misery both in this world and in the Hereafter. And if you wish to understand that young people who misuse and squander their youth often end up with troubling illnesses in hospitals, or, as a result of excess, find themselves in prisons or mental institutions, or, through the despair born of spiritual torments, seek refuge in taverns, then consult the hospitals, the prisons, and the graveyards.

In hospitals you will hear the complaints and regrets of young people suffering from illnesses that arise from the squandering and misuse of their youth, driven by passing desires. From prisons you will often hear the remorseful cries of unfortunate young people who have been punished for their unlawful conduct resulting from youthful excesses. And at the grave, whose doors continually open and close upon the newly dead, you will realize that many of the torments there are the result of the misuse of youth—as observed by the ahl-i kashf concerning the grave and confirmed and affirmed by all truthful scholars.

Furthermore, you may also consult the elderly and the sick, who make up the greater part of mankind. They will say: “Alas! We squandered our youth in a meaningless and harmful way. Do not do as we did.”

Although one who enjoys only five or ten years of sinful pleasure in his youth and then suffers many years of sorrow in this world and punishment in the Hereafter is in a pitiable condition, in reality he has no right to pity. For according to the principle:

اَلرَّاضِى بِالضَّرَرِ لاَ يُنْظَرُ لَهُ

one who knowingly and willingly casts himself into harm deserves no mercy.

 

May Allah protect us and you from the temptations and enticements of this age. Āmīn.