Old Age and the Mercy of Allah

Old Age and the Mercy of Allah

One autumn day, at the time of the afternoon prayer, when I had already entered old age, I looked out upon the world from a high mountain. Suddenly, I was overcome by a state of mind that was tender and sorrowful, yet at the same time dark and oppressive.

I saw that I had grown old, that the day had grown old, that the year had grown old, and that the world itself had grown old. Amid all these manifestations of old age, I realised that the time was drawing near when I would have to part from the world and from my loved ones, and I was deeply shaken.

But suddenly, Divine Mercy manifested itself in such a way that this tender sorrow and painful sense of separation were transformed into a powerful hope and a radiant light of consolation.

Indeed, O elderly people like myself! The mercy of our Compassionate Creator—Who introduces Himself to us throughout the Wise Qur’an as the Most Merciful and the Most Compassionate; Who continually sends His mercy to the aid of living beings upon the earth who seek assistance; Who fills each spring with innumerable bounties and gifts from the Unseen, thereby coming to the aid of us who are in need; and Whose mercy manifests itself all the more abundantly in proportion to our weakness and helplessness—is our greatest hope and our most powerful light in old age.

We may attain this mercy by establishing a bond with the Most Merciful through īmān and by obeying Him through the fulfilment of His obligations, foremost among them the five daily prayers.

From The Twenty-Sixth Flash – Second Hope