The Third Flash

One clear meaning of the first well-known saying is this: since union with transient creatures is itself transient, however long it lasts, it seems brief. A year of such union is as fleeting as a second; it amounts to no more than an illusion or a dream, bringing regret and sorrow. The human heart, which longs for eternity, can experience from a year of such union only the tiniest pleasure within a fraction of a second. A second of separation, however, feels not like one year, but like many years. For the scope of separation is vast. Even a single second of separation can cause years of devastation to a heart that longs for eternity, because it brings to mind countless separations. Thus, for worldly and base loves, both the past and the future are filled with separation.

Regarding this matter, we say:

O people! Do you wish to transform your transient, brief, and fruitless life into an eternal, long, and fruitful life? Since such a desire is a requirement of being human, then devote your life to the path of the True Eternal One. For whatever is directed toward the Eternal One will receive a manifestation of eternity.

Since every human being longs for a long life and yearns for immortality, and since there is a way to transform this transient life into an eternal life and to make it count as a long life, a person who has not lost his humanity will seek that way, strive to turn that possibility into reality, and act accordingly.

Indeed, the conditions that turn this possibility into reality are as follows:

You must do everything for the sake of Allah, meet one another for His sake, and act for Allah, for the sake of Allah, within the bounds of His pleasure. Then the minutes of your life will appear as years. Referring to this truth, the Qur’an states that a single night such as Laylat al-QadrThe Night of Decree. It is the night on which the first verses of the Qur’an were revealed to Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). It is regarded as one of the most blessed nights of the Islamic year and, according to Islamic tradition, occurs during the last ten nights of Ramadan, especially on one of the odd-numbered nights. is equal to a thousand months, which is more than eighty years. Bast-i zamānThe expansion of time; the experience of a long period within a short span of time, as though time itself has become abundant., a recognized reality among the awliyā(sing. walī) Those who seek the pleasure of Allah and attain elevated spiritual ranks through worship, obedience, and sincerity. and those who follow the path of truth, also points to this truth.

The passage of time during the MirājThe miraculous ascension of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) through the heavens by Allah’s permission., whose minutes contained years by the mystery of bast-i zamānThe expansion of time; the experience of a long period within a short span of time, as though time itself has become abundant., proves the existence and validity of this truth. The duration of the MirājThe miraculous ascension of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) through the heavens by Allah’s permission. was only a few hours, yet those hours contained the breadth, scope, and length of thousands of years. For through the path of the MirājThe miraculous ascension of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) through the heavens by Allah’s permission., the Prophet (saw)Sallallāhu alayhi wa sallam (Peace and blessings be upon him) entered the world of eternity, a few minutes of which encompass thousands of years of this world.

In addition to this, there are numerous instances of bast-i zamānThe expansion of time; the experience of a long period within a short span of time, as though time itself has become abundant. experienced by the awliyā(sing. walī) Those who seek the pleasure of Allah and attain elevated spiritual ranks through worship, obedience, and sincerity., all based on this truth. It is related that some of them performed a day’s work in a single minute; others carried out a year’s duties in an hour; and still others recited the entire Qur’an within the span of a minute. Such sincere people who strive for Islam would never knowingly descend to falsehood. There can be no doubt that they directly witnessed the reality of bast-i zamānThe expansion of time; the experience of a long period within a short span of time, as though time itself has become abundant., which has been transmitted in such abundance and with such unanimity.

Moreover, everyone can experience bast-i zamānThe expansion of time; the experience of a long period within a short span of time, as though time itself has become abundant. in dreams. Sometimes a person would need days, or even many days, in the waking world to experience all that he undergoes in only one minute of a dream: events, conversations, pleasures, and pains.