The Twenty-Sixth Flash

But when sincere believers, endowed with pure hearts and sound intellects, devote their youth to worship, good deeds, and striving for the Hereafter, youth becomes one of the most valuable forms of capital for the trade of eternity and a splendid opportunity for righteous works.

Thus, for one who knows his religious duties and does not squander his youth in sin and wrongdoing, youth is a precious and joyful Divine gift. Without istiqāmahSteadfast adherence to Allah’s commands while avoiding excess and deficiency. (steadfastness), chastity, and fear of Allah, however, it is fraught with dangers. Through its excesses, it may ruin both eternal happiness and worldly life. In exchange for a few years of youthful pleasure, it may bring many years of sorrow and regret in old age.

Since youth is dangerous for most people, we who have grown old should be grateful to Allah for having been delivered from its dangers and temptations. Like everything else, the pleasures of youth pass away. But if youth is devoted to worship and good deeds, its fruits endure forever, and it becomes a means of attaining true youth in eternal life.

Then I turned my gaze towards the world, which most people love and to which they remain attached. Through the light of the Qur’an, I saw that the world has three great aspects.

The first aspect is directed towards the Names of Allah, reflecting them and serving as their mirror. The second is directed towards the Hereafter and serves as its cultivated field. The third is directed towards worldly people and serves as a playground for the heedless.

Moreover, every human being possesses within this world a vast world of his own. It is as though there were as many worlds as there are human beings. Yet the central pillar of each person's world is his own life. When that life comes to an end, his world collapses, and the end of his personal world takes place. Since the heedless fail to realise how swiftly their own world passes away, they confuse it with the world at large and become attached to it as though it would endure forever.

I thought to myself: I too have a world of my own, which will soon perish and collapse, just like the worlds of others. What benefit, then, can my own world and my fleeting life offer me?

Through the light of the Qur’an, I saw that this world, both for myself and for others, is a temporary marketplace for the Hereafter, a guesthouse filled and emptied each day, and a resting place along the road where travellers engage in trade.

It is an ever-renewed manuscript in which the Eternal Maker writes and erases with wisdom: every spring is an adorned letter, and every summer a well-ordered poem. It is a mirror that continually displays fresh manifestations of the Most Beautiful Names of the Majestic Creator. It is also a seedbed for the Hereafter, a flower garden of Divine mercy, and a temporary workshop in which the images destined to be displayed in the eternal Hereafter are prepared.

At this, I offered hundreds of thousands of praises to the Majestic Creator, Who has fashioned the world in this manner.