The Fifth Hope

Once, at the beginning of my old age, I felt a longing for seclusion. On Yūsha HillA hill in Beykoz, Istanbul, overlooking the Bosphorus, traditionally associated with Prophet Yūsha. It is known for a tomb and shrine believed to be connected to him., overlooking the Bosphorus in Istanbul, my soul sought peace in solitude. One day, from that lofty summit, I gazed out over the horizon and the vast expanse around me. With the weight of old age upon my thoughts, I beheld a scene of transience and separation so poignant and sorrowful that it stirred me deeply.

From the forty-fifth branch of the tree of my life—the forty-fifth year of my existence—I cast my gaze down towards its lower branches, the earlier years of my life. I saw that upon every branch, in every passing year, lay countless funerals of my loved ones, acquaintances, and friends.

Amid the painful emotions awakened by these farewells and separations, I remembered, like Fuzūlī Baghdādī(1483–1556) A renowned 16th-century poet and scholar from the Baghdad region, celebrated for his poetry in Azerbaijani Turkish, Persian, and Arabic. He is especially known for his expressions of divine love, longing, and spiritual devotion, and for his famous work Leylā and Majnūn., the friends from whom I had been parted, and sighed:

Whenever I recall the days we spent together, I begin to weep. So long as breath remains in this withered body, I shall continue to cry out in grief.

Thus I sought a door of consolation, light, and hope. Suddenly, belief in the Hereafter came to my aid, bestowing upon me an inextinguishable light and an unbreakable hope.

O my venerable brothers and sisters who, like me, have grown old!

Since the Hereafter exists, since it is eternal and more beautiful than this world, and since the One Who created us is All-Wise and Merciful, we should neither complain nor grieve over our old age. Rather, we should be content with it. For old age is a sign that we are approaching our discharge from the service of life and may soon depart to rest in the realm of mercy—provided that we have lived our lives in īmānFaith; belief in the six articles of faith: Allah, His angels, His revealed scriptures, His prophets, the Hereafter, and divine decree (qadar). and worship until old age.

Indeed, the hundred and twenty-four thousand prophets—who, according to the hadithA report of the sayings, actions, or approvals of Prophet Muhammed (pbuh)., are the most excellent of human beings—have unanimously testified to the existence of the Hereafter, some through direct witnessing and others with the certainty of haqq al-yaqīnCertainty through direct experience; the highest level of certainty, attained through personally experiencing a reality and becoming fully convinced of its truth.. They have affirmed that humanity will be led there and that the Creator of the universe will fulfil His promise concerning the Hereafter. Their testimony is further supported by a hundred and twenty-four million awliyā(sing. walī) Those who seek the pleasure of Allah and attain elevated spiritual ranks through worship, obedience, and sincerity. who have confirmed the same truth through kashfSpiritual unveiling; the disclosure of hidden truths or realities to the heart through spiritual insight, by Allah’s permission, beyond ordinary sensory perception and reasoning. and shuhūdSpiritual witnessing; the direct perception or awareness of divine truths and realities through the heart, beyond ordinary intellectual knowledge and reasoning., with the certainty of ilm al-yaqīnCertainty through knowledge; a level of certainty attained through reliable knowledge, evidence, and reasoning, without directly witnessing or experiencing the reality concerned..

Moreover, the Divine Names of the All-Wise Creator of this universe, whose manifestations are visible throughout this world, unmistakably require the existence of an eternal realm. Every spring, by His command,

كُنْ فَيَكُون“Be!” and it is. — The Quran 2:117

He restores countless dead trees and plants to life as examples of resurrection after death. Through His eternal power and infinite wisdom, He brings three hundred thousand species of plants and animals back to life, without waste or futility, and causes them to spread across the earth, thus displaying hundreds of thousands of examples of resurrection.