~ I M A G I
N E ~
Imagine yourself after you pass away
Imagine your grave through night and through day
Wishing that you did not do as they say
Wishing that you had got up and had prayed.
Imagine, my friends, the day that you died
Imagine all of the tears that they cried
Remember how it felt when your body was tied
Remember how it felt in the grave which you lied.
Imagine the day you'll be called to account
Imagine the sum to which your life will amount
Think for a moment of the deeds which you mount
Think for a moment how much they will count.
What will they say of you when you are dead?
What will they say, what will be said?
Will they speak of all the poor who you fed?
Will they remember all the Qu'ran that you read?
Think not of them, but of Allah, Lord of mankind and jinn
Think of Allah when tempted to sin
Think of the paradise which you will dwell in
Don't wait till later to think what might have been.
The Holy Prophet Muhammad sall-allahu 'aliahi wa'sallam has
said that whilst you are praying, imagine that all the prophets
are on your right side, all the angels on your left, heaven in
front of you, hell below you, the angel of death at your back
and Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala watching over you.
Imagine how revered a prophet is, that an entire chapter of the
Holy Qu'ran may be dedicated to him, imagine their position in
heaven right now.
Imagine 124,000 of them (prophets) all lined up on your right
side whilst you are praying. How then can you be distracted?
Imagine the sacredness of an angel. Every human being has been
allocated two of them for accounting of his deeds. Every cloud
moves because Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala has ordered an angel to
that function.
(Surah Al Infitar 82:10-14 ~ "But verily over you are
appointed angels to protect you - kind and honourable, writing
down your deeds: They know and understand what you do. As for
the Righteous, they will be in Bliss; And the Wicked, they will
be in the Fire").
Imagine the light from which each one of them was created, and
all of them (much more than 6 billion) assembled on your left
side listening to you praying. How then can you be distracted?
Imagine hell! In a Hadith-al-Qudsi, Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala
says that hell will have seven levels with fires which eat each
other! And in each level, there are valleys of fire, cities of
fire, castles of fire, houses of fire, rooms of fire, wells of
fire, serpents of fire, oceans of black poison containing
thousands of scorpions of fire, each one in turn having seventy
thousand tails of fire. In reality, hellish fire is much hotter
than earthly fire, and hell is unimaginably much worse this
description.
Imagine Heaven!! In Hadith-al-Qudsi, Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala
says that heaven will have eight gates with thousands of
gardens, thousands of cities of pearls, thousands of palaces of
Ruby, thousands of rooms of gold, thousands of tables and of
plates of jewels, thousands of kinds of food, thousands of
thrones of red gold around each of which thousands of rivers
will flow with life water and pure honey. On top of each
palace, there will be thousands of gifts from the Merciful,
which have not been seen by any eye, heard by any ear and are
beyond our imagination.
It has been said that inspite of all this pleasure, if the
residents of heaven were shown the punishment of someone who
did wrong for just one hour on earth, they would scream out
with fear. And in spite of all their discomfort, if the
residents of hell were shown the reward of someone who did good
for only one hour on earth, they would forget they are in hell!
Now imagine this hell beneath you and the open doors of heaven
in front of you whilst you are praying. How then can you be
distracted?
Imagine the angel of death behind you, the angel that appears
as a beautiful person at the deathbed of one who is favoured by
Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala and as fierce creature that pulls the
soul out as if it were a cloth being dragged amongst sharp
thorns for one who is disfavoured.
Imagine this angel just at your back whilst praying. How then
can you be distracted if you are not even sure that this might
be your last prayer?
And finally imagine the Creator of all that has been mentioned
in the previous paragraphs, one who has created an almost
infinite universe of which earth is only a very tiny
insignificant bit, and more insignificant are we who live in
it. How then can you be distracted when Allah Subhanahu wa
Ta'ala is watching above you whilst you are offering prayers to
Him?
Surah Al Tawbah 9:112
Those that turn (to Allah)
In repentance; that serve Him,
And praise Him; that wander
In devotion to the Cause of Allah;
That bow down and prostrate themselves
In prayer; that enjoins good
And forbid evil; and observe
The limits set by Allah ~
(These do rejoice). So proclaim
The glad tidings to the Believers.