Do You Wish To See The Face of Your Lord - Day 13 (1444.h)
لِّلَّذِينَ أَحۡسَنُواْ ٱلۡحُسۡنَىٰ وَزِيَادَةٌۖ وَلَا يَرۡهَقُ وُجُوهَهُمۡ قَتَرٌ وَلَا ذِلَّةٌۚ أُوْلَٰٓئِكَ أَصۡحَٰبُ ٱلۡجَنَّةِۖ هُمۡ فِيهَا خَٰلِدُونَ
For those who have done good is the best (reward, i.e. Paradise) and even more (i.e. having the honour of glancing at the Countenance of Allâh جل جلاله). Neither darkness nor dust nor any humiliating disgrace shall cover their faces. They are the dwellers of Paradise, they will abide therein forever.
Sūrah Yūnus:26
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There is the best reward for those who have done good works in this world, by believing in Allāh and worshipping Him Alone and not associating any partners with Him. Those who strive to learn how to worship their Lord and to abstain from that which He has prohibited. Those who sin and seek forgiveness of their Lord and do not lose hope in His Mercy. Those who strive not just in Ramaḍān, but all year round, as Shaykh Ṣāliḥ Al-Fawzān said:
Allāh is the Lord of Ramaḍān and He is the Lord of Shawwal and He is the Lord of all the months in the year, so fear Allāh in every month.
How many hours or even minutes of our days are spent in goodness? Do we constantly check and recheck ourselves? Do we renew our intentions? Do we work for the reward Allāh has promised for the good-doers? Or do we perceive death as a dream that will never become a reality?
Do we strive to be from the Muḥsinūn (the good-doers)? Or do we blindly hope for the Mercy of Allāh while we are the worst of people?
وَمَن يُسۡلِمۡ وَجۡهَهُۥٓ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ وَهُوَ مُحۡسِنٌ فَقَدِ ٱسۡتَمۡسَكَ بِٱلۡعُرۡوَةِ ٱلۡوُثۡقَىٰۗ وَإِلَى ٱللَّهِ عَٰقِبَةُ ٱلۡأُمُورِ
And whosoever submits his face (himself) to Allâh, while he is a Muhsin (good-doer i.e. performs good deeds totally for Allâh’s sake without any show off or to gain praise or fame and does them in accordance with the Sunnah of Allâh’s Messenger Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم), then he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold [Lâ ilâha illallâh (none has the right to be worshipped but Allâh)]. And to Allâh return all matters for decision.
Sūrah Luqmān:22
وَزِيَادَةٌ
And even more (i.e. having the honour of glancing at the Countenance of Allâh جل جلاله)
That which no eye has ever seen, that which no ear has ever heard and that which no heart has ever perceived. And the best of that which the good doers will get, out of the Mercy of Allāh and not by their deeds, is the honour of looking at the Face of their Lord. What could be better than that?
Like the beautiful line from Ḥa’iyyah of Ibn Abī Dāwūd:
وقل يـتجل الله للخلق جهرة
And say: Allah will make Himself visible to all the creation, openly
كما البدر لا يخفى وربك أوضح
Just as the full moon is not hard to see, and your Lord (will be seen) more clearly.
Imagine you and I having the honour of seeing the Face of our Lord. How perfect that day would be? But what efforts are we making to attain this reward? Yes, the reward of Jannah is by the mercy of Allāh and not by the deeds of its inhabitants, but that is not an excuse for us to feel lax. We strive and hope for the mercy of Allāh. Do we not see how the birds go out in the morning not knowing where their provisions will come from, and they come back at night with a full stomach? Just like the birds, we should not just relax and rely completely on the mercy of Allāh, rather we get up and strive for that which will benefit us in the Ākhirah (Hereafter).
The believer worships Allāh based on: love, hope and fear. That the love we have for our Lord, and for the religion indicates a desire to please Allāh, our fear of His Punishment and torment forces us to strive in order to be saved from it, and our hope in His Mercy encourages us to turn to Him Alone when we have transgressed against ourselves. Allāh mentions:
وَلَا يَرۡهَقُ وُجُوهَهُمۡ قَتَرٌ وَلَا ذِلَّةٌۚ
Neither darkness nor dust nor any humiliating disgrace shall cover their faces.
The faces of those who have done good will be bright, they will be granted eternal happiness and shall not be disgraced!
Allāh, The Most High, stated:
يَوۡمَ تَرَى ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنِينَ وَٱلۡمُؤۡمِنَٰتِ يَسۡعَىٰ نُورُهُم بَيۡنَ أَيۡدِيهِمۡ وَبِأَيۡمَٰنِهِم
On the Day you shall see the believing men and the believing women: their light running forward before them and by their right hands.
Sūrah Al-Ḥadīd:12
أُوْلَٰٓئِكَ أَصۡحَٰبُ ٱلۡجَنَّةِۖ هُمۡ فِيهَا خَٰلِدُونَ
They are the dwellers of Paradise, they will abide therein forever.
They will be in Jannah (Paradise) forever, as a reward for the good that they used to do, and there will be no sadness, nor grief or death in Jannah.
So my brothers, my sisters…
لِمِثۡلِ هَٰذَا فَلۡيَعۡمَلِ ٱلۡعَٰمِلُونَ
For the like of this let the workers work
Sūrah Aṣ-Ṣāffat:61
Let’s work for the like of this, oh servants of Allāh. Let’s strive to be from the ‘workers’, and seek the Face of our Lord. May Allāh save us from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our wicked actions. May we be of those whose sights will be honoured with seeing the Face of Allāh, The Mighty and Majestic. We ask Allāh to make us form the good doers.
وصلّى الله وسلّم عل نبيّنا محمّد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين
