A Story

Bahlool, in his inocence, was on the opposite end of the scale of worldly-smartness. Khalifa Haroon ur Rashid had given Bahlool access to his court probably because his naivet� was a source of entertainment to him. Once the Khalifa gave him a walking stick saying, "It is meant for the most foolish person in the world. If you find a person more deserving of it than yourself, pass it on." Several years later Haroon ur Rashid fell seriously ill and no medical treatment seemed to work. Bahlool visited him and inquired about his condition. The conversation went something like this: Haroon: "No treatment is working. I see my final journey ahead of me." Bahlool: "Where are you going?" Haroon: "I am going to the Other World." Bahlool: "How long will you stay there? When will you come back?" Haroon: "No one ever comes back from that world." Bahlool: "Then you must have made especial preparations for this journey. Did you send an advance group to take care of you once you arrive? Haroon: "Bahlool, you have to go there alone. And no I did not make any preparations." Bahlool: "Ameer-ul-Momineen! You used to send troops to make extensive preparations for you for even short trips of only a few days. Now you are going to a place where you'll live forever but you have made no preparations! I think I have found the person more deserving of the stick that you had given me some years ago." This story speaks to all of us. How many of us concern ourselves with preparing for the hereafter? Making it the cornerstone of our lives? This world is an abode of deception. Here we are not punished the moment we commit a sin. This fools us into thinking that we can get away with it. Remembering death is the antidote for that deception. A person who remembers that he will have to stand before his Creator and be accountable for his actions simply cannot defy Allah! In the story of Pharaoh, we learn that when he saw death approaching he declared belief in the God of Musa. Before that he had been fooled by his apparent power. His repentance came too late but it did show how his arrogance and intransigence evaporated when faced with the certainty of death. It is amazing how a lot of our own "confusions", frivolous arguments, excuses (for why we cannot do this or avoid that), or plane laziness can melt away when we visualize ourselves in our grave! Death settles lot of arguments. Its remembrance can do that too. Before it is too late. ------------------ Sent using the Muftisays Android App