A Door, Not a Grave
“Hafizji’s son has died. The funeral prayer is about to be held. I’ve come to call you.”
Hearing this, I shut my book, and, after making my ablutions, I set off with him.
When I reached the graveyard, I found a few other people standing there. I counted them—they were 17 in all, young and old, including people from the family of the deceased. I recalled an incident from a month ago, when a relative of Sheikh Fazl Ali had died and his body had been brought to this same graveyard. That day, there had been so many people that it was difficult to count them all. It was as if the entire Muslim population of the locality had gathered there.
A few minutes after I got there, the imam, the prayer-leader, of the locality stood up to lead the funeral prayer. I stood in line with the others, making the intention of praying. The imam read the prayer so fast that I could not read even a dua (supplication to God) fully. I heard the phrase Allahu Akbar (‘God is Great!’) being rapidly uttered, and shortly after, the imam finished the prayer. People put on their shoes and got up to go, in such a way as if they had just finished a mere formality in the name of attending a funeral prayer.
The grave was close by. I went towards it. When I got there, I found that it was still being dug. A few people stood around in groups. Some were relating stories of oppression. Someone complained about the severity of the weather. Someone else offered his knowledge about the prices of things. In other words, people were talking about this and that.
I stood by the grave, silently. My mind was churning with verses from the Quran and sayings of the Prophet that talk about the Day of Judgment, Heaven, Hell and so on. It seemed as if this grave was an open door that I was standing in front of, and that, through it, I was witnessing sights of the other world with my own eyes. My heart turned restless, and I uttered these words:
The real problem of life is not the one in which people are entangled. Rather, the real problem is the one that will appear after death. If only people knew what this person in the grave is facing! He has left this makeshift world and is heading towards the real world. This grave that is being dug before us is not really a grave, but, rather, a door that has been opened for the deceased to enter the other world. Passing through this door, he will cross over to the other side.
Whenever someone dies, it is a very special moment. It is as if at that moment, the door leading out to the other world, which is hidden from us, is opened for a short while. If you possess eyes that can truly see, you can clearly view through this door this other world where all of us, one day or the other, have to go to. But the sights of the present world have so bedazzled people that even when they stand before this opened door they see nothing of what is on the other side. Even though they stand so close to reality, they remain totally unaware of it.
