When Death Will Expose Everything as False

What a strange moment it will be when people realize that whatever they did in this world, thinking it to be some very worthy action, is actually inaction of the lowest sort!

In this world, people think highly of themselves and strut about puffed up with pride, whereas actually the only thing that they can take pride in is to submit before God’s commandments. People think that they are being very successful by trying to rationalize or explain away their misdeeds, while their success actually lies in openly acknowledging their faults. They have been given the power of speech so that they use it to praise God, but they employ it instead to shower praises on fellow human beings. Emotions such as fear and love have been placed in them so that they should devote these to God, but they have made created things the objects of their fear and love. They think that accumulating material wealth is the most important thing, whereas actually the highest thing for them is to spend their wealth in God’s path and thereby have nothing left. They should have consideration for the weak, but instead they ignore them and flatter the strong. They should devote themselves to searching for and discovering the meaningfulness of life, but they drown themselves in furious agitation instead. The secret of their true progress lies in engaging in constant introspection, but, instead, they are busy inspecting and criticising others. They should consider worldly wealth and respect as unreal should and have no attachment to them, but they begin thinking these to be the biggest thing of all!

Today, people are obsessed with critiquing the oppression of others, taking this to be bravery. Imagine their condition when, in the Hereafter, they will come to know that true bravery is to realize the oppression that one is oneself guilty of!

People seek the support of something or being besides God, imagining it to be a powerful refuge. Imagine their condition when, after they die, they will learn that besides God, there is no one who can be a refuge for anyone!

People accumulate worldly wealth and fondly imagine that they have obtained what needs to be had. Imagine their condition when death will expose everything of theirs to be false and when they will realize that they have acquired nothing at all!

People prepare long lists of other people’s mistakes. Imagine their state when angels will present them with a list of their own misdeeds!

People think that this life is the be-all and the end all. Imagine their state when they will discover that the real issue was death, and not this life that lasts for just a few days! 

People use criteria that they have themselves invented to convince themselves that they are in the right. Imagine their state when they will realize that only those who were right according to the criteria that God has established were truly right!

Finding a huge crowd to welcome them, people think that they are very fortunate. Imagine their condition when they will come to know that only that person is fortunate whom God and His angels were waiting to welcome!

Every person has built a fantasy world of his own and is happy living in it. But the Day of Judgment will destroy all these make-believe edifices. At that time, only those who have taken refuge in the ‘edifice’ of God and are in God’s shade will be safe.