‘To be gifted with motherhood, is a beautiful blessing.
Not only does the news enlighten the life of the mother-to-be herself, but those near and dear ones around her. While the time nears to bring the baby to the world, the soon-to-be mother realizes how much she loves the baby within her body that she can’t wait to see it!
She hasn’t even seen the child, yet her heart is filled with love for the child she nurtures within. She remembers the days she first felt the baby play with her from inside, sometimes even responding to the sounds of her voice.She reminisces all those times when the baby kicked her from inside, sometimes coinciding with the times she’s been distressed, like as if the baby is trying to comfort her. Preparing the house, the room, the little baby accessories that are required for birth, lots of Qur’an recitation and Ibadah, lots of happiness and peace, right?
Ofcourse then, there are the really tough times, of the weakness of the body, of tiredness in strength, of back pain, leg cramps and what not, that she willingly bears with patience. Nurturing the baby making sure she consumes only nutritious food, doing her part of the exercises, and staying fit in order to ensure the baby gets what it needs.
Doing all that requires to be done..
The thought of meeting this baby soon by the will of Allah, fills the heart with joy and happiness beyond her control and ofcourse with a lot of anxiety and fear of ‘how’ the meeting is going to be. As even Maryam عليه السلام groaned with labour pain and her words are recorded in the Qur’an as-
“Oh, I wish I had died before this and was in oblivion, forgotten!’ [Surah Maryam]
How is it that the mother loves someone so much whom she hasn’t even seen yet and is preparing so carefully to meet with this being?’
Just when I sat this afternoon reflecting on this thought with a smile on my face, I take back my Qur’an to recite a few more verses. And the first verse that my eyes fall upon is:
لِّلَّذِينَ أَحْسَنُوا الْحُسْنَىٰ وَزِيَادَةٌ ۖ وَلَا يَرْهَقُ وُجُوهَهُمْ قَتَرٌ وَلَا ذِلَّةٌ ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ الْجَنَّةِ ۖ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ
For those who have done good is the best (reward, i.e. Paradise) and even more (i.e. having the honor of glancing at the Countenance of Allah 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. [Surah Yunus]
Why did I stop right there and brim with happiness? Because I learnt about this verse before and here is how I find it SO relevant with the thoughts I was having above.
Have we seen Allah? No. But don’t we love Him? Don’t we want to see Him? Aren’t we preparing ourselves for this beautiful meeting with both ups and downs in life, for this delight that will be the greatest delight for any believer; the delight to see and gaze at the face of Allah, Our Rabb!
Doing all that requires to be done, and avoiding all that is forbidden? Toiling every day with hope and love for Allah, whom we have never seen but we Love, and we connect to Him at all possible times.
Aren’t we also anxious of ‘how’ our meeting would be? How our end would be? Consciously working for it to be a good ending, bi ithnillah!
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited this ayah: ‘For those who have done good is the best reward and even more.’ Then he said: ‘When the people of Paradise enter Paradise, and the people of the Fire enter the Fire, a caller will cry out: “O people of Paradise! You have a covenant (promise) with Allah and He wants to fulfill it.” They will say: “What is it?” Has Allah not made the Balance (of our good deeds) heavy, and made our faces bright, and admitted us to Paradise and saved us from Hell?” Then the Veil will be lifted and they will look upon Him, and by Allah, Allah will not give them anything that is more beloved to them or delightful, than looking upon Him.‘” [Ibn Majah]
SubhanAllah! Just imagine, once you’ve been confirmed as those from the people of Jannah and now you’ve reached near the doors of Jannah, and the angels welcome you with “PEACE!”
You’re staring at its rivers; rivers of milk, and rivers of wine that are delicious, and rivers of honey that is pure, and rivers of water that is fresh! Rivers of chocolates even! You’re walking on your tracks and you see this beautiful white bird flying, and you think to yourself ‘Ah I wish I could have that!’
Lo and Behold! It’s right in front of you, roasted n toasted, ready for you to eat!
You want to fly? You can fly! You want rivers of chocolate without growing fat? You can have them!
You’ve got the beauty of Yusuf عليه السلام. The height of Adam عليه السلام
You look around, and see the faces of other inhabitants and their beauty, they are like the image of the Moon. Shining!
You want to see your siblings, your best friends, mother and father. You want to see the Angels, you want to see the Prophets of Allah and much more that Allah has in store for you.
Now you’re sitting there in your palace in Jannah, and the Day of Increase comes.
An angel knocks on your door and he says ‘Come on lets go visit Allah!!’ You have never seen Allah yet so you open your door and you have your Jannah style Limo waiting for you. You go to a wide valley where there are mountains of light, piles of musk, as well as pulpits of pearls, gemstone, gold, and silver. Everyone’s there. Some are sitting in sheets of musk and some in chairs and suddenly, you look above you and there’s light, light upon light upon light.
So you ask the Angels, “Is this Allah? We’ve never seen Allah!’ and the angels say, “No, this is the light that precedes Allah” and while we are looking there, a caller calls: “O People of Paradise! You have an appointment with Allah in which He wishes to reward you!”
And you ask, ‘And what is that reward? Has He not already made our faces bright, made our scales heavy, entered us into Paradise, and pushed us away from the Fire?’
And when you are sitting there. You hear a beautiful voice. So majestic. So beautiful. You’ve never heard this before.
Greetings of Peace from our Merciful Lord! ‘سَلَامٌ قَوْلًا مِّن رَّبٍّ رَّحِيمٍ‘
Allah will laugh and say: ‘O People of Paradise! Where are those who used to obey Me without having ever seen Me? This is the Day of Increase!’ How lucky are we as slaves that we have a Rabb who smiles.
He asks you, ‘Are you happy? Are you satisfied? What else do you want?’ And you say ‘Nothing else’. And Allah says, ‘No! Today is the day of giving. I want to give you more. What do you want?’
And all of us, together, we say ‘ Ya Allah show us your face, we want to see you, we miss you. We have worshipped you all our life, and we’ve never seen you. O Allah! Show us your Face!”
And then….
Before your eyes, Allah’s veil is lifted! You’re finally seeing Him, Rabb of the Alameen as clear as the moon.
And there you are, staring at Allah! Our Lord!
اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ لَذَّةَ النَّظَرِ إِلَى وَجْهِكَ وَالشَّوْقَ إِلَى لِقَائِكَ
O Allah, I ask You for the delight of gazing at Your Countenance and the eagerness of meeting You.
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