﷽
*The Happiest Woman in the World*
*(A Treasure Chest of Reminders)*
*Part 5 of 12*
*KEEP BUSY WITH THE PRESENT RATHER THAN THE PAST OR FUTURE*
"Keep your duty to Allāh and He will take care of you."
What is the point in slapping your cheeks or rendering your garment in sorrow over something you missed or some calamity that befell you? What is the point in focusing your thoughts and feelings on some incident that has passed so as to increase your pain and make you fall apart?
If it were possible to reach into the past and change its events which we did not like, and alter them the way we like, then going back to the past would be essential. We would all rush to go back and erase the things we regretted doing and increase our share of good fortune. But that is impossible, so it is better for us to focus our efforts on what will help us get on with our lives, for that is our only means of compensation.
This is what the Qur'an drew attention to after Uhud (a battle named after a mountain in Madīnah), when Allāh said to those who were weeping for the slain and regretting going out to the battlefield:
Surah Aal-e-Imran, Verse 154:
ثُمَّ أَنزَلَ عَلَيْكُم مِّن بَعْدِ الْغَمِّ أَمَنَةً نُّعَاسًا يَغْشَىٰ طَائِفَةً مِّنكُمْ وَطَائِفَةٌ قَدْ أَهَمَّتْهُمْ أَنفُسُهُمْ يَظُنُّونَ بِاللَّهِ غَيْرَ الْحَقِّ ظَنَّ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ يَقُولُونَ هَل لَّنَا مِنَ الْأَمْرِ مِن شَيْءٍ قُلْ إِنَّ الْأَمْرَ كُلَّهُ لِلَّهِ يُخْفُونَ فِي أَنفُسِهِم مَّا لَا يُبْدُونَ لَكَ يَقُولُونَ لَوْ كَانَ لَنَا مِنَ الْأَمْرِ شَيْءٌ مَّا قُتِلْنَا هَاهُنَا قُل لَّوْ كُنتُمْ فِي بُيُوتِكُمْ لَبَرَزَ الَّذِينَ كُتِبَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْقَتْلُ إِلَىٰ مَضَاجِعِهِمْ وَلِيَبْتَلِيَ اللَّهُ مَا فِي صُدُورِكُمْ وَلِيُمَحِّصَ مَا فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُورِ
Then after the distress, He sent down security for you. Slumber overtook a party of you, while another party was thinking about themselves (as how to save their own selves, ignoring the others and the Prophet [Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam]) and thought wrongly of Allah - the thought of ignorance. They said, "Have we any part in the affair?" Say you (O Muhammad [Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam]): "Indeed the affair belongs wholly to Allah." They hide within themselves what they dare not reveal to you, saying: "If we had anything to do with the affair, none of us would have been killed here." Say: "Even if you had remained in your homes, those for whom death was decreed would certainly have gone forth to the place of their death," but that Allah might test what is in your breasts; and to Mahis that which was in your hearts (sins), and Allah is All-Knower of what is in (your) breasts.
"Be certain that happiness is like a planted flower that has not yet blossomed, but it is certain to appear."
*The Happiest Woman in the World*
*(A Treasure Chest of Reminders)*
*Part 5 of 12*
*KEEP BUSY WITH THE PRESENT RATHER THAN THE PAST OR FUTURE*
"Keep your duty to Allāh and He will take care of you."
What is the point in slapping your cheeks or rendering your garment in sorrow over something you missed or some calamity that befell you? What is the point in focusing your thoughts and feelings on some incident that has passed so as to increase your pain and make you fall apart?
If it were possible to reach into the past and change its events which we did not like, and alter them the way we like, then going back to the past would be essential. We would all rush to go back and erase the things we regretted doing and increase our share of good fortune. But that is impossible, so it is better for us to focus our efforts on what will help us get on with our lives, for that is our only means of compensation.
This is what the Qur'an drew attention to after Uhud (a battle named after a mountain in Madīnah), when Allāh said to those who were weeping for the slain and regretting going out to the battlefield:
Surah Aal-e-Imran, Verse 154:
ثُمَّ أَنزَلَ عَلَيْكُم مِّن بَعْدِ الْغَمِّ أَمَنَةً نُّعَاسًا يَغْشَىٰ طَائِفَةً مِّنكُمْ وَطَائِفَةٌ قَدْ أَهَمَّتْهُمْ أَنفُسُهُمْ يَظُنُّونَ بِاللَّهِ غَيْرَ الْحَقِّ ظَنَّ الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ يَقُولُونَ هَل لَّنَا مِنَ الْأَمْرِ مِن شَيْءٍ قُلْ إِنَّ الْأَمْرَ كُلَّهُ لِلَّهِ يُخْفُونَ فِي أَنفُسِهِم مَّا لَا يُبْدُونَ لَكَ يَقُولُونَ لَوْ كَانَ لَنَا مِنَ الْأَمْرِ شَيْءٌ مَّا قُتِلْنَا هَاهُنَا قُل لَّوْ كُنتُمْ فِي بُيُوتِكُمْ لَبَرَزَ الَّذِينَ كُتِبَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْقَتْلُ إِلَىٰ مَضَاجِعِهِمْ وَلِيَبْتَلِيَ اللَّهُ مَا فِي صُدُورِكُمْ وَلِيُمَحِّصَ مَا فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُورِ
Then after the distress, He sent down security for you. Slumber overtook a party of you, while another party was thinking about themselves (as how to save their own selves, ignoring the others and the Prophet [Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam]) and thought wrongly of Allah - the thought of ignorance. They said, "Have we any part in the affair?" Say you (O Muhammad [Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam]): "Indeed the affair belongs wholly to Allah." They hide within themselves what they dare not reveal to you, saying: "If we had anything to do with the affair, none of us would have been killed here." Say: "Even if you had remained in your homes, those for whom death was decreed would certainly have gone forth to the place of their death," but that Allah might test what is in your breasts; and to Mahis that which was in your hearts (sins), and Allah is All-Knower of what is in (your) breasts.
"Be certain that happiness is like a planted flower that has not yet blossomed, but it is certain to appear."
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