Empty vessels

We live in a world where humans have become empty vessels, mindless creatures pursuing materialism, encapsulated by pointless whims and desires that serve no purpose to our spiritual elements. We’re deluded by the status and the wealth, the superficial and the artificial. The greed has thrown away our morals, our inclination to our real purpose of serving our Lord and preparing gardens for ourselves in the everlasting abode. Sadly, our hearts grasp onto the futility of this life and forgets that there will be a day where we will stand before the Lord of the Worlds who will question us about our delights. Which answers will we give when the sun will be brought just above our heads and our reckoning will begin? A minute more in His remembrance can elevate a person to a Jannah with superior pleasures. Let us rectify our values and focus on worship that will bring light into our graves, that will increase the weight of our deeds and that will please Allāh, The Most Merciful.

Words light on the tongue, heavy on the scale:

1.

Narrated Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه: Allāh’s Messenger ﷺ said, “Whoever says, ‘Subḥānallāhi wa biḥamdihī’ one hundred times a day, will be forgiven for all his sins even if they were as much as the foam of the sea.”

سُبْحَانَ اللّٰهِ وَبِحَمْدِهِ

[Subḥānallāhi wa biḥamdihī]

Glory be to Allāh and All praise be to Him.

(Bukhārī 6405)

2.

Juwayriyyah رضي الله عنها reports that one day the Prophet ﷺ left her apartment in the morning as she was busy observing her dawn prayer in her place of worship. He came back in the forenoon, and she was still sitting there. The Prophet ﷺ said to her, “You have been in the same place since I left you?” She said, “Yes.” Thereupon the Prophet ﷺ said, “I recited four words, three times, after I left you and if these were to be weighed against what you have recited since morning these would outweigh them”, and these words are:

‎سُبْحـانَ اللهِ وَبِحَمْـدِهِ عَدَدَ خَلْـقِه ، وَرِضـَا نَفْسِـه ، وَزِنَـةَ عَـرْشِـه ، وَمِـدادَ كَلِمـاتِـه

[Subḥānallāhi wa biḥamdihī, ʿadada khalqihī wa riḍā nafsihī wa zinata ʿarshihī wa midāda kalimātihī]

Glory be to Allāh and praise be to Him, as much as the number of His creation, as much as pleases Him, as much as the weight of His Throne and as much as the ink of His words.

(Muslim)

3.

Then he (Rasūlullāh ﷺ) came to me when I was saying to myself, “Lā ḥawla wa lā quwwata illā billāh” and he said to me “O Abdullāh ibn Qays, say Lā ḥawla wa lā quwwata illā billāh, for it is a treasure from the treasures of Paradise.”

‎لَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِٱللهِ

[Lā ḥawla wa lā quwwata illā billāh]

There is no power or might besides Allāh.

(Bukhārī and Muslim)

Moisten your tongue with dhikr (remembrance) of Allāh so you can indulge in the sweetness of faith for,

﴾ أَلَا بِذِكْرِ ٱللّٰهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ ٱلْقُلُوْبُ ﴿

“…Verily in the remembrance of Allāh do hearts find rest” - Noble Qur’ān (13:28)

The remembrance of Allāh is everywhere, we must only contemplate. Allāh is apparent in every aspect of our lives, from the moment we awaken to our last blink before sleep. If only we detach from the pleasures of the world and let our hearts become mindful of its Creator. What are we really worshipping? Is it Allāh or is the assets of the dunyā?