A sin, may Allah shelter us from it, is serial by nature...

A sin, may Allah shelter us from it, is serial by nature except if Allah, out of His kindness, effaces and removes it. So, beware of committing sins, for they may bear an impact on your offspring and your offspring’s offspring, and so on. Let your desire be to obey Allah. Anything intended for Allah grows. One of the signs of its growth is that it continues to bear an impact till the end of time, affecting the offspring and the offspring’s offspring and so on till the Day of Judgment.

Remain, therefore, vigilant, and do not be indifferent.[^3] ** ** [^1]: Paying attention to the brevity of one’s life-span prompts him to remain vigilant and to motivate him as he moves to do anything at all. Man naturally loves for himself what is good and desires goodness and eternity even as he confuses himself while identifying the sources of what is good and what is not, as is obvious.

Thereupon, to absorb the notion that life is very brief and that the happiness or the misery of such eternity is defined by this limited life-span makes every temporary moment equivalent to perpetuity. It is well known that such a rational comparison, to which he is invited by both the Shari`ah and by transmitted incidents, changes one to a being who is very careful about each and every moment of his life.

He is also concerned about doing what is best to fill this short period which will determine one’s eternal faith: either perpetual damnation in hell, or a perpetual bliss in heaven. [^2]: Some references states hat one hour’s contemplation is better than a year’s adoration. As for sixty years, rewards, it is reported about one who falls sick while performing the pilgrimage in Mecca (Al-Mustadrak, Vol. 9, p.

364.and for one who learns two ahadith or who teaches them to others, thus reaping their benefits (Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 2, p. 152), for one who implements justice even for one hour (Jami` al-Akhbar, p. 119), and for one who falls sick and accepts such sickness wholeheartedly. About the latter, the Imam (‘a) has said, ‘He does not complain about what afflicted him to anyone.’ (Mishkat al-Anwar, p. 281). [^3]: Most books do not lack this piece of advice.

One who is busy committing a sin, though minor, is not prepared to take this journey which requires the traveller to be accepted by his Master. Success in undertaking such a path depends on the Divine blessings which guide the servant of Allah.

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