He supposes that tomorrow his death will come and thus...

He supposes that tomorrow his death will come and thus, he makes sure that his accountability and deed of records is clean (of bad deeds) and is prepared and ready to meet death at any time.[^4] In many verses of the Qur`an it has been mentioned that on the Day of Resurrection or at the time of giving up one's life, a person will call out his last request: حَتّى ِإذَا جَآءَ أَحَدَهُمُ الْمَوْتُ قَالَ رَبِّ ارْجِعُونِ لَعَلّى أَعْمَلُ صَالِحاً فِيمَا تَرَكْتُ كَلاَّ إِنَّهَا كَلِمَةٌ هُوَ قَائِلُهَا وَ مِنْ وَرَائِهِمْ بَرْزَخٌ إِلـى يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُونَ “Until that time when death comes to one of them he says, 'O' Lord return me back to the world so that I may work righteous deeds which I left behind in the world.' But by no means!

These are only words which they say and thus behind them is a partition (Barzakh) until the day when all will be raised up.”[^5] In all of these instances, the Qur`an - either clearly and explicitly, or through the use of a metaphor or allegorically answers these protests by one word: “ كلاّ” - which means “But by no means”. The rule of perfection does not permit a person to return back to this world, just as it is not possible for a fetus which comes out of its mother's womb to return back.

From the point of view of this spiritual voyage of perfection which mankind is on, it is impossible to return back - whether one leaves this world and is “born” into the next world perfect or with deficiencies. When we see that this is how the issue is, then should we not pay extra attention to the life of this world? While traversing this path, should we not be strict with ourselves and think more about this issue?

It is because of this that we must think a lot about the Day of Resurrection and we should not let even a single day pass by where we do not ponder on death and the Resurrection; and if we are able to correctly ponder on this issue and clothe our actions with these thoughts (of the next life), then we will see that our entire presence will be draped in the divine light and purity!

[^1]: Tuhaf al-`Uqul [^2]: Most people are normally afraid of death and there is only a small group of individuals who laugh in the face of death and eagerly welcome it with open arms - they trade-in the coarse ornate garment of this life for the perpetual and ever-lasting life of the next world. However we should look at why death, its manifestation and even the mention of this word immediately causes trouble to some people: 1.

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