Light Upon Light

When man falls into the darkest of corners and holes in the path, he thinks it’s all over, well that’s if he realizes where he is, because some stay blind.

After some time, he opens his eyes, it’s dark, and he only sees a few streams of light.
He suffers in pain, with heart ache and mental anxiety. He screams to the darkness,

“Ahhhh I hate life, I’ve fallen, and keep falling I can’t get up! Death if you are near, my life is no good and it isn’t about to get any better, life is a living HELL, why don’t you just take me now!”

He breathes hard and his brain tells him to lie down,

“Take deep breaths…in and out…Allah…hu…”

He sits up, and thinks,

“How did I get here?”

Contemplate is what he does, see now, he finally thinks. He thinks,

“What have I done, to get here?”

Oh and there is brighter light, a thought,

“I have forgotten my Lord and abandoned His ways. I have lost all sincerity in my prayers to Him, and when was the last time I sent salams, on angel wings to him, my Beloved Nabi (s.a.w)…I’ve forgotten him too. Oh my heart is that why you ache in so much pain? Or is it really death?”

Fear lashes the depths of his soul,

“No death, please don’t come now I’m not ready to die…”

He looks up with tears streaking his face; he blinks once, twice, and sees more light. There are streams of light shining so bright right down to him, warming him, filling him with hope.

“Oh Allah, is this your Noor? You are still with me, even though I ran away from you…not once, not twice but countless times. Oh Allah you are indeed the Most Merciful, and the Most Forgiving. Forgive me my sins and make me stronger so I can no longer disobey you, Oh my Lord.”

The light seems to get brighter and brighter, streaks of light pierce through the darkness like arrows.

He looks around, he was in no corner or hole, he was still on the path. When he had forgotten Allah, Allah removed all His Noor from the path only leaving some strings of light so that His servant might see where he is and stands.

It is when we the servants forget where we are, and get absorbed in the love of this dunya that we become blind. We become so blind that we can no longer see the reality. The reality is that this world, this life is a trial, a journey to the eternal home in Jannah, with Allah (swt) and our Beloved Nabi (s.a.w).

"And when My servants ask you concerning Me, then surely I am close. I answer the prayer of the suppliant when he cries unto Me."

(Surah Al-Baqarah:186)

Ibn ‘Abbas (r.a) said that one of the du’as that Rasulullah (s.a.w) made during the night prayers was,

“O Allah, place light in my heart, light in my tongue, light in my hearing, light in my sight, light behind me, light in front of me, light on my right, light on my left, light above me and light below me; place light in my sinew, in my flesh, in my blood, in my hair and in my skin; place light in my soul and make light abundant for me; make me light and grant me light.”

(Transmitted by Muslim and others)
For full hadith in English and arabic click here