Alhamdulillah, surely all praises are for Allah Ta’la for His countless Bounties and Favours He has bestowed upon us. From among these many favours, Allah Ta’la has granted us a very valuable and precious gift which is known as time. Time is such a great gift that Allah Ta’la Himself swears by it in the Holy Quraan. Allah says “By time, certainly man is in a state of loss” (103:1-2). His Noble Messenger, Muhammad (S.A) has also warned us about being negligent towards time and taking it for granted.

My dear readers, sometimes we may look at time as being insignificant or something with little value but time is a very valuable asset which we do not recognize. Now we are alive and we have time to do so many things so we take it for granted thinking that we will always have this time but we must remember that one day our time in this world will come to an end and then we will go back to Allah and He will surely question us about what we did during the time that we had here.

We should understand that those who waste time and see it as something insignificant, will only be able to appreciate its true value when the Angel of Death is standing in front of them and they realize that their stay in this world has come to an end and now they have to return to Allah. Only then they will truly understand the value of the time they had wasted before, and then they would be wishing and begging for some more time to do something good, which would be of benefit to them in the Hereafter but at that time it will be too late and they will not be given even a second more to do anything as Allah Ta’la Himself says in the Holy Quraan, “Allah will never delay any soul when its appointed time has come, and Allah is well informed about what you do”. (63:11)

My dear readers, from this statement of Allah Ta’la, we can well imagine the regret and sorrow the transgressors and wrong doers will feel at that time, when they realize that they had wasted the precious time they had before and now there is no escape from the punishment of Allah Ta’la. Similarly on the Day of Judgement, when they will see the Blazing Fire which are in store for them, they will beg Allah to send them back in the world for a short time so that they could perform righteous deeds but they will never be sent back and it will be said to them “Taste (the punishment of) that which you used to do” (39:24).

This is why Allah Ta’la and His Messenger (S.A) continue to warn us that we should not be deceived into thinking that this world is permanent. The Prophet (S.A) mentioned in a Hadith that there are two favours of Allah Ta’la which many people are deceived (unmindful) about; one is health and the other is time. These two favours mentioned by the Prophet (S.A) are such favours which many people take for granted and the only time they will recognize the greatness of these two favours is when it is taken away from them. For example a healthy person will only recognize the real value of his health when he becomes sick so much so he will hope and wish to become healthy again. Similarly a person who has no time again will wish and long for the time that he had before. In another Hadith, the Prophet (S.A) says “Take advantage of five things before five (other) things (occur); your youth before your old age, your health before you become sick, your wealth before you become poor, your spare time before you become busy and your life before your death. (Tirmizi).

We know that this world is temporary and our time here will eventually come to an end one day, then we will enter another phase of life which is everlasting and far better, yet we work so hard for the trifling gains of this world and we forget the everlasting abode in the Hereafter. Allah Ta’la Himself says “But you prefer the life of this world whereas the Hereafter is far better and more lasting” (87:16-17). Once, Abdullah ibn Masud after reciting this verse said that we prefer the life of this world because we see its beauty and adornments whereas the beauty and adornments of the Hereafter are veiled from us.

My dear readers, we should recognize that we are like travelers in this world and our destination is in the Hereafter. Therefore, our time here is for making preparations for that permanent life which is fast approaching and the preparations we make here will determine whether our stay at our destination (in the Hereafter) will be a pleasant one or not. Let us all pay heed to the advices of Allah Ta’la and His Messenger (S.A) and make full use of this precious time that we have now so that Insha Allah we will not be regretful at the time of our death nor on the Day of Judgement. May Allah Ta’la through His Infinite Mercy make us from amongst those who will be enjoying His numerous Bounties in Jannah. Ameen