Old Age: Consoling Hopes

All praise belongs to Allah. As we have demonstrated with convincing proofs in works such as the Twentieth Letter, the truth of those verses bestowed upon the heart and soul a firm point of support, in accordance with the strength of each person's īmān.

From that point of support, the heart and soul derive a strength by which they can withstand calamities a hundred times more terrifying and destructive than those they had previously endured.

That strength, arising from belief in Allah, reminded me of the following truth:

“Everything is subject to the command of your Creator, the True Owner of this land. The governance of all things rests in His hand. Your bond with Him is therefore sufficient for you.”

When I began to rely upon that Creator and truly came to know Him, everything that had appeared hostile to me ceased to be an enemy, and the sorrowful scenes that had brought me to tears became sources of joy.

As we have established through decisive proofs in many treatises, the light of belief in the Hereafter also bestowed upon my soul a source of hope sufficient not only for my limited and fleeting attachments to transient friends, but also for my countless and deepest longings for the eternal world and everlasting happiness.

For the All-Merciful, the Compassionate One, Who has created this world as no more than a temporary inn, displays upon the face of the earth each spring countless exquisite and delightful gifts through a single manifestation of His mercy.

He spreads before His guests a bountiful table of blessings to gladden them for a brief time, offering them a foretaste of His infinite gifts. Then, in their eternal dwelling places, He prepares countless varieties of blessings for His servants in the eight everlasting Paradises, to be enjoyed for all eternity.

Thus, whoever entrusts himself through īmān to the mercy of that All-Merciful One, and recognises his bond with Him, finds in that very mercy a source of help whose slightest manifestation is sufficient to fulfil even the greatest longings for eternity.

Moreover, through the truth of those verses, the light arising from īmān shone so brightly that it illuminated the darkness in all six directions as though with the light of day.

That light also dispelled my grief at having remained behind in the city and my madrasa after my students and friends had departed, through this luminous and consoling thought:

“The world to which your loved ones have gone is not a place of darkness. They have merely changed their dwelling place. You shall meet them again.”

This brought my weeping entirely to an end and made me understand that even in this world I would find others who would take their places and resemble them.