Old Age: Consoling Hopes

Thus, the sacred consolations arising from īmān and the Qur’an came to my aid against the pains and despair brought on by the trials of my old age, so that I would not exchange even the most difficult year of my old age for ten of the most carefree years of my youth.

In particular, since every hour spent by a prisoner who performs the obligatory prayers and repents counts as ten hours of worship, and since every fleeting day spent in illness or oppression earns, in terms of sawāb, the equivalent of ten days of enduring life, I realised through that spiritual reminder how great a cause for gratitude this was for someone like me, awaiting his turn at the gate of the grave.

Thereupon, I said, “Endless thanks be to my Lord,” rejoiced in my old age, and became content with my imprisonment.

For life does not stand still; it swiftly passes away. If it passes in pleasure and comfort, the disappearance of those pleasures becomes a source of pain, leaving behind regret and certain sins born of ingratitude and heedlessness.

But when life passes amid imprisonment and hardship, the passing of suffering becomes a source of spiritual joy. And since such hardship is also counted as a form of worship, life endures in one respect and, through its blessed fruits, earns an enduring life. It also serves as an expiation for past sins and the mistakes that led to imprisonment, cleansing the prisoner of them.

From this perspective, prisoners who perform their obligatory prayers should give thanks with patience.