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the misfortune of those who had failed on this Day of Judgement. If
Earth had the ability to express itself, it too would have recited a tragic
poem on the condition of the people of Hell. If words had a voice, even
they would have decried their failure in portraying the utter misfortune
of the people of Hell.
I felt the urge to somehow turn the wheel of time backwards,
return to the old world, and show this scene to the people of the world.
If that were possible, I would shout myself hoarse saying to them:
“O’ all of you hard working people, competing with each other for
the sake of worldly wealth and possessions; leave the rat race! If you
have to compete, compete for success on this day. If you have to race
against others, race to attain the Paradise. If you have to make
schemes, scheme to save yourself from the Hell. You compete to leave
others behind in material possessions like plots of land, shops, houses,
status, carriers, cars, jewellery, and expensive dresses etc.
You rejoice at attaining worldly success and cry on losing it. If you
want to rejoice, rejoice at the hope of attaining the Paradise, and if you
have to cry, cry at the prospect of being sent to the Hell. Live for this
day and die for this day… the day when life will begin, never to end
again.”
The flow of tears rolling down my face increased further. However,
this time they were not tears of joy. They stemmed from the realisation
that maybe if I had put in a little more effort, I could have got my
message across to more people, and perhaps, many more could have
been spared from Hell. I felt the pain of this remorse in my heart.
Alas! If I could get one more chance. Alas! If only the time bygone
would somehow come back so that I could warn every person about
this day even more compellingly!
An excruciating sigh escaped from my lips, rising from the depths of
my heart.
I looked up towards the Throne with utter helplessness. As always,
the exalted presence of the Almighty was cloaked in a veil
of royalty. This elegant and graceful veil was like the unconcerned grace
of a beauty, oblivious to its surroundings. The gaze of this insignificant
servant got transfixed at the imagined feet of the Almighty behind an
attire of his attributes. I had never returned unfulfilled from there. For
this worthless beggar, his only asset was those feet. Whether the
exalted emperor considered it of any significance or not, did not
matter. This is all I had to offer; this is all I could hope for!
When the heart calmed down a bit, my eyes drifted towards the
people of Hell again. I knew a few of them. Their number was quite
large. Crouched and crowded, they sat slavishly with their shoulders
rubbing together. They avoided my gaze and many of them had turned
their backs towards me. As such, I could not see many of my
acquaintances there.
However, their sight made me appreciate and realise the blessings
of the God Almighty, which had saved me from meeting such a
miserable fate. I felt that of all the infinite bounties of Paradise, perhaps
the two greatest blessings were that one would be saved from the
rigours of Hell and then would be sent to Paradise with such sterling
honour.
===============
It was not long before all people present in Aaráf were processed.
There were no more decisions to be announced. However, it looked like
something else was still to happen. Everybody was standing at his place.
A very stout and strong animal was brought in. There was a rope in its
neck. Angels were dragging it towards the Throne.
Saleh whispered in my ear, “This is Death. It has been brought here
so that it can be put to death.”
There was an announcement from the Throne, “The Death is being
put to death today. As of now, neither the dwellers of Paradise nor the
inmates of Hell will die”.
With this announcement, the angels laid the animal on the floor and
slaughtered it. The residents of Paradise welcomed this through
thunderous clapping while the inmates of Hell moaned and groaned. If
they had any hope of escaping Hell, it had died with the demise of the
death.
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