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When Life Begins --------- ---------
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When Life Begins ---------
He signalled to Saleh who came and stood close to me. He then
turned my face towards the portrait again. I could also see Saleh in the
portrait along with the young man. Amazed, I looked back and forth
many times at Saleh and the image in the mirror about which both were
insisting that it was my own reflection.
“But definitely it is not me!” I said in an excited voice.
Saleh replied by reciting this verse:
“O the life of the whole world,
Is this someone like you, or you?”
“But how is it possible? I used to be an old man but even when I
was young, I was nothing like this image!” I replied.
This time, the angel answered my question:
“You have moved from the world of impossibilities to the world of
possibilities. You have come from the world of humans to the world of
God. Today, no one would look like what he used to appear to other
people in the previous world. Instead, today every person will look like
how he used to appear to his Lord. In the eyes of your Lord, the
appearances are determined not by flesh, but by a person’s faith, values
and deeds. Today, he has made you, as he perceived you while you
were in the previous world.
By the way, this is also a temporary arrangement. Your
final
personality would only emerge when your standing in the Paradise is
finally determined. For now, please move on as quite a
few people are
waiting for you.”
===============
We were moving ahead. I was now able to fully appreciate the
transformation that had taken place in me when I had entered the door
to the shadows of the Divine Throne. My walk exuded confidence. It
was perhaps the effect of seeing my reflection in that mirror that had
made me believe that the Lord of Kaaba had blessed me with the
ultimate success.
The problems I had to deal with every day in my
previous life now seemed to be long forgotten dreams. I had never
imagined that the trials, tribulations, and deprivation of my previous life
would bear such a wonderful fruit! I had often read abstracts about life
in the Hereafter in the Qur’an and sayings ascribed to the Prophet
Muhammed
PBUH
“You have still not fully comprehended this Abdullah”, said Saleh,
who was, somehow able to read my thoughts. I became even more
attentive on hearing this. He continued:
. However, there is a huge
difference between what is
described in words and what one can see, hear, and feel in person.
Today, when I could see all these facts with my own eyes, it was a bit
too much for me… I had realised even during my previous life that I
would probably succeed in the Hereafter but I did not have the faintest
clue that the success would be so spectacular.
“The real life has not started as yet. You are still
in the temporary
stage of the Judgement Day. Real life will begin in the Paradise. Then,
you will see the real payback from God. That would be the time to
submit your gratitude. For the
time being, look ahead and see where we
stand.”
His comments made me realise that I had become
completely
oblivious to my surroundings. I looked around. We stood in a sprawling,
abundant, green plane. The sun was shining bright. Its light was bright,
but not intense. The ground was covered in shade though I could not
see any clouds in the sky. The earth was green in colour. Perhaps it was
the effect of this greenery that the sky had acquired an emerald tinge to
it rather than the usual shades of blue. There was a sky-high mountain
in the middle of the plane. It was sky-high, literally, as it seemed from
where we stood that its peak was touching the sky. There was a
pleasing fragrance all around. It was a new scent for me but it utterly
mesmerized my senses. I could hear songs in the background mixed
with pleasant notes of melodies dispersed all around us in the air. It felt
as if I was able to smell the fragrance and hear the melody directly in
my mind without the help of my senses. This seamless blend of
fragrance and harmony in perfect proportions resulted in a
state of
serenity and trance. I felt that my entire being was melting away.
I stood at a spot and closed my eyes to relish this sensation some
more.
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