Many years back, I went to see an old colleague of mine who had been diagnosed with cancer. The doctors said he literally had weeks left as the cancer had spread through his brain.
A few brothers were present as we visited him and one of them said to him;
“Musheib, are you in pain?”
He didn’t respond.
The brother asked him again.
He replied “Yes…”. So, everyone got up to try and massage the source of the pain, to which he continued;
“…a pain in my soul”.
You could see the regret in his eyes as he was on the verge of tears.
This is a rahmah from Allah that someone feels this way and we ask Allah to envelop him in his mercy and provide a beautiful end for him.
But we never know when our time will come. When a terminal illness could afflict us to the point that we cannot pray those tahajjud prayers we intended every night. Or give that extra charity for the people of Gaza we promised. Or make amends with a family member we have not spoken to for years.
Advice to myself first and others – Don’t procrastinate. Hasten to do good and exert your time and energy where possible in building your bank of good deeds.
Or as Imam Ahmed (ra) eloquently put it when asked ‘_When does the servant of God find rest (in life)_?’, he said: ‘When one takes their first step into paradise…’.