O Laila, you are officially dead.

Dearest Laila, You are dead.

My most beloved, Laila, with a heavy heart I am saddened to inform you that you are dead. You are no longer referred to by your name but they call you the body. You are no longer beautiful but you are slowly fading away. Your skin is pale and you have an uncomfortable smell coming from you. You lay there lifeless as a couple people whom you are unfamiliar with begin washing your body. Where is mother? Where is my family and loved ones? You cannot speak or turn yourself over as you were just able to the day prior to this. You weren’t even expecting it, we had plans for tomorrow! A white cloth is brought and wrapped around you, and you are placed in a fridge until it is time for your funeral prayer. It is called, ”bring the body” on the day of the funeral, everyone comes in the room to say there last words. But wait—where is everyone leaving me to? No! Stay with me, come with me, don’t leave me all alone. Please anyone? anyone? None can hear you, and your scared, I know. But this is only the beginning. You had time to prepare but you delayed and for you today is no happiness.

My dearest Laila, you knew this day would come for us, why were you so heedless? Why did you waste countless hours that we must now answer for? Where was your youth spent? and How was your health and wealth spent? What will we answer to Allah? Oh Laila, what will we answer to Allah?

How did he look? The angel of death? Was he happy to see you or did you regret your whole existence at the very sight of him? Where did he meet you Ya Laila? Were you doing the deeds of the people of jannah during your last breaths or were we amongst the greatest losers? What did he say? Was it the greeting of the people or jannah, or were we greeted with punishment eternally? Ya Laila, how could we have expected the greetings of bliss when our whole lives were based on corruption?

What did we say O cherished soul? When they questioned us in the grave? Did we know who our Lord was? Did we know our religion? Did we even know our prophet? Ya Laila, how could we have possibly known these answers when we spent our whole life in neglect towards them and delayed learning about them?

How was your grave? Was it comfortable? Did we have a window to jannah opened up for us? Was it as far as the eyes could see? Or rather were we amongst those with the view of hell fire? Ya Laila, how could we have possibly been given the view of jannah when our whole life we chased after hell?

Where was your final abode O dead one? Were you given the glad tidings of paradise? Or were we amongst those whose faces were scorched by the fire? Ya Laila, what else would have been the outcome for doers of evil? Did you expect to be amongst the prophets? the righteous? the martyrs? and the truthful?

Which hand were you given it in? Your book of deeds, that now you must read? What did it say? And how did you feel reading it? Ya Laila, how could you have expected to read something of beauty? When for 20 years you did nothing expect fill it with bad?

How was it? The standing in front of Allah? When He asked you about everything you wish He hadn’t? When your body parts began to testify against you when you began to lie about the deeds in your book? Ya Laila, how did you expect Allah to pardon you when your whole life was in disobedience to Him? When all you did was walk further and further away from Him each passing day?

The bridge. You were always scared of it O regretful soul, did you fall over it? Did it cut you? Did you walk or crawl over it? Were you in pain? Ya Laila, did you really think you would be given the reward of passing over it with ease when you never deserved it?

Everyday it is said: so and so has died. And there must come a day when it will be said: Laila has died. May Allah grant us all the ability to prepare for death before our graves are prepared for us. This is a reminder for myself of the outcome that will happen if I don’t strive in the way of Allah. Death is a true reality and we are all promised it. If you don’t prepare for it who will do it? You are the carpenter of your home in the hereafter build it perfectly and with precise measurements and make it as comfortable as possible because remember, you’ll be there awhile. 🙂