A passage from a book I read called "Deception Point" By Dan Brown.
{'Help...me!'
The fear came on in torrents now.
Drowning, Ming had once read, was the most horrific death imaginable. He had never dreamed he would find himself on the verge of experiencing it. His muscles refused to cooperate with his mind, and already he was fighting just to keep his head above water. His soggy clothing pulled him downward as his numb fingers scratched the sides of the pit.
His screams were only in his mind now.
And then it happened.
Ming went under. The sheer terror of being conscious of his own impending death was something he never imagined he would experience. And yet here he was...sinking slowly down the sheer ice wall of a 200-foot-deep hole in the ice. Multitudes of thoughts flashed before his eyes. Moments from his childhood. His career. He wondered if anyone would find him down here. Or would he simply sink to the bottom and freeze there...entombed in the glacier for all time.
Ming's lungs were screaming for oxygen. He held his breath, still trying to kick toward the surface.
Breath! He fought the reflex, clamping his insensate lips together.
Breath! He tried in vain to swim upward.
Breath! At that instant, in a deadly battle of human reflex against reason, Ming's breathing instinct overcame his ability to keep his mouth closed.
Wailee Ming inhaled.
The water crashing into his lungs felt like scalding oil on his sensitive pulmonary tissue. He felt like he was burning from the inside out. Cruelly, water does not kill immediately. Ming spent seven horrifying seconds inhaling in the icy water, each breath more painful than the last, each inhalation offering none of what his body so desperately craved.
Finally, as Ming slid downward into the icy darkness, he felt himself going unconscious. He welcomed the escape.}
This book was awesome! I just couldn't put it down and seriously recommend it...a mixture of politics, science, action and a bit of romance...this was one good read!
But that's not why I shared this passage from the novel. As I was reading the above, I stopped to ponder over it, how death comes in different ways, at unexpected times. Something that's inevitable for all! Rich or poor, powerful or weak, good or bad. There will always be an end to every life on earth. We all know that, and yet most of us just dismiss it and would rather not talk about it nor think of it...but why? Why run away from the truth?
And then after reading that part of the story, I decided to read a bit of Qur'an and subhanallah as I was reading I came upon the following verse:
{
Say, "Indeed, the death from which you flee - indeed, it will meet you. Then you will be returned to the Knower of the unseen and the witnessed, and He will inform you about what you used to do."} (Qur'an, 62:8)
That just got me thinking even more! Life is just like a trip; you wake up, get ready, go on the trip, enjoying it while also attending for important things like getting the tickets, going to the gas station, packing your stuff...and then this trip has an end and you go back home. Same with our life, we wake up in our mothers' womb, grow up in life enjoying it but at the same time having to do important things like studying, working..etc and then we die and go back to our Creator. But why is it that we forget to work hard for that end? I mean the normal life things that we do work on, they're things we need to live on earth but not things we need for the hereafter. Now don't get me wrong here, we definitely have to do that, God asks us to build this world and make it a good place, and He does want us to have a good, successful and happy life....but we mustn't forget our true and main purpose in life, to worship God and earn merits in order to succeed in the hereafter and win a place in Jannah (heaven) by the mercy of Allah swt.
I just felt like sharing my thoughts. Death is something inevitable, unexpected and a surprise guest. So be ready when it comes, don't be from the people who regret the way they lived their life when it's too late. And don't think age can stop death, it might come now, in a few minutes or in a few years. We don't know when .... but one thing is for sure.... it's coming! So be ready!
I want to share two things with you before I wrap up...a poem I wrote and a song I feel is very touching and does work as a wake-up call for all of us.
As his last moments
Passed in front of his eyes
He started thinking
Of his goodbyes
To all the special people
In his short life
Mother, father, relatives
Friends, children and wife
Life seemed to him
So short and fast
As if only a few minutes
From its first to its last
He sat there wondering
About his coming end
About all the problems
He had no time to mend
About what his purpose
In life had been
About his destination
Whether hell or heaven
Regret cannot save him
From what is coming
His destination depends
On how he had been living
Now I ask you reader
Before it's too late
Does your life need change
Or to be set straight?!
-By: Dana SK
May Allah swt grant us an end that He is pleased with, a good end and may we inshaAllah and with Allahs' mercy be from the inhabitants of Jannah! Ameen!
{Verily! In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day, and the ships which sail through the sea with that which is of use to mankind, and the water (rain) which Allah sends down from the sky and makes the earth alive therewith after its death, and the moving (living) creatures of all kinds that He has scattered therein, and in the veering of winds and clouds which are held between the sky and the earth, are indeed Ayat (proofs, evidence, signs, etc.) for people of understanding.} (Qur'an, 2:164)
So enjoy life, have fun, work hard...but first and foremost prioritize your life! Take care of your Salah, be honest, read Qur'an, do good, help others, purify your intention, thank God continuously for the many blessings He has blessed you with, take care of your parents, always make duaa...to simply put it.....
Live Islam!
