الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيد المرسلين وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين
There is a book published in 2003. It is called ‘Don’t be Sad’. It is authored by Aaidh ibn Abdullah al-Qarni. It is a very practical and inspirational book for anyone who is depressed or feeling sad. This book makes you take a good hard look at your life and makes you realize that there really is no reason for you to be sad or depressed. It helps you to realize that you can be a better person than you are now.
We generally happen to be on the right path, but sometimes for some reason walk the wrong path, but since we are alive and breathing we can correct those mistakes and become better human beings. This book exposes to the modern reader how Islam teaches us to deal with the tests and tribulations of this world. It’s a self-improvement book based on the Qur’an and the hadith literature.
I have extracted and paraphrased one section of the book which tells the readers not to be sad over what has happened in the past and not to be excessively attached to what the future holds, but advises them to make the best of today. So, I want to share with you some of the author’s thoughts on this proposition.
Can we train ourselves to start living with the attitude that today is all that we have; that our life’s span is only one day, as if we were born in it and will die at the end of it? With this attitude, we will not be caught between an obsession over the past with all its anxieties, and the hopes of the future, with all its uncertainties.
Brooding over the past and its tragedies is a kind of sickness that destroys resolve to live for the present moment. Being sad and depressed over things of the past cannot make them right, because the past is non-existent. We should not live in the nightmares of former times or under the shade of what we have missed. Thinking too much into the past is a waste of the present. When Allah (SWT) mentioned the affairs of the previous nations, He said,
تِلْكَ أُمَّةٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَلَكُم مَّا كَسَبْتُمْ
“Those were a people that have passed away; what they did is theirs and what you have done is yours.” (al-Baqarah, 2:134)
Our tragedy is that we neglect our potential and our opportunities by not dealing with the present. Allah (SWT) calls on us to be the best human being we can be and requires us to fulfill our potential. Often, we pride ourselves with our glorious past and regret that it is no more. Everything on earth marches forward, preparing for a new season, and so should we.
Yesterday has passed with all its good and evil, while tomorrow has not yet arrived. We have to live for today. Today—during this day, we should pray with a wakeful heart, recite the Qur’an with understanding, and remember Allah with sincerity. We should try to be balanced in our affairs, satisfied with our allotted portion.
We should organize the hours of this day, so that there is barakah in our time, we should seek forgiveness from our Rabb (Lord), remember Him, prepare for the final parting from this world, and live today happily and at peace. We should be content with our sustenance, our wife, our children, our work, our house, and our station in life. What did Allah (SWT) say to Musa (AS)?
فَخُذْ مَا آَتَيْتُكَ وَكُنْ مِنَ الشَّاكِرِينَ
“So hold that which I have given you, and be of the grateful.” (al-A’raf, 7:134)
We must try to live today free from sorrow, from anger, jealousy, and malice. We must engrave on to hearts one phrase: Today is my only day. If we get warm, fresh food today, then what does it matter what we got yesterday or what we will get tomorrow? If we are truthful to ourselves, and have a firm resolve, then we will convince ourselves of the following: Today is my last day to live. When we achieve this attitude, we will profit from every moment of our day, by developing our personalities, expanding our abilities, and purifying our deeds.
Say to yourself: Today I shall be refined in my speech and will utter neither evil speech nor backbite anyone. Today I shall organize my house and my office. Today I will be particular about my bodily cleanliness, and appearance. Today I will be meticulous in my neatness, and balanced in my walk, talk, and actions. Today I will strive to be obedient to my Lord, pray in the best possible manner, do more voluntary acts of righteousness, recite the Qur‘an and read beneficial books. Today I will plant goodness into my heart and extract from it the roots of evil such as pride, jealousy and hypocrisy. Today I will help others; visit the sick, attend a funeral, guide one who is lost, and feed the hungry. I will stand side by side with the oppressed and the weak. I will be reverent to the old, and merciful to the young.
We should not cry over the past that has departed and is gone. And as for the future, it is in the realm of the unseen, so we should not be obsessed by its dreams. We should not hasten and rush for things that have yet to come to pass. Is it wise to pick fruits before they are ripe? Why should we have apprehensions about future disasters? Why should we be engrossed by their thoughts, especially since we do not know we will even see tomorrow?
Many people of this world are unduly fearful of future poverty, hunger, disease and disaster: such thinking is inspired by the Devil, for as the Qur’an says,
الشَّيْطَانُ يَعِدُكُمُ الْفَقْرَ وَيَأْمُرُكُمْ بِالْفَحْشَاءِ وَاللَّهُ يَعِدُكُمْ مَغْفِرَةً مِنْهُ وَفَضْلًا وَاللَّهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ
“Satan threatens you with poverty and orders you to commit Fahsha (evil deeds, illegal sexual intercourse, sins etc.), whereas Allah promises you His forgiveness and His bounty. Allah is bountiful and all knowing.” (al-Baqarah, 2:268)
Many are those who cry because they see themselves starving tomorrow, falling sick after a month, or because they fear that the world will come to an end after a year. When we have no clue as to when we will die, then why should we busy ourselves with such thoughts?
Be absorbed in today; leave tomorrow until it comes, and never have a long-term attachment to this world. We are all travelers. Rather than being sad and depressed about what’s going to happen tomorrow, here in this life, let’s be more focused and oriented towards our eternal abode—Al-Akhirah (the hereafter).
Let me conclude with a beautiful hadith. The Prophet (SAW) said: “Whoever is mainly concerned about the hereafter, Allah will make him feel independent of others and will make him focused and content, and his worldly affairs will fall into place. But whoever is mainly concerned with this world, Allah will make him feel in constant need of others and will make him distracted and unfocused, and he will get nothing of this world except what is decreed for him.”
أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ المُسْلِمينَ وَالمُسْلِمَاتْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهْ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
وَصَلَّ اللهُ عَلَى خيرِ خَلقِهِ مُحمَّدٍ وعَلَى آلِه وأصْحَابِه أجْمَعِين- بِرَحْمَتِكَ يا أرْحَمَ الرَّاحِمِين
