Dunya [This Temporary Life]

[This is an extract which I have heard before and was reminded recently on email about - not sure of the source, however the analaogy from the story is a great reminder to All of us of our temporal state in the Dunya].

Bismillaah Alhamdulillaah Wassalatu Wassalamu Ala Rasulillaah

Wa Ba'd [As To What Proceeds]

In this life of poverty, hardship and trials, Abdullah asked his father [Imam Ahmed ibn Hanbal] one day, “Abi, when will we ever relax?” His father, one of the greatest revivers of the Sunnah, a role model for all Muslims looked him in the eye and said, “With the first step we take into Jannah.” Rahimahullah Al-Imam Ahmad! ♥

Once a man saw in his dream, that a lion was chasing him. The man ran to a tree, climbed on to it and sat on a branch. He looked down and saw that the lion was still there waiting for him.

The man then looked to his side where the branch he was sitting on was attached to the tree and saw that two rats were circling around and eating the branch. One rat was black and the other one was white. The branch would fall on the ground very soon.

The man then looked below again with fear and discovered that a big black snake had come and settled directly under him. The snake opened its mouth right under the man so that he will fall into it.

The man then looked up to see if there was anything that he could hold on to. He saw another branch with a honeycomb. Drops of honey were falling from it. The man wanted to taste one of the drops. So, he put his tongue out and tasted one of the fallen drops of honey. The honey was amazing in taste. So, he wanted to taste another drop. As he did, he got lost into the sweetness of the honey.



Meanwhile, he forgot about the two rats eating his branch away, the lion on the ground and the snake that is sitting right under him. After a while, he woke up from his sleep.

To get the meaning behind this dream, the man went to a a pious scholar of Islam. The scholar said

"The lion you saw is your death. It always chases you and goes where ever you go. The two rats, are the night and the day. Black one is the night and the white one is the day. They circle around, coming one after another, to eat your time as they take you closer to death. The big black snake with a dark mouth is your grave. It's there, just waiting for you to fall into it. The honeycomb is this world and the sweet honey is the luxuries of this world. We like to taste a drop of the luxuries of this world but it's very sweet. Then we taste another drop and yet another. Meanwhile, we get lost into it and we forget about our time, we forget about our death and we forget about our graves."

“Know that the life of this world is only play and amusement, pomp and mutual boasting among you, and rivalry in respect of wealth and children. (It is) as the likeness of vegetation after rain, thereof the growth is pleasing to the tiller; afterwards it dries up and you see it turning yellow; then it becomes straw. But in the Hereafter (there is) a severe torment (for the disbelievers, evildoers), and (there is) forgiveness from Allaah and (His) Good Pleasure (for the believers, good‑doers). And the life of this world is only a deceiving enjoyment”

[al-Hadeed 57:20]