Abu Yahya (Translated By Tlueaftab Team)
Once again, we were standing in the field of Resurrection. Naeema’s question about the children was still echoing in my ears. I turned to Saleh and said, “I want to meet those two children of mine who are present here.”
Saleh replied, “That means you are now mentally prepared to face them in their wretched state.”
“Yes. Perhaps earlier I didn’t have the courage. The grief of my teacher was too much for me. Then seeing my daughter-in-law, Huma, in such a terrible condition left me shaken. But now I realize that the time has come to face the inevitable.”
“Yes,” Saleh said, “this is still the Day of Judgment. It is only after entering Paradise that all grief, sorrow, and fear will be erased for a person. The pain that you feel right now is exactly what the Qur’an refers to when it describes Paradise as that place where there will be no regret of the past and no fear of the future.”
I confirmed his words with a verse of the Qur’an. In reply, Saleh explained another very important reality:
“Yes, Paradise is exactly that place. But remember—when the reckoning begins and Paradise and Hell are brought close, at the moment when the decision is made about each person’s fate, it will also be shown to him what he was spared from or what he lost.
‘What do you mean?’ I asked eagerly.
He said, ‘If someone is destined for Paradise, at that very moment he will also be shown what would have been his place in Hell had he gone there. This will double his joy, for he will realize how terrible a fate he has been saved from. Similarly, if someone is sent to Hell, he will also be shown the place that could have been his in Paradise but which he lost due to his sins. That sight itself will be one of the greatest punishments. The first joy of the people of Paradise will be their salvation from Hell. And the first torment of the people of Hell will be the regret of losing eternal blessings and high ranks in Paradise.’
Saleh paused, then added, “You must remember what I explained earlier: On the Day of Creation, when a person wished for higher stations in Paradise, at the same time he was also risking the possibility of lower stations in Hell. So today the result will be twofold: For those who attain Paradise, the greater their rank, the greater will be their joy at being spared Hell’s torment. And for those condemned to Hell, the lower their place, the greater will be their grief at losing the higher ranks of Paradise.”
“My God…” the words escaped my lips involuntarily.
We were talking as we continued walking slowly. The scene of the Resurrection was the same—or perhaps even more intense. The same wailing and crying, the same anxiety and despair, the same helplessness and regret, the same restlessness and confusion. Every face was filled with questions, but no answers. Every face showed exhaustion, but no peace.
I thought to myself: I wonder what my daughter and son must be going through right now.
In one part of the field, two young girls were sitting helplessly on the rocky ground. Their eyes were swollen from weeping; it was obvious they had cried until their strength gave way. Their weak bodies, distressed faces, and lifeless eyes told the tale of their grief from a distance. One of them, who seemed in a worse state, spoke to the other:
“Laila, I cannot believe this is real. That humans could come back to life after death… That a whole new world could begin after worldly life… No, I cannot believe it! If only this were just a nightmare! If only I could wake up and find myself in my cool, air-conditioned bedroom, lying on my soft bed. Then tomorrow, in college, I would tell you that I had the most terrifying dream. If only this were a dream… if only it were a dream…”
With that, she broke down, sobbing bitterly.
Laila, weeping too, said to her, “Asma, whether you believe it or not makes no difference now. This is no dream—this is reality. The dream was that life we lived in the world. Our eyes have opened now, Asma… our eyes have opened! But what use is waking up now?”
Silence fell for a while. Then Laila spoke with deep regret: “If only I had never been friends with you! If only I had not followed your path! No, if only you had followed my path, then neither of us would be in this state today.”
Asma replied in a broken voice, “Who knows what awaits us now? But Laila, tell me—how long did we actually live in that world?”
“I don’t know… maybe a day, or ten days, or perhaps just an hour,” Laila answered. “At the time, it seemed life would never end. But now, looking back, it all feels like just a dream. I cannot even recall a single clear moment of it now.”
As she said this, Asma drifted into the mists of memory, as if turning the pages of her past to find a moment that might bring her comfort today. But nothing came. Whatever memories surfaced were themselves like indictments of her own life…
📜✍🏻 To be continued…
