From: A father who is getting old<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To: A son who is subject to passage of\ntime<\/p>\n\n\n\n
… O My son!\nSubjugate your nature with the vision of death; make it see the mortality of\nlife and of all that it holds dear. Force it to realize the actuality of\nmisfortunes and adversities, and the changes of circumstances and times; and\ncompel it to study the lives of past generations. Persuade it to see the ruined\ncities and dilapidated palaces, decaying signs and relics of fallen empires of\npast nations. Then meditate over the activities of those people. Consider what\nthey have all done when they were alive and were in power, what they achieved,\nand from where they started their careers. Where, when and how were they\nbrought to an end? Where they are now? What have they actually gained out of\nlife, and what were their contributions to the human welfare? If you carefully\nponder over these problems, you will find that each one of those people has\nparted company with the others and with all that he cherished and loved, and he\nis now in a solitary abode, alone and unattended. You will also be like him. Then\ntake care to provide well for your future abode. Do not exchange eternal\nblessing for pleasures of this mortal and transient world ?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My dear son, so far as your behavior\nwith other human beings is concerned, let your ‘self’ act as scales to judge\nits goodness or wickedness. Do unto others as you wish others to do unto you.\nWhatever you like for yourself, like for others, and whatever you dislike to\nhappen to you, spare others from such happenings. Do not oppress and tyrannize\nanybody because you surely do not like to be oppressed and tyrannized. Be kind\nand sympathetic to others as you certainly desire others to treat you kindly\nand sympathetically. If you find objectionable and loathsome habits in others,\nabstain from developing those traits of character in yourself ? Remember, son,\nthat vanity and conceit are forms of folly. These traits will bring you serious\nharm and will be a constant source of danger for you ?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My dear son, through this message of\nmine, I have explained everything about this world, how fickle and fleeting its\nattitude is, how short-lived and evanescent everything is that it holds or\noffers, and how fast it changes its moods and favors. I have also explained\nabout the hereafter, the pleasures and blessings provided there, and the everlasting\npeace, comfort and happiness arranged for in Paradise. I have given enough\nexamples of both aspects of life, before and after death so that you may know\nthe reality and lead your life on the basis of that knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a matter of fact, those people who\nhave truly recognized the world, pass their days as if they know that they are\ntravelers, who have to leave a place which is famine-stricken, unhealthy and\nuncongenial. They have to proceed towards lands which are fertile and\ncongenial, where there is abundant provision for comforts and pleasures. They\nhave eagerly taken up the journey, happy in the hope of future blessings and\npeace. They have willingly accepted the sufferings, troubles and hazards of the\nway, separation of friends, scarcity of food and comfort during the pilgrimage\nso that they may reach the journey’s end – a happy place. They do not refuse to\nbear any discomfort and do not grudge any expenditure for the cause alms and\ncharity, or helping the poor and the needy. All steps which they put forward\ntowards their goals, however tiring and exhausting they may be, are happy\nevents in their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the contrary, the condition of\nthose people who are solely engrossed in this world, sadly engulfed in its\nshort-lived, quickly fading and vicious pleasures, is like that of travelers\nwho are staying in fertile and happy regions and who have to undertake a\njourney, knowing fully well that the journey is going to end in a rough, arid\nand infertile land. Can anything be more loathsome and abhorring to them than\nthis journey? How they would hate to leave the place where they are and to\narrive at a place which they hate so much and which is so dismaying, dreadful\nand horrifying!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
? O my son!\nDeath is following you. You cannot run away from it. However hard you may try\nto avoid it, it is going to catch you sooner or later. Therefore take care that\nit may not catch you unawares or when you are not prepared, having no choice to\nrepent for the vices and sins you have committed and not being able to undo the\nharm you have done to yourself. If death catches you unawares, then you are\neternally damned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Therefore, my dear son, always keep\nthree things in mind: death, your deeds and the life in the Hereafter. In this\nway you will always be ready to face death, and it will not catch you unawares.\nMy dear son, do not be carried away and allured by the infatuations and\npleasures of the worldly people in this vicious life and its pleasures, and do\nnot be impressed by the sight of their acute struggle to possess and own this\nworld. Allah has very mercifully explained to you everything about this world.\nNot only the Merciful Lord but also the world has also told you everything; it\nhas disclosed to you that it is mortal; it has openly declared its weaknesses,\nits shortcomings and its vices…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I entrust your religion and world to\nthe Lord. I beseech Him His best wills for you in both the worlds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These are phrases from sincere advice\nof a kind and aware father and leader to his son, Imam Hassan (PBUH). Now after\nthe passage of many years, it seems these phrases are addressing the freemen\nand truth seekers and making them ponder about this world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Selection taken\nfrom “Nahj al-Balaghah”, Letter 31, translation provided by Ahlul\nBayt Digital Islamic Library Project)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On behalf of the Roshd Website, we\ncongratulate all Muslims, especially you, dear friend, on the 13th of Rajab,\nthe birth anniversary of the leader of the pious, Amir al-Mu?minin, Imam Ali\nibn Abitalib (PBUH).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From: A father who is getting old To: A son who is subject to passage of time … O My son! Subjugate your nature with the vision of death; make it see the mortality of life and of all that it holds dear. Force it to realize the actuality of misfortunes and adversities, and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28248],"tags":[18755,18754,18758,18757,18591,18418,18759,18756,18401],"class_list":["post-3980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-occasional-letters","tag-2007-07-27","tag-a-letter-from-a-father-to-a-son","tag-dear-son","tag-death","tag-father","tag-occasion-letters","tag-self","tag-subject","tag-the-great-prophet-of-islam"],"yoast_head":"\n