We Do Not Know When Life Will End: The Unseen, the Right Path, and Submission

6 June 2021

We Do Not Know How Much Time We Have Left

Sometimes we plan our lives as though all the years ahead have already been granted to us. At this date we will expand our business, then buy a home; our child will grow up and marry, and afterward we will enjoy some comfort. Planning is, of course, part of life. But amid these plans, we can forget a very important truth: we do not know how long our own life will last. Let us not think about this only to feel afraid. Let us remember it so that we look more carefully at our words, our work, and our relationships today.

The reminders in Surah Al-A’raf call us to look at created beings, the order of life, and the approaching end. Before our eyes are those who are born, grow, and die. Yet we can live as though death will happen only to others. If we are young, we think we have more time. Yet whatever our age, we cannot make a definite promise about tomorrow. This uncertainty reminds us not to keep postponing a right action we can take today.

Let us ask ourselves: if today were our last day, which words would we wish we had corrected? Whose rights would we want to fulfill, whom would we want to call, or which mistake would we want to turn away from? After asking this question, we do not need to abandon life and withdraw into a corner. We continue working, caring for our family, and preparing for the future. But we live bearing the responsibility of the day we have been given, without acting as though we own the future.

Speaking with Certainty About a Future We Do Not Know

People are curious about the future. They want to know when they will die, how their work will go, and what their child will experience. Sometimes we expect someone to come forward and give definitive answers to all our questions. Even a few predictions coming true can lead us to trust that person too much. But stating a possibility and knowing the unseen are not the same thing. We especially need to be careful of those who exploit people’s fears to present themselves as knowing everything.

The discussion around verses 187 and 188 of Surah Al-A’raf focuses on the limits of knowledge. Knowledge of the final Hour belongs to Allah. The Messenger explaining the duty given to him should not be confused with claiming to know every detail of the future. There is an important lesson here for us too: instead of speaking with certainty about something we do not know, we should be able to admit that we do not know. This admission does not make us worthless; it protects us from falling into false confidence.

We may think our entire life will improve because we are entering a particular line of work. We may believe we will never feel lonely if we marry, or that all our troubles will end if we have a child. What we want may be beautiful; the problem is assuming that it will certainly make every outcome good. We do not yet know what responsibilities we will face when we receive a blessing. So as we continue to ask, work, and pray, we also need the openness to say, “My Lord knows what is best for me.”

Our desire to know the future sometimes arises to lessen our fear. We think that if we learn what will happen, we can arrange everything in advance. Yet even in matters we know, we cannot manage every detail. We want our child to be well, but we cannot determine all their decisions. We prepare for our work, but cannot know how every person we encounter will behave. So tying peace to eliminating every unknown can exhaust us. Accepting our own limits means being able to leave the unknown outcome to Allah while making the preparations within our power.

The Distance Between Reading the Qur’an and Living by It

Having the Qur’an in our home and allowing it to guide our life are not the same thing. We may place a book in a beautiful spot, hang its writing on a wall, or memorize its words. But if we do not reflect on what we read, the connection between it and our behavior may remain weak. If a verse reminds us of honesty while we give a customer false information, the words we have read have not yet reached our decisions. The issue is not merely reciting, but also putting effort into understanding and applying.

We can understand this more easily in our relationships with those we love. If we constantly tell our parents, “We love you very much,” but do not ask how they are for years, something is missing from our words. If we say we value our spouse but do not make time to talk with them, the same shortcoming appears. Our saying that we believe in Allah should also have an expression in our lives. Love and faith should cease to be expressions that remain only on the tongue and become visible in effort, care, and right behavior.

We may struggle to understand what we read. Investigating a word’s meaning, considering its connection with other verses, and rereading take time. Let us not immediately give up because of this difficulty. But let us not unquestioningly put someone else’s explanation in place of the verse itself either. When learning, it is important to return to the source and try to distinguish what the text says from what is a person’s interpretation. Let us use what we learn to correct our behavior, rather than to belittle someone else.

What Happens When We Receive the Blessing We Want?

Imagine a family expecting a child. The parents pray anxiously, ask for a good child, and say they will be grateful. This turning to Allah feels very familiar. When unemployed, we ask for a job; when in debt, relief; when alone, a life partner. We turn to our Lord when we feel our need very clearly. But what happens when the thing we have been waiting for arrives? Do we remember with the same care the words we spoke while asking, the helplessness we felt, and the opportunity we have been given?

Sometimes the blessing itself occupies all our attention. We place our child’s future at the center of our own plan. We do not merely want them to succeed; we expect all their choices to match our expectations. A similar situation may arise when our business grows. The work we once asked for in prayer gradually begins to govern all our time and thoughts. While rejoicing in what has been given, we can forget our Lord who gave it and the responsibility that comes with it.

Loving our child, doing our work well, or wanting to own a home is not wrong. These may be blessings in our lives. But when we make something the sole foundation of life, our balance can easily be disturbed. If one decision by our child, a small loss at work, or a different opinion from our spouse can destroy all our peace, we need to look at ourselves. While trying to protect what we love, our desire to control it may have overtaken our love.

To recognize this, we can honestly ask ourselves a few questions. Where do my thoughts wander most during the day? At whom do I direct all my anger when something goes wrong? While expecting the person I love to make me happy, do I also listen to their needs? These questions are not asked to lessen our love. They help us live that love more rightly. Seeing the other person as someone with a will of their own prevents us from reducing them to a part of our plan. In this way, we can establish both our care and our boundaries more clearly.

How Does Excessive Attachment Exhaust Us?

Imagine someone who has bought a car through great effort. Instead of using it to make life easier, they constantly worry about whether it will be scratched or damaged. They rush outside at every sound, walk around it every day, and cannot take their eyes off it. What they worked to possess ends up exhausting them instead of bringing relief. The central issue here is not the car’s value, but the relationship with that object beginning to govern the person’s day and inner world.

We can form the same relationship with other things. Money for one person, status for another, their child’s success or their spouse’s attention for someone else may occupy the same place. We say, “Once this happens too, I will be completely happy.” Then it happens, and a new desire begins. We find a job and want to marry; we marry and want a child; the child grows up, and we think about their future. Each of these wishes is understandable. But when we continually tie peace to the next outcome, we may lose the value of today.

A person deeply devoted to work may also think they make their family happy only through material resources. Meeting the household’s needs is valuable, but sometimes their spouse’s need is not only money. They want to rest, talk, and spend time together. If we weaken our bond with our loved ones while saying, “I work for you,” we must recognize the difference between our intention and its result. Balance does not mean abandoning work; it means not allowing other trusts placed in our care to become invisible within it.

Gratitude Is Not Merely a Word of Thanks

Gratitude reminds us of the source of what we have been given. Our effort contributes to our earnings, but we did not single-handedly create the reason, body, time, and opportunities that allow us to work. Remembering these when speaking of success does not mean denying our own effort. It means not seeing ourselves as the sole owner of everything. This perspective can help us both move away from arrogance and approach what we have more responsibly.

Think about the things we regard as very ordinary when we wake in the morning. We can reach a glass of water, call a relative, have the strength to go to work, or find an opportunity to correct a mistake. If we see these as things that will always exist, it becomes easier to forget their value. Gratitude means noticing again the blessing we have stopped seeing because we are accustomed to it. Then it means looking at how we use it: are we wasting it, protecting other people’s rights, or keeping something to ourselves that we could share?

Gratitude should not remain a word spoken only when everything goes as we wish. Let us not regard our entire life as worthless when what we expect does not happen. We may struggle, feel sadness, and seek solutions. But ignoring every resource still available to us because of one loss constricts us further. Whatever our circumstances today, there may be an opportunity to do good that we can use and a behavior we can begin to correct.

We also have a great opportunity to turn our blessings into goodness. We can use an income only to consume more, but we can also use it to meet a need, pay someone for their work on time, or support a family in need. The same money can take on a different meaning through a different intention and action. What matters here is not only how many resources we possess. What we do with those resources during the time they are in our hands matters too.

Seeing the Wrong Does Not Mean Losing Hope

Sometimes we realize we have remained within a wrong for a long time. We may have allowed a debt relationship to grow, wronged someone, or placed our own desire above every standard. Seeing this may hurt. Yet we do not have to say, “There is no hope for me anymore.” Admitting a mistake does not mean being condemned to remain in it. It can be a beginning for turning toward repentance, making amends, and a better choice.

We need the same care when someone close to us does wrong. We can explain what is right, help them, and pray for them. But we cannot make every decision in their place. While giving advice, let us not forget our own behavior. If we speak of honesty but do not act honestly ourselves, our words lose their effect. Trying to correct ourselves first does not mean never speaking to someone else; it means bearing the responsibility of what we say in our own lives too.

Let us not wait for our entire life to improve before supporting someone. Sometimes it is possible to listen carefully, remind them that their mistake can be corrected, or help them reach accurate information. But while helping, let trying to manage everything in their place not become a new excess. Let us consider our own strength, their responsibility, and their actual circumstances together. Let us be patient with both ourselves and the other person. Change may take time; our duty is not to control that process by force, but to offer the right contribution we can.

Let Us Live Today Without Postponing It

Just as we do not know life’s end, we do not know where every outcome we desire will lead us. Let this truth not distance us from work, but lead us to live more carefully. Let us plan, make an effort, and care for those we love. But let us not make any person, object, or income the sole owner of all our peace. When we want something very much, let us also ask which responsibility we are forgetting for its sake. As our desire grows, let the voice of our conscience not grow quieter.

Today, we can choose a small but clear step. We can call someone close to us whom we have not called for a long time, tell a customer the accurate information we need to give, or begin making amends for an injustice. Instead of only keeping a verse we read in our minds, we can bring it into one of our actions. Learning the unseen is not within our power, but reflecting on how we will respond today to the truth we know is. Let us ask our Lord for help, not forget the blessings He has given, and use the time we have for goodness.