EXPECTATIONS

Your expectations are very important. What are you expecting? Can Allah give you both? Yes. At the end of the prayer, we say,

“Rabbana atina fid-dunya hasanatan wa fil akhirati hasanatan wa qina azaaban naar.”

“Our Rab, give us goodness in this world, and goodness in the hereafter, and protect us from the torment of the fire.” (Qur’an 2:201, translation by Murshid Shaykh Taner Vargonen Ansari)

Remember that Allah is able to do all things. It is all up to you. What do you want? Which program do you want to sign up for?

But each program has a consequence. In the ahli dunya program you work hard, but you do not get anything at the end when you die. In the ahli akhira program you get a little bit of this and a little bit of that. But in the Sufi program you get a lot of this, none of this, and all of that. Which one?

In the Suratul Waqi’ah [Qur’an, Chapter 56: The Event], it is mentioned that Allah divides people into three groups on the Judgment Day: the ones whose books are given from the right hand, the ones whose books are given from the left hand, and the ones whose books are sent before. We would like to be in the group whose books have been sent before. In other words, paying our dues here and NOW, not in the Hereafter or in Hell.

As Sufis we make sure that when we die, we do not owe anybody anything. We have paid for our mistakes here. We want to pay our dues here and be free and clear because we just want to be with Allah. We do not want to talk about our debt before Allah.

Sufi Terminology

ahli dunya: people of this world

ahli akhira: people of the hereafter