There was once a man who had greatly transgressed against himself. He had committed many sins. The years passed. Then came the time when his life drew to an end. The man realized that he did not have much time left. He then thought about what he had accomplished during his life.
A Man Burdened with Faults
There was once a man who had greatly transgressed against himself.
He had committed many sins.
The years passed.
Then came the time when his life drew to an end.
The man realized that he did not have much time left.
He then thought about what he had accomplished during his life.
And what he saw frightened him.
He knew that he had greatly disobeyed Allah.
He feared what awaited him after death.
A disobedience is an act by which a person does what Allah has forbidden or abandons what He has commanded.
When death approached, the man gathered his sons around him.
He wanted to ask them for something.
But before that, he asked them a question:
— What kind of father have I been to you?
His sons replied:
— The best of fathers.
The man therefore knew that his children loved him and had a good image of him.
But that was not what concerned him.
What worried him was what he had prepared for his meeting with Allah.
A Great Fear
The man explained to his sons that he had not accumulated good deeds with Allah.
In some versions reported of this story, he even says that he had never done any good.
These words mainly show how terrified he was of his sins.
He did not look at his life with pride.
He was afraid.
Very afraid.
He feared Allah's punishment.
A good deed is an action performed in obedience to Allah, such as praying, helping someone, giving charity, or performing any other action that Allah loves.
The man then asked his sons to make him a promise.
What he was about to ask them was strange.
Very strange.
A Promise Before Death
He gave them precise instructions.
After his death, they were to gather a large amount of wood.
Then they were to light a fire.
They were to place his body in that fire and let it burn.
When the fire had consumed his body until it reached his bones, they were to collect what remained.
Then they were to grind his remains until they turned to dust.
But that was not enough yet.
The man wanted them to wait for a day when a strong wind would blow.
When that day came, they were to scatter his dust.
The various authentic narrations of this story give several complementary versions.
Some mention that his remains were to be scattered in the sea.
Others indicate that part was to be scattered on land and another part in the sea.
In any case, the man's idea was the same:
he wanted his remains to be scattered to the point that they could no longer be gathered by men.
Why Ask Such a Thing?
The man had a mistaken idea.
A mistaken idea is a false idea.
He thought that if he were burned, reduced to dust, and then scattered like that, Allah would not be able to gather him again in that state.
He thought he could thus escape the punishment he dreaded.
This point is important.
The scholars have explained that this was not a man who deliberately sought to defy Allah.
He was not mocking Him.
He was not saying this out of arrogance.
He was deeply ignorant of the perfect extent of Allah's power.
His error was grave.
But it was accompanied by another reality:
he feared Allah enormously.
This fear had filled his heart to the point that he had imagined this strange solution.
In one narration, he explained in essence that if Allah managed to seize him, He would inflict a tremendous punishment on him.
The man was therefore terrified of meeting his Lord.
The Moment Arrives
Then the man died.
His sons remembered the promise they had made to him.
They carried out what he had asked them.
They gathered wood.
They lit a fire.
Then they burned his body as he had ordered.
When the fire had done what it had to do, they collected what remained of his bones.
Then they ground them.
Again.
And again.
Until nothing was left but fine dust.
The man who had lived among them was now nothing but dust that no one could have recognized.
But the instructions were not finished.
The Wind
His sons waited.
Then came the moment when the wind blew.
They then took their father's dust.
And they scattered it as he had asked them.
According to the different narrations, part was scattered on the land.
Another part was thrown into the sea.
The wind carried the dust away.
The grains separated.
Some were carried far away.
Others mixed with the earth.
Still others reached the water.
To human sight, there was nothing left that could be gathered.
That was exactly what this man had wanted.
He thought that by being scattered like this, he could escape what he feared.
But he had forgotten one essential thing.
Allah's power is not like that of creatures.
Allah does not need a man's remains to be gathered in the same place.
He does not need anyone to show Him where they are.
Neither the earth.
Nor the sea.
Nor the wind.
Nor the dust.
Nothing can escape His power.
And soon, this man was going to discover how wrong he had been.
For Allah was going to gather him again.
To be continued…
