from Allah before giving him the ruling, because sins come between a person and guidance. He inferred this from the words of Allah, Glorious and Exalted: “Indeed, We have sent down to you the Book in truth, so that you may judge between people according to what Allah has shown you. Do not be an advocate for the treacherous. And seek Allah’s forgiveness. Indeed, Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful” [al-Nisā: 105, 106]. This is a sound inference. It may also be inferred from the words of Allah Most High: “As for those who accept guidance, He increases them in guidance and grants them their righteousness” [Muhammad: 17]. Seeking forgiveness is itself guidance.

I therefore counsel you to remain mindful of Allah, seek His forgiveness frequently, and call yourselves to account, so that we may remain fully prepared lest death take us by surprise—we ask Allah to grant us a good end.

“On the Day they see it”—meaning, when they see the Resurrection—“it will be as though they had remained only for a single evening or its morning.” The evening extends from midday until sunset, while the morning extends from sunrise until midday. In other words, it will be as though they had remained for only half a day. This is indeed the reality. If we were asked now how many years of our lives have passed, would we feel that they were years, or would they seem like a single day? Without doubt, they would seem like a single day.

A person now stands between three things: a day that has passed and is beyond his reach; a future day that he does not know whether he will live to see; and the present moment, for which he is accountable. What has passed is gone, and what is gone is dead; your past has vanished from you. As for the future, you do not know whether you will reach it, while the present is what you are accountable for.

We ask Allah Most High to grant us a good end, make our final outcome praiseworthy, and our conclusion blessed. Indeed, He is Munificent and Generous.