you are indeed toiling laboriously towards your Lord, and you will meet Him.”
He thus mentions that man toils towards Allah and then meets Him. Toiling towards Him entails following a path and journeying towards Him, and the meeting follows these. Merely beholding something without journeying towards it—as when beholding the sun and moon—is not called a meeting. “Meeting” may also mean reaching something, and what it means to reach something depends on its nature.
Evidence for this is that Allah Most High says:
“When you meet an enemy force, stand firm.”
“When you meet those who disbelieve advancing for battle, do not turn your backs on them.”
He also says:
“When they meet those who believe, they say, ‘We believe’; but when they are alone with their devils, they say, ‘We are with you’”—to the end of the verse.
And He says:
“When they meet those who believe, they say, ‘We believe’; but when they are alone with one another, they say, ‘Do you tell them what Allah has disclosed to you?’”
And He says:
“And when you met, He made them appear few in your eyes and made you appear few in theirs.”
Allah Most High also says:
“There was a sign for you in the two forces that met: one fighting in the way of Allah and the other disbelieving. They saw them with their own eyes as twice their number.”
In the two Sahīh collections, it is reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
“Do not wish to meet the enemy, and ask Allah for well-being. But when you meet them, remain steadfast.”
The two Sahīh collections also relate that Abū Hurayrah met the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, on one of the streets of Medina while he was in a state of major ritual impurity. He slipped away and went to bathe. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, noticed his absence. When he returned, he asked, “Where were you?”
He replied, “O Messenger of Allah, you met me while I was in a state of major ritual impurity, and I did not wish to sit with you until I had bathed.”
The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Glory be to Allah! A believer does not become impure.”
In another wording: