And Turn in Repentance

From Regret by Muhammad Alshareef

Say: My servants who have acted extravagantly against themselves still do not despair of Allah’s mercy. Allah forgives all offences; He is the Forgiving, the Merciful (Az-Zumar 39/53).

So many of us have heard this verse out of context. It may seem like a human can do all the bad that they want, and when they die, they will go to Heaven. But read on.

And turn in repentance towards your Lord and commit yourselves peacefully to Him before torment comes to you; then you will not be supported. / Follow the finest part of whatever has been sent down to you from your Lord before torment comes upon you suddenly while you do not notice it / Lest some soul should say: Alas my grief that I was undutiful to Allah and I was indeed among those who scoffed [at the truth] (Az-Zumar 39/54-56).

This last verse is the proof that the Qur’an cannot be translated. How do you explain the grief of ya hasrataa? Imam At-Taahir Ibn Aashoor tries explaining hasrah as an extreme violent intoxicated regret. It is like a servant boy whose master charged him with the care of a flock. Thinking that the master was not watching, he slept and played, leaving the flock unattended. The flock went further and further away until a pack of wolves came and devoured the entire flock. Hasra is the regret of that boy when he returns to his master to tell him what happened.

Yahya Ibn Mu’aadh rahimahullah said, “The most naïve thing in my eyes is to linger in sin – with no regrets – hoping for a far off pardon and to come closer to Allah without doing anything and to wait for the harvest of Jannah while planting the seeds of hellfire – waiting for reward without performing any deeds.”

Slight modifications by Muslim Apple