BY THE TOKEN OF TIME!


With Allah’s Name. The Merciful Benefactor, The Merciful Redeemer. We seek His Guidance in all matters and Thank Him for Prophet Mohammed, His Excellent Role Model for Humanity. We offer prayer and Peace be upon him.


There is every indication in the social and personal behavior of the human being today that contact has been lost between the Sure Truth and ourselves. The purpose for which we exist has become lost in our relentless pursuit of the trivial and mundane. All too often, it is while in the grip of death or some devastating disease that we become un-deceived and aware that we have wasted the time of our life on that which was never important I regard to the salvation of our souls. Surah Asr, is not a scare tactic, it is an opportunity to reflect, to get our perspective on life and gage our relationship to what is important and what we have given ourselves over to in life and that we have been on Earth. Allah gives us this wonderful freeze frame of life, when He says. “Wal Asr innal insanna Lafi Khusr”. By the token of time as it passes. With regard to the Time, “Verily! Man is in loss”. (Qur’an 103:1-3) As time passes and we look back and try to match our efforts with our acquisitions, we can see that we have little to show for the time and effort spent in many of those pursuits. Allah gives us back our focus in life. He has already told us that we as well as everything else (both jinn and men) are created for the sole purpose of worshipping Allah. Surely our prayers and sacrifices our life and our death is all for Allah. That is one of the prayers we pray. That is also a reminder that our creation is for the service of Allah, noting else will bring us success, and nothing else will survive over time.
The only ones that have something to show for their efforts are those who have believed the revelation of Allah and who have enjoined for themselves and with others deeds rooted in the revelation of Allah and who have practiced patience and perseverance. The Arabic word “Asr” carries the concept of Aseerah in its meaning. Aseerah is the juice obtained by squeezing the fruit. There is a relationship between the results of our life’s efforts and the end product of the fruit tree. What we have put into our life is what we will get out of it. What we have done when opportunities came our way.
What we have done when adversity came our way. What we have done when the pressure was on, all of these things are carried into the final stages of our life and weighed for their value in light of what Allah Created the human being for. The juice of the fruit is obtained by squeezing the fruit. That is how we get the juice, by applying pressure to the fruit. That is the function of Asr, of Time. Allah says in Qur’an that He brings a variety of times (conditions) to men in turns. It is to see how we will handle the up’s and down’s. The good times (to us) and the bad times (to us). This movement of time, of circumstances actually applies pressure to the human being and squeezes us. What comes out of us under these circumstances determines if we give sweet nectar or prove to be a dried fruit, a waste of time and effort. It is common- place today to hear people speak of being under stress or to be suffering from stress. Another word for stress is “pressure”. What we are describing is the affects of the circumstances that we are experiencing. Those circumstances are responded to be based upon whether we are one of those who believe, those who do what is good. Whether we are of those that seek out and enjoin what is right with other like-minded people with the understanding that all we do must be based upon Truth and will certainly bear in time if we are patient. When the pressure of life squeezes some people, a bitter juice comes out. Others when squeezed yield positive experiences, life enhancing wisdom, sweet nectar. What eventually becomes the juice of the fruit tree starts as clean, clear water. It starts at the roots of the little tree. It is with the tree through every stage of its growth and development. It experiences the monsoon and the drought. It is present in the periods of light rain. The juice carries in itself the nutrients as well as any pollutants drawn from the soil from which the tree is feeding itself.
The juice travels the full length of the tree and deposits the essence of its travel in the fruit of that tree, and when squeezed yields the sum total of its experiences as the juice. If there has been a drought of water in the trees lifetime there will be little or no juice available when the fruit is squeezed. If the tree has drawn upon polluted water, the juice will not be fit to drink. It may be discolored or have an offensive odor. Sometimes after squeezing the fruit of the tree, we realize that the life that tree was really a total loss in respect to the essence of its productivity, its juice. On the other hand if the tree has been well watered with clean, good water. If the tree’s roots have worked together, to pull the nutrients from the soil that helped the tree proper growth and development then we see a good yield of juice with sweet and beautiful juice. A riddle is attributed to the great professor Albert Einstein. It is reported that upon his death he had a blackboard upon which was written an equation. The equation is said to be a riddle asking this question: What happens when that which cannot be stopped meets with that which cannot be moved. I do not know whether this report is factual but it highlights an aspect of verse three of Surah Asr. We know that which cannot be stopped by us is Time. That which cannot be moved is The Word of God. The answer to the riddle, if indeed a riddle it was, is when that which cannot be stopped (Time) meets that which cannot be moved (God’s Word) we have the fulfillment of the Command of Allah, we have the fulfillment of prophecy, the Sure Truth. We have the profit and the loss report on our lives. Often times we see people that have suddenly gotten a glimpse of where they are in respect to their lifetime, we see them suddenly start to be more charitable. They suddenly want to help the poor, the homeless, the sick. There has been recognition of the fact that they are caught up in that which cannot be stopped. Time! They can see they are approaching that which cannot be moved, Death! They realize that they have been carrying two bags, one for good deeds and one for bad deeds and they become sized with the fear that their bag of good deeds is very light. Some nearly go into early cardiac arrest when they realize that their bag of bad deeds is almost too heavy to lift and they cannot seem to find the bag for their good deeds. In the Qur’an translation, Wal Asr was related, “By the Token of Time through the ages”. I found it interesting that the concept of “token” was connected to Time. A token is nowadays used as a medium of exchange, as money.
It is a symbol that can be made to be equal to any amount of money. Its value is not fixed. So to is the time of our lives. We spend our token, our time and in exchange, we get the value of what we spent our life- time upon. That value is not set it is not a fixed quantity. Some people live a comparatively short period and accomplish much, while others live a long and un-productive period of time. In Surah Asr, Allah gives us something to reflect upon in regard to loss prevention. All of the time spent in Universities, in business, in pleasures will in the end count as nothing as a loss, unless certain conditions are met.
Even the things that we count as good deeds, as positive actions, if they do not fit the criteria in verse three of Surah Asr, they will bring us loss. All will be in the loss column except the ones whose actions were based upon their sincere belief in Allah. With that belief as the basis of their niyyah, they must have performed not only good deeds but must have performed deeds good or well. They must have moved from the lone ranger personality and grown into the social human being. Seeking to interact positively with like- minded believers with the same intention. They must also have their eyes on the prize. They would have accepted that this time and its squeezing upon them is from Allah and that when He Wills they will be called upon to give an accounting of their life before Him. However, until that time they have accepted to work patiently, constantly and to encourage others to do likewise. By the passing of time, that which is hidden in the womb of Mothers becomes known. By the passing of time, that beautiful face acquires wrinkles and the external beauty fades. By the passing of time, the stumbling infant learns to run. By the passing of time, with opportunity, man’s life is placed in his own hands. By the passing of time, we earn our final destination. So dear people, as the pressure of life circumstances squeezes us, what type of juice will we produce. Will we be dry and without juice? Will we reveal the best of what we have been through in life, or will there be bitterness in the juice of our lives? As time passes, we have the opportunity to enter the perimeter of those who will not be at loss. Those who will not be found wanting for as we look back over time we will see that most men’s life have ended in the loss column although with the gift of time they could have made it otherwise. All praise is due to Allah, Who has blessed us in our humble effort. It is my sincere desire that this book benefits the readers.
This is “For Those Who Reflect”, who contemplates the signs of Allah and seeks only that which will be well pleasing to Allah. Whatever benefit is herein the Praise goes to Allah, any errors are mine, and for them I ask the forgiveness of Allah.