Judgement Day (2/3)

I could hear the wind buzzing in my ears. A few raindrops landed on my face. I began to regain consciousness. I kept trying to get up for a long time, but my senses were not working fully. I remained in this state for a very protracted period. Then, I heard a familiar voice in my ears.

“Abdullah! Get up, quickly!” This was the voice of my long-standing, dear, and beloved friend Saleh. His voice worked like magic and I stood up quickly.

“Where am I?” was my instinctive first question.

He replied while tapping my shoulder, “You have forgotten, what I told you. The Day of Judgement has begun. Raphael is blowing the trumpet the second time. At the moment, its volume is quite low. Its sound is waking up only those people presently who were obedient to God in the previous life…”

“What would happen to the remaining people?” I interrupted him.

“In a short while, Raphael will steadily up the volume so that, it will sound harsh. Then, this noise will transform into a loud bang. At that stage, the remaining people will also wake up but that awakening will be one of suffering and discomfort. We need to get out of here before that happens”, he replied hurriedly. I wondered to myself as I got up, “but where to go?”

However, Saleh immediately understood my concern from my facial expressions and replied whilst taking quick steps, “You are fortunate, Abdullah! We are heading towards Arsh – the Throne of the Almighty”. Then, he provided some more details:

 “At this stage, only the prophets, the Siddiqeen, the Shuhada, and the Salaiheen have emerged from their graves. God ordained the success of these people while they were still in the previous world. They are the ones who believed in God despite being unable to see him with their eyes. They found him despite being unable to touch him with their hands. They listened to his call without being able to hear his voice with their ears. They believed in his prophets, submitted to them, and supported them in an exemplary manner. Their loyalty was neither to their religious leaders, personalities, or sectarian elite nor to the prejudices of their ancestors. Their loyalty was only, and only to God and his prophets. They patiently sustained all kinds of sufferings, tolerated all kinds of scorns, and underwent all sorts of hardships, just for the sake of God. High morals and noble character was the only way of life to follow for them. All their lives, they were in love with their Creator and compassionate to his creations. Abdullah! Today is the day for recompense of these people and this is the beginning of their recompense.”

As I listened to Saleh, my face displayed expressions of astonishment while his was gleaming with enjoyment.

“But, I was in Paradise and…”

Saleh interrupted me before I completed my sentence, and said light-heartedly: “My dear friend that was the period of Barzakh, the world hidden behind a curtain, from your previous world. That was a life of dreams. The real life has begun only now. Only now will people receive the reward of Paradise. By the way, that life in the Barzakh was also a reality. Remember, our friendship started during that life?”

I shook my head and just stared at him. Some of this made sense to me but there was a lot more to comprehend. However, I decided that at that stage it would be more appropriate to leave myself at Saleh’s disposal.

My friendship with Saleh began when after my death or more appropriately, after I stepped out from the illusion of a finite world and entered the real world. People are usually very scared of death, but for me, death was a pleasant experience. The name of angel of death, Azrael (Izra’il) was a symbol of terror in the world, but he came to me in a very handsome façade. He separated my personality that is, my soul, from my body with utmost love and care. My body remained in the previous world while he transferred my true personality into this new world called the Barzakh. Barzakh actually refers to a veil or a curtain; a curtain appeared between the previous world and me as soon as the angel of death appeared. Because of this curtain, I lost all contact with that world. I did not know what happened to my family due to the grief of separation, although I had full confidence that because of the upbringing I provided them, they would be patient and content upon the will of our Lord.

I was in a new world now, with my true personality. This was the world of Barzakh. The angel of death Israel had handed me over into the care of Saleh in this world. Along with him, there were many good looking, well-dressed and well-spoken angels. All of them had bouquets of flowers in their hands, while on their lips they had salutations and prayers for long life. In this background of greetings and wishes for long life, together, all of them tried to reassure me that the days of trial were over; the days of the glorious success of Paradise had begun in earnest, they kept telling me. It was then, when Saleh gave me the glad tidings of my first reward at the start of my life in Barzakh. The reward was an audience with the Master of Earth and Skies! He also informed me that this honour was granted to only a select few. I cherished this news even more than the glad tidings of entering the paradise.

Hence, my journey began in the company of these angels. This was a new world. Over there, the meanings of distances, places, time, and space altered in such a manner that it is impossible to explain them in words. I was in a state of euphoria and trance on this journey, when suddenly, we were ordered to stop. It was announced that the angels of Earth had now reached their limit and must halt. Only Saleh was allowed to accompany me from there onwards. The journey into the unseen skies began. Soon, we stopped again. I was informed that Archangel Gabriel, the Trustworthy had specially come to welcome me. On seeing me, he said:

“Abdullah! You are meeting me for the first time, but I have met you many times previously.”

As he lightly tapped on my shoulder, he spoke again:

“On the orders of my Master, I helped you many a times but you were not aware of it.”

On hearing the word Master, my face became alight with excitement. The spiritual being of Archangel Gabriel sensed this even before I had a chance to put my feelings into words. He said:

“Come on, then! I shall take you to meet your Lord. Apart from prophets, the privilege of attending the court of the One and the only God is reserved for very few human beings. You are indeed, very fortunate!”

As we proceeded forward, a question came into my mind; I felt that it was appropriate to ask Archangel Gabriel PBUH about it. So I said:

“Are we going towards ‘Sidrah tul-Muntaha’, the limit which no creation can pass?”

“No…” He replied, and then clarified further:

“You are probably thinking about Mi’raj; that is the path of the prophets. The places where the prophets are presented for attendance are supreme. They are also allowed to witness places and events in the Universe that others are not allowed to see. Your path is totally different. The reason you have been called for is to grant you the honour of prostrating in the Court of the Almighty. Probably, it is because of you that Saleh has also been granted permission to come so far.”

I looked back at Saleh; his face was glowing with joy. Gabriel continued his conversation:

“God is boundless. His abodes are countless. In your world, these abodes cannot even be imagined. Whatever knowledge you had on Earth was very little and limited. Now, after death, your eyes have truly opened. You can now see a world, whose enchantments know no bounds.”

What I was observing was a testament to the truthfulness of Archangel Gabriel. I thought to myself, it is a great blessing of God that I did not die in a state of disobedience and rejection of the ultimate truth about him. Otherwise, I would have had to see an awful and horrifying scene on waking up after death.

Accompanied by Archangel Gabriel, we passed through various stages and approached the Bearers of God’s Throne in the Empyrean *(Arsh). Here was a beautiful and subtle blend of Nur, colour and light, the description of which was beyond the realm of words. The heads of the bearers were bowed. Their faces displayed an air of fear as well as a light of serenity. Archangel Gabriel explained:

“Every command from the Court of the Almighty descends through these angels and every act of the creatures below is presented to the Almighty via them.”

I was watching them with envy in this unique place of closeness to God. They also looked up at me and for an instance, a smile appeared on their lips. This gave me more courage. I took a few steps towards the empyrean. Every pore of my body began to sing praise for the One, whom, I had yearned to meet my entire life.

(Continued)