Journey Towards The Eternal Destination (3/3)

He then passed over the record of my deeds into my hands. A unique light came out of it that allowed my eyes to see clearly in the darkness again.

Saleh added, “Everybody has been handed over his record of deeds. It is now the sole source of light for its bearer in this darkness. Everyone here except for the Hypocrites has this light”.

“What will happen now?” I enquired.

 “We will now go downwards. Each nation will go to the Paradise under the leadership of its prophet.”

“Where is the way to the Paradise?” I questioned.

 “It is very close to the Throne.  Behind the Throne, on the right side, from where you could see the Paradise earlier is the way to it. However, the path passes over the deep pit of the Hell, where it is steeped in darkness. The brighter one’s light is, the easier and quicker is this passage over the Hell.”

“Oh, that means that there is still one more test to go!” I said.

“No, it is not a test.  It only exemplifies the worldly life.  During life, whoever travelled on the straight path to God with loyalty, obedience, conviction and steadiness, will be able to cross this path to paradise today with similar ease and speed. Regardless of whether they cross it quickly or slowly, all those who were given their Books of Deeds in their right hands will manage to cross over the deep pit of Hell and enter paradise. However, when the hypocrites try to cross over without the light of true faith and righteous deeds to guide them, they will fall off it into the lowest pit of Hell. There, they will be greeted with the worst punishments imaginable.”

“Will my family accompany me on this journey?” I asked.

“No! Today, everyone has to go through this last journey alone.” Saleh answered with certainty.

“Then what did you mean when you said that people would go to the Paradise in groups?” I raised a question.

 “What I meant was that all the followers of a prophet will be taken to the gates of Paradise under the leadership of their prophet. However, they will enter Paradise one by one, in a manner appropriate to their individual deeds.”

Saleh then asked me a question after a pause, “Do you desire to see yet another event”?

Before I could respond in affirmative, he moved forward swiftly, taking me along, until we reached a place where people possessed extremely bright radiance.  This brightness covered them as they moved from behind, from front, from their left and right. They were saying loudly, “O our Lord! Keep our Nur alight and forgive us. You have full control over everything. Verily nothing is beyond you”.

I recognised them without asking Saleh. These were indeed the companions of the last Prophet, who was leading them. The Prophet himself was an epitome of Nur at its peak.

Following their lead, I also started to recite their words. I used to recite this prayer from the Qur’an often during my past life. However, the most appropriate time to recite it was indeed now.

We were walking in the same direction when Saleh said, “Watch what happens now”.

As soon as Saleh uttered these words, I saw some people running towards the companions, many falling over in the process. They did not have any light with them. As soon as they came near, they started to plead to the companions to give them a little of their light. Some of the companions pointed to the rear towards the right side of the Plane of Judgement and said, “We brought the light from there. You should also go back and get some”.

On hearing this, all of those Hypocrites started to run back in that direction. However, as soon as they tried to turn right, they realised that there was a wall in the way. There were a few doors in the wall that were guarded by angels. They tried to enter through the doors but the angels started to beat them up to turn them away. They did not have any way to get the light.

They then ran back to the companions and pleaded again saying, “Help us!   We are also Muslims. We were by your side in the previous world. You know us well. Please do something to help us get some light”!

The companions replied, “Certainly you were with us but you put yourself in a malicious situation. You remained doubtful about this day till the end. Your real aim was only to attain benefits of the worldly life. You followed the way of Satan and he kept you in deception. Hence today, neither you nor any other rejecter of the truth can escape by giving any ransom or bribe”.

On hearing this, the Hypocrites realised that their destiny would not be any different to all those who had rejected the truth.

It seemed dangerous to them to turn back. Therefore, they decided to try to find a way by moving forward in the darkness. Without any light to guide them, this attempt could have had only one consequence. One by one, screaming and wailing, they stumbled into the Hell below, where the angels  of  chastisement  were  waiting  to  give  them  a  taste  of  their medicine.

We continued to move forward towards the Paradise, reciting the same prayer again:

“O our Lord, do not let our Nur extinguish! Save us from the fate of the Hypocrites, and forgive us. Indeed! You have power over everything.”