Page 102 - Eternity Has Already Begun

ETERNITY HAS ALREADY BEGUN

moment, some of the people currently living in this world are in
Paradise while others are in Hell. This fact is stressed in the Qur'an;
in many verses relating to Paradise and Hell, the life in the Hereafter
is referred to in the simple present or past tense, which draws one's
attention to the fact that all these incidents are taking place at a sin-
gle moment:

The Companions of the Garden are busy enjoying themselves to-
day, they and their wives reclining on couches in the shade. (Su-
rah Ya Sin: 55-56)
And those who fear [and respect] their Lord will be driven to the
Garden in companies and when they arrive there, finding its gates
open, its custodians will say to them, 'Peace be upon you! You have
done well so enter it timelessly, for ever.' They will say, 'Praise be
to Allah Who has fulfilled His promise to us and made us the in-
heritors of this land, letting us settle in the Garden wherever we
want. How excellent is the wage of those who work!' You will see
the angels circling round the Throne, glorifying their Lord with
praise. It will be decided between them with truth. And it will be
said: 'Praise be to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds.' (Surat az-Zumar:
73-75)
The evildoers will see the Fire and realize they are going to fall in-
to it and find no way of escaping from it. (Surat al-Kahf: 53)
In human life, another important mystery prevails. While
mourning for someone who has died, people do not consider that
they, themselves, have also died and even been resurrected. The
birth and death of a person occur simultaneously. Even trivial de-
tails about all people's lives, deaths, resurrections and eternal lives
are retained in the Sight of Allah. In other words, everything is tak-
ing place right at this moment. Death and resurrection are truly not
incidents occurring at distinct times.
People are born in timelessness. Likewise, they die in timeless-
ness, they are resurrected in timelessness and, as a matter of fact, just
at this moment, they are alive. By the moment Allah creates man, he
becomes an eternal being. To put it another way, he starts his endless
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