sincerely are bestowed with favours and generosity from the court of Allah, going on to become His beloved servants. Despite so many blessings and bounties, we are occupied in disobeying Allah and we try to avoid repentance by making various excuses. This is despite the fact we hear news on a regular basis of so many people passing away. For example, so-and-so was a cancer patient and he died today; so-and-so suffered a heart attack and died suddenly; so-and-so slept happily at night but did not wake up in the morning, or so-and-so had a check-up yesterday and passed away today.

Dear Islamic brothers! We should wake up from this negligence before our death is also announced, before people carry us on their shoulders towards a dark grave, before they refer to us as being ‘deceased’, before people wait for our funeral salah to begin, before we are afflicted by the painful state of death, before our body becomes paralysed due to the pain of our soul leaving the body, before the angels of death surround us, before we are overcome by regret, and before the door of repentance closes; before all of this, we too should please our Merciful Lord. Shed tears in His court, cry whilst seeking forgiveness for your sins, and repent sincerely to Him, because He forgives all the sins of those who repent. He frees them from the fire of Hell and loves those who repent.

Allah says in verse 222 of Sūrat al-Baqarah:

اِنَّ اللّٰہَ یُحِبُّ التَّوَّابِیۡنَ  

Translation from Kanz al-Īmān: Indeed, Allah loves those who repent abundantly.^[1]

Dear Islamic brothers! Allah loves those who repent. We disobey Him day and night, yet He does not hasten to punish us. Certainly, this is the favour and grace of our generous Lord. Similarly, it is also from His