Yourself through death, grant me Your mercy and forgive my sins by Your grace.

As the king supplicated, his pain intensified. He began repeating, “By Allah, this is death! By Allah, this is death!” These words remained on his tongue until his soul departed.^[1]

First cause: fleeting hopes

Dear Islamic brothers! One of the foremost and significant obstacles to our reformation are our fleeting and unrealistic hopes. They lead to numerous spiritual and worldly problems:

*     Long hopes push a person into the depths of sin.

*     They open the door to endless desires.

*     They entangle a person in worldly pleasures and distractions.

*     They render a person oblivious to the horrors of the grave.

*     They embolden one to commit sins.

*     They obstruct self-reformation.

*     They make a person negligent about preparing for death.

*     They cause indulgence in various sins.

As highlighted in the previously narrated story, the king, driven by the calamity of fleeting hopes and the desire for a prolonged life, began constructing grand palaces, partaking in extravagant entertainment, and indulging in worldly luxuries. Surrounded by the flattery of friends and servants, he forgot the loneliness of the grave.

However, as soon as the fire of fleeting hopes was extinguished in his heart, the darkness of heedlessness faded, and the king became