The Abu Aaliyah Journal
A Journey of Purification and Growth Through the Qur'an and Sunnah
The Illusion of Time in the Dunya
Surah An-Nazi’at 79:46
بسم الرحمن الرحيم
Lately, I’ve been reflecting on how quickly time passes.
I run into people I haven’t seen in years, and I’m often surprised by how much they have changed. There is gray where there once wasn’t. The face has aged. The energy is different.
Then a sobering thought comes to mind:
They are probably noticing the same changes in me.
In moments like that, I am reminded that I am not moving through time. Rather, time is carrying me toward my meeting with Allah.
Al-Hasan al-Basri رحمه الله beautifully captured this reality when he said:
يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ، إِنَّمَا أَنْتَ أَيَّامٌ، فَإِذَا ذَهَبَ يَوْمٌ ذَهَبَ بَعْضُكَ
“O son of Adam, you are nothing but a collection of days. Whenever a day passes, a part of you has gone.” [5]
Every sunset is not merely the end of another day. It is the passing of a portion of our lives.
What once felt long now feels like scattered memories. Entire years have been reduced to, “I remember when…” It is as if life is shrinking behind me.
Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله wrote:
الْوَقْتُ هُوَ الْحَيَاةُ
“Time is one’s life.” [6]
The loss of wealth may be recovered. Lost opportunities may return. But a day that has passed can never be reclaimed.
Then I read the statement of Allah:
كَأَنَّهُمْ يَوْمَ يَرَوْنَهَا لَمْ يَلْبَثُوٓا۟ إِلَّا عَشِيَّةً أَوْ ضُحَىٰهَا
“And on the Day they see it, it will be as though they had remained no more than an evening or a morning thereof.” [1]
An evening or a morning.
Everything we lived. Every success. Every hardship. Every joy and every sorrow is going to be reduced to something that feels no longer than a single morning or an evening.
Ibn Kathir رحمه الله explains that when people witness the realities of the Hereafter, the lengthy years they spent in this world will appear insignificant, as though they were no more than part of a single day. [7]
As people grow older, time often feels faster. Perhaps this feeling itself is a reminder from Allah of what He has already informed us in the Qur’an: that this worldly life was never as long as we imagined.
Consider the course of a single day.
Fajr arrives quietly.
Then comes Dhuha, filled with energy and activity.
Dhuhr arrives, and the day reaches its peak.
Then comes ‘Asr. The shadows lengthen and the light begins to fade.
Finally comes Maghrib, and before we know it, the day is over.
In many ways, our lives resemble this pattern.
Childhood is Fajr.
Youth is Dhuha.
Adulthood is Dhuhr.
The later years are ‘Asr.
And death is Maghrib.
The frightening reality is that many people do not awaken to this truth until their own Maghrib has arrived.
Allah informs us that on the Day of Resurrection people will be asked:
قَـٰلَ كَمْ لَبِثْتُمْ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ عَدَدَ سِنِينَ . قَالُوا۟ لَبِثْنَا يَوْمًا أَوْ بَعْضَ يَوْمٍۢ فَسْـَٔلِ ٱلْعَآدِّينَ . قَـٰلَ إِن لَّبِثْتُمْ إِلَّا قَلِيلًۭا ۖ لَّوْ أَنَّكُمْ كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ
“He will say: ‘How many years did you stay on earth?’
They will say: ‘We stayed a day or part of a day. Ask those who keep count.’
He will say: ‘You stayed not but a little, if only you had known.‘” [2]
Al-Qurtubi رحمه الله comments that the people will be so overwhelmed by the realities of the Hereafter that their worldly lives will seem extremely brief in comparison. [8]
In another verse Allah says:
وَيَوْمَ يَحْشُرُهُمْ كَأَن لَّمْ يَلْبَثُوٓا۟ إِلَّا سَاعَةًۭ مِّنَ ٱلنَّهَارِ يَتَعَارَفُونَ بَيْنَهُمْ ۚ
“And on the Day He gathers them, it will seem as though they had remained no longer than an hour of a day, getting to know one another.” [3]
Allah says in another ayah:
وَيَوْمَ يَرَوْنَ مَا يُوعَدُونَ كَأَن لَّمْ يَلْبَثُوٓا۟ إِلَّا سَاعَةًۭ مِّن نَّهَارٍۢ
“And on the Day they see that which they were promised, it will seem as though they had not remained except for an hour of a day.” [9]
The Qur’an repeatedly returns to this theme. A morning. An evening. An hour. A day or part of a day. The message is clear: the dunya is far shorter than we imagine.
Imagine that.
Everything people spent their lives worrying about.
Everything they chased.
Everything for which they delayed repentance.
Everything for which they postponed obedience.
It will all seem like a day, part of a day, or even a single hour.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ understood this reality better than anyone. He( ﷺ) said:
كُنْ فِي الدُّنْيَا كَأَنَّكَ غَرِيبٌ أَوْ عَابِرُ سَبِيلٍ
“Be in this world as though you were a stranger or a traveler.” [4]
A traveler does not become attached to every place he passes through. He knows he is moving toward a destination.
Yet many of us live as though we are staying forever.
We plan as if tomorrow is guaranteed.
We become attached to things that are already slipping away.
The signs are all around us.
We feel them every time we say:
“That year went by fast.”
We feel them every time months seem like weeks. How many times have we said, “Ramadan is near”?
We feel it when we see someone after many years and realize that time did not merely pass—it changed everything.
Ibn Mas’ud رضي الله عنه said:
مَا نَدِمْتُ عَلَى شَيْءٍ نَدَمِي عَلَى يَوْمٍ غَرَبَتْ شَمْسُهُ، نَقَصَ فِيهِ أَجَلِي، وَلَمْ يَزْدَدْ فِيهِ عَمَلِي
“I have never regretted anything more than a day in which the sun set, my lifespan decreased, and my deeds did not increase.” [10]
The passing of time is not the true loss. The true loss is allowing time to pass without drawing nearer to Allah.
One day, every one of us will stand before Allah.
Our entire life, every memory, every season of our existence, will feel as though it passed in a single morning or a single evening.
And the question then will not be how long we lived.
The question will be:
What did we do with the time Allah gave us?
The Prophet ﷺ said:
لَا تَزُولُ قَدَمَا ابْنِ آدَمَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ مِنْ عِنْدِ رَبِّهِ حَتَّى يُسْأَلَ عَنْ خَمْسٍ: عَنْ عُمُرِهِ فِيمَ أَفْنَاهُ، وَعَنْ شَبَابِهِ فِيمَ أَبْلَاهُ، وَعَنْ مَالِهِ مِنْ أَيْنَ اكْتَسَبَهُ وَفِيمَ أَنْفَقَهُ، وَمَاذَا عَمِلَ فِيمَا عَلِمَ
“The feet of the son of Adam will not move on the Day of Resurrection before his Lord until he is asked about five things: about his life and how he spent it; about his youth and how he used it; about his wealth, how he earned it and how he spent it; and what he did with the knowledge he acquired.”11
Notice the very first questions mentioned is:
“His life and how he spent it.”
Not how much wealth he accumulated.Not how many years he lived.But how he spent the life Allah entrusted to him.
Many of us think we have time.
But time was never ours to own.
It was only ever ours to spend.
Prepared by ,
Abu Aaliyah Abdullah ibn Dwight lamont Battle
1447(c)
Footnotes
[1] Surah al-Nazi’at 79:46.
[2] Surah al-Mu’minun 23:112-114.
[3] Surah Yunus 10:45.
[4] Sahih al-Bukhari, no. 6416.
[5] Abu Nu’aym, Hilyat al-Awliya’, biography of al-Hasan al-Basri.
[6] Ibn al-Qayyim, Madarij al-Salikin, discussion on the value of time and lifespan.
[7] Tafsir Ibn Kathir, commentary on Surah al-Nazi’at 79:46.
[8] Tafsir al-Qurtubi, commentary on Surah al-Mu’minun 23:112-114.
[9] Surah al-Ahqaf 46:35.
[10] Reported from Ibn Mas’ud رضي الله عنه in the books of Zuhd and admonitions.
[11] Jami’ al-Tirmidhi, no. 2417 (Hasan Sahih)
