Do Today’s Work Today

On the authority of Abdullah ibn Umar (R), who said: The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) took me by the shoulder and said, “Be in this world as though you were a stranger or a wayfarer.”
And Abdullah Bin Omar (R) used to say: “When the morning comes upon you, then do not expect to see the evening, and when you see the night, do not expect to see the morning.”
(Sahih al Bukhari, Hadith no. – 6416)

Dear brothers and sisters,
The meaning of the hadith mentioned above is that we should not have lofty or long-term hopes for this word. Think about death and do your best in doing good deeds. Do not let your concerns and ambitions surpass the limit of that day in which you live, a code that will allow you to concentrate and spend all of your energies on being productive each day. Use time efficiently and concentrate all of your efforts on achieving something today, by improving your manners, taking care of your health, and improving your relations with others.
When you wake up in the morning, do not expect to see the evening – live as though today is all that you have. Yesterday has passed with good and evil, while tomorrow has not yet arrived. Your life’s span is but one day, as if you were born in it and will die at the end of it. With this attitude, you will not be caught between an obsession over past, with all its anxieties, and the hopes of the future, with all its uncertainty. One of our pious predecessor said: “O’ son of Adam, verily, you have only three days: Yesterday, and it has forsaken you; tomorrow, and it has yet to arrive; and today, so use it perfectly by obeying Allah.
Live for today: During this day you should pray with a wakeful heart, recite Qur’an with understanding, and remember Allah with sincerity. Organize the hours of this day, so that you make years out of minutes and months out of seconds. Umar (R) said, “Do not put off today’s work until tomorrow, lest work accumulate and you achieve nothing.” So, Live as if you were to die today, but learn as if you were to live forever.

Jobayer Al Mahmud
Student, Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey