Two Roads to Rest

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ 

Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani (q.s.) said, “There are two ways in which a person may find rest.  One of them is through natural death.  Until death, a person struggles.  When he dies, his arms and legs are spread out and he is laid to rest and there is no more struggling.  According to his station, he has reached peace.  Yet, his peace by natural death may only be for his physical body.  He may still have not reached real peace spiritually.  Therefore, we seek peace for both sides, for our physical bodies and our spiritual selves.  Our physical bodies will get peace by death, natural death.  Then, there is no more movement, no more struggling.  But we must also look after our soul, whether it has peace or not, whether the souls is struggling or not. 

For this reason, Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) said, ‘Die before you die.’  This is what makes a person to reach spiritual peace and satisfaction, true peace.  Our physical body may die, but as yet, we have not attained our spiritual peace.  Therefore, the one who asks for real peace within himself must try the ways of those who have attained real peace spiritually, and the Prophet’s (s.a.w.) advice to his ummah, to ourselves, is to die before natural death comes upon us. 

Only a few are equally at peace body and soul.  Most people destroy their spiritual peace by running after the physical body’s peace.  It is impossible for a person, without spiritual peace, to reach bodily peace until natural death comes.  But even at the time of death, there may be no benefit at that time, because even if we find peace in our physical body, our spiritual side may still struggling and suffering.  Then, from the day of one’s death up to the Day of Resurrection, in your hayat al-barzakh, the intermediate life between eternal life and this world’s life, those troubles and struggles may still continue.  Perhaps it may continue even on the Day of Resurrection, and it may be more than this also.  One may be in Hell, struggling and suffering for a period until he reaches to the Ocean that he was Given in pre-eternity.”