4. If there was laziness in reciting ṣalāt upon the beloved Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم , remove this laziness this year.

5. Identify which good deeds you were unable to perform last year, and increase your efforts to perform them this year.

In short, we must take full account of the shortcomings and deprivations of last year, and strive to remove them. Set new goals, make a new schedule, and dedicate yourselves to making this year better than the last.

(2) The Second Lesson: تَذَکُّر (Admonition)

Dear Islamic brothers! Allah Almighty further states:

لِّمَنْ اَرَادَ اَنْ یَّذَّكَّرَ

for he who intends to attain advice

Meaning, there is wisdom behind the succession of day and night for the one who wants to take admonition.

This is the second lesson: Tadhakkur, taking admonition—awakening from heedlessness and drawing lessons from the new day, new night, and new year. In other words, in the coming of night after day, day after night, and a new year after another, there is a lesson for us. If we wish to benefit from these days and nights, we must become those who readily accept advice and warnings.

Day and Night Convey the Message of Mortality

O devotees of the beloved Prophet! The coming and going of day and night conveys to us the message of fanā (mortality). Every day, the sun rises only to set; the stars appear at night only to disappear. Soon a time will come when the sun will rise, but we will not be present in this world to see it. Night will come, but no soft bed will be prepared for us, for we shall be lying on the soil in the grave.