pleasant garden and a place of repose, while the grave of another may be a pit of smouldering embers and a den of serpents and scorpions. Reflect upon this for a moment: if, due to becoming engrossed in carnal desires, a person is seized for omitting a single prayer, telling a single lie, engaging in backbiting once, casting a single lustful gaze, listening to music once, watching a film, uttering an abuse, rebuking someone harshly without justification, or shaving the beard once or trimming it to less than a handful—and as a punishment, is placed within the crushing darkness and terrifying solitude of a narrow grave—what then shall be his state? Truly, for those who fear Allah Almighty, this very contemplation is soul-shaking. This is merely a worldly conceptualisation; in reality, who could endure the punishments of the grave that follow the displeasure of Allah Almighty? It is narrated in Ḥilyat al-Awliyāˈ: “When a servant enters the grave, all those things from which he feared in the world—whilst not fearing Allah—appear before him to terrify him.”^[1]

صَلُّوۡا عَلَى الۡحَبِيۡب                          صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلٰى مُحَمَّد

Dear Islamic brothers! Safety lies solely in avoiding the desires of the nafs and the pursuit of lusts. Those who forsake carnal desires for the sake of the pleasure of Allah Almighty are honoured by Him with the eternal bounties of Paradise as a reward. Accordingly, Allah Almighty states in Part 30, Surah al-NāziꜤāt, Verses 40-41:

وَ اَمَّا مَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهٖ وَ نَهَى النَّفْسَ عَنِ الْهَوٰىۙ(۴۰) فَاِنَّ الْجَنَّةَ هِیَ الْمَاْوٰىؕ(۴۱)

As for he who feared standing before his Lord and restrained the carnal self from ˹against˺ base desires; indeed, Paradise is his abode.^[2]