Attention 'O' Procrastinators!

What follows is first of all an advice to myself first and foremost, may you all be of those who take benefit from it:


Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Rizq and ‘Alee bin Ahmad bin ‘Umar al-Muqri both said: Ja’far bin Muhammad al-Khaldee informed us: Ibrahim bin Nasr al-Mansoori narrated to us: Ibrahim bin Bashaar narrated to me: Yusuf bin Asbaat narrated to me: Muhammad bin Samurah as-Saa’ih wrote the following letter to me:


“O brother! Beware of letting procrastination take control of you and letting it take a firm root in your heart, for indeed it is the cause for fatigue and wasting (of time). Due to it, aspirations are cut short and appointed times are not met. If you allow this to happen you have let it free you from your resolutions, and in effect, take you over. And reclaim your body from the lethargy that overtook you. But when it returns back to you, your soul will not benefit from your body. And hasten, my brother, for indeed you are being hastened. And rush, for indeed you are being rushed. And be serious, for indeed, the matter is serious. Awaken from your sleep, and snap out of your heedlessness. And remember what you have left behind, what you fell short in, what you neglected, what crimes you committed and what deeds you did, for indeed that is recorded and you will be held accountable for it. So it is as if the matter has come upon you all of a sudden and so you are (either) happy at what you have put forth for it or remorseful for what you have neglected.”


Taken from: Knowledge Mandates Action by al-Khateeb al-Baghda