Hasan al-Basri who was a very pious man who lived just after Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said that he once passed by a group of people who were laughing merrily.



He said: ‘God, Great and Glorious is He, has made the month of Ramadan a race course, on which His creatures compete in His worship.


Some have come in first and won, while others have lagged behind and lost. It is absolutely amazing to find anybody laughing and playing about on the day when success attends the victors, and failure the wasters.


By God, if the veil were lifted off, the doer of good would surely be preoccupied with his good works and the evildoer with his evil deeds.’



In too full of joy to indulge in idle sport, while for one who has suffered rejection laughter will be precluded by remorse.