Time

I begin by praising and glorifying Allah subhana wa ta'ala, The Rahman, The Raheem and by sending salawat on His Messenger, peace be upon him and his family.

This surah, subhanAllah, is of the most beautiful words of Allah. Only three verses long, it is one of the three shortest surahs of the Quran. The following words said by Imam Shafi'i rahimahUllah summarize my sentiments for the surah:

“لو تدبر الناس هذه السورة لوسعتهم”

“If people were to ponder on this chapter, it would amaze them.”

“لو لم ينزل إلى الناس إلا هي لكفتهم”

“If this was the only chapter sent to humanity, it would suffice them.”

“الناس في غفلة من هذه السورة”

“People are negligent of this chapter.”

-Imam Shafi'i

It is the summary of the purpose of our life, it is the essence of the message of the Messenger, it is the soul of Allah's commands. The passing by of time is the description of this life, it is the description of our very existence. Time is an endowment. It is fixed by its very nature. We cannot change the amount of time we have to live on this Earth, we cannot change the time of our death just like we didn't choose the time of our birth. It is the very constitution of our slavery to Allah, al Awal, al Akhir, as Samad. "Verily, we are from Allah, and to Him is our return." [2:156]
Our purpose in life is to be achieved through making the best use of this time. Three actions are prescribed in this Surah: 

1. Doing righteous deeds

2. Advising to truth

3. Advising to patience

Each of these are to be done in accordance with the beautiful sunnah of our beloved Rasul ul Allah peace be upon him. 

If we fail to do the three golden acts prescribed in this chapter, we will indeed be in loss. All mankind is in loss, except those who adhere firmly to the three golden acts. 

The third is a need for the first two to be implemented. It is not just a consequence but also a pre-requisite. Sabr is of the qualities of the believers. Through sabr, one is able to attain the love of the Beloved and al Wadud, the Loving. "O you who are patient! Bear a little more, just a little more remains." -Ibn al Qayyim

"Patience is that the heart does not feel anger towards that which is destined, and that the mouth does not complain." Ibn al Qayyim 

*This is not a tafseer of the surah, it is just a piece of my reflections on the surah.

*My words don't do justice to how beautiful the surah really is, one could write a book on the wonders of these verses. Click here for a tafseer.