Time is not on our side

Time in Islam is a crucial reminder of our mortal existence in this world. Prophet Muhamad(s.a.w) told his companions: 'Be in this world as if you are a traveler.' And he went further on this and gave an analogy of life in this world as - A person who is traveling through a desert and then sees a tree, he takes a brief rest under it's shade before resuming his journey. This is the world, we only take a brief rest on it on our way to a very long journey to Akheera( hereafter). We cannot stop time from passing by and with each passing day, it takes away a part of us and our existence - our youth, our beauty, strength and in some cases, our minds too. We do not belong here and we need to remind each other of this fact in order to be both conscious of our actions and also as part of faith. In the fourth hadith of Qudsi narration, Allah(s.w) boasts of his dominion on the subject of time : -Sons of Adam inveigh against ( the vicissitudes of) time, and i am Time, in My hand is the night and the day-. When the Bedouins used to come to the Messenger of Allah(s.a.w) and inquire about the hour( judgement day) He, the Messenger of Allah(s.a.w) used to look at them and point to the youngest among them and say: ' When he lives up to extreme old age, then your day of judgement would already have started.' Here the Messenger of Allah(s.a.w) clearly refers to death as the beginning of one's judgement day. If life is as short as a brief rest under a shade of a tree, then why do we waste this brief moment enjoying the pleasures of the tree shade instead of amassing enough supplies to build a permanent and better shade in the journey ahead? Iman(faith) plays a big role on how we behave and live our lives and if we do not establish a firm foundation of Iman, then the whole structure of one's endeavour is placed in Jeopardy. The only way to establish such a foundation is through knowledge which in turn nourishes the heart towards fear of Allah(s.w). If all Muslims today would wake up in the morning and suddenly become conscious of these facts before them, then it is correct to point out that oppression, injustice and poverty will be none existent throughout the Muslim world. Our brief time under the tree shade is fixed and we cannot hasten away from it nor linger under it more than the time prescribed. Lets make good use of the options available under it - repentance and good deeds since this option wont be available once we depart from it.