A story worth reading

This is one of the many emails i receive of which I shall post on the blog. Due to time limits I am unable to read these emails on air, so now I put them up for all to read. Enjoy...


Since last night my young son has been unwell. When I got back from Workthis evening I decided to take him to hospital despite my exhaustion. There were many waiting; perhaps we will be delayed by more than anhour. I took my number and sat down in the waiting room. There were manyfaces, young and old, but all silent. Some brothers made use of themany booklets available in the waiting room.

Some of those waiting had their eyes closed, while others were lookingaround. Most were bored. Once in a while the long silence was broken bya nurse calling out a number. Happiness appears on the one whose turn itis, and he gets up quickly; then silence returns. A young man grabbed my attention. He was reading a pocket-sized Qur`ancontinuously; not raising his head even once. At first I did not thinkmuch about him. However, after one hour of waiting my casual glancesturned into a deep reflection about his lifestyle and how he utilizeshis time. One hour of life wasted! Instead of making benefit of thathour, it was just a boring wait. Then the call for prayer was made. Wewent to prayer in the hospital's Masjid. I tried to pray close to theman who was reading the Qur'an earlier in the waiting room.

After the prayer I walked with him. I informed him of how impressed Iwas of him and how he tries to benefit from his time. He told me thatmost of our time is wasted without any benefit. These are days that gofrom our lives without being conscious of them or regretting theirwaste. He said that he started carrying the pocket-sized Qur`an aroundwhen a friend encouraged him to make full use of his time. He told methat in the time other people waste he gets to read much more of theQur`an than he gets to read either at home or in the masjid. Moreover,besides the reward of reading the Qur`an, this habit saves him fromboredom and stress.

He added that he has now been waiting for one and a half hours. Then heasked, when will you find one and a half hours to read the Qur`an? Ireflected; How much time do we waste? How many moments of our lives passby, and yet we do not account for how they passed by? Indeed, how manymonths pass by and we do not read the Qur`an? I came to respect mycompanion, and I discovered that I am to stand for account and that timeis not in my hand; so what am I waiting for?

My thoughts were interrupted by the nurse calling out my number; I wentto the doctor. But I want to achieve something now. After I left thehospital I quickly went to the bookshop and bought a pocket-sizedQur`an. I decided to be mindful of how I spend the time. If this information is beneficial to you, then please do forward it toyour friends and relatives. Our Prophet (SAW) said; 'Whoever guides or directs to good, then he getsthe same amount of blessing (reward) as the one who does it' The Prophet (SAW) also said 'Pass on knowledge from me even if it isonly one verse'