All is not lost

He was running madly through an area full of bushes, loaded with thorns. Those thorns injured him. He started bleeding. But he continued to run. 

Suddenly he woke up. He was drenched in sweat. This nightmare had been chasing him for a fortnight. 

He began to realize after some time that it was not just a dream. It was something else that was disturbing him. He started focusing on the cause which was tingling his soul. Then again, after some days he saw an old man (in his dream) with long, white beard looking at him. The old man asked him, "Do you know who I am?" He was stunned. He couldn't utter a single word. Then the old man replied: "I am your soul. I am not satisfied. Please feed me with good deeds!" 

The next morning, the dream flashed through his mind and he realized that the two consecutive dreams he saw were linked to each other. 

That bushy and thorny area was actually his bad deeds and this world which were entangling his soul and hurting him. His sins were chasing him like a black hole ready to engulf him. What was needed to be done now? What? 

He knew an old Saint . He went to him and told him about the nightmare. The Saint said, "Wash your bad deeds with good deeds! You need redemption from your sins. You need to be run away from the traps of this world." 

The young man was astonished. Everything became clear in front of him like a crystal. It was the filth of his bad deeds which was needed to be removed.

He realized that we, as humans, are not perfect. Doing bad doesn't mean that we can never do anything good in life. Doing bad and then doing good after that means that Allah wants you to return to Him. Allah almighty Who loves His creations 70 times more than a mother. Who wants to give something better than this world to us. Why will He not forgive us if we want to return to Him? 

Because only a single word of "taubah" can lead to the cleanliness of the soul. And it is never too late to redeem!

Kashaf Saeed (Batch of 2022)