A Deeper Look – Surah Al Asr #3

The thing of it is all human beings, some of them, some of us are rich, some of us are poor, some of us are healthy, some of us are sick, some of us are strong and others are weak, some have better opportunities, some have less opportunity, some are free, and some are caged. Human beings find themselves in any variety of circumstances. But the statement that Allah has made is that every one of us is in loss. Doesn't matter what state we're in, we're in loss. How is that's the common denominator between all of us, whether the one who looks apparently happy, or healthy, or wealthy or prosperous, or the one who looks miserable, it doesn't matter. Allah has made a unanimous

declaration, all of you are losing all of you're actually not just losing, you are in loss already. You're drowning in loss already. And that helps me appreciate what the previous I was, the biggest proof that all of us are in a continuous state of loss is time itself. Because that's one thing you and I can never gain more of. That is one thing we're always going to be losing. Today, we'll never come back, McGraw will never come back. The moments that we've passed away, hi, yah, Touka. And fast, your life is nothing but inhales and exhales. That's all they are. That inhale that went in and the exhale that went out is not coming back. These are moments of our life that have gone and

will never return. It doesn't matter whether you're sick, or healthy, or poor or wealthy. What part of the world you live in there is there's one loss that is unavoidable. And that is of time. And that loss as days go by is taking a toll on you. In the sense of physics, which is kind of creepy. I was talking to a friend who's a physics major, you know, through the laws of entropy and all of that the universe is constantly expanding. And by implication, it's actually constantly breaking apart. Everything is tearing apart, everything is breaking. And people that have a purely scientific worldview become very, you know, basically, they have this Annihilus kind of sense sense of the

world, things are going to end anyway, we're all just going to be it's all going to be over the universe is just gonna collapse. Everything's falling apart, everything around us is actually breaking apart. Slowly. But surely, the decay and loss is the reality of the entire physical universe around us. As a matter of fact, the human body, we're constantly losing cells, we're constantly dead skin is falling off, hairs falling off, whether we realize it or not. We're constantly losing physically also, even Allah mentions not only a reference to what happens in the in the grave, cut the alumni Matan puzzle, or women who were in the Nakita will have healed, we

already know what the earth keeps taking away from them. And we have a book that guards everything, even though you're being decayed away, even as you're alive, there's decay happening. But even as you after you die, your body is going through decay inside the grave. And Allah says, regardless, what needed to be preserved will always stay Preserve. We're in the Nikita Boone Haviv. But this is the notion of loss that I wanted to start off with that time is the ultimate loss that cannot be escaped for any of us. Now I want to talk to you about the word choice for loss in this ayah and that's the word hustle. It's a common word in the Quran. It's used many, many times it's used to

describe for example, Al Hasan the losers like a human costume occurs in the Quran. You know Alladhina casue those who those who lost hospital dunya will akhira Quran says they lost this life and in the next they lost both. So the common word actually in the Quran for loss is this word or the origin of this word hoster.

As for the word loss itself, not as verbs and other forms, the verb the noun itself holster is used in three forms in the Quran, you find holster and you find Hazara. Well, let me ask you who Milo who are well I do who Allah Hazara, or you find Hassan Casilla dunya will Astra Lika Hua Hassan Al movie, so you'll find three versions of the word loss and there's subtle differences between them. Hassan is used for the worst possible loss. That's a novella that's not used here. The Asada is used when you're already in a state of loss and it gets worse. That's why it typically comes with the other in the Quran lemmya Xin who might know who or who Allah, Hazara, they were already losing, and

then more loss on top of the loss. They already had. Things got even worse, that's Cassatt that we don't recite in Al Insana la vehicles run. Nor do we recite in Delhi in Santa Fe kasar. We recite in Del in Santa Fe hostel. The word cosa is the base notion of loss and what Allah is saying is by using that word that there are degrees of loss, that there are some people are losing a lot. Some people are losing a little. Some people are losing insignificant amounts. Some people are losing terrible amounts. And by the way, just to put things in relative order, like you know somebody who, you know, Lee loses $1 and is a millionaire may not Oh, was that mine. Oh, I didn't really realize

and it's not a big deal for them. But somebody else who has barely any

Many losers $1.

And that's a huge deal for them. So it could look like the same loss but it's not felt the same way. It's not felt by people the same way there are degrees in which we feel or sense feel the pinch of loss, right? So Allah is making a comment that whoever you are, whether you realize it or not, at some level you are experiencing loss, of course the ultimate loss being time itself, but it's not limited to that. How do we know it's not limited to that? Well, we know that because Allah use the word hosted in the in at the end that and when completes that I mean, all kinds of loss. It could mean great loss and it can also mean all kinds of loss. So now I want to dig into this word loss

before we go any further from the Arabic point of view. What's the origin of this word Al Asad Allah, the apostle Miguel will resign when Casa de la Liga Mahalo, who are clue i hacia la Houma. First of all the has had an Arabic is not just a loser is a cheater.

Someone who deceives like you know, when people back in the day they had when they sold vegetables, or rice or fruit or whatever, they had the scale of the weight on this side, and whatever you're buying on the other side, and they put false weight or their tip the scale a little bit. So they give their customer a little less. That person who would give a little less was actually called the hassle.

Meaning he causes Hassan, that's what it's called. So now, first of all human beings are in loss implies also human beings are being cheated. Human beings are in a in a scam.

They're in a scam. They're being deceived. This is a notion described elsewhere in the Quran, that this is Malhotra dunya, Allah Mataro and highroad. worldly life is nothing but a means by which people get deceived. And part of the meaning of course, is actually you know, the this idea of guru of deception. So human beings are being cheated out of something. Human beings don't realize they're they've got blinders on. They think they're running after something that will give them success, or think they're running away from some some kind of loss. But actually, they're running right towards it. They've been cheated all along. They haven't seen the truth for what it is. This is why that

drive is so important. Allahumma allinial con was nativa Allah show us the truth as truth and give us the ability to follow it.

Well, I didn't know about the law about Elon was much the Navajo gave us the ability to see false as false, and enable us to stay away from it. Because sometimes false is so attractive. You can't help but be compelled towards it drawn into it pulled into its gravitational force, its field. And you and I just go into it, blind it. And when someone tries to wake us up, we'd rather not wait. It's too uncomfortable reality in that case, one is deceiving themselves, when chooses to stay happy and deceive themselves. Also, Alhazred is also used for someone who's lost their mind as a result of losing everything. So in a nutshell, if your question is actually in a set, in a sense, human beings

are indulged in insanity. Human beings are crazy. What are we doing?

You know, like you would think of someone running into a building on fire, what are you doing? You're crazy. That's the comment made by Allah, I swear by time that's running out. If the human being runs, they tend to run towards the wrong thing towards their own destruction. The hubba Malou acclaro our clue they're running towards their own bankruptcy. And this perhaps is also an illusionary reference to judgment day. When people wake up on Judgement Day. They can't believe what's happening around them. And Allah says, Ouattara NASA Sue Cara Palma Hungary Socotra, you're gonna see people they look like they're drunk, they're not drunk at all. You know, they're just,

they're gonna can't believe what's happening in front of them. And they look just tipsy. That's what they're going to look like. So now moving on, Hassan told me Xandra Sato Hoon Acosta who has Sarah tagit will be our feet majority he that's the other the last meaning of it also, for a businessman to experience hosel is actually for the business to collapse. Human beings are are drowning in bankruptcy, they're heading or they're they've already been duped into bankruptcy. Well, Martin and Mallory Knox are shaped by the hobby. Exactly. Minho. Falkland for it actually, the overall meaning is when you are losing something continuously bit by bit by bit by bit by bit, that's actually

closer. Which reminds me of the essential meaning of answer when something is squeezed away drip by drip by drip by drip by drip. It's actually similar meaning to that when loss is happening, but it's not all of loss all at once. But you're losing just a little bit at a time. I'm reminded of that experiment. I think it was in Psych class. I couldn't remember what class it was. When we saw this experiment of a frog thrown into boiling water. You know, it's just jumps out right away or towards hot waters jumps out right away. And then you have this frog was just sitting in water. It's slowly being heated

and it's not jumping. It's just sitting there. And actually it gets to the point

Word dice, but it doesn't jump. It didn't realize because the depth to it was coming slowly, the slow poison got to it. If he saw the consequences of it all at once, he would have jumped. But no human beings are just drowning more and more deeper and deeper and deeper. Allah will give this energy this imagery in order to newer and describe a person drowning in the middle of an ocean and say, you know, lum yada yada, yada. He a person who's drowning in the ocean and so dark underneath at the bottom, he almost can't even see his own hand. Like that's the depth to which people can go into Hosur. Now as far as you know, old commentators classical commentary like iblue cathedra, Hema,

hola the Sahaba that I've been in, they had lots of things to say about what this loss could mean. And I've kind of compiled all of them in one phrase for you. First of all, hostile Bill halacha. They interpreted that to mean human beings are headed towards destruction, not just loss, what will happen, which is loss itself, whether or Quba they're headed towards retribution from Allah will be naxal muddy, and also towards even material loss, meaning human beings whatever they do in this life, they can't gain they can only lose believer disbeliever that doesn't matter. It's not even talking about heaven and hell, in this life itself, we can only lose, we can only lose our youth. We

can only like you can have the nicest home. But by the time you're 75 you can't you don't have the back to go up the stairs. You can't use the six bedrooms upstairs, what are you going to do with it? You have an amazing swimming pool, you could die if you fall into it. Like it's not anything for you anymore. Young people will come see your mansion and say, Wow, I wish I lived here. And the people who actually live there are like this is a curse. I can't you know, my children have all gone and left me my grandkids can ever come and visit all I have this giant lonely house. That's all I have that becomes a present for them. You know, so we, we can only experience loss because we ourselves

are decaying and heading towards an end in this life. That's how Allah made us go lumen and I have fun. Allah actually says everyone on this earth was meant to be discontinued. Like, it's not a flaw of God that we get older and our skin gets wrinkly here and our eyesight gets weaker and our back gets we you know, it's that's not a flaw in our design. You think you know, when a watchmaker makes a really expensive Swiss watch or whatever it's supposed to last forever? Why couldn't God just make us more durable? We could have just you know what, there's something wrong with us manufacturing, actually, by design Quran says you were designed to deteriorate. Woman, your Amir who knocks over a

fella Archelon whoever we give age to, we start reversing them in their creation, we start making them weaker and smaller, like they were as kids. You know, I'm reminded of Lucy Ragamala. So many years ago, I read this said, you know, when a child is small, they're always looking up, climbing up, reaching up, and a man gets old. His back bends. And he's always looking down. Like to his future home. Hala and you know, children, they keep us up late at night. They don't let us sleep, they cry. They get stomach aches, they want to drink or whatever. You know, they cry because that's their power trip. Like fake cry. You ever seen kids fake cry? Like that's faking? Yes, it is. I'm

still gonna do it.

But you get older and you can't sleep.

When people can't sleep, they have a hard time and this is perhaps Allah's way of letting them stay up for the night prayer you're about to meet God so he facilitates PM. You don't have to take pills for that you can just and by the way, if you start drinking fianchetto is gonna come put you to sleep anyway. So,

so take advantage anyhow. So overall, when you study loss in the Quran, wasa Illuma Quran minute Turkey will be mindful to Makana young Kenya foods or bohemian swabbing Monterey metal low on

Crohn's commentary on loss is actually to miss out on opportunities that you could have taken advantage of. That's how Allah describes loss. Loss is not about money loss is not about you know, material anything. loss is not about loss of loved ones. Loss is actually in the Quran about opportunity missed. That's all that you had you truly believed and had you follow the right guidelines you could have availed from that opportunity. Okay.

Have you been in Farahi talking about this loss? He says something really beautiful, can I let him tell you that alpha Sufi Maha could be it says if Allah is commenting on the tragedy of human history saying these people should have been competing with one another in things that are far more worthy of competing in far more worthy of competition What were you competing with other other people in looks money showing something off? What was that worth? While your interview how I know Mila hui will reflect the couple filthy well hostility and it was income

But on people to wake up from their sleep of being distracted all the time, and they're asleep of being entertained all the time, and remaining heedless and asleep to reality, before all is lost, and the only thing left alive is regret. Come, I began to learn Africa, he had the either

one will note, I had the humble note, call out a big rule.

Like Allah Himself says, when the time the moment comes, when death arrives, then he calls out God my master, just send me back. I'll, I'm going to change. I got it. I got it. I know my time's up. Just give me a little bit extra overtime. And I'm going to, I'm going to be different this time. That's that's the only thing that's going to be left is regret because you realize you didn't do anything with the time you did have. May Allah not make us from those people.

In his commentary, just a summarization. Also, he uses time, meaning we'll also indulge in Santa Fe hoster. This statement, he uses it to remind us of perish nations. You know, acid is the time that passed away on very powerful nations who used to say, Allah even describes them olanta Kulusuk sometime sometime in Kullu Mala Mala comienza Aren't you the same people who used to swear back in the day there will there shall be no downfall or on our civilizations? Have you ever wondered like people go you know, ancient Roman ruins, or Egyptian ruins, right? Or we go to like these, these these palaces, and we take pictures next to them, these monuments around the world, we take pictures

next to them in grave sites, etc. But what we're looking at are not just, you know, it's one thing to visit the grave of a dead person. These monuments are actually the graves of dead nations.

That's what they are. And we look at it like that's pretty cool. I took a picture next to this, you know the pyramid or that but that's actually that's a graveyard of very powerful nation who at one point believed there shall be no downfall for them. Were number one, number one forever baby.

That's what they believe. That's what they held. They pride themselves in it. And Allah says time came and ripped all of that to shreds and look at where they are now. They're just part of your selfie. That's all they are now. We lost three Underland Santa Fe casa. And he use and uses this the very same statement to remind us by looking at that history, you're still around you better not join them. You better not become like that meaning learn from history and get your act together.