'Would that I were dust!'

‘Would that I were dust!’

1994 7 July 5 ‘Would that I were dust!’ (224) When ‘Umar, the second Caliph, was dying, – struck down by the dagger of Abu Lulu Firoz, – he laid his head in the lap of his son, Abdullah ibn ‘Umar. ‘Umar said to him, “Rub my cheek in the dust, Abdullah,” and his son did as he was asked. Then with his head resting on the ground, ‘Umar uttered these words to himself: “Woe betide you, ‘Umar, and woe betide the one who gave birth to you if God does not forgive you.”(Tabaqat Thn Sa’ad)

Before he had breathed his last, ‘Umar, like a true believer, wished to be joined with the dust, and thought in fear and trembling what God’s judgement of him would be in the life after death. How different are the unbelievers who give n6 thought to such matters until it is too late – until they stand before their Maker on the Day of Judgement. The believer bows to God while He is yet invisible. The unbeliever bows to God only when He reveals Himself to him. The Qur’an gives ample warning to him with the verse: “That day is sure to come. Let him who will, seek a way back to his Lord. We have forewarned you of an imminent scourge: the day when a man will look upon his works and the unbeliever cry: ‘Would that I were dust!”