Attention to Allah's blessings and also the tears coming out of one's eyes could cause Allah's mercy and prevention of comitting sin

Lamenting and Weeping

Weeping is one of Allah’s greatest gifts to the servant. Weeping implies the heart’s humbleness to Allah and a pure spirit.

The Holy Qur’¡n has considered weeping a sign of the believers and Allah’s lovers;

وَإِذَا سَمِعُوا مَا أُنزِلَ إِلَى الرَّسُولِ تَرَى أَعْيُنَهُمْ تَفِيضُ مِنْ الدَّمْعِ مِمَّا عَرَفُوا مِنْ الْحَقِّ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا آمَنَّا فَاكْتُبْنَا مَعَ الشَّاهِدِينَ.

And when they hear what has been revealed to the Messenger you will see their eyes overflowing with fears on account of the truth that they recognize; they say: Our Lord! We believe, so write us down with the witness of truth. (5:83)

The messenger of Allah told Imam `Al¢ (a.s):

أوصِيكَ يَا عَلِيُّ فِي نَفْسِكَ بِخِصَالٍ فَاحْفَظْهَا! اَللَّهُمَّ أعِنْهُ… وَالرَّابِعَةُ البُكَاءُ للهِ يَبْنِي لَكَ بِكُلِّ دَمْعَةٍ بَيْتاً فِي الجَنَّةِ.

O `Al¢! I recommend you develop and maintain some characteristics in yourself, may Allah help you! … And the fourth characteristic is weeping for the sake of Allah. For each of your tear drops, a house is given to you in Paradise.[1]

The Prophet (s.a) also stated:

طُوبَى لِصُورَةٍ نَظَرَ اللهُ إلَيْهَا تَبْكي عَلَى ذَنْبٍ مِنْ خَشْيَةِ اللهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ لَمْ يَطَّلِعْ عَلَى ذَلِكَ الذَّنْبِ غَيْرُهُ.

Blessed is the one to whose face Allah has regard while he is weeping for his sin, out of Allah’s fear, and no one knows of that sin but Allah.[2]

مَنْ ذَرَفَتْ عَيْناهُ مِنْ خَشْيَةِ اللهِ كَانَ لَهُ بِكُلِّ قَطْرَةٍ مِنْ دُمُوعِهِ مِثْلُ جَبَلِ أُحُدٍ يَكُونُ فِي مِيزَانِهِ مِنَ الأجْرِ.

The reward of someone whose eyes weep from Allah’s fear will be as heavy as Mount U¦ud for any drop.[3]

مَنْ خَرَجَ مِنْ عَيْنَيْهِ مِثْلُ الذُّبَابِ مِنَ الدَّمْعِ مِنْ خَشْيَةِ اللهِ آمَنَهُ اللهُ بِهِ يَوْمَ الفَزَعِ الأكْبَرِ.

The one whose eyes weep from Allah’s fear as small as a mosquito will be saved from the Hereafter fear by Allah.[4]

Imam `Al¢ (a.s) stated:

بُكَاءُ العُيُونِ وَخَشْيَةُ القُلُوبِ مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللهِ تَعَالَى ذِكْرُهُ، فَإذَا وَجَدْتُمُوهَا فَاغْتَنِمُوا الدُّعَاءَ.

The weeping of the eyes and the fear of the hearts are Allah’s Mercy; if you found them seize the chance to pray, because a prayer along with weeping and fear will be accepted.[5]

Imam Sadiq (a.s) said:

مَا مِنْ شَيْءٍ إلاَّ وَلَهُ كَيْلٌ وَوَزْنٌ، إلاَّ الدُّمُوعَ؛ فَإنَّ القَطْرَةَ تُطْفِئُ بِحَاراً مِنَ النَّارِ، وَلَو أنَّ باكِياً بَكَى فِي أُمَّةٍ لَرُحِمُوا.

Everything has a special scale except tears; a drop of tear putts off oceans of fire. Allah forbids inferno from burning a tearful eye. In fact if there’s one tearful person (from Allah’s fear) in any nation, all the people will be forgiven.[6]

Ya¦y¡ Ibn Mu`¡dh said: “Anyone who weeps in his dream will be happy in reality. The worldly life is like a dream and the Hereafter is reality, so weep in the world to be happy in the Last Day.”

Friends’ Remoteness

A person who loves Allah’s prophets, Imams, and friends wishes to see and accompany them in the Hereafter. If Allah detaches him from His loved ones due to some sins and place him among his enemies instead, this punishment will be worse, harshest, and hottest than the Fire.

The pain of remoteness is only understandable for one who has tasted it!

The pain of remoteness was experienced by Adam who was deprived of his divine position in Paradise, besides the angels and in nearness of Allah, because of approaching the banned tree!

The pain of remoteness was experienced by Job who lost his family, wealth, honor, and health as a divine test.

The pain of remoteness was experienced by Jonah who was deprived of world’s vast space and got entangled in the fish stomach.

The pain of remoteness was experienced by Jacob who wept in the absence of his dear one until he got blind.

The pain of remoteness was experienced by Josef who was remote from his kind father, Jacob, and got entangled in the deep well and then in the prison.

But the Merciful Allah cured the remoteness pain of Adam by his repentance and healed the remoteness pain of Job by returning to him what he had lost. The almighty alleviated the remoteness pain of Jonah by rescuing him from the fish belly and the remoteness pain of Jacob and Josef by helping them meet each other again.

O the curer of the bitter remoteness pain! Do not intend for us, the lovers of prophets and Imams (a.s), to be remote from them in the Hereafter and placed in the Hell! Suppose we can tolerate the chastisement and remoteness from the prophets and Imams (a.s), how can we bear remoteness from You?

Greed for the Noble Servants’ Position

O Allah! Suppose I can stand Your burning Fire, how can I ignore the Blessings You grant Your noble servants?

It is narrated from Imam Sadiq (a.s) that the Almighty has not created anyone except that He has defined a position in the Paradise and another in the hell for him. When the inhabitants of paradise settle in it and the Hell inhabitants are sent to it, a caller tells the Paradise dwellers to look at their position in the Hell and says: “This is the position that you entered if you committed sins.” So the Paradise dwellers get so excited that, if there were any death in Paradise, they could die of happiness.

Afterwards, the caller calls the Hell dwellers to look up to their supposed positions and blessings in the Paradise and says: “If you worshipped Allah you could win these positions.” So the inhabitants of the Hell get so much depressed that they nearly die, if there were any death in the Hell.

Hope for Forgiveness

My Lord! How can I be relaxed in the Fire while I only hope for Your Forgiveness; the forgiveness that is repeatedly promised to the sinners in the Holy Qur’¡n.

My Allah! How many poor servants who had hope for other people’s help and they were not left deprived, let alone those who hope for Your Forgiveness.

‘Attar, the poet, has written in his Ilahinameh that a wrongdoer singer woman lived in Mecca. She attended debauchery ceremonies, danced, and sang in them.

Some years after the Prophet’s Hijra, this woman who had lost her youth beauty, could not do her singing job as before, and thus could not make the ends meet, came to the Prophet of Islam (s.a), out of misery. The Prophet (s.a) asked her: “Have you come here for a worldly interaction or a heavenly one?” The woman said: “Neither for the former nor for the latter; rather I have come in hope of your generosity.” The Prophet (s.a) got delighted and granted the woman his holy cloak and then told his disciples: “Grant her as much as you can afford!”

So a sinner woman went to Medina in hope for Your Prophet’s bounty, which is a sign of Your Blessings, and returned satisfied with a bountiful grant. How can I return destitute from Your Presence while I have hope for Your Mercy and Forgiveness?

فَبِعِزَّتِكَ يا سَيِّدى وَمَوْلايَ اُقْسِمُ صادِقاً لَئِنْ تَرَكْتَني ناطِقاً لإَِضِجَّنَّ إِلَيْكَ بَيْنَ أَهْلِها ضَجيجَ الآمِلينَ  وَلأصْرُخَنَّ إِلَيْكَ صُراخَ الْمَسْتَصْرِخينَ، وَلأََبْكِيَنَّ عَلَيْكَ بُكاءَ الْفاقِدينَ، وَلأَُنادِيَنَّكَ أَيْنَ كُنْتَ يا وَلِيَّ الْمُؤْمِنينَ، يا غايَةَ آمالِ الْعارِفينَ، يا غِياثَ الْمُسْتَغيثينَ، يا حَبيبَ قُلُوبِ الصّادِقينَ، وَيا إِلهَ الْعالَمينَ

So by Your Might, my master and my Protector, I swear sincerely, if You leave me with speech, I will lament before You from the midst of the Fire’s inhabitants with the lamentation of the hopeful; I will cry to You with the cry of those crying for help; I will weep before You with the weeping of the bereft; and I will call upon You, Where are You, O Sponsor of the believers, O Goal of the hopes of Your Knowers! O Aid of those who seek assistance, O Friend of the hearts of the sincere, and O Allah of all the world’s inhabitants!

This part of the supplication, like the previous part, includes the supplicant’s beseech and prayer to the Almighty to attract His attention, and supposing that he is doomed to the Hell, save him from the chastisement.

In fact, how is the state of the servant who is under chastisement, and even worse than chastisement is suffering from remoteness of his beloved Lord?!

Which beseech and weeping is harsher that that of someone who has lost a beloved? It has been said that a mother was weeping beside her daughter’s grave. An ascetic person was passing there who said: “Good for this mother who knows what a valuable blessing she has lost!”

The Last Day has certainly very wonderful scenes and is a strange day for the people; good for those who are doomed to Allah’s Mercy on that day and are away from chastisement. We had better compare ourselves to the scale of Holy Qur’¡n before we are confronted with death.

H¡r£n and Buhl£l

H¡r£n returned from Hajj pilgrimage and stayed in K£fah some days. One day he was passing a way when Buhl£l called him by his name for three times: “H¡r£n! H¡r£n! H¡r£n!” H¡r£n said astonished: “Who is it that calls me by my name?” “The insane Buhl£l,” he was answered. So he pulled the camel-litter curtain away and told Buhl£l: “Do you know me?” He answered yes. H¡r£n asked again: “Who am I?” He said: “You are the one who will be responsible and should account for an oppression done in the east, even if you are in the west yourself. You will be asked about it in the Hereafter because you are the country ruler.” So H¡r£n wept from sorrow and asked Buhl£l: “What do you think of me?” He said: “Compare yourself with the Holy Qur’¡n: “Most surely the righteous are in bliss and most surely the wicked are in burning Fire. (82:13-14)” H¡r£n said: “How about our deeds?” Buhl£l replied: “… Allah only accepts from those who guard against evil. (5:27)” H¡r£n said again: “But what about our tie of kinship with the Prophet (s.a)?” Buhl£l said in reply: “So when the trumpet is blown there shall be no ties of relationship between them on that day, nor they ask for each other. (23:101)” Then H¡r£n said: “But there is the Prophet’s intercession.” And Buhl£l said: “On that day shall no intercession avail except of him whom the Beneficent Allah allows and whose word He is pleased with. (20:109)” Then H¡r£n asked him about his wish. Buhl£l answered: “Forgive my sins and take me into Paradise.” H¡r£n said: “I don’t have the power to do so, but I have been informed that you owe money to some people. Do you want me to pay your debts?” Buhl£l answered: “Debts cannot be paid with debts. What you possess is people’s belongings and you are obliged to return them to the people.” So H¡r£n stated: “Do you want me to order a life payment for you?” Buhl£l answered him: “I am Allah’s servant and He gives me sustenance, do you think Allah remembers and protects you but not me?”

أَفَتُراكَ سُبْحانَكَ يا إِلهى وَبِحَمْدِكَ تَسْمَعُ فيها صَوْتَ عَبْدٍ مُسْلِمٍ يُسْجَنُ فيها بِمُخالَفَتِهِ، وَذاقَ طَعْمَ عَذابِها بِمَعْصِيَتِهِ وَحُبِسَ بَيْنَ أَطْباقِها بِجُرْمِهِ وَجَريرَتِهِ وَهُوَ يَضِجُّ إِلَيْكَ ضَجيجَ مُؤَمِّل لِرَحْمَتِكَ، وَيُناديكَ بِلِسانِ أَهْلِ تَوْحيدِكَ، وَيَتَوَسَّلُ إِلَيْكَ بِرُبُوبِيَّتِكَ

Can’t You see Yourself- Glory be to You my Allah, and Yours is the praise- hearing within the Fire the voice of a slave surrendered to You, imprisoned there because of his violations, suffering the pangs of its torment because of his disobedience, and confined within its levels because of his sin and crime, while he laments before You with the lament of one hopeful for Your Mercy, calls upon You with the tongue of those who profess Your Oneness and entreats You by Your Lordship?

When reading the descriptions of the Purgatory in the Holy Qur’¡n and traditions of the Prophet’s Household, the true believers tremble with fear, get astonished and sincerely take refuge to Allah to be rescued from this frightening condition. This way, they get more prepared to do the obligatory deeds and refrain from the unlawful ones, and sometimes they die of extreme fear of Purgatory!

Salm¡n and the Fearful Young Man

Shaykh Muf¢d narrates Ibn Abi ‘Amir who narrates Imam Sadiq (a.s): Salm¡n passed the ironers’ bazaar in K£fah where he saw a young man on the ground and the people around him. They told Salm¡n: “This man has fainted. Say something in his ear so that he will be conscious again. Salm¡n came near him until he was conscious and said: “O Salm¡n! If you heard anything about me do not believe it! When I entered this bazaar, and saw the ironers pounding with their hammers I remembered this Qur’¡nic verse: “And for them is the whips of iron. (22:21)” So I fainted from the chastisement fear.” Salm¡n said: “You worth being my religious brother.” So Salm¡n loved him a lot in friendship, until the young man got seriously sick. Salm¡n came to him who was near death and said: “O Angel of death! Treat moderately with my brother!” And he was answered: “I do moderately with any believer.”[7]

The Believer Woman

The great scholar, Mulla Fat¦ull¡h K¡sh¡n¢, narrates in his exegesis book “Minh¡j”: Once the Messener of Allah (s.a) stood for praying in the mosque. After reciting al-°amd (al-F¡ti¦ah) chapter of the Holy Qur’¡n, he began al-Hijr chapter until he reached this verse:

وَإِنَّ جَهَنَّمَ لَمَوْعِدُهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ. لَهَا سَبْعَةُ أَبْوَابٍ لِكُلِّ بَابٍ مِنْهُمْ جُزْءٌ مَقْسُومٌ.

And surely Hell is the promised place of them all: It has seven gates; for every gate is a special class of sinners assigned. (15:43-44)

An Arab woman who was performing prayer along side the Prophet (s.a) fainted hearing these verses. When the Prophet (s.a) finished his prayer and saw the occurrence, he ordered to splash water into the woman’s face and she awakened. So the Prophet (s.a) said: “How did you feel?” She said: “When I saw you in prayer, I got interested in performing prayer with you. And I got restless when you recited the two verses.” Then she said: “Woe to me because any of my limbs will be placed in one of the seven gates of Hell.” The Prophet (s.a) said: “That is not the case. This verse means any group of sinners will be chastised in one of the seven gates of Hell.” The woman told the Prophet: “I have nothing but seven slaves. I free each of them to be freed from one of the Hell gates.” Then the Revelation Angel was descended and said: “O Messenger of Allah! Give good tidings to the Arab woman that the Almighty has closed all the Hell gates and opened the Paradise entrances for her.”

A Divine tradition reads:

O son of Adam! I did not set up this Fire except for the disbeliever, the stingy, the tell-tale, the cursed by parents, the hinderer of zakat payment, the usurer, the adulterer, the unlawful seller, the forgetter of Qur’¡n, the annoyer of the neighbors, but those of them who repent, believe, and do good.

My servants! Have Mercy on yourselves! Because your bodies are weak, the journey is long, the load is heavy, the path is exact, the Fire is burning, the caller is the Blower Archangel, and the Judge is the Lord of the worlds.

An Interesting Advice

Someone intended to go on a travel and told °¡tam al-A¥amm: “Give me some advice!” So °¡tam said:

“If you want a friend, Allah suffices for you.

If you want a companion, the two illustrious angels suffice for you.

If you want a lesson, this world suffices for you.

If you want an associate, Qur’¡n suffices for you.

If you want a job, worshipping suffices for you.

If you want a preacher, death suffices for you.

And if these things suffice you, then the Purgatory suffices for you!”

The explanation of beseeching Allah will come under “My Lord! My Lord!” in later parts.