This article is an excerpt from Sayd Al-Khatir (Captured Thought) by Ibn Jawzi. It discusses the importance of time and emphasizes that one should do his best to take advantage of his time as much as he can.
One should know the value of his time and the importance of his time. Thus, he will not waste any moment thereof without performing a righteous deed, and offering the best of the best of statements and deeds.
His intention should always be to perform righteous acts without any slackness while taking into consideration not to do acts that are beyond the body’s endurance. It was mentioned in a narration, ‘The good intention of the believer is better than his deed.’
It was reported that many of the righteous predecessors used to take advantage of their time.
It was reported that a man said to Amir Ibn Abd Qays, ‘Talk with me.’ Amir replied, ‘Could you hold the sun.’ [He meant could you stop the passing of time.]
The son of Thabit Al-Banani said, ‘I went to prompt my father to utter the testimony of faith, namely, there is no god worthy of worship but Allah and Muhammad is His Messenger. Then, he said to me, ‘O my son, leave me alone for I am reading the sixth part of my daily invocations.’
It was reported that some people went to one of the righteous predecessors when he was about to die, and found him praying. Thus, they blamed him for doing so. But he said, ‘Now the record of my deeds is about to be folded.’
That being the case, if one knows – even if he does his best to take advantage of his time – that death will prevent him from performing righteous deeds, he should do acts whose rewards will be recorded for him after his death. If he owns some wealth, he should endow endowment, plant a plant, and dig a river. He should also endeavor to have righteous offspring that remember Allah. Thus, he will be rewarded for their righteous deeds, or he should write a beneficial book because the scholar’s books are his immortal children.
Finally, he should do his best to perform righteous deeds based on firm knowledge. Thus, his righteous deeds will be imitated by others.
Indeed, such a person has not died, as the saying goes,
‘… some people died, but they are still alive among people.’
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