A word by the Shaykh on reviewing and accounting for one's soul after returning from Hajj.

The Shaykh : We begin this meeting by reviewing and accounting for ourselves. What have we done in this year that is nearly coming to an end? What good have we done, and what evil have we left behind? A merchant reviews his account books at the end of every financial year, and he is only managing worldly affairs that do not benefit him in the Hereafter except what he intended for the face of Allah therein. So how about us? Have we reviewed ourselves and seen a shortcoming in an obligatory duty that we can make up, or an evil deed that we can abandon? I ask Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, that we be so. This entire world, all of it, is passing away. Everything in it is a lesson. If you look at the sun, it rises at the beginning of the day, then sets at the end of the day, and departs. So it is with the existence of man in the world: he emerges and then departs. If we look at the moon, it is the same: it appears at the beginning of the month as a small crescent, then it continues to grow and increase until it is full, and then it begins to wane until it returns like an old basket, then comes the new moon and it disappears completely, then another crescent appears. So if we look at the months, you find that man looks forward to the next month with the longing of one who is far away. For example, he says: "We are now in the twelfth month; there are eight months left until Ramadan. How far away they are!" And then it passes by him quickly, as if it were an hour of the day. So it is with life as well: you find man looking forward to death with a distant gaze and hoping, and then the rope of hope is cut, and everything is lost. You find him carrying others on the bier and burying them in the earth, thinking, "When will this be my case? When will I reach this state?" And then he reaches it, as if he had not stayed but an evening or the morning thereof.
I say this in order to urge myself and urge my brothers to hasten to seize the time, and not to waste an hour or a moment without knowing our account in it. Have we drawn closer to Allah with something? Are we still in our place? What will be our state? We must make up for things before it is too late, and how near the Hereafter is to the world. Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) often recited the words of the poet:
"And we are all morning in our homes, *** And death is nearer than the straps of our sandals"
I ask Allah for you and for me a good ending, and that He make the future of our affairs better than the past, and that He help us to remember Him, thank Him, and worship Him well. As for the tafsir we have reached, we begin this meeting, which we hope Allah the Exalted will make blessed, with what we used to begin all our meetings with, which is speaking about some of the noble verses. It is necessary for every Muslim to care for the Book of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and to read it reciting it slowly and to reflect on its verses, for Allah revealed it for this. Allah the Exalted said: So reflection is necessary, meaning understanding the meaning, and then comes remembrance, meaning taking a lesson. We chose al-Mufassal because people often hear it from the recitation of the imams in the prayers.