Explanation of the Book of the Hearts-01a
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The reciter: Muslim narrated to us, he said: Hammad narrated to us from Ishaq ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Abi Talhah from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) drew lines and said: Sahih al-Bukhari 6418.
The Shaykh : Allah is the Greatest. This is a parable struck by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the form of a shape. He drew a square, meaning it has four lines connected to one another, and he drew a line in the middle that extends out from them, protruding, and he drew lines around it. Look, hope exceeds what is allotted; a person's hope exceeds what is decreed for him. The four lines enclose him, so he cannot get out of them, but his hope is far away. A person's hope may be to live twenty years, yet he does not live, not even one month. So hope is beyond the limit, and the term encloses him from every side. The calamities that lead to the arrival of the term are on the right and the left; if he is saved from one, the other devours him until it destroys him. Then hope dissipates and is lost. So we must hasten to the term before it befalls us. As for hope, it is far and far, but a person does not know. It is like a person who hopes to come home and have lunch or dinner, only to find that he has neither lunch nor dinner. We seek help from Allah. Yes.
This is (man's) hope, and this is the instant of his death, and while he is in this state (of hope), the nearer line (death) comes to Him.
هذا الأمل وهذا أجله فبينما هو كذلك إذ جاءه الخط الأقربThe Shaykh : Allah is the Greatest. This is a parable struck by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the form of a shape. He drew a square, meaning it has four lines connected to one another, and he drew a line in the middle that extends out from them, protruding, and he drew lines around it. Look, hope exceeds what is allotted; a person's hope exceeds what is decreed for him. The four lines enclose him, so he cannot get out of them, but his hope is far away. A person's hope may be to live twenty years, yet he does not live, not even one month. So hope is beyond the limit, and the term encloses him from every side. The calamities that lead to the arrival of the term are on the right and the left; if he is saved from one, the other devours him until it destroys him. Then hope dissipates and is lost. So we must hasten to the term before it befalls us. As for hope, it is far and far, but a person does not know. It is like a person who hopes to come home and have lunch or dinner, only to find that he has neither lunch nor dinner. We seek help from Allah. Yes.