I stand before Allah in His veil of Majesty with my head bent in awe. “Tell me My slave what would you like to ask for from among the inexhaustible treasure that are with Us?”

My heart raced.

One desire.

Only one.

“Jannah…” I whisper.

A group of people surrounded me (40:73) and each one of us knew our destination. No earthly joy could match what we were feeling. I looked at the girl near me. She looked very familiar….

Ateeqa?

But Ateeqa had never looked so beautiful. Her hands, feet, hair, face, arms were glittering, almost glowing. When she moved her whole body shimmered creating alight of their own. How amazing I thought enviously. I looked down wishing that I too had the same mystical light. Oh!

I did! I did! I did! Everyone in the group did. A wonderful way of singling out those who performed their wuzu in perfection. I moved my arms in such a way so that everyone could see the glorious shine. I looked to Farheen and Razza they had it too. The group was large and I knew each one within it. I held Razza’s hand and squeezed it tightly.

“Aren’t we glad we preformed wuzu?” I asked the group in general. I got no verbal answer. All smiled in response. The blast of lightening from the gaps of teeth stunned me. It was like a majestic explosion.

We could see the angels speeding to open the gates to heaven before we even arrived. So eager were they to make us reach our destination. And while making that one step which would make us dwellers of Jannah forever the angels came to greet us. In making that momentous step we could hear the angels whisper to us,
“Salamun Alaikum (peace be to you)! You have done well, so enter here to abide therein.” (40:73)

So with the well wishes of the invisible angels who had been my silent companions ever since birth, who had been endlessly recording my each and everything, I enter the world whose beauty no eye has seen, no ear has heard, nor has any heart envisioned.

The smell…pure pleasure. I don’t know what smell it was but something not strong but soft…seductively so. I stood still trying to keep the smell. Afraid to move lest it disappeared. Then I moved.

Ha Ha!

What fun! My very movement had caused a sudden ecsastical swaying movement. I wonder why is that so? I looked at the ground closely. I saw grass that was not green but crystal clear catching within its slender blades, rays of sunlight, reflecting them. Bringing the very rays of the sun to life. Making them dance. I fell on to my knees and rather than feeling a thud of pain there was a wobble of softness. Look closer…Don’t you see? Look harder! Can’t you see the swishing and swirling of the river underneath? Can’t you see the winking pebbles? Close your eyes…try harder. I see a jellyfish opalescent yet within its body you can see a beautiful mixture of lights glowing within its body. All this within the whirl of the river flowing beneath the grass (9:72)

“Meher! Meher! Taste this fruit!” Aliyan cried out excitedly from above on a hovering throne. Have you ever sat on a well arranged throne of exotic flowers? That was what Aliyan was resting on. Her dangling from the side of the throne offering the fruit to be tasted. Had her eyes grown larger? They were lovely. The lashes were thick and perfectly curved was she a hoor? (52:20)

“Aliyan stop offering me petty fruits tell me where I can get a throne like that?” Aliyan smiled…crinkling her wide beautiful eyes. Her long eyelashes brushed against her cheek. “Meher look behind you…it’s already there.” I turned around and there I saw was a throne all ready for me to lie on. As I lay on it I rested my cheeks against the velvet softness of the petals of the roses I was so close I could hear them whisper their sweet lullabies. I could feel them breathe…their freshness so pure.

“Meher!! Have some wine!” was the call of Farheen. She held in her clasp the daring drink. The very thought of Farheen, who was so careful about such things in her earthly life, offering me what she herself guarded against so tirelessly, caused me to smile.

Farheen offering me wine?

She passed to me a silver cup engraved delicately, speck of rubies and emeralds formed a part of its intricate design. I took a sip. Hesitantly at first. For it was still wine. But this liquid burst sensationally inside my mouth, setting it on fire. The liquid was swallowed. And even in the stomach I could feel the flares it produced. I just had to have another sip.

The cup was passed from hand to hand (52:23) and never once did its quantity diminish. And there was no fear of germs. And do you know who served us? Young boys with the glow of preserved pearls (52:24). They waddled with the trays and their babyish faces would burst into a smile when asked to do something. Their babyish feature would light up as they traveled here and there. Giving their items with a hug. A hug generously given. And a hug graciously taken. But when I desired fruit of any kind I would just raise my hand and….viola! Like magic the desired fruit would be in my hand. Its nearness was such (55:24). With a flick of a hand we managed what a farmer spent doing half his life.

There was a hustle of speedy movement. Each racing the other with a desperation. More out of instinct than need. Why am I in such a hurry? I wondered and as I approached the throne of Allah I knew why. My soul was urging me to run and meet with Him for Whom I had been yearning for all my life, The Power in Whose search I set out and to Whose Might I had surrendered. A huge mass of angels surrounded His throne, glorifying the praise of their Lord.

“Allahu Akber! All praise be to the Rabb of the universes!”

No other words could be used which conveyed so much. One light, upon another, upon another, overshadowed by the Giver of Light.

I stood in His Presence.

This time I could not stand. Only a sajdah seemed perfect. Seemed so natural for such a moment.
”My slave have you got what you wanted?”
I thought of greenery under which rivers flow, and I thought of the breathtaking smell of musk, and I thought of the hoor-like qualities I had gained.

But…

“Allah Your Good Pleasure…?”

Allah smiled.

Although I saw Him not, when Allah smiles the whole universe knows it. Its called the smile of Rahma with which we as humans are surviving both now and then.

“You have it.”
That is the Greates Bliss.

That is the Supremest successs.