Generosity of Allah

we have our days. some bad, some good. sometimes some days look bleak. hope is low. things just don't seem to be going right. then you read something like this and it lifts you up and lights your heart. we forget how generous our Lord is. was listening to Anwar al awlaki lectures on Paradise. this hadith just amazed me. Subhan Allah.

[taken from sahih muslim]

Abdullah b. Mas'ud reported that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: I know the last of the inhabitants of Fire to be taken out therefrom, and the last of the inhabitants of paradise to enter it. A man will come out of the Fire crawling. Then Allah, the Blessed and Exalted will say to him: Go and enter paradise. So he would come to it and it would appear to him as if it were full. He would go back and say: O my Lord! I found it full. Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, would say to him: Go and enter paradise. He would come and perceive as if it were full. He would return and say: O my Lord! I found it full. Allah would say to him: Go and enter paradise, for there is for you the like of the world and ten times like it, or for you is ten times the like of this world. He (the narrator) said. He (that man) would say: Art Thou making a fun of me? or Art Thou laughing at me. though Thou art the King? He (the narrator) said: I saw the Messenger of Allah laugh till his front teeth were visible. And it was said: That would be the lowest rank among the inhabitants of paradise. (Book #001, Hadith #0359)


It is transmitted from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri that, verily, the Messenger of Allah (may to Paradise last of all among those deserving of Paradise who are admitted to it. I would be said to him: Enter Paradise. He would say: O my Lord! how (should I enter) while the people have settled in their apartments and taken the shares (portions)? It would be said to him: Would you be pleased if there be for you like the kingdom of a king amongst the kings of the world? He would say: I am pleased my Lord. He (Allah) would say: For you is that, and like that, and like that, and like that, and that. He would say at the fifth (point): I am well pleased. My Lord. He (Allah) would say: It is for you and, ten times like it, and for you is what your self desires and your eye enjoys. He would say: I am well pleased, my Lord.(xxxii. 17). (Book #001, Hadith #0363)

this is the LOWEST RANK in paradise! ten times greater than this world! time and again we come to a point where we need help or want something that we feel we just can't get. when we have hadith like these, why don't we learn that Allah is the holder of all the bounties and all that we ask for? then why don't we ask Him? whether it be worldly things or for our hereafter. money, land , love, respect and honor. all we have to do is ask Him and yet we despair and over look HIS bounty. after all it is He WHO has created everything and He is the owner of it all.

So be not of those who Allah has said "Man (the disbeliever) does not get tired of asking good (things from Allah), but if an evil touches him, then he gives up all hope and is lost in despair"
Surah Fussilat, Chapter #41, Verse #49)