*Those of you who still have your mothers with you, this is something to ponder and to witness as your life unfolds. Those of you who, no longer have your mothers with you, this may be something that sparks a memory for you. Those of you who are mothers, this is something for you to think about as you move through life with your children. Those who have no children, this is something to think about when you encounter children along your life's path -- you know mothering is not relegated to a biological parent only!!
The young mother set her foot on the path of life. "Is this the long way?" she asked. And the guide said: "Yes, and the way is hard. And you will be old before you reach the end of it. But the end will be better than the beginning."
But the young mother was happy, and she would not believe that anything could be better than these years. So she played with her children, and gathered flowers for them along the way, and bathed them in the clear streams; and the sun shone on them, and the young Mother cried, "Nothing will ever be lovelier than this."
Then the night came, and the storm, and the path was dark, and the children shook with fear and cold, and the mother drew them close and covered them with her mantle, and the children said, "Mother, we are not afraid, for you are near, and no harm can come."
And the morning came, and there was a hill ahead, and the children climbed and grew weary, and the mother was weary. But at all times she said to the children, "A little patience and we are there." So the children climbed, and when they reached the top they said, "Mother, we would not have done it without you."
And the mother, when she lay down at night looked up at the stars and said, "This is a better day than the last, for my children have learned fortitude in the face of hardness. Yesterday I gave them courage. Today, I have given them strength."
And the next day came strange clouds which darkened the earth, clouds of war and hate and evil, and the children groped and stumbled, and the mother said: "Look up. Be Brave, Allah is with us." And the children realised, and became firm, and it guided them beyond the darkness. And that night the Mother said, "This is the best day of all, for I have shown my children the awareness of the Almighty."
And the days went on, and the weeks and the months and the years, and the mother grew old and she was little and bent. But her children were tall and strong, and walked with courage.
And when the way was rough, they lifted her, for she was as light as a feather; and at last they came to a hill, and beyond they could see that her time had come to return to her Lord. And mother said: "I have reached the end of my journey. And now I know the end is better than the beginning, for my children can walk alone, and their children after them." And the children said, "You will always be with us, Mother, even when you have gone to Allah." And they stood and watched her as she went on alone, her eyes closed entering the next stage in life's journey. And they said: "We cannot see her no-more, but she is with us still. A Mother like ours is more than a memory. She is a living presence." Your Mother is always with you.
She's the whisper of the leaves as you walk down the street, she's the smell of bleach in your freshly laundered socks, she's the cool hand on your brow when you're not well. Your Mother lives inside your laughter. And she's crystallized in every tear drop. She's the place you came from, your first home, your best friend, your keeper of your secrets, always on your side; always to protect you; always to love you. And nothing on earth can separate you.. Not time, not space...not even death!
To all our mothers. May we never take you for granted.
O Allah, forgive our parents as they looked after us when we were small. Grant them Jannat al-Firdaus, the Highest stage in Paradise. Give them that which is best in this world, the best in the hereafter, and Protection from the fire. O Allah, make them among the residents of Jannah, with the Prophets, the righteous, the muttaqun, and the martyrs. Ameen.
