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A Sermon on Mortality I The Choking of Death: Soul’s Journey from Agony to Eternal Peace
a profound and moving reflection on the reality and majesty of death, stemming from the bitter personal experience of the speaker, who lost his mother and then his eldest sister within a few years. The text begins by describing the psychological struggle the speaker faced between his duty to teach and the weight of the calamity that befell him, expressing that death is a "grave matter" that shakes a person's core and forces a re-evaluation of life's details. It discusses the "majesty of death" in itself, citing the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) standing for a Jewish funeral out of respect for the greatness of the soul's departure. The source clarifies that death is not just a biological end but the extraction of the soul, carrying sharp feelings of separation and a sense of shortcoming in remembering this inevitable conclusion.
The text details the concept of the "choking of death" (khunqat al-mawt), describing it as the most difficult moment of the soul's exit when it reaches the collarbones and throat—a reality that surpasses all literary eloquence or creative expression. The speaker recalls a vivid scene from his mother's passing, describing how the face changes, eyes bulge, and tears flow involuntarily due to the intensity of the struggle, emphasizing that these agonies can equal a thousand sword strikes, as narrated from Ali bin Abi Talib (RA). It also highlights the loneliness of the grave, describing it as a desolate, dark pit where worldly knowledge or academic research is of no use; rather, one needs "simple faith" and righteous deeds. The text accurately describes the moments of burial, sealing the exits with stones and dirt, and how the deceased hears the "clatter of the mourners' shoes" while in the bowels of the earth, beginning the first steps of questioning.
Furthermore, the text touches upon the feelings of separation, using Arabic elegiac literature as a mirror of grief, particularly Mutammam ibn Nuwayrah's lament for his brother Malik, illustrating how long companionship in this world does not prevent the bitterness of separation, which makes long years seem like a single night. The text also highlights the vanity and worthlessness of the world through the story of Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad, the King of Andalusia, who transformed from glory and sovereignty to imprisonment, poverty, and humiliation, serving as a lesson that the world is not a racecourse; rather, the true value lies in dignity before God in the hereafter. In conclusion, the speaker emphasizes the importance of preparing for death by remembering it frequently, considering that the true measure of a servant's faith is how much they remember this moment and oppose their desires, citing stories of the predecessors who were in a state of constant readiness to meet God, and calling for visiting cemeteries to take heed of those buried within, where the exalted and the despised are equal under the dust.