وَلَقَدْ جِئْتُمُونَا فُرَادَىٰ كَمَا خَلَقْنَاكُمْ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ
Walaqald ji’tumūnā furādā kamā khalqnākum awwala marrah
And [Allah will say]: certainly you have come to Us alone
as We created you the first time.
(Sūratul An‘ām, No. 6, Āyat 94)
According to tradition this verse is what God will say to the human being on the Day of Judgment. All the things that people relied on in this world; wealth, children, family, friends, idols . . . are left behind on the journey to the other world. What remain are the human being and his God, the way he was created initially. The difference is that now the human being has a baggage of actions to present. He has come back full circle to show what he did while away.
‘Allāmah Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabātabā’ī, in al-Mīzān says that on that day the human being will realize the stark reality that nothing existed in this world except Allah and His will. All what he thought effected his life was an illusion. The real planner, controller, and cause of effects, was only God. He may have thought that wealth gave him comfort in life, that family provided support and love, that people in authority influenced his position in the world, etc. But really it was all about him and God throughout. God caused all around him to affect as He wanted. Nothing has an independent effect of its own. After all, the human being is but a speck in the vast universe that runs according to His system.
Because a lot of things around the human being are connected to the body, once the body is gone these things lose meaning. That is when the human being is able to see things clearly and understand the shallowness of all his previous connections other than the connection to God. It is the sharp sight referred to in the verse Certainly you were heedless of it but now We have removed from you your veil so your sight today is sharp (Q 50:22).
This meeting with Allah on the Day of Judgment will not be an easy one. Amīrul Mu’minīn Ali b. Abī Tālib (a) talks about the state of people at that time: They hasten towards His command and run towards the place fixed for their final return group by group, quiet, standing and arrayed in rows. They will be within Allah’s sight and will hear every one who would call them. They will have the dress of helplessness and covering of submission and indignity. (At this time) contrivances would disappear, desires would be cut, hearts would sink quietly, voices would be curbed down, sweat would choke the throat, fear would increase and ears would resound with the thundering voice of the announcer calling towards the final judgement, award of recompense, striking of punishment and paying of reward. (Nahjul Balāgha, Sermon 83)
But there will be people whom God will speak to and look at with special grace on that day. It will take the form of special attention given to an exclusive group of believers, an attention that would create unimagined bliss in their hearts. Allah talks in the Quran about the people who will be deprived of this special attention; As for those who take a small price for the covenant of Allah and their own oaths – surely they shall have no portion in the Hereafter, and Allah will not speak to them, nor will He look upon them on the day of resurrection (Q 3:77)
Recite this week’s verse to help understand that ultimately everything is just between you and God. Prepare for that eventual meeting which will undoubtedly happen one day, and work and pray that you may be from those who receive special attention on that day.
Sources: Amīrul Mu’minīn Imam Ali (a), Nahjul Balagha; Āyatullāh Nāsir Makārim Shirāzī (ed.), Tafsīr-e Namūne; ‘Allāmah S.M.H. Tabātabā’ī, Tafsīr al-Mīzān