We all have vision. We all strive towards an image or a goal. But it's not that someone has vision or no vision that makes the difference, the difference lies in how far it can reach. Your vision's reach could be this weekend, and that's about as far as it could get. It can be having a stable job and a happy family. It could be going as far being an old man looking at your grandchildren from a rocking chair. Allah Almighty doesn't criticize these visions in themselves, but He criticizes not seeing past them. In fact, Allah Almighty rhetorically asks us in Surah Al-Takwir this question by the end of the Surah's discourse:
A very profound question if we were to honestly ask ourselves. Almighty Allah is calling us to look ahead and reflect whether our perceived direction is really the only direction we are actually treading towards.
The irony here is that this is Surah Al-Takwir. The Surah that begins with the image of the sun losing its light, and stars falling out of place, and oceans flaring up. These are the catastrophic images before the commencement of the Day of Judgement. The universe collapses, and another one rises for Judgement. In essence, **Allah answered the question already: You are coming to Me**.
*That’s* where we are actually going. We look at our path, and we see perhaps we weren’t looking clearly all along. *Where did I think I was going?* Allah Almighty is essentially asking, why are you going around in circles, why don't you look at what's staring at you from far away.
A job, a family, old age and retirement aren’t just what’s awaiting us. *Allah is awaiting us*. And so, the questions implies preparation. Regardless of what we choose to perceive as our direction, straight or crooked, the destination is the same for each one of us. The destination of our Judgement is straight ahead.
It's important to note that despite how scary this post might come off. We shouldn't be. Allah Almighty mentions in other places how people hope to meet Allah and the last day. If we are attempting to do the best we can, it's completely fine to hope for this event, it's not wrong. After all, this is potentially the day you meet your loved ones. The day our sadness and turmoil leave us forever. The day we finally meet Almighty Allah. So, why would we want to get distracted and think we're going elsewhere?