And Hasten to Forgiveness from Your Lord — Racing to Good as an Investment

Verse: "Hasten to forgiveness from your Lord and a garden whose width is the heavens and earth, prepared for the righteous." (3:133) — "Hasten" — not "go" or "work" but "hasten": speed is an explicit demand. Opportunities are limited and time passes. "To forgiveness" — the first goal is not Paradise but forgiveness. Because Paradise is not entered except through forgiveness. Whoever seeks forgiveness first opens the gate. Then "a garden whose width is the heavens and earth" — the width is mentioned because width is always less than length: so what of the length? "Prepared for the righteous" — Paradise is prepared now. The storehouse is open. For whom? For the righteous. The prior divine preparation implies the seat is reserved, awaiting its owner. Lesson: religious opportunities — Ramadan, the night, the morning — are not routine schedules but gateways to "hasten" toward.