‏كان عمر بن عبدالعزيز يقول:

"اللهم إنا أطعناك في أحب الأشياء إليك:
شهادة إن لا إله إلا أنت..
ولم نعصك في أبغض الأشياء إليك: الشرك..
فاغفر لنا ما بينهما".

طبقات الحنابلة لابن أبي يعلى.

'Umar ibn 'Abdul 'Aziz used to say:

"O' Allah, indeed we obey you in the most beloved of things to you: testification that there is no God except you.

And we do not disobey you in the most hated of things to you: association of partners with you

So forgive for us what is between the two"

"وبدا لهم من الله ما لم يكونوا يحتسبون"

One of the most alarming verses in the Qur’an, one which countless scholars and righteous men wept over and felt terrified because of.

Translation of full ayah: Even if the wrongdoers were to possess everything in the entire world twice over, they would undoubtedly offer it up to ransom themselves from the horrible punishment on Judgment Day. And there will appear to them from Allah what they have never imagined.

The second portion is what I want to highlight, “There will appear to them from Allah what they have never imagined.”

As the scholars explain, this refers to the state of mankind on judgement day, when every little thing that we do will be brought to account.
We will be questioned about every single action we’ve ever carried out, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem.

As Allah states in Surah Kahf, that the book of deeds will be presented, and the wicked and evil people will cry out in anguish,

‏يا ويلتنا مال هذا الكتاب لا يغادر صغيرة ولا كبيرة إلا أحصاها
"Woe to us! What a book is this! It has missed nothing, minor or major, but has taken it into account."

Al-Qurtubi and Al-Baghawi mention in their tafsir that there were righteous scholars who, at the time of their death, became extremely anxious and worried. When asked why, they recited the ayah,

وبدا لهم من الله ما لم يكونوا يحتسبون
“And there will appear to them from Allah what they have never imagined."

Then saying, “I fear that something that I would have never thought about appears before me on judgement day.”

So what does this ayah really mean? What is it trying to warn us about?
As the scholars explain, this is talking about actions that we do in this life that we don’t pay any attention to, that we don’t even remember, but will be a cause of misfortune for many on Qiyamah.

There are so many tiny little things that we’ve done in our lives that we don’t even remember about. So many actions that don’t even cross our minds, but in reality are things that we need to worry about. It’s an irrefutable fact that the thousands of actions that we carry out on a daily basis are things that we will be asked about. Now think about this long term. The millions of things we do in a month. The billions of things we do in a year. Allah knows best how many diminutive actions a man does in his lifetime. All of it will be questioned.

That’s why it’s so scary to think about how many sins someone does without even remembering or pondering over the fact that it’s a sin. How many times have we looked at haram without even realizing or being indifferent about it. How many times have we told a lie without thinking twice about it. How many times have we backbit someone without realizing.

All the gossip, haram we listen to, money we don’t spend correctly. All the “small” acts of disobedience to our parents, all the infringements on others rights that we commit. There are an unimaginable amount of deeds that a person does in his lifetime, thinking nothing of it, that will be very heavy on his or her scales on the day of Qiyamah.

Mentioned in the tafsir of Ibn Kathir and At-Tantaawi, is another explanation that’s possibly even more frightening. That what’s meant by being shown something we’d never think of, is the punishment of Allah.
The same way that Jannah will have pleasures and comforts unimaginable to the feeble human mind, the punishment of Allah on that day will be similarly inconceivable. There will be horrors and terrors in clear view that we can’t even begin to think of, may Allah save us all from it.

It should be noted that these severe warnings shouldn’t make us feel hopeless and despondent. They’re meant to drive us to repentance, and seeking forgiveness for our sins. That’s the main purpose here, that we turn back to Allah and instill the quality of inaabah in ourselves.

اللهم صل على سيدنا وحبيبنا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم تسليما كثيرا

ربنا اصرف عنا عذاب جهنم إن عذابها كان غراما

قال الحسن:

‌‏يُعْرض على ابن آدم يوم القيامة ساعات عمره، فكلّ ساعة لم يحدث فيها خيرًا تقطعت نفسه عليها حسرات

‌‏حفظُ العُمْر لابن الجوزيّ (ص٦٣)

Al-Hasan al-Basri رحمه الله said:

“On the Day of Judgement, every single hour of the son of Adam’s life will be presented and shown to him. Each hour of his life that he lived which no good deed was done in will tear him apart out of regret.”

ٱللَّٰهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَىٰ مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَىٰ آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ

ٱللَّٰهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَىٰ مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَىٰ آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ

ٱللَّٰهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَىٰ مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَىٰ آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ

قال أحد الشعراء مخبرا بمجيء شهر رمضان:

أتى رمضان مزرعة العباد لتطهير القلوب من الفسادِ

فأدّ حقوقه قولا وفعلا وزادُك فاتخذه إلى المعادِ

فمن زرع الحبوب وما سقاها تأوّه نادما يوم الحصادِ

A poet once said the following words informing about the month of Ramadan:

Ramadan has arrived, a harvest for the people
To purify the hearts from corruption
So fulfill its rights in speech and in action
And bring your provisions along for the hereafter
Whoever plants the seeds and yet does not water them
Will wail in regret on the Day of Harvest (Qiyaamah)

ٱللَّٰهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَىٰ مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَىٰ آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ

ٱللَّٰهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَىٰ مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَىٰ آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ