Three Different Trees

By Ibnul Qayyim (r.a)
The year is a tree, the months are its branches, the days are its
twigs, the hours (and minutes) are itsleaves and every breath man
takes is a fruit of the tree. Thus the fruit of the trees of a person
who breathes in obedience to Allah will be sweet and thefruit of the
tree of a personwho breathes in disobedience to Allah will be bitter.
However, the fruit of this tree will only be harvested on the Day
ofMa'aad (the day when Manwill return to Allah) and the sweet fruit
will only bedifferentiated from the bitter fruit when it will be
harvested.
Ikhlaas and Tauheed are a tree in the heart (of the Believer). The
branches of this tree are good actions and its fruits are a
pleasantlife in the world and never-ending comfort in the Hereafter
and just as the fruit of Jannah will never come to an end nor will it
be held back, the same can be said regarding the fruits of Ikhlaas and
Tauheed in theDunyaa.
Shirk, lies and Riyaa (doinggood actions for show) arealso a tree in
the heart. The worldly fruits of the tree are fear, worry, sorrow,
narrowness of the heart (discontent, cowardice, etc) and darkness of
the heart. In the Hereafter the fruits of this tree will be Zaqqoom
and everlasting punishment.
These two trees have beenmentioned by Allah in the following Aayaat of
Surah Ibrahim:
"Did you not see how Allahpresented an example? A pleasant word is
like a pleasant tree; its roots are firm and its branches are (high)
in the sky, it yields its fruit all the time with the command of its
Sustainer. And Allah presents examples to the people so that they may
take heed. And the example of a bad word is that of a bad tree that
has been uprooted from abovethe earth having no firmness." (Verse 24 –
26)