THE PERIOD OF YOUTH
Sole Opportunity
THE Prophet is reported to have said that on the Day of Judgment every person would be questioned about some issues, one of these being how he spent his youth (Al-Bayhaqi). Youth is said to be the best part of a person’s life. That is why we will be questioned specifically about it.
Youth is a period when a person’s strength is fully alive and he is capable of doing whatever he likes. This period lies between two periods of infirmity—childhood, on the one hand, and old age, on the other. If you waste your youth, it is like wasting your whole life.
Youth is the age of good health. If you have good health, you have everything. If you don’t have good health, you have nothing. Good health is truly something to be very grateful for. The period of youth is the period of the greatest blessing. It is because of this that in the Hereafter we will be specifically asked about how we spent our youth. The period of youth is the best period in a person’s life. What you can do in this period you cannot do either before or after it.
In our youth, we have great strength and energy. That is why most people at that age don’t really think they face very difficult problems. What the Hadith referred to above means is whether in this precious part of our lives we thanked God for this gift or not. Were we arrogant, or were we modest? Did we cause problems to others? Were we a source of goodness for others or did we do them harm?
The period of youth is the best period in a person’s life. What you can do in this period you cannot do either before or after it.
But there is a weakness as well, in this period of youth. It is a period prior to a person’s full maturity. In his youth, a person bubbles with energy, but in terms of experience and intellectual development, he still remains in a relatively undeveloped phase. For this reason, most people make the biggest mistakes of their lives in this period. Hence, it is necessary to be particularly cautious when one is at this stage in life. A person in this stage must form his opinions based on deep thinking and his actions should follow deep reflection.
Young age is a very precious part of our lives. At this stage of life, we have much to give to others. It can also become something to be very grateful for if we spend this period of our life in the right way.