 See, when you compare this limited life, 70, 80, 90, 100 years, to the other afterlife, how long is the afterlife? It's infinite, right? When you compare something limited, like 70, 80, 90 years, to something that's infinite, that infinity dwarfs it, right? And if you compare 70 to infinity, well 70 is reduced to basically zero when you compare it to infinity. The Imam is teaching us this world is finite, 70 years, 80, 90 years, but the Akhira is infinite. So you human being in your existence, if you had a timeline, imagine your timelines here on the board, the timeline of your existence. Now the Akhira is infinite, right? Your soul continues for infinity. This physical world on that timeline, how big is it? You wouldn't even be able to see it, right? It's smaller than a speck. The Imam, alaihi salam, says the Akhira is already here. Because it's infinite, it dwarfs this world. Feel the presence of the hereafter. So what do we do, O Amir al-Mu'mineen? Now that you've warned us about this reality, what do we do? The Imam, alaihi salam, beautifully then states ala wa inna liawma al-midmar wa gadan al-sibaq. The Imam, alaihi salam says, okay, today then is the day of preparation and tomorrow's the race. There is a race. There's a grand marathon. We're all a part of it. Now I can't, you know, run well, but I'm still part of that marathon. Everyone's part of that marathon. The Imam says today's the day of preparation. Midmar and the Arabic language is basically the training area for the horses. You know those horses that race, the racing horses? Basically what they would do, they would keep them in a place, they would feed them well for a while. They would get, you know, in shape, they would get fat, strong. And then after that, they would put the horse to a rigorous exercise for days and days so the horse becomes light. Now that it's light, it's ready for the race. Because the heavier it is, the more difficulty you'll have winning that race, but the lighter it is, the better. This is called midmar in Arabic. The Imam says, this world here is the midmar. You're preparing yourself to be light. Are we light, brothers and sisters? In another passage of Nahjul Balagh, the Imam, alaihi s-salam, beautifully states that if you want to succeed and be prepared for the Akhira, he has two words for us, beautiful two words. He summarizes the entire philosophy of this life. The Imam says, تخففوا تلحقوا, be light and you'll make it. Be light and you'll make it. How many of you travel especially for activities, right? Maybe you'll go hiking, maybe camping. When you travel, and especially if your travel is going to take you to dangerous places, or difficult places, you have to go up mountains, go down through valley passes, the lighter you are in your travel, is that better or worse for you? The better it is. Imagine if somebody's going on a hiking trip and they're packing seven pieces of luggage with them, five, six types of food, all these clothes, all these accessories and gadgets, and the person is going with their friends, his friends just have a light backpack, just essential, some water for hydration, and then maybe some light snacks. Now if they have a timeline, they have a deadline, they need to go before sunset, do the hike trip and come back. You think this guy with the seven pieces of luggage is going to make it? It's not going to make it. See, in a simple journey like that, the more you carry with you, the more it's going to impede your movement. Now the Qur'an teaches us that our path to the Akhara, to the afterlife is a journey. We're traveling. It's a journey into the afterlife, into the hereafter. What are we packing with us brothers and sisters? What are we packing with us? Are we traveling light or no? The lighter you are, the faster you'll make it there. The better it is for you. The less penalties and fines you have to pay. These days if you want to travel, some of these low-cost carriers, you know, expired airlines if you've traveled on them, even your carry-on, they charge you for it. It's my carry-on, I want it, no, no, you have to pay for it. You don't want to pay, you want to be light quick, small backpack, purse will let it through, but if you have a bag, you have to pay for it. And then if you check in a bag and you're really in a hurry, you know, let's say you're running from the airport to a meeting or to a lecture or to a conference, you don't want to go at the baggage carousel and wait for the bag. Sometimes they'll delay you 30 minutes, right? The lighter you are, the better. The less you pay and the faster you get there. Now in this world, what are we packing with us? We have a race tomorrow. The race is not today. The Imam says today is the day of preparation. Tomorrow's the race. On the day of judgment, the race actually begins. We're in this huge marathon, who are you racing with? Everyone in creation. Imagine every human being God has created in history. Tens of billions, trillions, I don't know. Billions and billions of people are on that race and you're with them. You're racing. How do I make it to that race? The Imam says today, today is the day of preparation. Tomorrow, there's no time for you to prepare. Imagine somebody gets to the race and five minutes before the race starts, the person says, you know what? Let me prepare now. No, you can't. Look at these runners, these other people, they've been preparing for months and years. You can't just show up to the race and think that you can prepare there. That's not how it works. The Imam says tomorrow is the race. Today is the day of preparation. Are you prepared? Are you packing? What will help you in that race? So these days, if you go on a hiking trip, you need some water and some essential snacks to keep hydrated and you have something to eat, to be strong. What is it that those racers on the day of judgment will be packing? What do you need to stay hydrated on the day of judgment? Because the hadith says, the Quran says, the Quran says it's a long day. For some people, this is Quran. For some people, one day on the day of judgment is more than fifty thousand years or equal to fifty thousand years. This is the Quran, my dear brothers and sisters, and Allah is speaking the truth to us. Those who are not prepared and they have a lot of luggage with them, it's going to take long. What's going to hydrate you on the day of judgment? What's going to keep you fit? The Holy Quran tells us, What's the provisions that you can take with you that will benefit you, your deeds? To be pious, to be mindful of God, to respect the law of God, to love God, to implement the law of God. That's what will help you. That's the only provision that's going to keep you fit on the day of judgment. So the Imam beautifully teaches us that this world is a day of preparation and tomorrow is the race. Be ready for that race. We still have time. Now someone can say, SubhanAllah, the Imams of Ahlul Bayt even anticipate what people might think or object. Now someone might say, Oh my Imam, I've maybe grown older, I've wasted many opportunities, maybe I've committed so many sins, I'm doomed. What do I do? The Imam says, No, there is hope for you. As long as you're breathing, you're still breathing, there is hope for you. How do you prepare yourself? The Imam beautifully then states after that, You want to prepare yourself for that race? I've missed many opportunities, maybe I've burdened myself with a lot of sins. The Imam says the door of tawba and repentance is wide open. As long as you're alive, you're still breathing, Allah will forgive. One act of tawba, true repentance that comes genuinely from your heart, Allah finds that so valuable, He'll convert all of your past sins into good deeds to honor you because it requires courage to admit that you're wrong. Not everyone, those who are arrogant, they can't admit that they're wrong. Even with God, even with God, they cannot genuinely bring their hearts to ask for forgiveness and say we committed a mistake, Oh Allah, forgive me. So the Imam says the way that you can still be light is to repent. Allah will give you another chance. As long as you show that sincere, genuine intention with Allah SWT, Allah will grant you that other chance. The Qur'an and the hadith teach us as long as you have not seen the angel of death, you can still repent. As long as you're breathing, you can still repent. Yeah, not like the repentance of the Pharaoh. It didn't really help him, why? Because the Qur'an says he rejected the signs of God. God sent him so many signs.