The pilgrim’s prize is nothing other than Allah’s full forgiveness of one’s entire misdeeds. What a prize! And what an honour! For a pilgrim, what could be more fulfilling or dignifying than to successfully perform Hajj properly and return home from it infused with Allah’s pleasures and blessings, and with his account of sins zeroed out!
“By Him whose House the loving pilgrims visit,Responding with ihram at the appointed limit,
Uncovering their heads in total humility,
Before The One to Whom faces bow in servility.
They exclaim in the valleys, “We have responded to You -
All Praise is Yours, and Kingdom too!”
He invited and they answered, with love and pleasure;
When they called upon Him, nearer came the Divine treasure.
You see them on their mounts, hair dusty and dishevelled,
Yet never more content, never happier have they felt;
Leaving homelands and families due to holy yearning,
Unmoved are they by temptations of returning.
Through plains and valleys, from near and far,
Walking and riding, in submission to Allah.”
Poem by Imam Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah
O Allah, give us the chance to perform Hajj! Ameen.
