The actual duration of our life is the time which was spent in the obedience and remembrance of Allah Ta'ala. The Buzurgs have written that if a person has a life of approximately sixty years, he has only spent one and a half years of the sixty years for the actual purpose for which he was created.

A person only reaches the age of puberty when he is fifteen. These initial fifteen years are years of negligence. From the total life span of sixty, a person is left with 45 years if fifteen is subtracted.

A person then spends one third of his life sleeping. A third of 45 is fifteen, so another fifteen years is subtracted. This leaves a person with 30 years.

A third of one’s life is spent in earning one’s livelihood. A third of 45 is fifteen. We are now left with fifteen years (30-15=15). An ordinary person worships Allah Ta'ala for approximately two and half hours daily which is about 10%. Ten percent of fifteen years is one and half years.  

In conclusion the time spent in the actual purpose of one’s life is one and half years. Allah Ta'ala has created us for His Ibaadat, so the one and half years spent in the Ibaadat of Allah Ta'ala is the actual life span of a person.

In the sixty years of life, a person walks on the land which Allah Ta'ala had provided, he drinks the water and eats the food which Allah Ta'ala has provided, breathes in fresh air, etc. yet we pay back so little. We are fully aware of the quality of our Ibaadat.

Once we had the opportunity of visiting perhaps the last Khalifa of Hadrat Thanvi Ta'ala who used to reside in Rangoon. He was approximately ninety years of age. According to the people, his mind was not in order. When we met him I asked, “Hadrat, how old are you?” He said, “I should be approximately thirty years old.” It is either that he was referring to the reality (i.e. the time spent in the Ibaadat of Allah Ta'ala) or perhaps his mind was not in order.  

This was the condition of various Buzurgs. Whenever they were asked their age they indicated to the number of years which was spent in the Ibaadat of Allah Ta'ala. If a person is asked his bank balance but he says that he lost two million in a certain deal or three million in another deal, the questioner will say that he is not interested in what was lost. He needs to know what is currently saved in the bank. Similarly, our age is the time spent in the Ibaadat of Allah Ta'ala.