There is a big warning in the Qur’an, and it comes with a very specific and insightful punishment.
In Surah Al Hashr verse 19, Allah ﷻ says:
“Do not be like those who forgot Allah, so he made them forget their own souls. It is they who are truly rebellious” (59:19)
Allah ﷻ punishes those who forget him in two ways:
One, he forgets them. Now we know that Allah ﷻ has perfect knowledge.
So this isn’t the kind of forgetfulness that comes from a deficiency since Allah ﷻ is Al-Alim. The All Knowing.
Rather this person has stubbornly rejected Allah’s guidance and so they are left out of his mercy and tawfiq.
May Allah ﷻ never leave us astray.
The other punishment that is mentioned in this verse is that he causes them to forget theirselves.
Isn’t that interesting?
They are punished by forgetting what is the cause of their own souls happiness and success.
Not only that, they forget their faults and shortcomings so they never even think about reforming their self.
when Allah ﷻ mentions putting a seal on somebodys heart, I always imagined those people as being blind to the external stuff.
However this verse shows me that one of the greatest detriments is actually becoming blind to your self.
May Allah ﷻ help us recognise his beautiful attributes in the passing moments of each and every day.
Ameen.