The Farewell Tawaf

There is a tradition that some of the early generations would not leave the Kaʿbah after the farewell ṭawāf until they wept. Some said they wept because they knew their sins would be the obstacles between them and a return. Others wept because they were leaving the place where the heart had finally felt at home and were returning to the world that had broken it. The farewell tawaf is a station of the heart, not just a rite of the body. Now turn it toward yourself. Hajj is once in a lifetime for most; some never go. But the lesson of the farewell ṭawāf is portable. Every blessed moment Allah gives you has its own farewell. The Ramadan that just closed: did you say goodbye to it? The pious gathering that just ended: did you make duʿāʾ at its close? The parent who is still here: do you treat each visit as a possible farewell ṭawāf? The Prophet ﷺ said: Take advantage of five before five: your youth before your old age, your health before your illness, your wealth before your poverty, your free time before your busyness, your life before your death (Ḥākim). Each of those five has a farewell coming. Do the farewell tawaf of each one consciously. Yā Allāh, do not make this our last Ramadan, our last fajr, our last khatm, our last visit to Your House, real or remembered. And when our true farewell comes, make our last act be one with our face toward You, the House of our heart full of Your love. Āmīn.