Moved by eloquent speech

A righteous man said, "I once sat in the gathering of a preacher who spoke so well and with such eloquence that he moved everyone that was present into tears. Upon hearing the preacher mention the Hellfire and the punishment that Allah prepared for those who disobey Him, a young man who was present let out a loud cry, 'regrettably, my grief that I was disobedient to Allah. I have wasted my life, forgotten my death and done little in terms of good deeds.' He then faced the Qiblah and said, 'O Allah, I turn towards You this day (and this moment), repenting to You with a repentance that is not tainted by a desire for anyone other than You to see me worshipping You. So accept, in spite of my shortcomings. Forgive me and have Mercy upon me in my loneliness. My Lord, to You do I return with all of my limbs, sincerely from my heart. Utter ruin will be my lot if you do not accept me.'

He then fell down unconscious. We tried to move him, but he wouldn't budge he was dead. May Allah have Mercy on him.

Moral

From this story we learn that anyone can change before their death and that what truly matters is how a persons life ends, not how it began. We also learn that eloquence has its place in Islam when it used to call people to good.