Diagnosed with kidney failure at seventeen. My younger cousin and I were more like sisters, though separated by a few oceans and continents. When her health began to deteriorate, her transition from a carefree, fashion-forward teen to 'devout' was an abrupt one. I would rarely see her after dinner without a tattered booklet in hand, comprised of surahs Yaseen, Waqiah, Rahman, and Mulk. These health challenges, however, didn't detract from her optimism or expectation from Allah (SWT), she told me once with a big smile: 'I can't wait to see what I'm gonna get for all this.' When she entered the hospital for COVID, I asked her, 'you wanted me to read Surah Yaseen to you over the phone?' She reminded me that she lost her hearing a few years ago, but 'you can text me.' What to say? Surah Yaseen is vast, the images therein range from hopeful to very, very scary. Not wanting to scare her, I ended up telling her about the man, some tafseer books name Habib AnNajjar (See: Ibn Al Jawziyy). I'm fascinated by the character of this man. He's not a Prophet. But when the Prophets faced opposition, he bravely advised his people to goodness--pushed to do so because of his deep love and concern for his people. Ultimately, they kill him (some tafseer books recount brutal details). And he enters Jannah. My cousin was astonished by the story (this, despite knowing this Surah backward and blind-folded in Arabic). She passed away the next morning. In my mind, the stories of these two people have somehow merged. It's the story of a good person that suffers and then dies. A part of me is sad for him and for her, at the core of this sadness is: why do you good people have to go down like that? I recognize the problem with this line of thinking. It's an issue of focus. While I was focusing on the death part, they were focusing on the prize. While people may have lamented: she never got married, she never had kids. She was thinking bigger. May Allah (SWT) exceed her expectations. May Allah (SWT) make us amongst those that look forward to meeting Him, make us amongst those that strive for the aakhirah.