Delaying Repentance

Delayed Repentance & Cutting a Tree – منهاج القاصدين

Ibn Qudamah wrote:

وما مثال المسوف إلا مثال من احتاج إلى قلع شجرة ، فرآها قوية لا تنقلع إلا بمشقة شديدة
فقال : أؤخرها سنة ثم أعود إليها
وهو لا يعلم أن الشجرة كلما بقيت ازداد رسوخها ، وهو كلما طال عمره ازداد ضعفه ،
فالعجب من عجزه مع قوته عن مقاومتها في حال ضعفها ، كيف ينتظر الغلبة إذا ضعف وقويت .

“The example of someone who delays [repenting] is like someone who wants to uproot a tree, but finds that it’s very strong and will only be uprooted with difficulty.
So he said: “I will delay its uprooting for one year, then I will come to uproot it next year.”
But he doesn’t know the longer the tree lives, the more firmly rooted it’ll be.
And that the older he gets, the weaker he gets.
The astonishing thing is: he was incapable of uprooting it when he was strong and the tree was weaker … so how can he expect to uproot it in the future, when he gets weaker and the tree gets stronger?!”

[“Mukhtasar Minhaj al-Qasidin”, 4/21].