الذين امنوا وعملوا الصالحات طوبى لهم وحسن ماب

ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ طُوبَىٰ لَهُمْ وَحُسْنُ مَـَٔابٍ

Like others, my soul, the human nature within it, wants peace, comfort, bliss and joy. I sometimes even seek it in this world, knowing well this search is an empty one - because this life wasn’t created to serve me perfection. And even though, there are glimpses of comfort, my heart knows well they are not the permanent kind. 

But You promise, my Rabb, You promise of tuba - to those who have believed and work towards uprightness, those take steps towards goodness - You assure them, with tuba. 

With a heart filled with remorse, this soul wants tuba - so what might it be? This word that lifts up my spirits and hopes has been described as: 

Happiness and comfort
Refreshments of the eye
An excellent earning 
A joy 
Something Better 
To have earned a good thing 
Something excellent 

Now I desire it more, I dream of tuba, but like all dreams of want, achieving tuba requires much work - am I ready for such devotion? Me, the one suffocating in sin, drowning in this world and its false glitter? Am I ready to reach for something that doesn’t have one single definition, but is made up of a collection of meaning, describing what every human soul longs for. 

My desire for tuba increases when I learn that our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saw) said to a man: 

'Tuba is for he who saw me and believed in me. Tuba, and another tuba, and another tuba for he who believed in me, but did not see me.' 

I desire it more, and more and more now. 

Guide us, Ya Rabb, Yours is everything we see and cannot see, guide us to achieve tuba and Your pleasure. 

———
Reflections after reciting verse 29 from surah Ar Rad where Allah talks about طُوبَىٰ

Hadith recorded by Imam Ahmad, narrated by Abu Sa’id al Khudri 

Noted in Tafsir Ibn Kathir

Very beautiful! Allahuma Barik! May Allah Grant us all Tuubah!