On your birthday, you are reminded of your years and why you have done what you have done.

The goal is clear: Paradise.

The means to the goal: striving to know the best inward states and outward actions at any given moment, embodying them, and if best, teaching that to others.

“The best remembrance of Allah is when a person is faced with something forbidden (which he has the ability to perform), however because of the remembrance of Allah, he prevents himself from falling into sin.”

– Imam ‘Ali عليه السلام (as quoted in Weapon of the Believer: A Manual of Daily Prayers & Supplications, trans. by Saleem Bhimji, p. 82)