A few words on patience

 

lbn Mas’ood (may Allah be pleased with him) is related to have said:

 

"Relief and aid are from faith and contentment. Anxiety and grief are from doubt and anger."

 

He also used to say:

"The patient one achieves the best of aims."

 

Abban ibn Taghlab said:

"l heard a Desert Arab say, ‘One of the noblest of characteristics becomes manifest when one is afflicted by a trial and then uses patience to overcome that trial. His patience and hope affect him positively; it is as if he constantly visualizes himself being saved from his problem; his state of mind is positive to such a high degree because of his trust in Allah and his good opinion of Him. Whenever one possesses these characteristics, he will never have to wait long for Allah to fulfill his needs and remove hardship from his life. He will be saved, and his religion and honor will remain safe."’

 

Al-Asma’ee related that a Desert Arab said:

"Fear evil when you find yourself to be in a good situation; hope for good when you are in an evil situation. Many have lived who have sought after death and many have died who have sought after life. And safely comes most often for a person after he has followed the path of fear."

 

Some of the wise would say:

"The wise person, when afflicted by hardship, consoles himself in two ways. The first is to be contented. The second is in hoping for a way out of the difficulties that have befallen him. The ignorant person is shaken and nervous in situations of hardship in two ways. The first is in the number of people from whom he seeks aid. The second is in his constant fears and apprehensions about that which is worse than what has already befallen him."

 

And as I mentioned earlier, it has been said that Allah, the Exalted, disciplines us through trials, a form of education that opens hearts, ears, and eyes.

 

Al-Hasan ibn Sahl described trials as being a wake-up call for the forgetful ones, a means of achieving reward for the patient ones, and a reminder of blessings for everyone. And the decree of Allah is always better, especially for those who, through their bravery, appear to be seeking out death --- who are searching for a life of remembrance, and who are unlike those that are described in the following verse:

 

([They are] the ones who said about their killed brethren while they themselves sat [at home]: U only they had listened to us, they would not have been killed.’ Say: ‘Avert death from your ownselves, if you speak the truth.)                                         (Qur’an 3: 168)