By Ibnul Qayyim rahimahullah
-Taken from Tariq al-Hijratayn-
FlRST: Recognize the reward and compensation for patience.
SECOND: Know that calamities are atonement for sins and they wipe them away.
THIRD: Know that this calamity is from the preordained decree.
It has been written in the Mother of the Book before the calamity was created, so it is inevitable that it would occur.
Thus, despondency will only increase the calamity.
FOURTH: Understand the right Allah has over you during this calamity.
It is obligatory to be patient, and there is no difference of opinion in this.
Some scholars say it is obligatory to be patient and pleased.
Thus, the person is commanded to perform the rights of Allah and worship Him during this calamity.
This is a necessity, and if you do not do so, the calamity is multiplied.
FIFTH: Understand that this calamity is a result of your sins.
As Allah the Exalted said (what means) :
And whatever of misfortune befalls you, it is because of what your hands have earned. And He pardons much.
[Surah ash-Shurah 42:30 ]
This is general for all calamities, subtle and apparent.
Thus, you should busy yourself with seeking forgiveness, as this is the greatest way to repel this calamity.
Ali bin Abi Talib said:
No calamity is ever sent down except due to sin, and it is only lifted by way of repentance.
SIXTH: Know that Allah is pleased with this calamity and has selected it for you, and servitude to Allah necessitates that the slave is pleased with whatever his Master is pleased with for him.
If the person is unable to attain the level of being pleased with this calamity, it is due to his weakness; thus, he moves to the lower level, which is to be patient with the calamity.
If he is unable to be patient with the calamity, he moves to the level of oppression and transgression.
SEVENTH: Know that this calamity is a beneficial medicine given to the person from at-Tabib, who has full knowledge of what will benefit the person and is Most Merciful towards him.
Therefore, be patient and swallow your dose of medicine, and don't vomit the medicine with anger and complaints, thus losing the benefit.
EIGHTH : Know that at the end of this medicine there is healing, curing, well-being and the removal of the pain which could only be removed by this medicine.
Thus, when you find yourself hating this illness and its bitterness, look at the good results and after-effects.
Allah the Exalted said (what means):
And it may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you and that you like a thing which is bad for you. Allah knows, but you do not know.
[Surah al-Baqarah 2:216]
And Allah the Exalted said (what means):
It may be that you dislike a thing and Allah brings through it a great deal of good.
[Surah an-Nisa' 4:19]
NINTH: Know that this calamity did not come to destroy you or kill you.
It only came to test your patience.
At this point, it will be made clear if the person can become a friend of Allah and from His party or not.
If he is firm, he will be selected and bestowed with nobility and dressed in the garment of virtue. He will become one of Allah’s friends and helpers.
But if he turns on his face and falls back on his heels, then he is driven away and neglected, and his calamity is multiplied, and he doesn’t realize at the moment that his calamity has been multiplied and increased.
But after this calamity is over, he will realize his adversity became many calamities.
Similarly, the patient person will come to know that his adversity became many blessings.
The only difference between the levels of the impatient person and the patient person is showing patience for an hour, and the heart’s valor during that hour.
It is inevitable that the calamity will leave both of them, but it will leave the patient person with nobility, while it will leave the impatient one with bereavement.
This is the decree of the All-Mighty, the All-Wise, and Allah’s virtue that He gives to whomever He wills. And Allah is the Possessor of great virtue.
TENTH: Know that Allah will cultivate His slave upon ease and hardship, favors and trials.
Thus, He will bring servitude from him in every situation.
Allah’s slave, in the true sense of the word, is the person who has servitude to Allah throughout his varying circumstances.
As for the person who is only a slave to Allah during the good times:
He who worships Allah as it were, upon the very edge (i.e., in doubt); if good befalls him, he is content therewith, but if a trial befalls him, he turns back on his face.
[Surah al-Hajj 22:11]
This person is not from His slaves whom He has chosen for His servitude.
Certainly, the faith that is firm during adversity and ease is the beneficial faith.
As for faith that is only present during times of ease, this faith will not elevate the person to the status of the believers.
Only faith during hardship and ease will elevate the person to this level.
Adversity are the bellows for the slave and the touchstone for his faith.
He either comes out like raw, red metal, or he comes out pure, or he comes out mixed with gold and copper.
His calamity will continue until he removes the copper from the gold and only pure gold remains.
If the slave knows that Allah’s favor upon him during the adversity is not less than Allah’s favor upon him during [his time of] well-being, he will busy his heart and tongue with gratitude towards Allah.
"O Allah, help me to remember You, give thanks to You, and worship You properly."
Sahih Abi Dawud 1362
And how could he not thank the One who removed the impurities from him and made him pure?!
These means will assist the person upon patience during calamities. If this (his patience during calamities) becomes strong, it will result in being pleased with the trial and thanking Allah for it.
We ask Allah from His favors to cover us with well-being, and we ask Him not to expose us through adversity.
100 Pieces of Advice from Ibnul Qayyim rahimahullah pgs. 21-25
