Indeed Allah is with those who are patient. That is to say, wherever patience is, there is Allah, and wherever Allah is, there is hope. Wherever there is hope, there is certainty. Where there is no certainty, there is doubt. Where there is doubt, there is Satan. Where Satan is, man is rebellious. It is such people upon whose hearts Allah places a seal, whose hearing He seals, and upon whose eyes heavy veils are placed, behind which nothing can be seen.
Such people become mute and deaf, and when this happens, these blind ones, even while seeing the signs of power, do not believe in the Oneness of Allah. Patience is such an act upon whose belt life flows. Allah the Exalted says:
هُوَ الَّذِي يُصَوِّرُكُمْ فِي الْأَرْحَامِ كَيْفَ يَشَاءُ
“He it is Who shapes you in the wombs as He wills.”
(Surah Aal-e-Imran, Ayah 6)
A brief definition of the act of creation is that creation is continuous patience and restraint. The waiting of remaining with patience becomes manifest in the realm of existence. After birth, every stage is patience and every moment is manifestation.
Parents and the child himself must wait patiently until the child becomes two days old. In like manner, these days turn into weeks, months, and years. Thus it may be said that puberty is the fruit of childhood’s waiting, and old age is the manifestation of the waiting of youth. A day’s minutes and hours are temporality. The sum after the division of these hours and minutes is the age of two days. In the same way, the entire life is traveling upon temporality. Where there is travel there is temporality. Where there is perception there is spatiality. Temporality remains hidden from sight, and the eyes see spatiality. Where there is temporality, there is patience. Where there is patience, there is Allah.
The Holy Prophet ﷺ said:
لَا تَسُبُّوا الدَّهْرَ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الدَّهْرُ
“Do not curse time, for time is Allah.”
(Muwatta Imam Malik, Vol 1, Hadith 2355)
When a servant becomes aware of this secret that Allah is with those who are patient, then between every two moments of life his mind is of itself turning towards Allah.
It is narrated that one day the angels were praising before the Lord of the worlds the obedience, worship, humility, and submission of Hazrat Ayub (AS). Somehow Iblis also reached there. He said: Ayub has been showered with the blessings and bounties of Allah. This is the reason he is righteous and worshipful. If Allah were to send tribulation upon Ayub, he would no longer remain a grateful servant.
Suddenly the conditions of Hazrat Ayub (AS) worsened. Tribulations and trials made him destitute. Fire broke out in his granaries, burning wealth and goods to ashes. Raiders killed his slaves and servants, looted everything, and took away the livestock.
The children of Hazrat Ayub (AS) were at a banquet when the roof of the house collapsed, and all were buried under the rubble. Children, wealth, dignity, and grandeur vanished in moments. Not a trace of prosperity remained. Messengers of calamity came one after another to report, but not a single line of fear or grief appeared upon the forehead of Hazrat Ayub (AS).
Hazrat Ayub (AS) fell into prostration and praised Allah:
“O Allah, I was born naked from my mother’s womb, naked shall I return from this world. It was You Who gave me all this, and it is You Who has taken back Your trust.”
All was gone, yet the period of trial was not finished. From the soles of his feet to his head, painful sores erupted across his body, causing tormenting pangs. Hazrat Ayub (AS) would take a potsherd, sit in ashes, and scratch his body. His tongue remained engaged in patience, praise, and remembrance, and not a word of complaint left his mouth. According to the custom of the world, relatives abandoned him, only his wife remained.
When the news of his affliction spread in the village, three friends came to him. Seeing Hazrat Ayub (AS) lying upon ashes, scratching with a potsherd, their tongues were struck dumb by sorrow and grief. These friends sat silently for seven days and seven nights beside him.
Allah the All-Knowing and All-Seeing accepted the patience of Hazrat Ayub (AS).
The Qur’an says:
وَاذْكُرْ عَبْدَنَا أَيُّوبَ إِذْ نَادَىٰ رَبَّهُ أَنِّي مَسَّنِيَ الشَّيْطَانُ بِنُصْبٍ وَعَذَابٍ. ارْكُضْ بِرِجْلِكَ ۖ هَٰذَا مُغْتَسَلٌ بَارِدٌ وَشَرَابٌ
“And remember Our servant Ayub when he called upon his Lord: Truly Satan has afflicted me with toil and torment. [It was said], Strike the ground with your foot, here is cool water to wash and drink.”
(Surah Sād, Ayah 41-42)
Hazrat Ayub (AS) struck his foot upon the ground, and a spring of healing water gushed forth. He bathed, quenched his thirst, and in moments his body was cleansed of sores and wounds. The name of his blessed wife is Bibi Rahmah. When she returned in the evening and did not find her ailing husband, she was distressed. Her heart melted, her eyes wept, and searching in tears she reached a nearby bridge where she saw a healthy young man. Hazrat Ayub (AS) smiled and narrated the state of affairs.
By the grace, mercy, and favor of Allah, the youth of Hazrat Ayub (AS) and his wife returned. Allah the Exalted granted him children more than before, and the comforts which had been taken away during the trials were restored many times over.
In Surah Al-Anbiya it is said:
وَأَيُّوبَ إِذْ نَادَىٰ رَبَّهُ أَنِّي مَسَّنِيَ الضُّرُّ وَأَنتَ أَرْحَمُ الرَّاحِمِينَ. فَاسْتَجَبْنَا لَهُ فَكَشَفْنَا مَا بِهِ مِن ضُرٍّ وَآتَيْنَاهُ أَهْلَهُ وَمِثْلَهُم مَّعَهُمْ رَحْمَةً مِّنْ عِندِنَا وَذِكْرَىٰ لِلْعَابِدِينَ
“And remember Ayub when he called upon his Lord: Truly I am afflicted with harm, and You are the Most Merciful of the merciful. So We answered him and removed the harm that was upon him, and We gave him back his family and the like thereof with them, as a mercy from Us and a reminder for the worshippers.”
(Surah Al-Anbiya, Ayah 83-84)
Allah the Exalted says:
قُلْ يَا عِبَادِ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا رَبَّكُمْ لِلَّذِينَ أَحْسَنُوا فِي هَٰذِهِ الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةٌ وَأَرْضُ اللَّهِ وَاسِعَةٌ ۗ إِنَّمَا يُوَفَّى الصَّابِرُونَ أَجْرَهُم بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ
“Say, O My servants who have believed, be conscious of your Lord. For those who do good in this world is good, and the earth of Allah is spacious. Indeed, the patient will be given their reward without measure.”
(Surah Az-Zumar, Ayah 10)
Patience is a light of Allah which enters the worldly senses with radiance and draws man closer to Allah. The meaning of patience is that the servant leaves the outcome of his efforts to Allah, nullifies his own will, recognizes Allah as the Omnipotent, and in delay and failure of his affairs waits upon the will and decree of Allah.
Whatever comes from the power of Allah he accepts with contentment. Patience is the system of obedience. A patient man remains content even in hardship and his mind remains attached to Allah. Through patience man experiences his helplessness and weakness. Through patience the quantities of light within man increase abundantly. When a servant becomes habituated to patience every difficulty becomes easy. It is such people whom Allah has called Ulul-Azm.
Allah the Exalted says:
فَاصْبِرْ كَمَا صَبَرَ أُو۟لُوا۟ ٱلْعَزْمِ مِنَ ٱلرُّسُلِ
“So be patient as were the Ulul-Azm among the Messengers.”
(Surah Al-Ahqaf, Ayah 35)
According to the command of Allah, patience makes a man Ulul-Azm, which is the attribute of the Prophets.
Patience teaches the manners of life. Patience grants the strength to turn from the lowest state to the highest.
It is said:
إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ صَبَرُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ لَهُم مَّغْفِرَةٌ وَأَجْرٌ كَبِيرٌ
“Those who are patient and do righteous deeds, for them is forgiveness and a great reward.”
(Surah Hud, Ayah 11)
وَاسْتَعِينُوا۟ بِٱلصَّبْرِ وَٱلصَّلَوٰةِ ۚ وَإِنَّهَا لَكَبِيرَةٌ إِلَّا عَلَى ٱلْخَٰشِعِينَ
“Seek help through patience and prayer. Indeed, it is difficult, except for the humble.”
(Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayah 45)
أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ يُؤْتَوْنَ أَجْرَهُم مَّرَّتَيْنِ بِمَا صَبَرُوا۟ وَيَدْرَءُونَ بِٱلْحَسَنَةِ ٱلسَّيِّئَةَ وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَٰهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ
“These will be given their reward twice over, because they are patient, and they repel evil with good, and they spend from what We have provided them.”
(Surah Al-Qasas, Ayah 54)
وَإِسْمَٰعِيلَ وَإِدْرِيسَ وَذَا ٱلْكِفْلِ ۖ كُلٌّۭ مِّنَ ٱلصَّٰبِرِينَ. وَأَدْخَلْنَٰهُمْ فِى رَحْمَتِنَآ ۖ إِنَّهُم مِّنَ ٱلصَّٰلِحِينَ
“And remember Ismail and Idrees and Dhul-Kifl, all were among the patient. And We admitted them into Our mercy, indeed they were of the righteous.”
(Surah Al-Anbiya, Ayah 85-86)
The meaning of patience is to restrain and to take support from the final limit of endurance. Every person knows that his reality is the soul. Without the soul, man is insignificant. The soul continually counsels the body to patience. By the counsel of patience is meant that the soul inspires the consciousness that this suffering is temporary, every affliction passes, and nothing in the world is permanent. From this inspiration, courage to face trials and firmness in intention is born within man.
When a person becomes anxious, the balance of the luminous energies within him is disturbed. Patience restores those energies to balance, because Allah is with those who are patient.
إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ مَعَ ٱلصَّٰبِرِينَ
“Indeed Allah is with the patient.”
(Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayah 153)
By Beloved Khawajah Shamsuddin Azeem RA, Book: Time