MESSAGE FOR THE SICK

The Twenty-Fifth Flash

This treatise consists of twenty-five remedies. It has been written as a balm, a source of consolation, and a spiritual prescription for the sick, with the intention of visiting them and wishing them a speedy recovery.

A Note and an Apology

This spiritual prescription was written more rapidly than any of our other treatises.^[1] Unlike our other works, we were unable to find the time to review it carefully for revision. Consequently, it was checked only once and has therefore been published in the unpolished state of a first draft. Moreover, we did not consider it necessary to revise it again, because we did not wish to disturb the truths that arose naturally from my heart through excessive refinement or literary embellishment. I ask the readers, and especially the sick, to overlook any unpleasant expressions or blunt wording and to remember me in their prayers.

بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحٖيمِIn the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate

اَلَّذٖينَ اِذَٓا اَصَابَتْهُمْ مُصٖيبَةٌ قَالُٓوا اِنَّا لِلّٰهِ وَاِنَّٓا اِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ..... those who, when calamity strikes them, say, ‘Indeed, we belong to Allah, and indeed, to Him we shall return.’ – The Quran 2:155-156

وَالَّذِى هُوَ يُطْعِمُنِىِ وَيَسْقِينِ ۞ وَاِذَا مَرِضْتُ فَهُوَ يَشْفِينِIt is He who provides me with food and drink. And when I am ill, it is He who cures me. — The Quran 26:79-80.

In this Flash, we shall briefly discuss twenty-five remedies that may serve as genuine consolation and a healing balm for the sick, who make up one-tenth of humanity.

The First Remedy

O helpless sick person! Do not worry; be patient. Your illness is not an affliction for you but rather a form of healing. Life is a capital that is steadily being spent, and if it bears no fruit, it is wasted in vain. Moreover, when it passes in comfort and heedlessness, it slips away all too quickly. Illness, however, increases the profit on the capital of your life and enables it to yield far greater fruits. It also prevents your life from passing too swiftly; it holds it back, prolongs it, and only lets it go after it has produced its fruits.

Indeed, to express that life is lengthened through illness, the following saying has long been repeated: “Times of hardship pass slowly, while times of pleasure fly by.”