The Fourth Point

As was explained in the First Station of The Twenty-First Word, the power of patience that Allah has granted to the human being is sufficient to endure every calamity, unless he dissipates it through vain imaginings. However, under the influence of delusions and heedlessness, and because man imagines this fleeting life to be everlasting, he disperses his power of patience over the past and the future. As a result, his patience is no longer sufficient for the calamity of the present moment, and he begins to complain.

It is as though—may Allah forbid—through his impatience he complains about Allah to people in an extremely unjust and foolish manner. For the suffering of each past day in which calamity occurred has disappeared, while the ease that followed it remains; its pain has passed away, while the pleasure of its passing has remained; the distress it caused is over, while the thawābThe rewards granted in the Hereafter for deeds performed in pursuit of Allah’s pleasure and acceptance. it yielded remains. Therefore, one should not complain, but rather give thanks with gladness. When he thinks of the days that have passed, he should not feel sorrow, but contentment. Through calamity, that fleeting life of his comes to be counted as an everlasting and blessed life. It is therefore foolish to recall those pains through vain imagination and thereby lose a portion of one’s patience.

As for the days yet to come, since they have not yet arrived, it is foolish to think now of the illnesses and calamities that may occur in them, to lose one’s patience because of them, and to complain about them. Just as it would be utterly foolish for someone to eat and drink continually today because he imagines that he will suffer hunger and thirst in the coming days, so too it is foolish to think now of calamities and illnesses that are presently non-existent, to suffer from them already, to lose patience because of them, and to wrong oneself without any necessity; such a state removes one’s right to compassion.

In short: just as gratitude increases blessings, complaint increases calamities and removes one’s worthiness for compassion.

During the first year of the First World War, a blessed person in Erzurum became gravely ill. I went to visit him. He complained bitterly and said: “For the past hundred nights I have not been able to lay my head upon a pillow and sleep.” I felt great pity for him. Suddenly, it occurred to me to say:

“Brother, those hundred painful days that have passed now count as a hundred joyful days. Do not complain by thinking of them; rather, look back upon them with gratitude. As for the days to come, since they have not yet arrived, take refuge in the mercy of your Lord, Who is Rahmānur-RahīmAllah; the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. Do not begin to weep before calamity has struck you. Do not fear what does not exist, and do not give non-existence the colour of existence. Think of this hour; your power of patience is sufficient for it.

“Do not act like a foolish commander in the following situation: he faces the enemy with his army. Although the enemy’s left wing has joined the right wing of his own army, thereby becoming a fresh source of strength for him, and although no enemy is yet visible opposite the left wing of his army, he begins to send his central forces to the left and to the right. In doing so, he weakens the centre, and the enemy then destroys his central force with only a minimal effort.”