Much like the blades of grass covered in snow, we are all helpless in Allah’s grand plan.
Much like the blades of grass covered in snow, we are all helpless in Allah’s grand plan.
Much like the blades of grass covered in snow, we are all helpless in Allah’s grand plan. None can escape it, and similarly, in this life we cannot escape from our nafs, but we can take the ways towards islaah (reformation) and submitting to our need for Allah’s help, and our need to keep tawbah (repentance) as a principle in life.
If we’re always looking at the snow (or our qadr) in a negative way, we’re most likely to slip, hurt, fall… and be very upset. But if we change our perspective- a better balance can be struck. You can shovel away the extra, learn how to handle the next, and take time to appreciate the snowfall as it is. And in a life, where there is tawbah, you can learn how to prepare yourself, you can accept things the way they are and learn to see the hidden beauty and wisdom in them. A stamina develops in which you are able to clear out the unnecessary blockages, so you don’t slip and fall.
As Our Creator says to us in Surah Nahl, verses 31-34:
“And it will be said to those who feared Allah, ‘What did your Lord send down?’ They will say ‘[That which] good.’ For those who do good in this world is good; and the home of the hereafter is better. And how excellent is the home of the righteous.
Gardens of perpetual residence, which they will enter, beneath which rivers flow. They will have therein whatever they wish. Thus does Allah reward the righteous.
The ones whom the angels take in death, being good and pure; [the angels] will say, ‘Peace be upon you. Enter paradise for what you used to do.
Do the disbelievers await [anything] except that the angels should come to them or there comes the command of your Lord? Thus did those do before them..and Allah wronged them not, but they had been wronging themselves.
So they were struck by the evil consequence of what they did and were enveloped by what they used to ridicule.'”
All that God says is said with nothing but truth. It’s very different to how we communicate, even if we are as eloquent as can be, there will always be flaw, addition or subtraction, perhaps the influence of evil/negative thoughts, typos… but this Book? La Raiba Fee. There is no doubt in it. Nothing vague which can steal your peace, unless you yourself let it or are lacking peace, and for that there is a given solution. Don’t give up on it and keep it close, for an emotional and spiritual connection goes hand in hand with a mental and physical connection!
Paradise is a promise from Our Lord, a promise for those who are loyal and focused on Him alone, and for those who barter their entire selves, whether it be emotionally, mentally, spiritually, be it your pride, perceptions, ego, desires, time, effort, integrity, reputation, or self-perception. Those who sacrifice, not just their wealth, but of anything they hold valuable of their property or self.
When times get tough, almost beyond your breaking point, recall the 286th verse of Surah Baqarah:
“Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity. It will have [the consequence of] what [good] it has gained, and it will bear [the consequence of] what [evil] it has earned. ‘Our Lord, do not impose blame upon us if we have forgotten or erred. Our Lord, and lay not upon us a burden like that which You laid upon those before us. Our Lord, and burden us not with that which we have no ability to bear. And pardon us; and forgive us; and have mercy upon us. You are our protector, so give us victory over the disbelieving people.'”
Your struggle is known, your truth is known, your value is known. Don’t for a second forget who it is that knows – The One who truly knows, unseen and seen. The Eternally Knowing, eternally knowing every detail of our life and all of those around us.
Are all of these things not worth sacrificing for the pleasure of our God? For the guaranteed safety and bliss of our souls – never to be swayed or interrupted again? Let us be pleased with whichever benefit of this life we seem to be viewing as a major loss and hurt, and develop peace. Perhaps that sacrifice is of much value and benefit, maybe not to anyone around us, maybe not to ourselves as of yet, but perhaps to our God, our Saviour, The Loving, The Most Kind, The Most Subtle. Is His nearness and His relationship not worth breaking the relationship of yourself with this world, and gaining a brighter perspective? From all the things your senses around you perceive, the apparent matters right in front of your face?
“Happy is the man who avoids dissension, but how fine is the man who is afflicted and shows endurance.” Sunan of Abu Dawood, Hadith 1996.
Truly you can get through anything in life if you cling onto this Book. If you keep remembering the promises of Allah and the truth of His being. All other matters, they might prick, astonish, astound, but for no longer than a lingering moment, like a hot breeze passing by.
Just as snow cleans the earth, trials and repentance cleanse the soul, through both hardship and ease, through thick and thin. Clearing the snow just once however, isn’t enough, you have to keep doing it! Because snow rarely falls just once.
Our ruh (or soul), is pure and clean like the snow and water which comes from above. We ourselves stomp all over it and thereupon complain of its mess. But alas, He is Always All Merciful.
As we are told in Surah Ra’d, Ayah 17
“He sends down from the sky, rain, and valleys flow according to their capacity, and the torrent carries a rising foam. And from that [ore] which they heat in the fire, desiring adornments and utensils, is a foam like it. Thus Allah presents [the example of] truth and falsehood. As for the foam, it vanishes, [being] cast off; but as for that which benefits the people, it remains on the earth. Thus does Allah present examples.”
The believer cannot ever despair of forgiveness from Allah. Who repents sincerely, accepts fault, leaves bad and exchanges for good, inshaAllah will receive the peace that comes with an accepted repentance. Like the froth of the sea, or impurity on metals and gold, what is truly of benefit and value will remain, after some hard work and effort is put it. The doors to goodness are not closed until your last breath. The seconds of this current existence are not guaranteed, but each second of the next existence is. Let us be loyal to ourselves by being loyal to Our Provider and Sustainer.
