“We will certainly test all of you with fear, hunger, and loss of wealth, lives, and fruits. And give glad tidings to the patient ones, O Prophet”[1].
Trials and hardships are beneficial for those who remain patient and steadfast, and they bring about positive effects within them. In this sense and under such circumstances, they can be given good news. This is because these trials serve as a means of strengthening spiritual power, reinforcing determination, and elevating the existential status of individuals.
The Almighty God has made hardships and afflictions one of the means of nurturing and cultivating the human soul. Hunger, fear, loss of wealth, lives, and so on, are difficulties and calamities that humans face throughout their lives.
Thus, sometimes when God shows special favor to one of His servants, He places them in hardship according to their spiritual capacity. This is like a swimming instructor who takes a beginner student into the water to encourage them to struggle and learn how to swim. Similarly, God immerses some of His beloved servants in trials, desiring to perfect them. Just as a person can read books about swimming for a lifetime, they will not truly learn to swim until they are in the water, struggling to stay afloat, and possibly facing the danger of drowning if they fail to act swiftly. A person must face hardships in life to mature and become complete.
Hardship and struggle are both educators and awakening forces. Hardships wake up and alert those who are asleep, and they stimulate determination and willpower. Afflictions and difficulties, like polishing steel and iron, make a person more determined, active, and sharper the more they come into contact with the human soul. Life’s characteristic is to resist hardship and to consciously or unconsciously prepare to confront it. Those who endure hardships and remain steadfast in the face of them grow stronger and more resolute.
In this regard, it is narrated that a shipment of cloth that was being brought to Imam Al-Jawad (peace be upon him) was stolen on its way. The person who was delivering the goods wrote a letter informing the Imam about the theft. Imam Al-Jawad (peace be upon him) responded in his own handwriting: “Our lives and wealth are the delightful gifts of God and His trust. Whatever we receive from them is a source of joy and happiness, and whatever is taken from us, in return, is reward and recompense. Thus, if anyone’s impatience overcomes their patience, their reward is lost. May God protect us from this.”[2]
How excellent it is to follow the behavior of Imam Al-Jawad (peace be upon him) in such a situation, to remain patient in the face of afflictions, and to receive the glad tidings from God regarding the patient ones.
(Excerpted from “Divine Justice,” written by Martyr Professor Morteza Motahhari, with summarization and additions)
Footnotes:
[1] Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 155
[2] Tuhaf al-Uqul, p. 456