The States of Hardship and Goodness

The States of Hardship and Goodness
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“And if Allah should touch you with adversity, there is no remover of it except Him; and if He intends good for you, then there is none who can repel His Favour.

He causes it to reach whom He wills of His servants.

And He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.” [Yunus: 107]

There are 2 states that every single living thing goes through in life: times of hardship and times of bounty.

 There’ll be days where you struggle, and there’ll be days when you rejoice and are happy.

 They exist so there’s no point in denying them, neither for yourself nor for others. But in the verse above, Allah makes it clear that these states run according to His Mashee’ah (Will), and the verbs He uses for them really help us understand the way He works:

When it comes to adversity and trials, He uses the verb ‘yamsaska’ (from the root massa) which means ‘to touch’.

This gives you the idea that trials on this earth merely just ‘touch’ a person.

They will come but they will also quickly go, because a touch never stays. Also, when you touch a person on the shoulder for example, you are usually alerting them or trying to get their attention, and it’s always done out of concern or love.

This is how we should view the tests of Allah, when they come to a person (and to Allah is the Highest example).

In the next part, Allah says ‘and if He intends good for you’… He doesn’t use the term ‘touch’ here, but rather one of intention.

 Whoever knows His Lord will be so happy at reading this part because there is none who fulfills His Promise as much as Allah does.

His intention and iradah *is* His Decree and His Promise, and once He intends good for you, there is nobody, absolutely nobody that can take it away from you, try as they may, strive as they wish.

Both these states of hardship and goodness are directed to every slave of Allah and this is why He says afterwards: ‘Yuseebu bihi’ (causes it to reach) – i.e. it’s like a spear or targeted arrow which never misses the spot.

 We usually associate this example with bad things, but we never think about how it also relates to good things.

When the khayr (good) is directed at you, it will never miss you, so don’t think that your life is bereft of good stuff when all it takes is one intent from Allah and before you know it, His bounties are poured over you.

But if you must struggle in your life, then realise it will merely be like a touch before it is lifted from you, so in both cases, rejoice and take delight in the beautiful way that Allah works in our lives.

Allahu Akbar!

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