Malfuzat – Volume I — Page 141
Malfuzat - Volume I 141 destination. If we feel sympathy upon witnessing the effort and conditions of students who spend day and night preparing for worldly examinations, how can Allah the Exalted, who is boundless and infinite in His mercy and compassion, waste the effort of a person who strives towards Him? Of course not. Never would He do so. Allah the Exalted does not allow anyone's effort to go in vain. God Almighty states: إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُضِيعُ أَجْرَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ Surely, Allah suffers not the reward of those who do good to be lost. Allah the Exalted also states: مَنْ يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًا يَّرَهُ Then whoso does an atom's weight of good will see it. We observe that every year thousands of students weep and commit suicide when they see their efforts and labours of many years washed away due to some reason or other. However, the grace of Allah the Exalted does not disregard even the most insignificant of actions. What a pity then that man becomes so engrossed in labouring for the sake of uncertain and insecure objectives to the extent that he deprives himself as it were of every kind of comfort; he bears a thousand pains and hardships merely on the tenuous hope that perhaps he will succeed. A businessman will invest hundreds and thousands of rupees in the hopes of profit, but even he is unaware for certain if this will bring guaranteed returns. However, I do not observe the same toil and effort by those who seek God Almighty (Whose promises are definite and categorical, and towards Whom an advance through even the slightest effort is never wasted). Why do these people not understand? Why do they not fear that they will have to die one day? Even after witnessing these other failures, are they not moved to consider this bargain, in which there is no prospect of loss or failure, and in which profit is guaranteed? How great an effort does a farmer invest in the cultivation of his crop, but who can say for certain that the result will prove fruitful? How Merciful is Allah the Almighty! He is a treasure from whom one can collect a cowrie, a rupee or even a gold coin. Here, there is no fear of thieves and robbers, nor a chance of bankruptcy. It is narrated in a Hadith that if a person removes a thorn from the path, they shall receive a spiritual reward for this as at-Tawbah, 9:120 az-Zilzal, 99:8