Malfuzat - Volume IX — Page 372
Malf uza t - English translation of Urdu Volume 9 372 is consumed in this way without facing any hardship to endure with patience, they are among those who sit still. The times that man calls ‘difficult’ due to hardship, and con- siders them unpleasant, and does not wish for it to come over him, in fact it is that time which is good for him if he spends it with patience and forbearance. It is mentioned about Hasan al-Basri rta that someone asked him, ‘When do you experience grief ?’ He replied, ‘When there is no grief. ’ Reflecting over this shows that when the bitter life of calamities and difficulties overcomes man and he bears them, then hidden rewards are bestowed. The world is fashioned such that first there is pain and then comfort is attained. The pleasure of a filling meal is experienced after man has borne the severity of hunger. The taste of cold water enjoyed by one who is fast- ing cannot be experienced by others. The general eating every- day does not have the joy which is in the meal that is taken, for example, after a journey when one is hungry. The nature of the world is such that comfort is felt only after pain. 1 1. Badr, vol. 6, no. 37, p. 4, dated 12 September 1907; see also al- H akam, vol. 11, no. 33, p. 9, dated 17 September 1907