Malfuzat – Volume X — Page 99
28 December 1907 99 You see people as if they are intoxicated though they are not intoxicated in any way. The fact is that they have lost their mind due to extreme grief and fright and have no courage left. None other than a God-fearing person can show patience in such circumstances. In religious matters no one can show patience without taqwa [righteousness]. Who can endure in the face of a calamity except the one who has aligned his will with the will of God? A person can stumble and become an atheist through a minor loss, unless his faith is firm prior to it. One who does not have a bond with God Almighty has no ability to endure a calamity. Trials are Needed Materialistic individuals end up denying even the existence of God in such calamities. The design of this world is such that adversities are but essential. Of all the people who have lived in the world, who can claim that he has never faced any misfor- tune? For some, the misfortune befalls their children; for some, their wealth; and for some, their honour. In short, everyone has to face some misfortune and trial. There is no escape from it in the world. It is an essential part of this world. An Arab poet of earlier times writes: ْ سَئِمْت ُ تَكَالِیْف َ الْحَیَاة ِ وَمَن ْ یَّعِش ْ ٖسَئِمْت ُ تَكَالِیْف َ الْحَیَاة ِ وَمَن ْ یَّعِش َ یَسْئَم َ أَبَالَك ً ل َ حَوْل ٖثَمَانِیْن َ یَسْئَم َ أَبَالَك ً ل َ حَوْل ثَمَانِیْن I have seen great adversities in this world. Anyone who lives for eighty years like me will most certainly face some. Misfortunes of the world are, indeed, only for a few days. In the end all die, some sooner and others later.