The Essence of Islam – Volume II — Page 225
Prayer 225 at that time He desires to enforce His will. There is sometimes fear and sometimes hunger, and sometimes there is decline in wealth, or loss in trade, or poor harvest, or death of children or loss of fruits and harmful results. These are trials from God Almighty. At that time,. God desires to display His authority and to enforce His will. At such times a sincere believer accepts the will of. God cheerfully and gives it preference and is pleased with it and makes no complaint and thinks no ill. That is why Allāh the Exalted says: وبشر الصبرين 7. And give glad tidings to the steadfast. . God does not say that glad tidings should be conveyed to supplicants, but to those who persevere. It is necessary, therefore, that a supplicant should not lose heart if he meets with failure in his prayers, but should prefer the pleasure of God Almighty with steadfastness and perseverance. The men of God perceive the hopefulness of an enterprise and in that case they supplicate; otherwise, they are content with Divine determination. When they perceive the signs of a calamity, they supplicate, but if they feel that such is Divine determination, they are steadfast, as was the case with the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allāh be on him) on the demise of his children, one of whom was Ibrāhīm. [Malfūzāt, vol. III, pp. 385-386]. It is my frequent experience that God is so Benevolent and Merciful that when in His Wisdom He does not accept a prayer, He accepts some other prayer in place of 2:156 [Publisher] 71 Al-Baqarah, 2:156 [Publisher]