Forty Gems of Beauty — Page 152
152 and simultaneously reposing one’s trust in God in the firm belief that with all the apparent devices adopted by one, the real key to success and achievement is with God alone. This is a difficult position; in fact, at the face of it, it seems to be self-contradictory and hard to understand and harder still to maintain. However, the truth is that Islamic trust in God consists, on the one hand, in the adoption of all the necessary measures and, on the other, in believing that all the ropes are in the grip of God and that what He wills must inevitably come to pass. A little reflection will show that there is no contradiction in it. When God alone is the sole Maker, Disposer and Master of good and evil ordination and of the properties of things and causes, then there is no point in doubting that in spite of all the overt measures we take, the final determination of the result of our efforts rests in His hand. A tradition relevant to this point relates to a Bedouin chief who, happening to visit the Holy Prophet (May peace and blessings of Allah be on him), left his camel untethered outside the Prophet’s Mosque in his eagerness to have a meeting with the Holy Prophet (May peace and blessings of Allah be on him). When he returned after his meeting, he found his she-camel had made off. In great consternation, he came back and related to the Holy Prophet (May peace and blessings of Allah be on him) how he had left his she- camel to the care of Allah and on his return after his meeting with him, discovered that she had run away. The Holy Prophet (May peace and blessings of Allah be on him) observed: > 7 /X ( ¤yJ That is, “ Tether her first and then leave her to the care of God. ” In short, in the Hadith under review, the Holy Prophet (May peace and blessings of Allah be on him) has, on the one hand, taught parents to have the foresight and wisdom to provide, so far as it lies in their