Noah's Ark: An Invitation to Faith — Page 111
NOAH'S ARK first state which causes a decline in your peace and happiness. This state resembles your hour of decline, for as a result your contentment begins to fade. Symbolic of this is the Zuhr prayer, the timing of which begins when the sun begins to decline from its zenith. 2. The second change which affects you is when the time of the tribulation draws near. This may be likened to when you are apprehended as per the dictates of an arrest warrant and brought, as it were, before a judge. This is when you are overcome by fear and your blood runs cold. The light of hope and solace slowly fades away. This state resembles that part of the day when daylight grows dim and the sun can be looked at directly and it becomes clear that sunset is close at hand. This spiritual state is reflected in the Asr prayer. 3. The third change that overtakes you is when all hope of deliverance from tribulation seems lost. For example, when a charge-sheet is prepared against you and your opposing witnesses testify against you in order to see you perish. By this time you begin to lose control of your senses and you already consider yourself a prisoner. So this state resembles the time when the sun sets and all hope of daylight sets with it. This spiritual state is reflected in the Maghrib prayer. 4. The fourth change that overwhelms you is, as it were, when the tribulation finally seizes you and its deep darkness engulfs you. 111