“Don’t worship Allah so He may give you. Rather, worship Him so He may be pleased. For when He is pleased, He will astonish you with His Gifts.”
By the dawn
And the ten nights
And the even and the odd
O you tranquil soul!
Return to your Lord, well-pleased and pleasing
[al-Fajr: 1-3; 27-28]
Loftiness is attained in accordance to one’s struggles,
And whoever seeks nobility, remains vigilant by night.
Whoever wishes to achieve without due effort,
Will waste their life seeking what’s impossible.
You search for glory and yet you sleep at night,
It’s only the seeker of pearls who dives deep into the sea.
– Imam al-Shafi’i, al-Diwan
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He is Allah; al-Fattah, al-‘Aziz, al-Sabur, al-Mu’akhir
“… Not a leaf does fall,
but by His Knowledge.” [6:59]
He is al-Fattah – The Opener.
He creates a way when there seems to be no way and opens a door when there seems to be no key. He is the Judge Who decides what is best, and guides you when confusion overtakes you. Whenever you reach your dead end, don’t stand there wondering what’s happened, instead call out to the only One who can create a path from absolutely nowhere: ‘Ya Fattah, iftah ‘alayya!’ (O Opener of ways, open up my way).He is al-Fattah, and as He opens up the skies upon the dead earth, and breaks away the darkness with the dawn, so too can He open up upon your dead heart, open your eyes to solutions, remove your obstacles, and grant you a way out.
He is al-‘Aziz – The Honourable and AlMighty.
No amount of transgression can tarnish His ‘izzah (glory) and no amount of disobedience can lower His Might. He is al-‘Aziz. To Him belongs ultimate ‘izzah and as such, He grants it only to those of His slaves who seek it through Him Alone, who do not seek it in other than Him, and are thus saved from the dark depths of hypocrisy.“… And all honour, power and glory belong to Allah, His Messenger, and to the believers, but the hypocrites do not know.” [al-Munafiqun: 8]
He is al-Sabur – the Patient.
Every day we transgress His limits, we fall short of His Rights, and we forget Him. But in patience He remains and forbearance does He show, for He is al-Sabur. Don’t you see how they ascribe partners and a son to Him, how they blaspheme against Him, how they deny His very Existence, but still He keeps them alive, still He provides for them, still He gives them Signs and gives them more time.
He is al-Mu’akhir – the Delayer.
He delays certain things out of Mercy for us, but out of ignorance we become impatient. Instead of having a good opinion of Him, a deeper certainty in His Power, and more trust in His Ways, we instead become anxious, resentful, and unhappy. Our Iman (faith) then takes a dip because we’ve failed to understand. But He is al-Mu’akhir. He delays out of goodness. Does He not delay punishing the creation for their sins, so that they can come to repent?