Patience

The person who does not practice patience and in whose life there is no patience is not free in reality.  Rather, he is a slave.  Patience is of three types:

1.                           Patience in (the face of) calamities

2.                           Patience upon obligatory actions

3.                           Patience upon (running into) sins

      Whoever does not possess the capital of patience is involved in lusts and is serving Satan and the self.  Because of this, man becomes so misfortunate that, instead of obeying Allah, he follows Satan and selfish desires.  This is slavery. The person who cannot practice patience in the face of calamities remains involved in the slavery of this humiliation.  For his selfish desires, he is always ready for every type of disgrace and for flattering everyone.  In order to fulfil his desires, he is not ashamed to bow before the world’s[1] base and disgraceful individuals.  He has places the shackles (chains) of selfish desires upon his neck and is bound in the chains of lust.  A noble man saves himself from such slavery, attains freedom, and cures himself.  By means of knowledge and action, he frees himself from the prison of desires.  Because of his selfish desires, a man who is not patient bows before a human being just like him, though that person is also dependent upon the Creator of the Universe for his existence.  However, if during a calamity, he bowed his heart before Allah and focused his attention toward Allah, then he would be free in both worlds.  Therefore, the person who is patient is a servant of Allah, whereas a person who does not practice patience is not Allah’s servant.  Rather, he is the slave of Satan and the self.

 

True Richness and True Poverty

        Now what does it mean to be rich?  Being rich refers to the richness of man’s heart.  He should become independent of all human beings except Allah.  Being rich does not refer to money and wealth, but to a state of heart which is related to the soul.  Wealthy and affluent (wealthy) people speak of such dishonourable things, whereas those who are poor do not.  The hearts of ascetic (zahid)[2] people were so rich that they looked down upon the whole universe with contempt (dislike).  They did not consider anyone except Allah worthy of listening to them describes their needs.  They thought that the disgrace of those who sought the world was more than anyone else’s.  Upon examination with keen eyes, it is possible that the shackles and chains which the man who follows his desires has hung around his neck will be transformed (changed) into the chains of Hell.  The believer should break these chains in order to achieve freedom.  If man does not attain freedom, then he cannot be free in the Hereafter either.  Until he does not break those chains, he cannot acquire elevated (raised) spiritual stations.  If the evil self is strengthened in the inner Satan, then all of man’s powers will obey them.  Then they will not leave him until he sins, so that his religion and faith are destroyed.  O Heedless Man!  Have mercy upon your condition.  Use every means to bring yourself out from prison.  Now, when you are young and physical strength remains, go stand in their opposition.  If you remain negligent (careless) in your youth, then this work will become very difficult in old age.  If man does not break these chains, then it is possible that when the Angel of Death comes, Satan will snatch (take it away) his faith from him.      

 

Poor Imprisoned Man

        O neglectful (careless) heart!  Become aware of your enemy who has imprisoned you for several years, and who invites you toward every sin and disgraceful deed.  Allah compels you to stand up against him and become free by breaking those chains of humiliation.  When you become Allah’s servant, then you will be free and will attain freedom.  Sayyid Ta’oos (a Gnostics of Allah) (arif billah) states, “I feel very happy upon performing each and every obligatory act; so, I celebrate ‘Id that Allah considered me worthy to take work from me.”

        Thus, instead of practicing patience upon obligatory actions, one should be happy.  If the world’s ordinary king took work from you, then you would be extremely happy that he looked favourably upon you.  However, when the Master of the Universe orders you to pray, then you feel pain in praying at its time of priority and shirk from it.  All of our misfortunes are due to our ignorance and foolishness because our faith is deficient.  Patience means that man should not complain to (another) creature, but should complain to the Creator.  Complaining to the Creator does not contradict (deny) patience.  The Holy Koran states about Hazrat Sulaiman,

“Surely We found him patient” (Suad:44).

        Man should train himself by devotion to Islamic law.  If man, for sometime, practices patience upon severe calamities (disasters), rigorous (difficulty) acts of worship, and the deprivations of pleasures of the self, then slowly his self will become accustomed (as usual) to bearing those difficulties.  He will then not feel pain in bearing hardships, the self will become illuminated (brightened), and man will reach an elevated station.

        The Apostle of Allah states, “Patience is to faith as the head is to the body.”  If man is patient when encountering sin, then its fruit is piety.  If man is patient upon obedience, then he will receive its fruit in the form of love of Allah.  If man is patient when faced with misfortunes, then the fruit he will receive is that he will be content with the Divine Decree (order).

 

From Patience to Tranquillity

        Patience is the key to the gates of happiness and recognition.  Patience is the key (which will) open the doors of recognition.  Furthermore, patience is salvation from every type of ruin and destruction.  The greatest benefit is that man’s will and determination are strengthened by means of patience.  By means of patience, the capital of the soul is strengthened and all the parts become obedient to the soul.  On the contrary, the heart of the man who is not patient always remains agitated (disturbed).  This is an affliction in itself, and such a person does not have peace of mind.  If, upon facing calamity, an impatient person complains to other human beings, then slowly this complaint becomes the seed of malice.  For instance, if this same person also starts complaining about Allah, the Most High, the result will be that he will become spiteful (grudge) of Allah.  The consequence of that malice will be that he will become an enemy of Allah and, in that condition (i.e. as an enemy of Allah) he will die, and the greatest danger is to die without faith.

        Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) asked one of his companions, Sama’, “Why didn’t you go to the pilgrimage (hajj)?”  His companion replied, “Master, many calamities have befallen me.  I am under a great debt.”  The Imam said, “Even if you are not patient, the calamities will still remain in your destiny (fate).  It is your decision to practice patience and be happy or to express impatience and lament.  However, if you try to be patient and become patient, then you will receive great reward and people will envy your personality.”  Thus, there is no benefit in impatience; rather, it is a dreadful loss.

 

The Secret of Freedom

        Imam Ja’far Sadiq (peace be upon him)  has said, “The man who is free in every respect is the one who practices patience upon each and every calamity.”  If man is patient when faced with some calamity, there is patience hidden behind that calamity which will only be achieved when man is patient upon that calamity.

Imam Sadiq (as) states, “If a believer is afflicted with calamity and practices patience upon it, his reward is equal to the reward of a thousand martyrs.”

        The Apostle of Allah has said that Allah grants the person who is patient in the face of calamities 300 elevated stations, of which the distance from one level to the next is as much as the distance from the earth to the sky (meaning, these levels are so exalted).  If man practices patience upon obedience to Allah, then Allah grants him 600 levels, and their distance is also equal to the distance from the earth to the sky.  If man is patient when faced with sin, then Allah grants him 900 levels and their distance (i.e. the distance from one level to the next) is as the distance from the earth to the Throne (Arsh), meaning a place more elevated than the seven heavens.

 

Detachment from the World

(Zuhd-Ascetic)

        Abstinence (zuhd) means turning your back upon the world and facing the Hereafter, distancing the heart from the world and coming closer to Allah.  An even more lofty level than this is that except for Allah, not giving his heart to anyone; love and devotion is only for Allah.  Such a man does not even attach his heart to Heaven.  An abstinent (self-restrained) person leaves the world’s pleasures for the everlasting, pure pleasures of Heaven.  Another person leaves the world’s pleasures only for the love of Allah.  An abstinent person is one in whose heart wisdom and recognition have entered; he understands the reality of the world, that the world is base and contemptible (worthless). 

It is a tradition of the Apostle of Allah, “Man desires that Allah should give him knowledge without learning and give him guidance without a guide, so that he becomes detached from the world.”  The Apostle of Allah states that according to however much abstinent a person will be, or how much love of the world will leave his heart, Allah will grant his heart that much wisdom.

It is a tradition of the Apostle of Allah, “When Allah intends to give goodness to some servant, then he grants him detachment (separation) from the world (zuhd), makes him love the Hereafter, and shows him the defects in his self.”

Imam Ja’far Sadiq (as) states,“If good- ness is blocked off in a house, then its key is detachment from the world (zuhd).”

The Apostle of Allah says, “Know that the taste of faith is forbidden for everyone until they become detached from the world.” 

Instead of stopping at a level, the seeker of knowledge has to constantly quest for loftier (high) stations. 

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