Episode 6 - God Woos Us with Trials
Abu Ghassan noticed a coldness in the feelings of his two sons towards him.. Ghassan and Rami now came every morning to their father's room and extended their hands saying: (Allowance, Dad, please) in a routine, monotonous way.. He gave them the allowance, they thanked him hastily, and rushed out of the house.
Abu Ghassan wanted to remind his sons that his relationship with them was not just about the allowance.. So when they came this time and extended their hands to receive the allowance, their father said to them in a tone full of genuine love: (I love you, my sons). Abu Ghassan wished that his eyes would meet the eyes of his sons as he said these words, so he could read in them joy and pride in what he had said to them.. He wanted any indication that his sons loved him for himself, not for the allowance they took from him.
But the sons' response was disappointing! They shook their heads absently saying: (We do too), meaning we love you too.. And they remained with their hands and eyes fixed on their father's pocket, for that's where the allowance was!
The father was shocked and his smile turned into withering. He took his hand out of his pocket without the wallet.. The sons noticed what happened and realized their failure to respond to their father's tender words.. They grabbed his hands and lowered them.. They tried to salvage the situation..
As for Rami, he said: (Dad, I'm sorry.. Of course, I love you.. You are my father who raised me and spent on me, and I cannot do without you).. Rami was saying these words while his mind was on the allowance, expecting his father to put his hand in his pocket and give him the allowance.. But the father did not do that and remained silent. So Rami said: (Dad, please I need the allowance.. I promise to be more polite, but don't deprive me of the allowance). The father did not respond, so Rami got upset and left the room angrily.
As for Ghassan, the situation shook him to his core! He truly loved his father, but his heart had been distracted from this love by his attachment to the allowance in recent times. The father's withered, gloomy features awakened Ghassan's feelings, so he realized how negligent he had been towards his father in recent times.. He realized that he had been selfish, not thinking much about his father's feelings, nor striving to bring joy to his heart.. Ghassan's eyes filled with hot tears and he said in a trembling voice: (I'm sorry, my dear father.. I have neglected you a lot! Forgive me, please.. The whole world is not worth a smile from you).. He said these words while turning his teary eyes towards his father, searching for any sign of relief from his frown.. But the father remained frowning and silent, and left his room and sat on the sofa without speaking.
Ghassan followed him and moved around his father like a cat, sometimes kissing his hands, sometimes kissing his head, and sometimes holding his father's hands in his, with tears streaming down his cheeks as he said: (Forgive me, Dad, please.. I love you.. You know I love you)..
The father was torn by conflicting emotions.. He did not like seeing his son broken like this, but he was still shocked by his sons' indifference at first, and he wanted more assurances of Ghassan's sincerity in his love.. The father withdrew and returned to his room in silence, closing the door behind him.
Ghassan felt lost, so he followed him and called from behind the door: (Dad, please.. I can't live without your approval.. I can't live while seeing you angry and sad.. I made a mistake, Dad, but I love you.. I love you, Dad.. Please forgive me.. Please smile at me.. Please include me in your heart).. And Ghassan's crying voice rose like a frightened child who was left in the desert and taken care of.
Then the barrier of indifference in the father's heart broke before Ghassan's tears.. He opened the door and lifted his son who was kneeling and hugged him to his chest, wiping his tears and kissing his head.. Ghassan's crying continued, but now it was a cry of joy and longing that was satisfied..
The father reached into his pocket to take out Ghassan's allowance, but Ghassan returned the wallet to his father's pocket and said to him while clinging to his chest (Let's forget about the allowance now.. I want you, my dear father.. As long as you are pleased with me, the whole world is insignificant).
And to God belongs the highest example.. God Almighty may know from His servants dryness in their love for Him, and attachment to the worldly comforts that He grants them.. He Almighty woos His servants and loves that they reciprocate His affection with affection.. So if He sees from them indifference and heedlessness, He cuts off a blessing from the blessings to shake their being and awaken them from their heedlessness, so that they may realize that the blessing has distracted them from the Giver of the blessing..
As for the poor in feelings like "Rami", he does not understand these dimensions, but he is still in his heedlessness, "the allowance" has taken over his thinking.. So he seeks forgiveness from God and strives in good deeds to restore "the allowance". His mistake is not in God's rebuke of him, but his mistake is cutting off "the allowance"! Stupidity in thinking, short-sightedness, and poverty in feelings! He only thinks about what he takes, and he does not see it as his duty to thank and reciprocate affection with affection.
As for the one with the refined sense and the living heart like "Ghassan", cutting off "the allowance" removes the veil from his eyes to see the real disaster, that he has been negligent towards God Almighty and heedless of Him.. So all that occupies his being is how to please God Almighty and prove to Him that he reciprocates His affection with affection.. As for the return of "the allowance", it becomes a secondary issue.. Because he can live, even with difficulty, without the allowance, but he cannot bear a moment of the loss he will suffer if he loses the company of God Almighty or feels that God does not love him.
In the end, "the allowance" may return to both: {To each of them We give from the provision of your Lord. And the provision of your Lord is not restricted 20} [Al-Isra: 20].. But the first, the poor in feeling, will come out of the trial as he entered it, having gained nothing.. As long as he sees the return of "the allowance" as the ultimate goal and the pinnacle of aspirations. As for the second, the trial was the greatest blessing for him, where his soul was freed from the shackles of heedlessness to revolve in the orbit of the love of God Almighty.. {Are they equal in example?} [Hud: 24].
It is reported from the righteous that one of them was afflicted with illness or otherwise, and it was known about him that he was responsive to supplication, yet he did not supplicate to God Almighty for the removal of the trial.. You will say: These reports are exaggerated. Perhaps yes, but if we understand the meanings mentioned here, we do not rule out that this happens.. Perhaps this afflicted person understood the trial as a reminder from God Almighty that you have been heedless of your Creator, and your Lord wants you to reciprocate His affection with affection.. So this thought dominates the being of the afflicted believer, and he re-examines his accounts to discover the places of heedlessness, and he revives the meanings of love in his heart, and he excels in proving to his Lord the sincerity of his love for Him, glorified be He..
Such thinking is not far from distracting the believer from supplicating for the removal of the trial.. Rather, he may see giving priority to supplicating for the removal of the trial as bad manners, because it indicates neglect of the reason for which he was afflicted (the reminder to reciprocate affection with affection), and because he knows that the continuation of the trial is more likely to return him to the circle of God's love.. So he is preoccupied with rebuilding his heart with new meanings of love, and he entrusts the matter of the timing of the removal of the trial to God, and he is certain of His wisdom and mercy in that.
Do you now see why (God Woos Us with Trials)? Did you not see that our Prophet (peace be upon him) said: (Verily, when Allah loves a people, He tests them). Look at the trial positively, not as pure punishment, but as a form of God's affection! He saw from us heedlessness of Him and dryness in our feelings towards Him, so He tested us to review ourselves, so we feel shy, love, and reciprocate affection.. To God, Lord of the Worlds.