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Some people, when faced with hardship in their lives, do not begin by examining themselves. Instead, they start blaming fate—God forbid—and say, "Why, O Lord, is my life like this? Why does all this happen to me?"
In the story of our companion, yes, he repented from pornography, but there were still many sins in his life. When severe depression struck him, he did not blame fate. Instead, he looked honestly at himself and said, "I used to pray, but only for show (meaning out of vanity). I smoked. I used to take drugs when I could. I talked to Muslim girls, and my tongue was loose. There was no lowering of the gaze. I listened to music. A little backbiting here, disrespect to parents there, cutting off family ties—among other things."
Then he spoke a very honest word—listen to this beautiful statement—he said, "With all this, why am I surprised that I’m depressed?"
And these verses kept echoing in his mind:
"And We will surely let them taste the lesser punishment before the greater punishment, that perhaps they will return." (Quran 32:21)
And:
"And We did not wrong them, but it was they who wronged themselves." (Quran 16:33)
He said, "So I was honest and convinced that the problem was me. But I didn’t know exactly what I needed to do—what should I do?"
Look how beautiful it is when a person completely closes the door to ill thoughts about God the Almighty and realizes the station of servitude to Him, where:
"He is not questioned about what He does, but they will be questioned." (Quran 21:23)
The person thinks, "What should I do?" God the Almighty says:
"Whatever good befalls you is from God, and whatever evil befalls you is from yourself." (Quran 4:79)
And from here comes the opening—when you stop questioning fate altogether and focus your thinking on what you must do.