A MESSAGE OF HOPE
In the Quran, while describing human difficulties, it is said that when unfavourable situations arise, adopt patience and trust in God. God is your Guardian; after hardship, He will create ease for you: “God will bring about ease after hardship” (65:7).
Just as the earth is always turning, the circumstances of human life also keep changing. A person should never lose hope under any condition. He should always give preference to hope over despair. The present should never make him lose confidence in the future.
If the coming of night is seen from the standpoint of today, it appears as the arrival of darkness. But if you look at it from the standpoint of tomorrow, it becomes the prelude to a bright morning.
The season of autumn may seem, on the surface, to be a time of falling leaves. But when seen in the light of the future, it signals the coming of a fresh and flourishing spring.
This is the unchanging law of nature. This law applies both to the physical world and to human life. It never changes. Since the world was created based on this system, no one should despair. When every darkness eventually turns into light, why should anyone fear temporary conditions of difficulty? If a person faces difficulty, he should meet it with patience and wisdom, and strive to overcome it. And if he does not have the strength to struggle, even then he should trust God and wait for tomorrow.
In this world, just as work is an act, waiting is also an act. If a person cannot show proof through action, then he should show proof through waiting. If his waiting is sincere, it is possible that he may gain through waiting what others are striving to achieve through effort. Nature’s system itself is moving towards its final outcome, provided a person has the patience to wait for the appointed time.
There is an Arabic saying: “Many things that seem harmful turn out to be beneficial.” This is full of meaning. It tells us an important truth about life: in this world, no harm is only harm. Every difficulty is accompanied by ease. Every loss carries a hidden benefit. If a person faces a loss, he should not sink into despair. Instead, he should turn his mind towards thinking. It is possible that he may discover an opportunity that not only compensates for the loss but also brings him greater success.
For example, a person was born in a landowning family in a village. In 1925, his father died when he was only six years old. After his father’s death, the family took over the property. Apart from a small house, nothing was left for him. Forced by circumstances, at the age of ten he went out to earn a living. He left the village and went to the city. For many years, he worked as a labourer. Eventually, circumstances placed him in a craft trade. Through hard work, he progressed and eventually opened a factory. His progress continued, and when he died at the age of 70, he was a leading industrialist, leaving behind property worth millions.
If hardship had not come his way—if he had inherited all the family fields—he would have remained occupied in farming. He would have lived and died as a farmer. But hardship and loss lifted him higher. His bitter experiences took him out of the agricultural age and into the industrial age.
The opportunities available to a human being in this world are limitless. Whenever one opportunity ends, an even greater one appears in its place. Why, then, should a person lose hope? Why lament or protest over a setback? Why not seize the new opportunity that can turn one’s dusk once again into a bright dawn?
When an opportunity slips away, one should not waste time mourning what is lost. Instead, they should find and seize the next opportunity. It might even be that through this effort, they achieve greater success than before.
