on Haj; when I saw a very pretty woman, shining in her beauty. I
looked at her and said:"By Allah, this beauty and fine complexion must
surely be because she never experienced any grief or sorrow."
When I said this she overheard me and said:"Sir, it is that what you
think? By Allah, I am bent down under all the sorrows and grief that
have come my way. My heart and mind is filled with so much grief and
allalong there has been no one can who share these with me."
I asked: "And how is that, lady?"
She replied: "My husband once slaughtered a goat as a Qurbaani
offering, while I was breast feedingmy infant child. My two young sons
were playing around me. When I went to cook the meat, the one son said
to the other: 'Come, let me show you how father slaughtered the goat.'
The other said: 'Well show me.' The first one then made the second
once lie down andcut his throat, as his father had slaughtered the
goat. When he realized what had happened, he ran away into the
mountains; where he was attacked bya wolf and eaten up.
The father went in search for him; searching from place to place until
he died of extreme thirst. In the mean time I was at home frantic with
worry waiting for news of him. I put down my infant child and went to
the door to inquire about anyone who might have news of my husband.
The child crawled to the fireplace where a pot was boiling. The child
touched it and the boiling pot fell upon the baby, burning it to death
in such a ghastly manner that the child�s meat became separated from
the bones.
When my married daughter heard all this, in the house of her
husband,she fell down of shock. Thus I was left alone to bear all
that."
I asked her: "And how, lady; did you manage all these misfortunes with
patience?"
She replied: "Whoever ponders on the difference between patience and
impatience, finds a world of difference between the two. The reward of
patience is praiseworthy; whereas for impatience there is nothing."
Then she recited some lines of poetry before walking away:
Patience did I exercise,
For that was my strongestpillar;
And should impatience have helped me,
Then I would have tried her.
Such patience did I on have that;
Had my trails descended on mountain high,
In broken rocks they would have ended.
Indeed did I control my eyes,
Those tears not fall;
And now within my heart alone,
My tears do roll.
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May Allah (SWT) grant us the ability to be patient! Ameen!
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