Trust Your Lord.

The Story about Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
by ; Sis Zabrina A.Bakar.
especially for my Hunny. (:

That day, I had to go to see a friend. Since the meeting place was in the middle of the city, I decided to use the train instead of driving to avoid getting stuck in the traffic. As I boarded the train, I saw most seats had been taken, except for a few, so, I decided on one and sat down.

I looked around me and saw bored faces waiting to reach their destinations. But there was this one face in front of me whom my eyes were glued to. The woman looked so distracted and distraught. Obviously, her mind was fully occupied with something serious, like a heavy burden. She was just staring blankly in front of her. Her body was there, but her mind was definitely somewhere else!

I just couldn't help but wonder why she looked that way. Was her family in trouble?Was anyone sick?Perhaps she was facing financial difficulties. Allahu a'lam (Allah knows best).

I remember one of Allah's verses that can be translated as ;

(We do not impose on any self any more than it can stand. With Us there is a
Book which speaks the truth, They will not be wronged.)
(Al-Mu'minun 23:62)

How I wish I could tell her this. Dont be so worried. Allah will not test you more than you can bear. But that would be rather presumptuous, dont you think? Perhaps she knew this verse. But then again, what if she didn't know? Wouldn't this verse get rid of her worries and bring her great relief? Relief to know that whatever test and trials she may have been facing were actually bearable, because Allah shall never impose on anyone anything more than what that person can handle.

Caliph 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) once said ;

The one who longs for Paradise will rush towards good deeds;
The one who dreads Hell will put an end to his vices;
The one who has firm conviction in (the imminent arrival of) death will lose
all his passions; and
The one who really knows the dunya will find disasters easy to bear.

"The one who really knows the dunya will find disasters easy to bear." What did he mean by this? I needed to crack the wise words of our Prophet's son-in-law, who was the husband of Lady Fatimah, as well as one of the companions of the Prophet (peace be open him) guaranteed Paradise.

Well dunya a.k.a "this world", is temporary abode, not permanent. It is a place to test the believers and seprate the faithful from the rebellious. The higher the iman (faith) of a person, The bigger the test will be. Nothing in this world will last, and there will be the day when everythings will be destroyed - the Day of Judgement. Our real life will then be in Hereafter, Paradise.

No wonder Caliph 'Ali said that. Now I understand. If we know that, then whatever we face here, no matter how bad disaster, is only temporary. Just be patient with every test and so on enough we will, in sha' Allah, receive His bounty and rewards in a place that is permanent. Forever. Eternal.

Listen to what Allah said here,

(Or did you imagine that you were going to enter the Garden without God knowing
those among you who had struggled and knowing the steadfast?)
(Al-'Imran 3:142)

So, the reason why Allah trie us is actually to see if we are qualified fo His jannah- just like when we have to sit for an entrance examination before enrolling into prestigious institution. If we pass the test and make a cut, we are in. Otherwise, there is no place for us there. It is very fair, dont you think?

Subhan Allah, what a attractive way of thinking!

As I thought further, I realized that Caliph 'Ali's wise words aside, this feeling of worry is actually very destructive. It can make people be in a state of continuous depression, sadness, anxiety, and nervousness. It can affect someone quite negetively - both psychologically and physically. I am sure many would agree with me right?


No wonder Corrie Tan Boom said this,

Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength.

This is so true. People who worry are in state of hopelessnedd at all the times, which may result in loss of intrest in the future. Thier future. Why? because we, as humans, definately do not know what is going to happen to us later. Therefore, we can never be sure of anything - not even what will happen to us in next two seconds. Tick, Tock. Yes, those two second,

So, what we suppose to do now in order to ensure that our minds are at peace? What needs to be done so that we can sleep peacefully at night, stop our palms from sweating all the time, and prevent our heart from racing unnecessarily?

This is what Allah told us,

( Says ; Nothing shall ecer happen to us except what Allah has ordained for us.
He is our Lord and in Allah let the believers put their trust.)
(At-Taubah 9:51)

In Him, we should all put all our trust.

Isn't it wonderful to have a rope to hang on to? To know that everything that happens to us has been ordained by Allah?This actually means that we hould not be suprised at all about anything that takes place. It has been planned and penned by Allah. It just that we dont know about it.

Now, let me ask you a question. If it is our Lord and Creator who has ordained this trial upon us, then, logically speaking, whom should we turn to when seeking help? If we have medical problems, do we go to see a banker? If we have a problem in understanding mathematics, do weseek the help of a language teacher?

Our beloved Massenger Muhammad (peace be upon him) left us with a prayer (du'aa') that he used to recite when dealing with worries about the future ;

"O Allah, correct my religious commitment, which is the fundation of my life,
and correct my wordly affairs in which is my livelihood,
and grant me good in the Hereafter to which is my return.
Make my life a means of accumulating good,
and make death a respire for me from all evil"
(Muslim)

And he also said ;

"O Allah, for Your mercy I hope , so do not abandon me to myself even for a moment.
And correct all my affairs. There is no God but You."
(Abu Dawud and classed as hasan by al-Albani)

A perfect prayer for distressed soul, Subhan Allah.

Imagine...asking Allh to correct my worldly and spiritual matters, asking Allah not to abandon me, even for a second, to make my life in this world blessed with godness and make my death as relief for me from evil. Allah!

And, in the end, Allah syas that :

(And whosoever puts his trust in Allah, then He will suffice him..)
(At-Talaq 65 :3)

Of course, once we put our trust in Him, evrything else seems so small and trivial. He is Al- Barr (the Most Kind), The Source of Goodness..

How I wish we could tall have the same level of conviction as Caliph 'Umar below..

"I do not care in what state I wake up in the morning - whether it's good
or bad- since I do not know what is good for me and what is bad"

Just imagine how contented and peaceful his heart and mind were with such a level or trust in his Lord..

Let me share with you a poem I once read entitled Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow :

Today is the tomorrow I worried about yesterday
And today was such a lovely day,
that I wondered why I worried about today yesterday
So today I am not going to worry about tomorrow
There may not be a tomorrow anyway
So today I am going to live as if there is no tomorrow
And I am going to forget about yesterday.

Today is the tomorrow I planned for yesterday
And nearly all my plans for today did not plan out the way I thought they would yesterday
So today I am forgetting about tomorrow and I will plan for today
But not too strenuously
Today I will stop to smell a rose
I will tell a loved one how much I love her
I will stop planning for tomorrow and plan to make today the best day of my life.

Today is the tomorrow I was afraid of yesterday
And today was nothing to be afraid of
So today I will banish fear of the unknown
I will embrace the unknown as a learning experience full of exciting opportunities
Today, unlike yesterday I will not fear tomorrow.

Today is the tomorrow I dreamed about yesterday
And some of the dreams I dreamt about yesterday came true today
So today I am going to continue dreaming about tomorrow
And perhaps more of the dreams I dream today will come true tomorrow.

Today is the tomorrow I set goals for yesterday
And I reached some of those goals today
So today I am going to set slightly higher goals for today and tomorrow
And if tomorrow turns out to be like today
I will certainly reach all of my goals one day!

Certainly, I will, in sha' Allah. Dont you just love the way this poem twists both your touge and your mind? It is beautifully penned by the unknown poet, who I think has put a lot of his time into observing and comtemplating life, ma sha' Allah.

So now, my freinds - a question for you and me. Is st worth worrying too much about tomorrow? because tomorrow is the yeasterday's today. And my today looks just fine and wonderful, Alhamdulillah.

Is yours so, too?If yes, then what we doing with "worry" sitting here with usIf no, then, still - why worry when tomorrow is brand new day!

Remember what Charles Schultz said once ;

Dont worry about the world coming to an end day today.Its already tomorrow in Australia.

So let us all my toss Mr. Worry out of the window, and out the window he should go. I have thrown away my "Mr. Worry" just a second ago. Is yours thrown out too? Come, let me help u... ;

Goodbye, Mr. Worry!

Doesn't that feel great? Totally!! Alhamdulillah...