Message Extraordinaire

There was a magnificent art gallery, ornamented with extravagant marble flooring; beautiful paintings adorned the well-lit walls of the elaborate hall. However, the most outstanding feature of the galleria was an intricate marble sculpture, gracefully poised in the middle of the exhibit. Visitors from around the world admired this marvellous sculpture.

One night, the marble floor tile asked the sculpture, “Don’t you think it is unfair that everybody from all over the world come all the way here to admire you while ignoring and stepping on me? Both of us were born in the same cave and yet the world treats us so differently now.”

The sculpture reminded the marble tile about the day when the sculptor had tried to use his tools on him and he had resisted the artist. He said, “Because you repelled and resisted his tools and so he couldn’t work on you. Eventually, he gave up on you and started working on me instead. I understood that I would be valuable and unique after his efforts. Therefore, I bore all the pain caused by his tools and allowed him to shape me into something precious.”

Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) has reassured us at multiple places in the Quran that He does not burden a soul with more than it can bear. Every situation has been preordained to serve a substantial purpose. Our individual events and situations are tailor-made, compatible with each one’s discrete ability to withstand only that which they can endure; whether it is a conscious decision to face challenges, an unforeseen trial, a prolonged affliction or a painful recovery. Our apparently negative situations lead to something significant.

Allah also says in the Quran, “Indeed, along with every difficulty there is ease.” Although while being tested we feel abandoned, weak and vulnerable, however, in reality, we are being cushioned by the Mercy of Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala). Our tests don’t break us apart because we are being taken care of at that time.

I do believe that the events taking place in our lives are interconnected, like the links of a well-crafted chain. One experience is connected to another and is designed to apparently or discreetly prepare us for another. Naturally, we are so engrossed and fixated on the pain that we are in, that we miss the actual lesson that we need to decipher while we’re going through the test.

In order to make the most of our life, we need to resort to self-reasoning at the time of difficulty, train ourselves to decrypt the hidden message and try to find a tangible solution that would help the situation. This deliberate and conscious effort of channelling one’s thinking from negative to a realistically positive approach will not only prepare one to withstand the current ordeal, but also the challenges that lie ahead, inshaAllah.