HEART TOUCHING STORY ON PATIENCE

HEART TOUCHING STORY ON PATIENCE.

(From the book “Ath-Thiqaat by Al- Imaam ibne Hibbaan)

A man called Abdullah Ibn Muhammad said,

“I went to the coastline area in Egypt for Jihaad (this was to join the Muslim army on the shoreline to prevent attacks) and I came to a tent. Inside of that tent was a man who had lost his arms and legs and his hearing and sight were weak as well, but I heard him saying this statement:
‘O Allaah, inspire me to thank You and praise You a praise with which I can do justice in thanking You for all the blessings that You gave me and because You preferred me over many of those whom You created’.”

Abdullah heard that statement and said to himself,
“I will go to this man and ask him where he got these words from; did he get them through his knowledge, or was it something he was inspired to say?”

So he went to this afflicted man and asked him,
“Where did you get this statement from?”

So the man told him,
“Don’t you see what Allah did for me?
I swear by Allah, if He were to bring the sky down with fire and burn me, or if He were to bring the ocean to drown me, or order the mountains to destroy me, I would not do anything but increase my thankfulness to Him, because He gave me the blessing of the tongue.”

Abdullah was amazed.

Then the man said to him,

“Since you are here and you can see my situation and you know that I can not do much for myself I would like to ask something.
I had a son who used to take care of me.
When I needed to make wudu to pray, he would help me. When I was hungry, he would feed me, and when I felt thirsty, he would give me a drink, but I have not seen him in these past few days.
He has not shown up for three days now. Could you help me find him?”

Abdullah said, “Sure. If someone is in need and a person helps him, he will get reward for that, and no one will get more reward than a person who helps you (i.e. you need a lot of help, so the one who helps you will get more reward than helping other people in need).”

So he went out to look for the man’s son and he did not go far.
He found the boy between some sandy hills, and his flesh was torn apart and some was being eaten by a wild animal.

Upon seeing this, Abdullah said,
“Innaa lillaahi wa innaa ilayhi raajioon, surely we belong to Allah and surely, we will be resurrected by Him on the Day of Judgment.
How would I go back now? With what face will I meet this man and tell him about what happened?”

So he was feeling awkward and anxious.
On his way back to the afflicted man, Abdullah says that the case of Prophet Ayub alayhi salasm occurred to him.

So when he got there and the afflicted man saw him and said,
“Aren’t you the man who was with me earlier?”

Abdullah replied,
“Yes, I am”.

So he asked, “What did you do about what I sent you for?”

Abdullah first asked the man, “Are you more honorable to Allah than Prophet Ayub alayhi salam?”

He said, “No. Prophet Ayub alayhi salaam is more honorable, not me.”

So Abdullah asked the man,
“What did Allah afflict him with?
Didn’t Allah afflict him in his body?
Didn’t Allah afflict him in his children and also he lost his wealth?”

The man said, “Yes.”

Abdullah then continued,
“So what did Ayub alayhi salaam do?”

The man rellied,
“He responded to this affliction from Allah in body, children, and wealth by being patient, thankful, and praising Allah, the Exalted”.

Then Abdullah said,
“Did Allah keep this affliction on Ayub alayhi salaam until his own relatives moved away from him and did not want to be around him?”
He replied, “Yes.”

He asked, “What did Ayub alayhi salaam do about it?”

The afflicted man said,
“He responded by being patient, thankful, and praising Allah, the Exalted.”

Then Abdullah said,
“Didn’t Allah also keep this affliction on him until some people would see him in the street and would harm him?”

The man again said, “Yes.”

Where upon Abdullah again asked what was Ayub alayhi salaams reaction, to which the disabled man again replied:

“He was patient, thankful, and praised Allah.”

Then the afflicted man said,
“Could you make it short please?
(i.e. I sent you to do something for me, so tell me what happened? -so he was anxious).

So Abdullah remorsefully said,
“The boy that you sent me to find… I saw him between the sandy hills being torn by a wild animal.
He died.
May Allah inspire you to be patient, and may Allah reward you greatly.”

The afflicted man said,
“All praise and thanks are due to Allah, the One who did not create from my offspring someone who would disobey Him and, as a result, enter Hellfire.”
(He was happy that his son died at an age of non- pubescence, so his son would go to Paradise.)

Then he said, “Innaa lillaahi wa innaa ilayhi raajioon” and then the afflicted man then took his last breath and died.

So Abdullah, the one narrating the story, said, “Innaa lillaah wa innaa ilayhi raajioon.
Now my affliction is great!
What do I do with this man? (because he had come for jihaad initially before meeting this man and encountering all of this, so he didn’t know how to proceed).
If I leave him, then the wild animals will eat his body.”

So he covered the afflicted man’s body and sat by him, waiting.

After some time, four people came. They asked him,
“What is your story?”

So he told them what had happened. They asked,
“Could you uncover his face? We might know him.”

So they uncovered the man’s face, and the people started to cry.
They started kissing whatever was left of his arms and kissing his eyes.

Abdullah asked them,
“Who is he, may Allah have mercy upon you?”

They said,
“This was a man who loved Allah much and he loved the Messenger of Allaah, Sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, much.
This is Abu Qilaabah Al-Jarmiyy (from the tribe of Jarm in Yemen), the companion of Abdullah Ibn Abbas radiallahu anhu (i.e. he was a taabi-iyy).”

Then Abdullah said,
“So we washed him, shrouded him, and prayed for him, and then I went back to my post.
Later, I fell asleep and saw in my dream Abu Qilaabah Al-Jarmiyy wearing two pieces of clothes from Paradise, which were very lovely.

I asked him,
‘What happened to you?
Why are you in these beautiful clothes?’

He said,
‘Allah has prepared ranks for those who are patient with calamities and thankful when it is a life of ease, along with fearing Allaah in private and in public.”

Subhanallah!

[Abu Qilaabah Al-Jarmiyy rahmatullah alay was a very high ranking scholar and judge of Islam and was detached from the worldly matters.
He died in the year 104 A.H.
May Allah have mercy on him]