On Being Tried and Tested

Shaikh Abdul al-Qadir al-Jilani (may Allah be well pleased with him, and grant him contentment) said:

When the servant [of the Lord] is tested with a trial, his first impulse is to cope with it in and by himself. If his own efforts get him nowhere he looks for help from other human beings, such as people in power, important officials, men of influence and means, or medical experts where diseases and physical ailments are involved. If he still obtains no relief, he then resorts to his Lord through prayers of supplication, humble entreaty and offering of praise.

As long he finds it possible to manage on his own, he will not turn to other people, and while human help is available he will not turn to the Creator.

[Having finally applied to Him], only to find no help forthcoming from the Creator, he throws himself down in his presence, incessantly begging, pleading, entreating, offering praise and submitting his needs in fear and hope. But the creator (Almighty and Glorious is He) now renders him incapable of supplication, and ignores him until he has reached the end of his tether. Only then does he experience the effect of the Lord's decree and the action of His work, and so this servant passes beyond material needs and behavior, to survive as spirit alone.

Since he now sees nothing but the Truth [al-Haqq] in action, he becomes, of necessity, a totally convinced believer in the divine Unity [muwahhid], affirming that in reality there is no agent but Allah, no dynamics or static force apart from Allah,and no good or evil, no loss or gain, no giving or withholding, no opening or closing, no death or life, no honor or disgrace except in the hand of Allah. His status comes to resemble that of a suckling babe in its nurse's arms, of a corpse in the hand of a washer of the dead, or of a ball on the receiving end of a polo-player's mallet-rolled and spun and knocked around, though inert in itself and imparting no motion to other bodies.

Gone forth from his own self, out into his Master's work,he now sees nothing but that Master and His work, and neither hears nor comprehends from any other source. If he perceives at all, if he does hear and learn, His speech is what he listens to, and his knowledge is what he comes to know. His favor he enjoys, through His nearness he prospers, through His proximity he is graced and honored, by His promise he is pleased and reassured. With Him he feels at peace, and His discourse he takes delight, while from all others he recoils and shrinks away. In remembrance of Him he finds refuge and support. In Him, the Almighty and Glorious, he puts his faith and in Him he place his trust. By the light of His awareness he is guided, as he wraps and clothes himself therein. Strange marvels of His science he discovers, and the secret of His power he is apprised. To Him he listens and from him he learns, then for all this he offers praise, gives thanks, and turns to prayer.

-An excerpt from Futuh al-Ghaib (Revelations of the Unseen)