I begin with the Name of Allaah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
“And whosoever fears Allaah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (from every difficulty).
And He will provide him from (sources) he never could imagine. And whosoever puts his trust in Allaah, then He will suffice him. Verily, Allaah will accomplish his purpose. Indeed Allaah has set a measure for all things” Qur’an 65:2-3.
It is often said that a man’s success most at times comes through the hands of his enemies or antagonists or those envious of him as long as he is sincere, truthful and courageous. This statement whether proven empirically or not has an underlining tone of reality to it. Humans are social beings hence, it is not consistent with this nature of theirs that they live in isolation, they need to socialize and in doing so they have the option of either wishing others good or bad depending on how much strength they have to face the consequences of their actions.
Some wittingly or unwittingly find themselves in destructive competition with others thereby creating an enabling atmosphere for the devil to strike through the weapon of hasad (envy) which often destroys the envier before the envied. This is characterized by desiring that a blessing that Allaah has bestowed on the envied person be taken away. A lot of people are caught in this Satan’s web but sadly it only made the greatest fear of the envier to become a reality and that is, Allaah executing His decisions and judgment he made for the envied.
The tale of Yusuf (peace be upon him) and his siblings is an apt demonstration of this. When his brothers felt the need to get rid of him because of the attention he gets from their father Yaqub (peace be upon him) they threw him into the depth of well and what ensued between that period and the moment he ascended the Throne of Egypt is a lesson for entire humanity. The synopsis of the whole tale is that Yusuf (peace be upon him) rose from the depth of well to the throne of Egypt by the Will of Allaah through the action of his brothers who thought that they were getting rid of him Hence, Allaah Exalted be He said: “Indeed in their stories, there is a lesson for men of understanding…” Q12:111. A case of diamond in the rough.
Another incidence in the annals of Islamic history that is relevant to the subject was the incidence of the treaty of Hudaybiyah when the polytheists of Quraysh made stringent rules against the Prophet ﷺ in their desperate bid to stifle the Islamic awakening. The patience and perseverance of the Prophet ﷺ brought him to the day in which those that planned against him where brought under his leadership as subjects. A case of diamond in the rough.
No man should ever be demoralized by the events unfolding in his life, each challenge opens a new door of experience and takes one closer to great heights.
Furthermore, if for example the envied is thrown into the depth of well as Yusuf (peace be upon him) was, so as to put an end to his success then he should see it as a great opportunity to initiate survival strategy. He should start thinking of how to carve out spaces on the wall of the well to serve as upward steps for him and whenever he is tired, he can always come down to the depth of the well to rest while digging down for water. Who knows he might just hit a treasure of diamonds.
I end with the words of my dad; “May Allaah save us from depending on others and may we never desire evil for others.”
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