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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Al-Siraj: The Lantern on the Path To Allah Almighty Chapter 9: Resigning to Destiny Be informed, as we have already stated, that a believer ascends the heights when he emulates the Prophet (‘s) and his (‘a). It is narrated in Al-Kafi that the son of Ibn Ya`fur quotes Imam al-Sadiq (‘a) as having said, ‘The Messenger of Allah (‘a) never said about something that had happened in the past, ‘I wish something else had taken place.’ ( Al-Kafi , Vol. 2, p. 52).

Notice how he (‘a) did not wish anything other than what was the reality, fearing to incur the displease of the Almighty. What a believer is required to do is to accustom himself to accepting the status quo no matter what. And be informed that the origin of displeasure, of wishing something other than the status quo, is ignorance of the wisdom behind events and why they take place. Had the wisdom behind things been manifested to him, one would not have desired anything other than what already is.

If a believer accustoms himself to contemplating on the wisdom of things and on their purposes, a great deal of the same would have been manifested to him, and it would have been easy for him to accept them. If there are things which he cannot understand, he renders them to the most of what he does not know[^1]. There are purposes, and there is wisdom, behind everything.

No matter how earnestly one implores his Lord, beseeching Him to show him some facets of a particular thing, He will show him according to his readiness to absorb, according to his ability, to the extent of his wish and will. This is the shortest way to resigning to destiny. As for being pleased with something [or some event] when the wisdom behind it is unknown, this is quite difficult, taking into consideration what we have already stated.

It has been transmitted that our master, Imam al-Hasan (‘a) son of Imam Ali (‘a), taught one Shi`ah man about the world of dreams. He told him that he could get close to (‘a) and become able to see them (in his visions) whenever he wished if he acted upon the following verses: Shy away from your worry, All matters are rendered to destiny; What is tight may become wide, And what is wide may become tight, The outcome of something incurring your ire May indeed bring you in the end a pleasing desire.

Allah causes whatever He does will So do not object to His will: Allah accustomed you to see from Him goodness, So measure accordingly what already has taken place.