It has been mentioned in a hadith that...

It has been mentioned in a hadith that: “If the son of Adam were to run from his sustenance as he runs from his death, it would still find him, even as death will eventually find him.”[^3] This kind of sustenance has roots in the Providence of Allah (awj) and hence, no kind of change is possible in it. In connection with this matter the late sage, ’Allamah Tabataba`i has said, “Sustenance and the one who consumes the sustenance are necessary corollaries of one another.

It is meaningless to assume that the one who needs sustenance is after his nourishment in his life, but there be no sustenance for him. It is also impossible that there be sustenance, but there be nobody to use that sustenance or that the sustenance be more than his needs. For this reason sustenance is part of the predetermined Providence of Allah.” The “sought after sustenance” is the sustenance that has been measured out for the seeker.

If we seek it and fulfil all the necessary conditions and actions that are necessary for obtaining it, we will reach it. In reality the effort we make in order to reach this sustenance is a partial cause. If it is put alongside the other causes that lie in the unseen world, we will reach it for sure. In this connection our Master, the Commander of the Faithful, Imam ‘Ali b.

Abi Talib (ع) has said, “Seek after sustenance, for certainly it is guaranteed for the one who goes after it.”[^4] Just as effort without a guarantee of its giving fruit is meaningless, a guaranteed sustenance without any accompanying effort is also impossible (in the “sought after sustenance”).

For this very reason, from amongst the two kinds of sustenance that Allah (awj) has allocated for His servants, He has made one unconditional (the “sustenance that seeks”), and one conditional (“the sought after sustenance”). The unconditional sustenance seeks man in all conditions and until the scales of man are not filled to their capacity with this kind of sustenance, his death will not come.

According to the saying of the Noble Prophet (ص), “No one will die until his sustenance has been completed.”[^5] The surety of the “sought after sustenance”, however, is conditioned by the performance of certain actions and by taking into account certain matters. Without fulfilling these conditions and without putting them into order, this sustenance does not come into being.