Patience (By Mehwish Moktader)

 

How can you be patient with something you do not fully understand/see/have awareness of? (Surah Kahf Verse 68).

I think the first step to having any form of Awareness, is to develop Faith/ Imaan. That is what Opens our Eyes and makes them fully functional to not only see the external aspect of things but also the internal aspects of things. It gives us Sight and Insight. It is because when we Trust and Believe in Allah swt, we start Seeing the world from Allah's perspective. It is only in the Most High's Vision that we can see. Is it not that when we climb a mountain, we see all around the landscape and understand more how everything relates to one another and their true sizes/proportions? The more higher you see from, the Reality shifts and Greater Meanings and relationships emerge. We see all the Layers of Allah's Design and Intelligence and Magnificence. That Sight can only be granted by Allah swt. It is Allah's Light that illuminates and teaches us the Names of Things.

So, when Musa a.s. went to seek Knowledge from this person who Allah Created and imparted upon him a certain Sight/Awareness/Knowledge; then that person told Musa a.s. how can you attain knowledge of something that Allah swt has not shown for you that you may understand? Meaning - knowledge cannot simply be handed from one person to another - it is difficult to find patience with something we cannot understand. It will perplex us, creating more questions than answers. In this state we can get lost and possibly draw the wrong conclusions and embark on the wrong road. True knowledge here is not in seeking it from Allah's worshippers, but from Allah first, who will then use those around us to Teach us. It requires that we Submit ourselves to Allah and acknowledge we Do Not Know but Allah Does. And it may be that Allah swt does not will us to learn when we want to learn it.

So in Surah Al-Asr, the order of development is First: Aman/Imaan. Second: Actions. Third: Truth/Haq. Fourth: Patience.

So, until you cross the First, then Second, then Third levels; you cannot attain the Fourth. It is the ladder, the climb, that brings you to the top of the mountain, helping you to see, and therefore you attain a certain level of patience. Even then, it is limited to the height of that mountain. And Thus, no-one can encompass the knowledge of Allah swt, who is Most High and shares not with any One that position.

So, SUBMIT.

THEN, by Allah's Will, You will See.

Even if Allah imparted only a drop of knowledge from the Vast Ocean of Knowledge, it will be sufficient for us to serve our Purpose in this world as Allah willed us to live.