Does this story sound familiar?

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Assalamu Alaikum.

[Yes I’m back, as my intensive course is over, alhamdulillah. Judging by the wide smiles, my classmates and I could have won the award for “Happiest Bunnies on the Planet”.]

So, there I was listening to the recitation of the last page of Surah Fussilat so that I could start memorising it.

I use Tanzil so that I can also check the translation at the same time (to make sure that I didn’t misunderstand).

I was stunned to come across the following ayah (verse):

  وَإِذَا أَنْعَمْنَا عَلَى الْإِنسَانِ أَعْرَ‌ضَ وَنَأَىٰ بِجَانِبِهِ وَإِذَا مَسَّهُ الشَّرُّ‌ فَذُو دُعَاءٍ عَرِ‌يضٍ

“And when We bestow favor upon man, he turns away and distances himself; but when evil touches him, then he is full of extensive supplication.” [Surah Fussilat (41) : 51]

My eyes popped out because this story sounded…familiar. Very familiar.

In fact, I think that each of us knows somebody who behaves in this manner.

You know who I’m talking about, don’t you?

Of course you do.

This ayah pretty much summarises our life story. What’s amazing is that, despite it being mentioned in the Quran, we still don’t take heed.

So, what should we do? Well, we should also remember Allah in times of ease, not just in times of hardship, because the latter is very easy to do (hey, just ask the person in the mirror) but the former isn’t.

May Allah make us of those who are grateful for His Favours.