(Surat Al Kahf - The Cave 18:68-69)
We read Surat Al Kahf at least once a week, and we pass by these verses often, we all know the story of Musa (as) and the servant of Allah swt who had knowledge, we often make reference to these verses, but how often do we exactly stop and actually give ourselves time to grasp their meaning?
There is a reason we were told and encouraged to read this particular surah every Friday: it is full of lessons, lessons we need to recharge our souls, refresh our eman, and be able to carry on thru this tough world. It's a very rich surah, SubhanAllah, but in this post I just want to focus on these two inspiring verses: 68-69. So when Musa (as) asked the wise knowledgeable slave of Allah swt (also known in the literature as sayiduna Al khidr - but Allah swt does not name him in the Quran), he asked him for permission to accompany him and learn from him. And we all know the answer in the previous verse (67): قَالَ إِنَّكَ لَن تَسۡتَطِيعَ مَعِىَ صَبۡرًا (He said, "Indeed, with me you will never be able to have patience.). To strengthen or prove his point, the wise servant of Allah swt added a rhetorical question (that doesn't have an answer) in verse 68: He wanted to justify that Musa (as) will not have the patience for the journey as he cannot be patient for something he lacks knowledge about.
وَكَيْفَ تَصْبِرُ عَلَى مَا لَمْ تُحِطْ بِهِ خُبْرًا
And how can you have patience about a thing which you know not!
`For I know that you will denounce me justifiably, but I have knowledge of Allah's wisdom and the hidden interests which I can see but you cannot.
Through this verse, we understand that the inability to be patient in times where we don't understand what's going on, in times where we can't see the bigger picture and we can't understand Allah's plan is only human nature. We (portrayed by Musa (as) here) are humans, we lack knowledge, we are flawed, there are divine things in the universe that we can't fathom with our simple mind, so we will not be able to understand, that's beyond our power. As a result, we will slip, we will deny, we will fall, we will reject, we will be torn, we will cry, we will hurt... It's only human, it's only natural. Patience in times of doubt and in hard times, patience when we don't understand the reasoning, when we can't see the end is really a super power, it sounds unhuman, almost impossible.
Luckily, and by Allah's mercy, the answer (normally a rhetorical question doesn't have an answer but Allah's merciful.) comes in the next verse through Musa (as)'s words:
سَتَجِدُنِي إِن شَاء اللَّهُ صَابِرًا
If Allah wills, you will find me patient, (with whatever I see of your affairs)
وَلَا أَعْصِي لَكَ أَمْرًا
and I will not disobey you in aught.
means, `I will not go against you in anything.'
So how do we be patient when patience seems like a superhuman power?
" If Allah wills " - first and foremost, we be patient by Allah's will and Allah's mercy. We RELY on Allah swt, even if we don't understand what's going on or why we are going through awful horrible things, even if what's happening to us seems " unfair ", we still have tawakkul and complete trust in Allah swt, for He is the best of the planners, the most just, the most merciful. And we pray that Allah swt give us Sabr. We pray to have patience, we make duāa that Allah swt fill our hearts with patience because He is As-saboor and He is the source of patience. We can't have it from anywhere else but Him, we can't have it by any other means except through getting close to Him and asking Him.
" I will not disobey " - Obedience is the key. Though in this verse Musa (as) was referring to obeying Allah's servant's orders, we understand in the bigger picture that systematically he was obeying Allah's orders as Allah's servant was only executing Allah's orders. The bottom line here is, even in hard times, especially in hard times, when we are going through calamities and bad things are happening to us, that's when we have to obey Allah swt the most. A lot of people in our ummah take it out on Allah swt, they take whatever wrong is going on in their lives on the religion. When something bad happens to them, it they lose someone dear to them, if they happen to be victim to any kind of abuse, they might abandon praying or fasting, some women or girls might take off their hijab as a first reaction or response to whatever oppression they faced. Others, might start doubting in the existence of Allah swt all together. But is that going to give you peace? Is that going to help with the patience? Obedience is your path to patience. Even when it gets really hard for you to get up and pray, to put your forehead down on the ground and say Subhana rabbi'a al āalaa, you still have to do that because you show that you are submitting, and you are accepting whatever is decreed upon you from the almighty, and you are being patient.
Finally, I leave you with the quote of sayyiduna Yaaqoob (as) : فَصَبْرٌ جَمِيلٌ ۖ وَاللَّهُ الْمُسْتَعَانُ
But come sweet patience! The help of Allah is always there to seek. (12:18)
May Allah swt fill our hearts with sweet patience to be able to accept His qadar and survive the calamities and hardships. May Allah swt save our people and our ummah suffering in Palestine, in Syria, in Yemen, in Kashmir, in China, in India, in Ethiopia, and all over the world. We can only survive this duniya by the mercy of the Almighty.