The Severity of the Trial of a Believer

“The trial (suffering hardships in life) of the prophets is the most difficult then is that for those next to the prophets in a (spiritual) position and thereafter those similar to the previous group and so forth.”

“Once, trials and misfortunes and things that Allah, the Majestic, the Glorious, has specially set for the believers were mentioned in the presence of Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) and the qualities of the believer. The Imam…

‘‘The greatest reward comes from greatest trials and suffering. There have never been a people whom Allah loved but were not put to trial.”

“People who are put to the most severe trials and sufferings are the prophets, then the successors of the prophets and then those similar to the last group in position and so forth.”

“Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, has His most sincere of all of His servants on earth. He does not send any gift from the heavens but that is diverted away from them (His most sincere servants) to others and no…

“Sadir was present when the Imam said, ‘When Allah loves a servant He deeply immerses him in misfortunes. You and we, O Sadir, live in it mornings and evenings.’”

“When Allah, the Majestic, the Glorious, loves any of His servants He immerses him in misfortunes deeply and allows him bleed a bleeding (like sacrificial animals). When he prays to Him, He answers, ‘Yes, my servant, if…

“The Messenger of Allah has said, ‘The great misfortunes are matched with great rewards. When Allah loves a servant He tries him with great misfortunes. Whoever accepts it, Allah accepts him and whoever becomes angry…

“A believer is tried in this world proportionately to the perfection of his religion or degree of his excellence in religion (uncertainty is from the narrator).”

“The believers are like the two sides of a balance, as his belief increases in strength, his trial also increases in intensity.”

“Before forty days pass something causes sadness to a believer to remind him.”

“Once I said to Abu Ja’far (a.s.) ‘Al-Mughirah says, ‘A believer does not suffer from leprosy, bars (a form of leprosy) or so and so.’” The Imam said, ‘He must be unaware of Sahib Yasin (the man mentioned in (36:20))…

“I heard Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) saying, ‘A believer has the best place in the sight of Allah, the Majestic, the Glorious, - three times. Allah tries him with misfortunes and then pulls his soul out of the parts of his body…

“In paradise there is a position that is accessible only to those who have gone through bodily trials of suffering in this world.”

“Once I complained to Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) about pain. (He was often in pains). The Imam said, ‘O ‘Abd Allah, had a believer known about the reward for suffering from afflictions, he would have wished to be cut in pieces…

“I heard Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) saying, ‘The people of truth had always, since their coming into being, been in suffering but that is for a short time which is followed by everlasting happiness.’”

“Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, has an undertaking to try the believers with misfortune just as a man is committed to send gifts to his family in his absence. He holds him (believer) back from the worldly…

“I heard Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) saying, ‘Allah has not protected the believers from the turmoil of the world but He has protected them from blindness in it and the wickedness of the next life.’”

“Ali ibn al-Husayn (a.s.) has said, ‘I do not like a person’s (total freedom from) suffering in the world from misfortunes.’”

“Once, the Holy Prophet was invited for food. When he entered the house he saw a hen that had laid an egg on a wall and it fell on the top of a stake. It stayed there and did not fall off or break. The Holy Prophet…

“The Messenger of Allah has said, ‘Allah is not interested in a person in whose property or his own self there is no share (of losses).”’

“Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, sets the believers into trials of all kinds and causes them to die by all kinds of deaths but He does not make them suffer the loss of their power of reason. Consider Ayyub, how Iblis…

“For a servant (of Allah) there is a position with Allah that he can reach only through two qualities: Loss of his property or misfortune in his body.”

“Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, has said, ‘Had my believing servant not felt sadness in his heart, I would have wrapped up the head of the unbelievers for protection with iron wrapping material so he would…

“The Messenger of Allah has said, ‘The likeness of the believers is like sprouting plants that are swirled back and forth by the winds. The believers are also turned and bent by pain and illness. The likeness of a…

“The Messenger of Allah one day said to his companions, ‘Condemned is every property that is not purified by paying al- Zakat (charity), condemned is the body that is not purified once in every forty days.’ He was then…

“Once I asked Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) ‘Does a believer suffer from leprosy or similar diseases?’ The Imam asked, ‘Is misfortune written for anyone other than the believers?”’

“A believer is so important to Allah that if he asks Him paradise and all that is therein. He will give it to him without any shortages caused to His kingdom. The unbeliever is so insignificant before Allah that if he…

“It is in the book of Ali (a.s.) that the people who suffer from the most intense form of misfortune are the prophets, then the successors of the prophets, then are people of closer position to the successors of the…

“Once I said to Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) ‘About this thing that has appeared on my face, people think Allah does not make suffer (from this) any servant in whom He is interested.’ The Imam said, ‘The believer among the…