The Severity of a Believer’s Afflictions

34. Al-Sabbah ibn Siyabah narrated: I asked Abu 'Abd Allah (a.s), 'The affliction that befalls a believer is it because of a sin?' 'No,' he replied, 'It is so that He (Allah) may hear his wails and complaints and supplications for which good deeds are recorded for him and misdeeds are wiped out from him, and a treasure is amassed for him for the Day of Resurrection.

When Allah loves a person, He chokes him with afflictions until he is immersed in them completely and trials flow towards him copiously. Then when he calls out to Him, He (Allah) replies, 'I am here My servant, here I am! If I wished to hasten towards you what you are asking for, then indeed I am able to do it; but what I have amassed for you (for the hereafter) is better for you.'

The disciples of 'Isa (Prophet Jesus (a.s)) complained to him about what they were suffering at the hands of others. He said to them, 'Believers have always been despised. Their faith is like a wheat kernel - how sweet its taste is but how severe its treatment (in the process of purification) is!'

Abd al-A`la ibn A'yun said: I heard Abu 'Abd Allah (a.s) saying: If you intend to be my brothers and my companions, then prepare yourselves for enmity and hatred of people otherwise, you are not my companions.

43. Muhammad ibn 'Ajlan reported: I was with my master Abu 'Abd Allah (a.s) when a man complained to him (of a need). 'Be patient,' he (a.s) told him, 'for Allah will give you relief.' Then he (al-Sadiq (a.s)) remained silent for a while. Then he turned towards the man and said, 'Tell me about the prison of Al-Kufah, how is it?' 'May Allah protect you,' the man replied, 'It is confining in space, putrid in smell and its inmates are in the worst of conditions.' 'But you are in a prison too,' retorted Abu 'Abd Allah (a.s), 'Do you expect to be at ease? Do you not know that the world is a prison for the believer?'

Verily, when Allah loves a person, He sends him an angel saying, 'Strike him with disease and intensify afflictions on him; and every time he is relieved of one trial, afflict with another that is more severe, and be hard on him - until he starts remembering Me, for I long to hear his supplications and his voice calling out to Me' And when He despises a person, He appoints him an angel and says, 'Keep him healthy and provide for him that he may not remember Me; for I do not wish to hear his voice.'

Prophet (a.s) said: How wonderful the believer is! Whatever Allah decrees is always good for him. When he is afflicted, he bears patience and when he is bestowed, he gives thanks.

50. Abu 'Abd Allah (a.s) said: Sometimes, a person has a certain level (reserved for him) with Allah that he does not attain except by one of two characteristics: either by an ailment in his body or by the loss of his assets.