Donotdespairwhentheanswertoyourdu‘āisslow

From Ibn al-Jawzī's Sayd al-Khātir, written for the person who says, “I have been making du‘ā for years.”

The delay is itself a trial

Among the trials a believer meets, he writes, is this: he supplicates and sees no answer. He repeats the du‘ā; time stretches on; still no sign. He should know that this itself is a trial that calls for patience, and that the whispering which rises in the soul about the delayed answer is an illness that needs its own medicine.

Consider: if the delay held no purpose except that the One who decrees is testing you in your fight against the enemy, that alone would be wisdom enough. And the delay may be better for you: haste may be harm. The Prophet ﷺ said: “The servant remains in good so long as he does not grow impatient, saying: I supplicated and was not answered.”

Where the withholding may come from

The withholding may also come from a fault in yourself.

The withholding may come from a fault in yourselfIbn al-Jawzī’s four “perhaps”.

• What you eatPerhaps there is something doubtful in it.
• Your heart when you askedPerhaps it was heedless at the moment of asking.
• What you are asking forPerhaps it carries more sin with it than you know.
• Where it would take youPerhaps it would delay you from a better rank — so the withholding was the kinder gift.

It is related of one of the salaf that he kept asking Allah to go out to battle — until a voice called to him: “If you go, you will be captured; and if you are captured, you will become a Christian.”

What the loss stood you at

And perhaps the loss of the very thing you lost is what has stood you at His door, while gaining it would have busied you away from the One you ask. This is plain enough: were it not for this calamity, we would not have seen you at the door of refuge. The Truth, exalted is He, saw His creation occupied with other than Him, so He stung them in the midst of their blessings with troubles that drive them to His door, crying out to Him for help. That is a blessing folded inside the trial. The pure trial is the one that busies you away from Him; as for what sets you before Him, in that is your beauty.

It is told of Yahyā al-Bakkā' (“the Weeper”) that he saw his Lord in a dream and said: “My Lord, how long shall I call on You and You do not answer me?” And he was told: “O Yahyā — I love to hear your voice.”

Reflect on these things, and you will find yourself occupied with what profits you more than the thing you missed: mending a flaw, seeking pardon for a slip, or standing at the door of the Lord of lords. (Sayd al-Khātir, vol. 1, p. 66)