anxiety would be visible on our faces. Perhaps we’d began shouting, “I have been destroyed! I have been ruined!”

The meaning of RābiꜤah Baṣriyyah’s statement is that just as a person is happy upon receiving wealth, he should be similarly happy when he loses it. When a person reaches this state, it can be said they are pleased with the fact Allah is their Lord.

Good and bad destiny is all from Allah

Dear Islamic brothers! This is not an unusual matter. Since our childhood, we have been reciting, وَالْقَدْرِ خَیْرِہٖ وَشَرِّہٖ مِنَ اللہِ تَعَالیٰ - “Good and bad destiny is from Allah.” If we receive blessings, wealth, or well-being, this is from Allah. If we are afflicted by a trial, poverty or illness, this is also from Him. In summary, all fate, whether good or bad, is decreed only by Allah.

When a person affirms he is pleased with Allah as his Lord, he should be pleased with every decision his Lord makes. If he is happy upon receiving a blessing, he should also be happy upon the arrival of an affliction. Whatever happens, he must not complain or cloud his heart with despair.

There is no issue in making duʿā for good and well-being in both worlds, however. اَللّٰھُمَّ اِنِّيْ اَسْأَلُکَ الْعَفْوَ وَالْعَافِیَۃَ فِي الدُّنْیَا وَالآخِرَۃِ - “O Allah! I ask You for pardon and well-being in the world and the Hereafter.”

Smiled upon the death of a son

Fuḍayl bin ꜤIyāḍ رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه was an accomplished saint. People never saw him smiling, as he was immersed in fearing Allah, contemplating the grave, and thinking over the Hereafter, matters of accountability, the Bridge of Ṣirāṭ, and punishments of Hell.