“O you who have believed, upon you is [responsibility for] yourselves. Those who have gone astray will not harm you when you have been guided. To Allah is your return all together; then He will inform you of what you used to do.”
إِنَّمَا أَشْكُو بَثِّي وَحُزْنِي إِلَى اللَّهِ
Innamaaa ashkoo bassee wa huzneee ilal laahi
“I only complain of my suffering and my grief to Allah”
Surah Yusuf Ayat 86
Key Takeaways:
- Yaqub (as) consoles himself by telling himself to be patient, “But it is best to be patient: may God bring all of them back to me – He alone is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise”. We can see he remained dutiful to Allah, over all those years he did not lose faith in Allah’s plan.
- The du’a he makes here is an example of the most beautiful form of patience, one where he continually turns to Allah (swt) to help solve his problems.
- It is impossible to know Allah’s plan for us, if He chooses to close a door for you, it may be because the fifth or sixth door has a lot more in store. Your first marriage didn’t work out? Maybe you needed to experience this because Allah has in store for you a more loving person in the second or third marriage.
Yusuf plan was to frame Binyamin with the King’s golden cup so that he would be caught for theft and held captive by the guards. This was the Prophet’s plan to lure his father to come into the city so they could all be reunited. Although he had forgiven his brothers, he did not know how his brothers would react to knowing that he was still alive. His best judgement to reunite the family was through a mediator which would have to be their father.
Now for a second, imagine being in Prophet Yaqub (as) shoes.
He already lost one child and is now faced with the possibility of losing his youngest in Binyamin.
In the Qur’an, it tells us the brothers returned home and informed their father that his youngest son was being held captive for theft. The next three ayat describes the emotional pain he felt when he got the news,
“[Jacob] said, “Rather, your souls have enticed you to something, so patience is most fitting. Perhaps Allah will bring them to me all together. Indeed, it is He who is the Knowing, the Wise.” And he turned away from them and said, “Oh, my sorrow over Joseph [Yusuf],” and his eyes became white from grief, for he was [of that] a suppressor. They said, “By Allah, you will not cease remembering Joseph [Yusuf] until you become fatally ill or become of those who perish.” (12:83-85)
Here it describes Yaqub (as) who tells himself to be patient.
He tries to hold back or suppress his tears but being so stricken with grief he could no longer keep it in. His eyes became clouded and it impaired his vision so he could not see. The loss of Binyamin brought back the emotions of losing Yusuf (as) and only added to his pain.
The other brothers questioned him, likely out of love and compassion, saying, “By Allah, you will not cease remembering Joseph until you become fatally ill or become of those who perish” (12:85).
It is here in the story where Yaqub (as) makes this du’a, innamaaa ashkoo bassee wa huzneee ilal laahi, meaning, “I only complain of my suffering and my grief to Allah”.
This is a testament of Prophet Yaqub (as) sheer determination and faith as he was not willing to give up on receiving Allah’s mercy.
It shows that he only complained of his suffering and grief to Allah and continually asked for his help. In 83rd ayah, Yaqub (as) said, “But it is best to be patient: may God bring all of them back to me – He alone is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise”. We can see, he remained dutiful to Allah, over all those years he did not lose faith in Allah’s plan and he persevered.
We can not know Allah’s plan for us, if Allah closes a door for you, it may be because the fifth or sixth door has a lot more in store. Your first marriage didn’t work out? Maybe you needed to experience it because Allah has in store for you a more loving person in the second or third marriage.
The first business fails but the lessons learned could help you succeed in your next venture.
It’s okay to get discouraged but it’s not okay to quit.
There is only one way in life, and that is to proceed forward with faith and conviction.
If you look at your life as a book, there are chapters unwritten, your story doesn’t end at this very moment. We must believe like Prophet Yaqub (as) did, project forward try to envision a better future. Ask yourself this question, what will the end of your book look like?
Will it say that you quit at the first obstacle encountered or that you slipped and tripped but got back up time after time.
