2 of my favourite quotes from ‘The Forty Rules of the Religion of Love – Shams of Tabriz’, taken from the “The Forty Rules of Love” by Elif Shafak:
“Whatever happens in your life, no matter how troubling things might seem, do not enter the neighbourhood of despair. Even when all doors remained closed, God will open up a new path only for you. Be thankful! It is easy to be thankful when all is well. A Sufi is thankful not only for what he has been given but also for all that he has been denied. “
“Patience does notmean to passively endure. It means to be farsighted enough to trust the end result of a process. What does patience mean? It means to look at the thorn and see the rose, to look at the night and see the dawn. Impatience means to be shortsighted as to not able to see the outcome. The lovers of God never runs out of patience, for they know that time is needed for the crescent moon to become full.”
Healing Hearts 
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June 24, 2011 at 12:33 am
Anonymous
SubhanAllah!!! Just what you need when the strings of hope are falling short…This has reminded me that Allah Tal’alaa is always watching our actions, the steps that we take every thought that runs through our mind, He is the All-Aware..times do get rough and tough without a doubt, but this quote will always be a reminder for me to be thankful in those sad and unhappy times as evrything that occurs is from Allah, ond only Allah..
Jazakhalla Khair sis may Allah Ta’alaa accept all ur dua’s…
June 24, 2011 at 1:34 pm
Anonymous
Every moment we spend we should than Allah for giving us a chance. Thank you Allah for all you have and all you have not given
Moin Khan
June 25, 2011 at 7:11 pm
Savera
Just loved it… It is AWESOME!!!
September 28, 2011 at 7:25 am
Anonymous
Thank you! Just what i needed
October 21, 2011 at 7:27 am
The Voice of a Soul
Absolutely love it! masha’ Allah
September 17, 2012 at 9:45 pm
usinwords
it is one of my favorite quotes from the book! i love the use of words, makes you really think of how different “looking” and “seeing” are….
November 16, 2012 at 4:05 pm
tayba
djrhij
November 19, 2012 at 7:14 pm
Precious Star
I remember reading this back in 2011, when I was in such despair. It is now the end of 2012 and my life has continued to become darker. I kept waiting for doors to open, for my soul to heal, for things to change – but they have become worse.
That “new path” that comes to those who are patient…and who pray…never happened. I think we have to accept the concept of DESTINY. Allah SWT will plan things as He has planned them. There isn’t always a happy ending, truly there isn’t! All I can do right now is pray for death, because the afterlife is the place of ease.
November 20, 2012 at 9:05 am
sidramushtaq
Dear Precious Star. Waiting for an opening from Allah is the best form of ibadah, as narrated by our teachers who have narrated this from our beloved Rasul sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasalam. We cannot put a time frame on when Allah will give us openings; maybe He is giving us openings in ways which we cannot see but the fact we are still turning to Him and praying to Him is our opening in and of itself? It’s providing us with intimacy with Allah when we supplicate to Him. Look at the prophets, they went through hardship for years and years and years! And the fact you are asking for death shows your despair so please do not ask for death. There will be a happy ending inshaAllah but when that will happen, we do not know. Your soul may not be healing is because you are not allowing it to heal maybe? We need to help ourselves at times to move on in life. Get rid of the stuff that reminds you of what happened, start afresh. Start new activities and there is ALWAYS hope!
November 20, 2012 at 5:49 pm
Precious Star
Dear Sidra. I am 42 years old. I am tired of trying “new activities” and hanging on to endless hope. I’ve been there, done that. There is always hope but not false hope. Sometimes, Allah shows you answers that you don’t like. You and I and everyone else on this earth are not the prophets, we are not chosen by God. The prophets also experienced miracles and were the best of creation. I agree with you that there are “openings” we cannot see. I’ve wanted my soul to heal for a long time now, I’ve tried everything (including ‘new activities’). I have been supplicating and begging throughout my 30s and especially in the last 2 years since I was hurt. I kept waiting for that window. After Ramadan, I guess I realized that after all this time, Allah may be showing me my answer but I just don’t want to accept it. I decided to “surrender” to the hurt, to the past, to what-is and to the ostensible unchanging future. But that made me even darker and lonelier. So, I’ve decided to re-new my supplications, during this month of Muharrum. Are miracles possible? I don’t know what my dreams are telling me.
March 12, 2013 at 3:06 pm
intan syakilla
Reblogged this on A person.A daughter.A friend.A citizen.A slave.Human Being. and commented:
what does PATIENCE mean?
November 30, 2013 at 12:59 pm
amir swaleh oyawo
shukran jazillah yah akhi am inspired to the bones alah huakbar!