.بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

It need not be ‘all at once’, that you come to understand, and ‘get things right’. Take your time: you need not compare yourself to what you see on the surfaces of others. Take your time, with dealing with new things that pop up, new people, new situations.

You can take your time with understanding: yourself. People. You, in relation to people. Life, the world, your Deen, and the rest. [Get ready for some real clichés, but:] It’s an unwinding path.

A real, real journey.

You pick some things up; you carry on. You’re Guided to precisely where you need to go. Like your life is… a tour of the Earth, of your Decreed places within it.

A tour of… understanding: you’re not exactly the same, with regard to these things, as you had been just a year ago.

Of people: you see your own humanity the most. And other people witness their own humanities the most. I think it’s a wonderful acceptance: that, certainly, there are aspects of us that are difficult. Prickly. Unknowing. And the very same with other people.

So: how best to be patient? With ourselves, with other people, and with our journeys through life and this Earth themselves?

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We know in Islam that patience is a virtue. Bitter though it can feel, at times: its rewards are the absolute sweetest.

Like: Zam-Zam water, gushing unexpectedly from amid desert plains. Like: date palms, and provisions in ways and from places you absolutely did not expect.

And when Ibrahīm (AS) had laid the foundations of the House. It took sincerity; it took time.

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إِنَّ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ كَانَ أُمَّةًۭ قَانِتًۭا لِّلَّهِ حَنِيفًۭا وَلَمْ يَكُ مِنَ ٱلْمُشْرِكِينَ

“Indeed, Abraham was a [comprehensive] leader, devoutly obedient to Allah, inclining toward truth, and he was not of those who associate others with Allah.

شَاكِرًۭا لِّأَنْعُمِهِ ۚ ٱجْتَبَىٰهُ وَهَدَىٰهُ إِلَىٰ صِرَٰطٍۢ مُّسْتَقِيمٍۢ

“[Abraham was] grateful for His favours. Allah chose him and guided him to a straight path.

وَءَاتَيْنَـٰهُ فِى ٱلدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةًۭ ۖ وَإِنَّهُۥ فِى ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ لَمِنَ ٱلصَّـٰلِحِينَ

“And We gave him good in this world, and indeed, in the Hereafter he will be among the righteous.

ثُمَّ أَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَيْكَ أَنِ ٱتَّبِعْ مِلَّةَ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ حَنِيفًۭا ۖ وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ ٱلْمُشْرِكِينَ

“Then We revealed to you, [O Muhammad], to follow the religion of Abraham, inclining toward truth; and he was not of those who associate with Allah.”

— Qur’an, (16:120—123).

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So we really don’t have to get all things all right all of the time.

It is we who are flawed, weak, and unknowing, even if/when we seem ‘strong’.

And it is Allah alone who is Powerful, who possesses Knowledge and Wisdom, and who Guides. One ‘little’ step at a time. We can take our time.