The Second Remedy

O impatient sick person! Be patient, and indeed, be thankful. Your illness may transform every minute of your life into an hour of worship. For worship consists of two kinds.

One kind is positive worship, such as performing the prescribed prayers and offering supplications.

The other kind is negative worship, whereby through illness and affliction a person becomes aware of his own helplessness and weakness, seeks refuge in his Compassionate Creator, and turns to Him in earnest supplication. In this way, he performs a sincere and unpretentious act of worship.

Indeed, authentic narrations state that periods of illness in the life of a believer count as worship, provided that one does not complain about Allah. Furthermore, it is established through authentic narrations and reliable kashfiyyātThe perception or unveiling of certain matters pertaining to the unseen, to a limited extent and only by the permission of Allah. that for some patient and grateful sick people, every minute spent in illness is counted as an hour of worship, and that for certain believers who have attained elevated spiritual stations, a single minute may even be equivalent to an entire day of worship. Truly, instead of complaining about an illness that transforms one minute of your life into a thousand and thereby grants you enduring life, you should be grateful for it.

The Third Remedy

O sick person who cannot endure your illness! The fact that all who come into this world eventually depart from it, that youth gives way to old age, and that humanity is constantly confronted with separation and death proves that man has not come to this world merely to enjoy himself and seek pleasure.

Although among living beings he is the most perfect, the most exalted, and the richest in faculties and endowments—even deserving to be regarded as their sovereign—he nonetheless lives a more troubled and pitiable life than the animals because he dwells on past pleasures and future afflictions. This demonstrates that man has not come into this world simply to enjoy himself and live comfortably. Rather, having been entrusted with the immense capital of life, he has come to engage in a trade through which he may attain the happiness of an eternal and everlasting existence.

If illness did not exist, health and well-being would lead to heedlessness, make the world appear attractive, cause the Hereafter to be forgotten, and keep the grave and death from entering one’s thoughts. As a result, the capital of life would be squandered on trivial pursuits and fleeting amusements. Illness, however, suddenly opens one’s eyes and says: “You are not immortal, nor are you free from responsibility. You have a duty. Abandon your pride, remember the One Who created you, know that you will enter the grave, and prepare yourself accordingly.”

From this perspective, illness is an honest adviser and a warning guide that never deceives. Therefore, you should not complain about it but rather be somewhat grateful for it. And if its suffering becomes too severe, you should ask for patience.