SECOND POINT: As was set forth concern­ing the meaning of Divine Determining, known as destiny, in the Twenty-Sixth Word, men have no right to complain in the case of disasters and illness for the following three reasons:

The First Reason: God Most High has made the garment of the body in which man is clothed a manifestation of His art. He has made man to be a model on which He cuts, trims, alters and changes the garment of the body, thus displaying the mani-fesixtion of various of His Names. Just as the Name of Healer makes it necessary that illness should exist, so too the Name of Provider requires that hunger should exist. And so on...

The Lord of All Dominion has disposal over His dominion as He wishes.

Second Reason: It is by means of disasters and sicknesses that life is refined, perfected, strength­ened and advanced; that it yields results, attains perfection and fulfils it own purpose. Life led monotonously on the mattress of comfort resem­bles not so much the absolute good that is being, as the absolute evil that is non-being; it tends in fact in that direction.

The Third Reason: This worldly realm is the field of testing, the abode of service. It is not the place of pleasure, reward, and requital. Consider­ing, then, that it is the abode of service and place of worship, sicknesses and misfortunes as long as they do not affect faith and are patiently endured conform fully to service and worship, and even strengthen it. Since they make each hour's worship equivalent to that of a day, one should offer thanks instead of complaining.

Worship consists in fact of two kinds, positive and negative. What is meant by the positive is obvious. As for negative worship, this is when one afflicted with misfortune or sickness per­ceives his own weakness and helplessness, and turning to his Compassionate Lord, seeks refuge in Him, meditates upon Him, petitions Him, and thus offers a pure form of worship that no hypoc­risy can penetrate. If he endures patiently, thinks of the reward attendant on misfortune and offers thanks, then each hour that he passes will count as a whole day spent in worship. His brief life becomes very long. There are even cases where a single minute is counted as equal to a whole day's worship.

I once was extremely anxious because of an awesome illness that struck one of my brothers of the Hereafter, Muhajir Hafız Ahmad. But then a warning came to my heart: "Congratulate him!" Each minute he spends is counted as a whole day's worship. He was in any event enduring his illness in patience and gratitude.

THIRD POINT: As we have pointed out in one or two of the Words, whenever one thinks of his past life, he will say in his heart or with his tongue either "Ah!" or "Oh!" That is he will either experience regret, or say "Thanks and praise be to God." Regret is inspired by the pains arising from the cessation of former pleasures and separation from them. For the cessation of pleas­ure is a pain in itself. Sometimes a momentary       pleasure will cause everlasting pain. To think upon it will be like lancing a wound, causing regret to gush forth.

As for the lasting spiritual pleasure that comes from the cessation of momentary pains experi­enced in the past, it inspires man to say, "Thanks and praise be to God." In addition to this innate tendency of man. if he thinks of the reward that results from misfortune and the requital that awaits him in the Hereafter, if he realizes that his brief life will count as a long life because of mis­fortune —then instead of being merely patient he should be thankful. He should say, "Praise be to God for every state other than unbelief and mis­guidance."