ONE HADITH A DAY
Narrated by Bukhari & Muslim · Authentic hadith
عن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه مرفوعاً: «تعوذوا بالله من جَهْدِ البلاء، وَدَرَكِ الشقاء، وسوء القضاء، وشماتة الأعداء». وفي رواية قال سفيان: أشك أني زدت واحدة منها.
“Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Seek refuge with Allah from arduous afflictions, degrading misery, preordained evils, and from the gloating of enemies." In another narration, Sufyān said: "I suspect that I added one of them."”
This Hadīth belongs to the category of "jawāmi‘ al-kalim": the most succinct statements of a few words that imply extensive and comprehensive meanings with great significance in implementation. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) sought refuge with Allah from four things. If a person is safe from these four, then he will be safe in this world and the next, and this, indeed, is the ultimate and obvious success. The four things he sought refuge from are: "Jahd al-balā’": intense afflictions and the hardships that accompany them. If trials become severe a person may not be safe from getting angry, annoyed and irritated with what Allah decreed upon him, thus he may lose the reward of the life of this world as well as in the Hereafter. "Dark ash-shaqā’": falling into utter misery. This is general, including primarily misery in the Hereafter since it is ultimate and eternal misery that will never be followed by happiness, or misery the life of this world wherein a person's state changes for the worse with time. One day may make him happy and another may make him miserable. "Sou’ al-qadā’": the preordained evils; i.e. what Allah has decreed upon the servant that the servant perceives to be bad for him. It is general regarding all the affairs in the life of this world such as wealth, children, health, wife, etc., as well as the affairs of the Hereafter. It is important to note here that the preordained evil is considered to be evil from the person's viewpoint. In reality everything that Allah preordains and decrees is good and devoid of any evil whatsoever, a…