Etheral

So don’t be surprised when a time comes when you become a stranger among people you thought were strangers like yourself. The longer you remain on this blessed path, the more the people will see you as someone who baffles them because a person who chases this dunya will always find ambitions for the aakhirah strange.

This path is a lonely path.

You will never be understood. Not by your family nor by your friends. But you must remain firm, because this is the era of those who remain firm.

This path is a lonely path.

Because the lovers of the dunya have nothing to do with it. It is shunned by most, out of fear of losing the temporary while they don’t realise how they’re ruining their eternal life. It is not sought after except by those rare, few, blessed ones who seek the Face of Allah ﷻ more than anything this worthless world has to offer.

You will be mocked, misunderstood, considered a foreigner in your own homeland, considered a stranger amongst your own friends and family.

But

Know, O beloved, that you aren’t the only one who feels this staggering bite of loneliness, and you certainly aren’t the first. This is the path, where Rasulullah ﷺ was rejected by his own family and tribe, the path where Yusuf عليه السلام was thrown into prison for a crime he never committed. And the examples are many.

Know, O beloved, that you have chosen this path knowing all the hardships, and so you must bear them with patience and walk upon this path with a smile on your faces. Because this is the path for which the Sahabah رضي الله عنهم gave their lives. This is the path of the few, blessed, chosen servants of Allah. So strive to be from amongst them.

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“The path of truth is solitary. Those who traverse it are lonely; they are not wanted, nor their aspiration. Leisurely do they travel, with resolution. Of what they seek, people are heedless, for, about the truth, most are careless.”

- Ibn Rajab al Hanbali, Journey of the Strangers, pg 37.

“This path is paved with torn-off limbs, irrigated with blood, surrounded by trials. Its tribulations and fitnah waylay you on this path. But as long as you know your goal, and the way is clear to your sight, pursue your journey whatever the case is.”

May Allaah bless you, for this month, I will be giving away a complete 10 volume set of Tafsir ibn Kathir.

Whenever someone asks me what books I recommend, this is always the first book I mention, because I think the best thing one can do for their eeman is work on bulding their understanding of the Qur’an, and I’ve never read a book which has such a simple and beautiful flow when explaining it like this one.