On the eve of the ninth of Rabiʿ 1431 AH, a celebration was held on the occasion of the installation of Imam al-Hujjah (aj) in Medina, as part of the program of the al-ʿAqila pilgrimage group. The address of the celebration was given by Sayed Mahmoud Al-Mosawi, who delivered it during his stay in Medina to visit the Prophet (s) and the Imams of al-Baqiʿ (a). .
Sayed Al-Mosawi presented a study on the personality balanced between patience and gratitude, in which he dealt with the blessed verse (“Certainly We sent Moses with Our signs: ‘Bring your people out from darkness into light and remind them of Allah’s [holy] days. There are indeed signs in that for every patient and grateful [servant].’” (Qurʾan 14:5)).
He spoke in the introduction about how the messages of Allah the Exalted came to train man through reminding of the days of Allah as a mechanism for reaching the goal, since reminding of the days of Allah makes the personality balanced through mastering the two dimensions (patience and gratitude) that the blessed verse mentioned.
The balance of the personality is that a person should live between patience and gratitude, and in order to reach that goal he should remember the days of Allah.
He then shed light on the concept of the days of Allah and the relationship of patience and gratitude to them, and mentioned three horizons for the concept of the days of Allah.
The first: that the days of Allah are the days of (the Family of Muhammad (s) and all the days in which the greatness of Allah was manifested. Remembering the days of Allah means remembering the days of the Family of Muhammad (s), in what befell them and in what their blessed conduct was; therefore we have been called to revive their cause and to rejoice in their joy and grieve in their grief.
Through this revival we come to know the true and sublime meanings of (patience) and (gratitude), and as an example, of the patience of Zaynab (a) and her gratitude.. and likewise the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt (a). Through this horizon we can grasp the true concept of patience and gratitude; that is, this aspect is an aspect of knowledge that defines for us the nature of patience and the nature of gratitude, their manner and their extent.
The second: that the days of Allah are (His bounties, that is, His blessings), as in the narration from Imam al-Sadiq (a). So for the personality to be balanced, it should remember the blessings of Allah and look at the positive and bright sides of life, and not be content with the negative side of it. When a person faces challenges and problems at the social, family, financial and psychological levels, he should call to mind the bright sides of life in order to live a balanced life; remembering the blessings calls for (gratitude) for them, and through that gratitude we shall be adorned with (patience).
Therefore the Noble Qurʾan always stresses the necessity of remembering the blessing that Allah has bestowed upon people, and a person cannot count the blessings of Allah upon him (“If you enumerate Allah’s blessings, you will not be able to count them. Indeed Allah is all-forgiving, all-merciful,” (Qurʾan 16:18))
The blessing of Islam and wilayah suffices as a blessing, and it is the greatest blessing that Allah has bestowed upon us (“Today I have perfected your religion for you, and I have completed My blessing upon you, and I have approved Islam as your religion.” (Qurʾan 5:3)).
The third: that among the days of Allah is the day of al-Qaʾim (aj), as in the hadith. Here we should remember the Imam because he is the Imam of our time, and whoever does not know the Imam of his time dies the death of the Jahiliyya. So he should be remembered at all times, through supplicating for his relief, awaiting, remaining firm in his wilayah, and preparing oneself for his Reappearance.
We can understand the meaning of patience and gratitude on the day of al-Qaʾim through awaiting and its concept, for the best of the deeds of my nation is awaiting the relief, as the Messenger (s) said, and awaiting is through patience, as in the hadith; that is, awaiting needs patience, and patience means patience in wilayah and firmness in it in a time of challenges. Therefore it has come in the hadith (Whoever remains firm in his allegiance to us during the Occultation of our Qaʾim shall have the reward of a thousand martyrs of the martyrs of Uhud and Badr).
The dimension of gratitude is embodied in the other side of awaiting, which is action, striving and exerting effort for the sake of religion and reviving its cause, and obeying the command of Allah the Exalted, so that we may truly be among the helpers of the Imam, as the Exalted said (“O House of David, act thankfully” (Qurʾan 34:13)). Action is practical gratitude, and all of a person’s worship is gratitude to Allah the Exalted.
