Veils of Destiny
\r\nTime has been created by God for people such that everyone recognises its nature and importance according to his own knowledge. Only God is not bound by time. Time simply does not apply to God. It is only a human reality, and God decreed that goals should take time to be achieved. We cannot change the world or even change ourselves in a moment. This will never happen. You may try to learn the Quran by heart as fast as you can. But you should not memorise the Quran in a week or a month. And if you commit it to memory in a month, you will forget it all in a month or even less. We must let things take their necessary time and surrender to God's laws and destiny. In fact, people who try to make abrupt changes in themselves or the world around them often fail and most likely despair!
\r\nMuslim jurists state the following maxim: "A person who hastens something before its due time will be punished by being deprived of it." In other words, if one ignores the fact that time is needed for any significant change in this world, one not only delays the desired change but will most likely lose it forever.
\r\nAmong the veils of destiny that every Muslim must also note is what scholars call the "duty of the time" (wajib al-waqt). Throughout one's life, there are different stages that carry with them different duties and responsibilities. For example, at one stage, you must work hard to earn money to get married. This might take much time and effort for a while. At another stage, you might have to look after young children or elderly parents, and take care of their affairs. At a later stage of life, when children are older and more independent, you may have financial security, but will have to work hard to achieve a certain higher goal or fulfil your duties in a public service office, for example. At a different stage, the duty of the time might involve travel in pursuit of knowledge, or perhaps, God forbid, taking a long break for health reasons. In all of the above cases, you cannot pierce through the veils of destiny. When you are sick, you cannot behave as you did when you were healthy, and when you are seventy, you cannot behave as you did when you were forty!
\r\nThis is an important step on the path to God: always pay attention to the duty of your time, as much as you understand it. Believe in God's wisdom in everything He gives or takes away, and surrender to the laws of the universe and the veils of destiny.
\r\nCompiled From:
\r\n "A Journey to God: Reflections on the Hikam of Ibn Ataillah" - Jasser Auda