By : Aliaa Fathy
We are walking, going our own way, running and running from here to there, and the days pass by, carrying us here and there. It’s as if we’ve traveled long distances on the path of life, as if we’re returning from a long, exhausting journey, a continuous journey, unable to stop for a moment to rest.
We fear pausing for a moment to look back and see how far we’ve come, how much of our lives have passed. We are exhausted, out of breath from running and jogging, unable to stop for a moment to catch our breath. We are changeable in our moods, sometimes happy, sometimes sad.
We coexist, and sometimes we get bored.
We hope, and sometimes we despair.
We confront, and sometimes we surrender.
We grow stronger, and sometimes, we weaken.
We are on the road on life’s long journey. Sometimes, we reach our destination, and sometimes, we just move on as the ships carry us. Sometimes, we are lost, as if we’ve lost our way. We are lost amidst the hustle and bustle of our concerns, responsibilities, problems, and worries. Things settle down, and we calm down a little, then suddenly our circumstances become disturbed, and our pressures increase.
Things change from moment to moment. We silently get tired, silently fear, silently worry, silently become confused, silently get nervous.
And we hide all of this behind a smile to everyone, making them feel safe and that everything is fine.
We strive to maintain our steadfastness and strength, not faltering in front of anyone, while inside we are deeply disturbed, plagued by anxiety about what’s coming.
Our hearts are not at peace. We fear the harshness of circumstances. No matter how strong we hold ourselves together, we will certainly shake in times of hardship.
We ask God for help in our circumstances, we ask God for the kindness of fate, we ask Him to give us the strength to bear our burdens, to strengthen our backs so that we can bear the weight of life on our shoulders. We ask God for strength, steadfastness, and patience, for we have no one but Him. We pray that we continue to run on our path with the same strength, without fatigue or despair.
We run without stopping, and we complete our journey safely. O Allah, grant us a safe journey, provide us with good provisions, and make the road easy.
