(214) “Or did you think that you would enter Paradise before there came to you the like of what befell those who passed away before you? They were afflicted by poverty and suffering and were shaken until the Messenger and those who believed with him said, ‘When will Allah’s help come?’ Surely, Allah’s help is near.”
Allah Most High informs us that He must test His servants through prosperity, adversity, and hardship, just as He tested those before them. This is His established way, which neither changes nor varies: whoever upholds His religion and His law must be tested by Him. If he remains steadfast in carrying out Allah’s command and pays no heed to the hardships obstructing his path, then he is truthful; he has attained perfect happiness and acquired the means to eminence.
But whoever treats persecution at the hands of people like the punishment of Allah—allowing hardships to turn him away from the path he had set out upon and trials to divert him from his goal—is false in his claim to faith. Faith is not established by outward adornment, wishful thinking, and mere claims; deeds must confirm or belie it.
The earlier nations underwent what Allah relates concerning them: “They were afflicted by poverty,” meaning destitution, “and suffering,” meaning illnesses in their bodies, “and were shaken” by all kinds of fear: threats of death and banishment, the seizure of their wealth, the killing of loved ones, and every manner of harm. Their condition became so dire, and the turmoil brought them to such a point, that they felt Allah’s help was slow in coming, despite their certainty that it would come.
Yet because of the severity and distress of the situation, “the Messenger and those who believed with him said, ‘When will Allah’s help come?’”
Since relief comes at the height of hardship, and whenever circumstances become constricted they then open up, Allah Most High said: “Surely, Allah’s help is near.” So it is with everyone who upholds the truth: he will be tested.
Whenever his ordeal grows more severe and difficult, if he remains patient and perseveres in his course, the ordeal becomes a blessing for him and hardships become comforts. This is then followed by victory over his enemies and healing for the sickness in his heart. This verse parallels the words of Allah Most High: “Or did you think that you would enter Paradise before Allah made evident those among you who strove and made evident the steadfast?”
And His words [Most High:] “Alif, Lām, Mīm. Do people think that they will be left to say, ‘We believe,’ without being tested? We certainly tested those before them, so Allah will surely make evident those who are truthful, and He will surely make evident the liars.” At times of testing, a person is either honored or humiliated.