deliverance is sought, and upon You we rely.” Among the supplications of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was:
“O Allah, to You I complain of my feebleness, my lack of resourcefulness, and the contempt with which people regard me. You are the Lord of the downtrodden, and You are my Lord. O Allah, to whom will You entrust me? To a stranger who treats me harshly, or to an enemy whom You have given power over me? If You are not angry with me, I do not mind, though Your protection would afford me greater ease. I seek refuge in the light of Your Face, by which darkness is illuminated and the affairs of this world and the Hereafter are set right, lest Your displeasure descend upon me or Your anger befall me. Yours is the right to reproach until You are pleased.”
ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb, may Allah be pleased with him, would recite during the dawn prayer:
“I complain of my anguish and sorrow only to Allah, and I know from Allah”
and would weep until his sobbing could be heard from the back rows. Complaining to created beings, however, is different. During Imam Ahmad’s final illness, a report was read to him stating that Tāwūs disapproved of a sick person’s groaning and said, “It is a complaint.” Ahmad did not groan again before he died.
This is because a person who complains is implicitly asking either for the removal of what harms him or for the attainment of what benefits him. The servant is commanded to ask his Lord, rather than His creation, as Allah Most High says:
“So when you have finished, strive in worship, and turn to your Lord with longing.”
The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said to Ibn ʿAbbās: “When you ask, ask Allah; and when you seek help, seek help from Allah.”
A person cannot do without two things: obedience to Allah by doing what He has commanded and refraining from what He has forbidden, and patience with whatever befalls him by the ordained decree. The first is piety, and the second is patience.
Allah Most High says:
“O you who believe, do not take confidants from among