without having endured the harm and trials that befell their righteous predecessors, so Allah honored them with the trial He decreed for them in order to raise their ranks. This was a mark of His favor toward them, not a sign of their abasement—just as He honored Hamzah, ʿAlī, Jaʿfar, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, and others with martyrdom.

It is related in the Musnad and elsewhere, through Fāṭimah bint al-Ḥusayn from her father al-Ḥusayn, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “No Muslim is afflicted by a calamity, then remembers that calamity—even after a long time has passed—and utters the istirjāʿ (1), except that Allah grants him a reward equal to the reward he received on the day it first befell him.”

This ḥadith was narrated by al-Ḥusayn, and from him by his daughter Fāṭimah, who witnessed his martyrdom. Allah knew that this calamity would be recalled throughout the ages.

Accordingly, when that calamity or its like is mentioned, what is prescribed is to say: “Verily we belong to Allah, and unto Him we shall return,” and: “O Allah, reward us in our calamity and replace it for us with something better.”

The Exalted says, “Give glad tidings to the patient—those who, when disaster strikes them, say, ‘Verily we belong to Allah and unto Him we shall return’” ⦗Quran 2:155-156⦘; and He says, “They are the ones upon whom are blessings and mercy from their Lord, and it is they who are rightly guided” ⦗Quran 2:157⦘.

Discussing the detailed circumstances of kings is difficult—indeed, perhaps impossible. What is known in general is that they, like others, have good deeds and misdeeds, by which they fall under the texts of promise (2) or the texts of threat (3).

The applicability of the texts of promise to a given individual is conditioned upon his deed being performed sincerely for the sake