Principle Fifty-Three. One of the Quran’s abiding rules is that reward is proportionate to the hardship borne along the path of worship. At the same time, it affirms that Allah’s easing of that path is itself a grace and a kindness, and that such facilitation does not diminish the reward in the least.

This principle lays bare Allah’s tenderness and beneficence toward His servants and His all-encompassing wisdom—one of the profound effects of His guidance and a mighty breath of His mercy, for He is the Most Merciful of the merciful. The Exalted says, “Fighting has been prescribed for you, though it is distasteful to you. Yet it may be that you dislike something that is good for you, and it may be that you love something that is bad for you. Allah knows, and you do not know” (al-Baqarah 2:216). Here He makes clear that this momentous act of worship, because of its tremendous benefit and the many public and private gains it brings, has been enjoined even though it is difficult and the soul recoils from it, since it exposes one to danger and the possible loss of life and wealth. Yet, when these hardships are measured against the honors to which they lead, they are not evil at all; rather, they are pure good and unalloyed kindness from Allah to His servants, for He has granted them this act of worship that elevates them to stations they could never attain without it.

He, the Exalted, also says, “If you are suffering, they are suffering just as you are, but you hope from Allah what they do not hope for” (al-Nisāʾ 4:104). And He says, “We shall surely test you with a measure of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth, lives, and fruits; but give glad tidings to the patient—those who, when calamity strikes them, say, ‘We belong to Allah, and to Him we shall return’” (al-Baqarah 2:155-156). He further says, “Indeed, the patient shall be paid their reward in full without measure” (al-Zumar 39:10).

Accordingly, the greater the hardship that patience entails