still not be satisfied because of an illness within him. That is one kind of hunger.

The second kind of hunger is drought and barren years in which no udders give milk and no crops grow; this too is hunger.

His words, “and a loss of wealth,” mean a downturn in the economy: the nation is struck by scarcity and poverty, its economic progress stalls, and its government becomes weighed down by debts that arise through causes Allah—exalted is He—decrees as a trial and a test.

His words, “and of lives,” refer to death—epidemics that descend upon the people, destroy them, and wipe them out. This happens often. We have been told that in these very lands, the Najd region, there once broke out a devastating plague whose year the common folk called “the Year of Mercy.” When the plague entered a household, not one member remained but was buried—Allah’s refuge is sought. A house might hold ten people or more: one would fall ill, then another the next day, then a third and a fourth, until they all died.

It was also reported to us that in this mosque—the Grand Congregational Mosque of Unayzah, back when the people still lived in a small village and were far fewer than they are today—seven or eight funeral biers would sometimes be brought for a single obligatory prayer. We seek Allah’s protection from epidemics. This too is a loss of lives.

As for His words, “and fruits,” the meaning is that there may be no outright hunger, yet the fruits diminish: the blessing is removed from the crops, the date palms, and other trees. Allah tries His servants with these matters so that He may let them taste some of what they have done, that they might turn back.

People meet these calamities at different levels: with resentment, with patience, with contentment, or with gratitude, as we mentioned earlier. Allah alone gives success.