right and left. At last one of the Companions flung a carpet over him, pinning him down, whereupon he took his own life—may Allah protect us from such an end.

From that moment, discord began to rear its head. In this ḥadīth the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—foretold that successive trials would come, each one making the previous seem light. The next tribulation will be greater than the first, every new one outweighing the one before it, so that the earlier trial appears negligible. Hence his words: “each one will make the other seem gentle.” A calamity descends and the believer exclaims, “This is my destruction!” for at its outset it looms large and he fears, “Here is where we perish.” Then another arrives, rendering the first insignificant by comparison, and the believer says, “This is it—this is the trial containing every affliction.” Yet we ask Allah, reciting the supplication: “I seek refuge in You from the torment of the grave, from the torment of the Fire, from the trials of life and death, and from the trial of the false messiah.”

The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—then said: “Whoever would love to be kept away from the Fire and admitted into Paradise, let death overtake him while he believes in Allah and the Last Day.” We pray that Allah grants us and you such an end. Whoever truly desires deliverance from the Fire—and all of us long to be spared from it and granted entry into Paradise—must have death come to him while he believes