Pain or no pain?

I still remember something that my favorite Shaykh, Muhammed Al-Aryfy said in one of his lectures. He said “Sometimes, Allah (swt) has to put us through pain so that we return to him." I was just thinking that subhan Allah we are so heedless that unless He subhanahu wa ta’ala puts us through a difficulty or calamity we wont return to HIm.

And I honestly fear that, because I don’t wish for a huge calamity to befall before I “wake up” and realize what this life is about. Knowing this I don’t know what still prevents me or hinders me from returning or coming closer to Allah. Why am I not awake? The eyes have been dry for too long and I’m just frustrated with myself. But I know nothing happens over night. We are so used to having things done in an instant rather than making an effort and working towards it and being patient. Nothing happens over night and we must strive for the love of Allah because this is something very precious. This is the love of Allah, not a human. We try so hard to earn the love of people that we respect and honor and we are so afraid to be rejected by them. But what about the love of Allah, our Creator, Sustainer, Nourisher? We stand before Him 5 times a day but even during that time, during this personal time, our thoughts wander about the affairs of this world.

Your salah, your prayer, truly shows what type of person you are, what you are concerned with, what you spend your time on. You want a picture of your self, look to your salah- you will find it, the real you.

May Allah (swt) help us to see what this life is truly about and help us to work towards the hereafter. Ameen