Patience

Many songs and proverbs extol patience, offering solace. They say that Job endured until his body betrayed him, yet God did not betray him; that Joseph endured until prisons closed in on him, only for the world to later open wide for him; and that Jacob wept until his eyes turned white, only to regain his sight upon the return of his beloved son, Joseph.

As the saying goes, patience is the key to relief. No oppressor dies in this world without God’s vengeance taking the rights of those they wronged. A complete aspect of that retribution is for the oppressed to witness the oppressor in a wretched state.

Glory be to God, the Avenger! As the poet said:

“Every hand is beneath God’s hand,

And no oppressor escapes being tested by one more unjust.”

And tomorrow brings another day...

Zahid Matar