Look around you, to the right and to the left. Do you not see the afflicted and the unfortunate? In every house there is mourning and upon every cheek run tears.
How many tribulations and how many people persevere with patience? You are not alone in your troubles, which are few compared to those of others. How many sick people remain bedridden for years while suffering from unspeakable pain? How many have not seen the light of the sun for years due to their imprisonment, having knowledge of nothing but the four corners of their cell?
How many men and women have lost their dear children in the prime of youth?
How many people are troubled or tormented?
Find consolation with those that are worse off than you: know that this life is like a prison for the believer, an abode of grief and sadness. In the morning castles are bustling with inhabitants: life can be peaceful, the body in good health, wealth abundant and children healthy: and yet in only a matter of days, poverty, death, separation and sickness can all take their place.
You must adapt like the experience camel, which manages necessary , to kneel upon a rock. You must also compare your difficulties with the difficulties of those around you and with those that have come before you: you should realize that you are in good shape relative to them and you have merely been pricked by tiny difficulties. So praise God for His kindness, be thankful for what He dwellings of men who has left for you, seek recompense from Him for what He has taken, and seek consolation with those that are afflicted.
