Submit
We are but travelers in this world, our hands reaching for what is often out of reach.
To submit one’s affairs to Allah is not merely an act—it is a journey of the soul, a pilgrimage into the heart of faith. Picture the world as a storm-tossed sea; our plans are fragile vessels cast upon its waves. We steer, we row, yet only a fool believes he controls the tides. To truly submit to Allah is to surrender the illusion of control and entrust one’s course to the Creator of the waves themselves.
Life, after all, is a mosaic of uncertainties, a desert of dreams, and at every twist, there is the unknown—a shadow dancing just beyond our grasp. But submission to Allah is to embrace this uncertainty, to walk through the mist of the unknown with a heart anchored in faith. For faith, you see, is the bridge that carries us over the chasm of doubt, the rope that binds us to the Divine in times when all else slips through our fingers like sand.
We are but travelers in this world, our hands reaching for what is often out of reach. But in truth, nothing we seek lies beyond Allah’s wisdom. It is said, the one who places their trust in Allah walks unburdened, while the one who clings to their own plans drowns beneath their weight. Tawakkul, or trust in Allah, is not to abandon hope but to place hope in the hands of the One who knows what we cannot, who holds the threads of time and fate within His grasp.
To submit to Allah is to understand that the world is His tapestry, woven with a wisdom beyond human sight. Every pain, every joy, every delay, and every blessing is a thread in that grand design. The wise know that in Allah’s world, there are no stray threads; every fiber has purpose, every moment has meaning. When we submit, we surrender our limited vision for Allah’s boundless sight, knowing that what He withholds is as much a blessing as what He grants.
And know this: Allah’s plan does not always align with our desires. Sometimes, we ache for what He denies, yet that very denial is the fortress shielding us from harm. To place one’s trust in Allah is to believe that the lock we cannot open protects us from a path not meant for us, and that every door He opens is a door of wisdom.
Submission is a quiet strength. It is to whisper, “HasbiyAllahu wa ni’mal wakeel,”—“Allah is sufficient for me, and He is the best Disposer of affairs.” The heart that has submitted walks with a quiet dignity, a serenity that does not falter, for it knows that Allah’s wisdom surpasses all understanding. Even in suffering, there is meaning; even in delay, there is mercy; even in loss, there is gain.
The path of submission is not the path of the weak; it is the way of the wise. It is a trust that transforms trials into teachers, struggles into strength. So, walk your path, make your plans, but hold them loosely, knowing that true peace is to lean upon the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of all that exists. From the words of the Prophet ﷺ:
"If you truly relied upon Allah, He would provide for you as He provides for the birds—who set out hungry in the morning and return with full bellies in the evening."
This is the essence of submission: to spread our wings, to trust, to fly into the unknown, knowing that the sky belongs to Allah, and so do we.