When someone so close to Allah is depressed, how do you soothe them?

‘Tired, depressed, empty’; the sort of words I hear from a beautiful (inside out) practicing Muslimah going thru trials upon trials in life.

I close my teary filled eyes, feeling helpless. How can I help this girl?

In the darkness of my shut eyes, I imagine her in deep dark sorrow, I imagine her in the midst of the night, crying. I envision her sitting by her window sill staring at the dark starlit sky. And I know she has Allah. I know she believes. I know she has so much faith in Him and she hasn’t given up.

But I know she’s tired. I can tell from her words. – ‘I just wanna go away from the world.. I dont wanna blame anyone for my empty-ness because it’s not their fault. It’s MY sicknesss..But at the same time I don’t wanna feel lonely’

What do we tell these beautiful souls? When they know and perhaps have more faith in Allah SWT than we do ourselves, how do we comfort them? ‘Allah knows, have patience  make dua’? ‘Take a break today and have some me-time’? ‘Let’s walk under the moon and get some fresh air’? ‘Let’s forget everything and just breathe for a while’? What do we tell them?

Yes, they have Allah. But they are human too. Just like any of us.

Just as I kept imagining her in the depths of all darkness, I am reminded of our Prophet Yusuf AS and how he was deep down in that well, thrown by his very own brothers. I remember our Prophet Yunus AS and how he was engulfed in layers of darknesses in the belly of the whale.

Alone; not empty.

Alone; not lonely.

Alone; away from the world.

Alone; yet as human as us.

In these parables are lessons for us spectators, and a consolation for these tested souls..subhanAllah.

I am not talking about consoling these sad souls with these stories. I am talking about relating to these stories ourselves as ‘spectators’. Was there anyone who went and comforted these Prophets, but Allah SWT? A hidden lesson for us to know- that Allah SWT is enough for them. He will take them through.

Just as they had no one but Allah, I cannot comfort this beautiful soul today. But I know that just like Allah swt lit up the way for every dear slave of His, HE will not let her go forgotten. He will take care of her. I don’t have words for her, because she knows she has Allah. But I have so much hope for her just as Yaqub AS did for his son. And so we must have,  for these tested souls.

Doesn’t mean we do nothing and leave it to Allah. I mean- Stay by their side, endure their stress with patience, make them feel beautiful, do the things that make them happy, hug them; they might need it, and just be.

When Yunus AS cried out to Allah in the dark dark belly of the whale, here’s how Allah swt recorded it-

And he (Yunus AS) called out within the darknesses, “There is no deity except You; exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers!” 

So We responded to him and saved him from the distress. And thus do We save the believers. [Qur’an 21:87-88]

And thus do We save the believers…

And no soul knows what has been hidden for them of comfort for eyes as reward for what they used to do. [Qur’an 32:17]

My dear broken, tired soul, are you as excited as I am for you?  As you’re SO close to seeing the light at the end of the tunnel; when you’re there,  will you tell me how it feels, dear one? How did it feel to have been saved by Your Lord?