It is indeed You who are the Rider and I who am the Foot-Traveler
One year, Ibrahim bin Adham decided to perform Hajj on foot, walking not just from one place to another in Makkah, but also to and from his homeland, which meant a long and arduous trek. As he was leaving his homeland, a man riding on a camel passed by and said, O ibn Adham, where are you going?"
"I am going to perform Hajj, if Allah wills," said Ibrahim.
"Then where is your mount, ibn Adham, for the journey is long?" asked the man.
'I have many mounts that I ride upon, though you cannot see them," said Ibrahim.
"What?" asked the man, not comprehending Ibrahim's meaning.
"If I am afflicted with a calamity, I ride on the mount (figuratively, of course) of patience (for just as a mount takes a person from one place to another, patience takes one to safety in the Hereafter). If I am given a blessing, I ride on the mount of thankfulness.
If something that is decreed (and that is difficult to bear) happens to me, I ride on the mount of contentment. And when my soul invites me (to satisfy some lust or desire), I reflect on how the time I have left on earth is less than the time that has already gone by."
"You are indeed traveling by the command of Allah," said the man. "Then by Allah, it is you who are the rider, and I who am the foot-traveler."
Source: Stories of Repentance - Complied by Muhammad Abduh Mughawiri
