He who Contracts

Who restricts, withdraws, makes one feel the contraction.

The tongue

From q-b-ḍ: to seize, to close the hand, to contract. The gesture of the hand that shuts.

The reason

He contracts subsistence, health, joy — according to a wisdom we do not measure. At the threshold of death, it is still He who gathers the soul.

The Sufi meaning

Al-Qabḍ is also a spiritual state: the contraction of the heart, dryness, inner narrowness. It is not a chastisement but a work — the flower shuts at night to open in the morning.

The servant's portion

Accept your contractions without panic: the hand that closes will open again.