By Dr. Shadee Elmasry
Imam al-Shafi'i at one time lived in Yemen. At a certain point, it so happened that he got mixed up in a criminal investigation and was deemed to have been involved in the crime. He was not known in Yemen, and had no local contacts that could testify on his behalf. There was very little he could do. So at the trial, he simply began repeating the below du'a. When he was given a chance to speak, the governor recognized that this is no criminal. He brought him forward and the conversation went on until he was released.
We're in a time now when there will be a lot of changes, a lot of negative things, and we have very little control over it. This is a very important du'a to keep on our tongue regularly.
What the du'a means is that you can't change what's going to happen. We don't even know what's going to happen. But we can seek Allah's help in how these events affect us. We separate between the event and the effect of the event. Rain falls on everyone but it hits people in different ways. Some are ready, some aren't. Some have protection, some don't. Some know the value of rain and others don't. It's no different with trials and tribulations.
Ya Latif, ultuf bina fi Ma sha Allah jarat bihi al-maqadir.
O Gentle One, infuse what has been destined for us with Your gentleness.