🌿 When the World Feels Heavy: Turning to Allah with What We Can(t) Carry

Bismillah.

Some days, it’s not a single crisis that breaks you. It’s the quiet accumulation of everything. The little sadnesses. The quiet disappointments. The weight of what you can’t explain to anyone. The feeling that even while doing your best, it still somehow doesn’t feel like enough.

This is one of those reminders I write for myself first, because Allah knows how many times I’ve sat down not knowing what to say. Only knowing that I needed seclusion from everything and everyone but Him. That I needed Ar-Rahman.

Allah سبحانه وتعالى says:

"Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest."
(Surah ar-Ra‘d 13:28)

Allah سبحانه وتعالى didn’t say you’ll find the answers. Or the resolution. Or the ending. He said rest. And sometimes, that’s all the heart is asking for. To exhale. To stop for a moment, and simply remember Him.

💔 When Sadness Comes

“Whoever follows My guidance shall neither go astray nor fall into misery.”
(Suhah Tāhā 20:123)

The Prophet ﷺ said:

“The eyes shed tears and the heart is saddened, but we do not say except what pleases our Lord.”
(Sahih al-Bukhari 1303)

So yes, sadness is human. But it's what we do in the sadness that defines whether it brings us closer to Allah or further away.

🌸 When I Feel Low, I need to Remember:

• That difficulty is not proof of failure.

• That Allah is not far — “And We are closer to him than [his] jugular vein.” (50:16)

• That I can just talk to Allah, without formality or eloquence.

• That healing doesn’t always look like clarity. Sometimes it looks like continuing. For Allah سبحانه وتعالى. For yourself. For your family. For your children.

🌧 A Letter to Myself on the Heaviest Days:

Dear self,
If you can’t fix everything today, that’s okay.
If your heart feels clouded, Allah still sees you.
If your words fail you in du‘a, remember: even your silence can take a form of turning to Him if intended in sha’ Allah.

Just go to the prayer mat. Sit.
Say “Ya Allah, help me.”
Say “I need You more than ever.”
Say “I know You are ash-Shāfī, the One who heals.”
Say nothing, and let the tears speak.
Just don’t stop turning back.

🧠 Small Steps That Would Help Me Breathe Again:

• 🌙 One verse of Qur’an, even if my heart feels dry

• 🌙 Sujuud, for just 10 more seconds than usual. Stay there, whisper or weep

• 📝 Journaling a du‘a like a letter - raw, honest, unfinished

• 🌧 Naming my feeling and giving it to Allah: “This anxiety, sadness, grief, pain, uncertainty - Ya Rabbi, help me through it.”

📿 Dhikr To Ease The Chests:

حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيل
Hasbunallāhu wa ni‘ma al-wakīl
“Allah is sufficient for us, and He is the best disposer of affairs.”

The companions said this when the circumstances they found themselves in were terrifying. When fear and worry could have paralysed them. What could be greater in our lives that the righteous before us did not experience?

🌱 A Reminder I Need To Keep Returning To:

“Whoever comes to Me walking, I will come to him running.”
(Ḥadīth Qudsī – Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī)

Allah is near. And when the world feels heavy, it's an opportunity to draw near In sha’ Allah. The test is not always to fix the heaviness, but to carry it and be patient while turning toward Him.

🤲🏼 Quiet Du‘ā

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي عَبْدُكَ ابْنُ عَبْدِكَ ابْنُ أَمَتِكَ نَاصِيَتِي بِيَدِكَ ، مَاضٍ فِيَّ حُكْمُكَ ، عَدْلٌ فِيَّ قَضَاءُكَ أَسْأَلُكَ بِكُلِّ اسْمٍ هُوَ لَكَ سَمَّيْتَ بِهِ نَفْسَكَ أَوْ أَنْزَلْتَهُ فِي كِتَابِكَ ، أَوْ عَلَّمْتَهُ أَحَدًا مِنْ خَلْقِكَ أَوِ اسْتَأْثَرْتَ بِهِ فِي عِلْمِ الْغَيْبِ عِنْدَكَ ، أَنْ تَجْعَلَ الْقُرْآنَ رَبِيعَ قَلْبِي ، وَنُورَ صَدْرِي ، وَجَلاءَ حُزْنِي ، وذَهَابَ هَمِّي

O Allah, I am Your slave, son of Your Male slave, son of Your female slave, my forelock is in Your hand, Your command over me is forever executed and Your decree over me is just. I ask You by every Name belonging to You which You named Yourself with, or revealed in Your Book, or You taught to any of Your creation, or You have preserved in the knowledge of the unseen with You, that You make the Quran the life of my heart and the light of my breast, and a departure for my sorrow and a release for my anxiety.

With love, and in need of Allah, always —
Your sister, in struggle and happiness.