Instituut voor Islamitische
Studies en Publicaties

A Spiritual Note

Edition 180 - November 28, 2008 - Dhul Qadah 30, 1429

Assalamu alaikum (Peace be upon you).

Footprints

One night a man had a dream.
He dreamed he was walking
along the beach with the LORD.
Across the sky flashed scenes from his life.
For each scene, he noticed
two sets of footprints in the sand;
one belonged to him, and the other to the LORD.

When the last scene of his life flashed back at him,
he looked back at the footprints in the sand.
He noticed that many times along the path of his life
there was only one set of footprints.
He also noticed that it happened at the
very lowest and saddest times in his life.

This really bothered him and he questioned
the LORD about it.
"LORD, you said that once I decided to follow you,
you'd walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that
during the most troublesome times in my life, there is
only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I
needed you most you would leave me".

The LORD replied, "My precious, precious child,
I love you and I would never leave you.
During your times of trial and suffering,
when you see only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you."

Mary Stevenson

Institute for Islamic Studies and Publications
Paramaribo, Suriname, S.A.
info@ivisep.org
www.ivisep.org/magazines.htm

A Spiritual Note will be sent out every Jumu'ah day to remind us all of the beautiful teachings of Islam and to inspire us to fulfill our obligations to Allah and to one another.

You can visit the Spiritual Note archive at www.ivisep.org/magazines.htm

Quranic quotations in the Notes are from the English translation of the Holy Quran by Maulana Muhammad Ali, which you can read at http://www.muslim.org/english-quran/index.htm (with footnotes) and http://aaiil.org/text/hq/trans/ma_list.shtml (without footnotes).