While in transit at one of the airports, I had to wait 17 hours for my connecting flight in the departure lounge.
This was because I couldn't enter the city, leaving me with nothing but to wait.
I won't hide from you that each minute felt like an eternity, passing incredibly slowly.
I tried to pass the time in various ways: once by attempting to sleep, which fled from me for fear of missing my flight.
Another time by wandering around the airport and the duty-free shops, and a third by reading a book and watching a movie, and so on.
With each passing hour, I felt the relief approaching, the imminent takeoff towards the lands of my family and brothers.
I haven't forgotten the weight of that hour, even years after that wait.
However, I belittled my own wait when I saw all this brilliance around me.
Then I witnessed the more difficult scenes of waiting for the children of Turkey and Syria under the rubble as a result of the devastating earthquake.
A wait shrouded in darkness, surrounded by fear and death, which is the worst witness to await.
I belittled my 17-hour wait, while I was safe, when I read this phrase:
"A child rescued from the rubble of his home after 55 hours."
He was in a terrifying state, where survival was uncertain, something that might happen or might not.
I belittled my wait, when I knew when it would end.
But those under the rubble don't know when their wait will end, and their souls might ascend to Allah while they are still waiting.
Indeed, the security that surrounds us and that we are accustomed to is a blessing that requires gratitude, and the stability we have come to expect is a blessing.
The home we live in and the natural breathing we do are blessings that only those who have lost them can truly feel.
And only those who have tasted their absence can appreciate their immense value.
O Allah, we seek refuge in You from the loss of Your blessings, the reversal of Your well-being, the suddenness of Your punishment, and all Your displeasure.
O Allah, save our afflicted brothers everywhere.
Strengthen their resolve, heal their wounded, and accept their deceased among the martyrs, O Lord of the worlds.