Letter 82

Remember Ibn Abbas that you cannot over live the span of life allotted to you, nor can you ever get that which has not been destined for you. You must know that this world has two aspects; one of its phases is that sometimes it serves you and works in your favour, and the other is that, it acts against you. This world is a place for empires to come and go; it is an abode of constant change. Here anything and everything which has been destined to do you good will reach you though you may not be strong and fit enough to try for it, and the loss, if it has been decreed for you, will come to you however hard you may try to avoid it.