Muslim

Hadith Commentary: Benefits and Issues: The example of a believer is like that of a field, which the winds are always shaking, causing it to bend here and there, and this very thing becomes the reason for its growth and flourishing. In the same way, a believer is always faced with illnesses and trials and hardships, which become a cause for the forgiveness of his sins and the elevation of his ranks. But the example of a hypocrite is like that of a pine tree, whose roots are firmly embedded in the ground and the winds cannot move it. In this way, for the hypocrite, illnesses and trials and difficulties do not become a means of expiation for sins, nor does he derive any lesson or admonition from them that would turn him towards Allah, the Exalted, in repentance and humility. Thus, he is afflicted with fewer trials and hardships than some believers, until he will face a single severe reckoning, from which he will not be able to escape, just as the pine tree is cut down all at once.