When you have almost given up
Yaʿqūb ﷺ said this after losing two sons and his eyesight, still refusing to despair.
يَـٰبَنِىَّ ٱذْهَبُوا۟ فَتَحَسَّسُوا۟ مِن يُوسُفَ وَأَخِيهِ وَلَا تَا۟يْـَٔسُوا۟ مِن رَّوْحِ ٱللَّهِ ۖ إِنَّهُۥ لَا يَا۟يْـَٔسُ مِن رَّوْحِ ٱللَّهِ إِلَّا ٱلْقَوْمُ ٱلْكَـٰفِرُونَ
…wa lā tay'asū min rawḥi-llāh, innahu lā yay'asu min rawḥi-llāhi illa-l-qawmu-l-kāfirūn.
O my sons, go and find out about Joseph and his brother and despair not of relief from Allāh. Indeed, no one despairs of relief from Allāh except the disbelieving people."
Where this comes from
Yaʿqūb ﷺ had lost Yūsuf decades earlier, then lost Binyāmīn too, and had wept until his sight was gone. This is what he told his sons: go back and keep looking. Despair was the one thing he would not permit.
Source
The Qur'an · 12:87
Qur'an
- Qur'anic text in the Uthmani script via Quran.com; translation: Saheeh International