How do I know if my grief is normal or if I need professional help?

Grief doesn't follow a timeline. Rabia understood that love doesn't diminish because someone dies—it transforms. But there's a difference between the ache of missing someone and the paralysis of complicated grief. If you're unable to care for yourself, if your mind is locked in one moment, if you're unable to feel anything at all for months, if you're having thoughts of harming yourself—that's when a grief counselor or therapist becomes an act of love toward yourself, not a failure of strength. Think of it this way: you wouldn't treat a broken bone by willing it better. Some griefs need support because they've gotten tangled with depression, trauma, or loneliness. There's no shame in that. In fact, getting help might be the closest thing to what Rabia practiced: recognizing that pure devotion sometimes means asking for what you need. You can honor the dead and still take care of the living you. That's not divided love—that's wisdom.