rain

by Sarfraaz Ahmed

I was sitting on the stairs outside and waiting for the rain to stop. After sitting there for a few minutes doing nothing, thinking nothing, and just observing the rain, I felt a sense of peace. The pitter patter sound of raindrops falling from the roof, the small streams of rain water running down the stairs. These were things which we enjoyed so much in our childhood. Wonder why we as adults don’t take out time to enjoy the “always on”, “always free” entertainment provided by nature. When in reality, it is after we are grown up that we should observe nature even more. A place where we can observe patterns that give us life lessons. A place to reflect on the very creation of nature so that we can recognise the Beauty and Majesty of its Creator, our Creator.

I started watching the small stream of rain water flowing just below the stairs. My eyes zoomed in to the small bubbles coming into life from nowhere and bursting in less than ten seconds. Such small life they have, I thought. But then I realised that it was true not just about that small bubble, but also about us humans. Consider the total time of existence of this nature. Relative to that large time span of more than millions of years, even a long human life of hundred years, is less than 0.01% !! of the entire lifespan of nature. If we scale down the entire lifespan of nature to the small time in which that rain water flowed, even a hundred years of human life would probably resemble the lifetime of that one small bubble. Our lives are actually so small. And even in this, we waste so much time where we do nothing that benefits mankind. Imagine the actual amount of time you have in hand, when you subtract, the years of your childhood, old age, time spent in sleeping, et al !!! And what do we do in this extremely small life of ours ? A life that we know is going to end sooner than later. Do we do anything that makes our existence beneficial ? Can we call ourselves to be alive, if our existence does not bring about any benefit to any other creature, [ including ourselves ] ?

This in essence I thought is what we are taught in Surah Al-Asr.

By the time!  Lo! Man is in a state of loss; save those who have faith and do righteous deeds, and counsel each other to hold on to truth and counsel each other to be steadfast. [ Quran 103 : 1-3 ].

It teaches us about the best thing we can give to mankind in this limited time of ours. And that is Haq : The Truth, establishment of Judgement Day, and thus preparing ourselves for it. And also the best provision needed to do this, Sabr : patience, steadfastness and resilience.

We must be thankful to Allah, for the time and good health that He has bestowed on us.  We should utilize these benefits in doing righteous deeds that bring forth our beliefs in The Truth. Every single act we do is an opportunity for us to display our belief in The Truth, of being accountable on Judgement Day.

Don’t just spend your life. Make it worthwhile. Live a life where we are able to see these beautiful Quranic verses through our own lives. Isn’t that the Sunnah? We should strive in utilizing Allah’s priceless benefits in doing at least some small thing that will benefit mankind. I heard this in a lecture and I would like to share it with you :

Let not the only thing that people remember about us be that we are “dead”.

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