2.38. SILENCE AND REFLECTION (to be continued)

God says

The parable of the life of this world is but that of rain which We send down from the sky, and which is absorbed by the plants of the earth whereof men and animals draw nourishment, until – when the earth has assumed its artful adornment and has been embellished, and they who dwell on it believe that they have gained mastery over it* -- there comes down upon it Our judgment, by night or by day, and We cause it to become [like] a field mown down, as if there had been no yesterday.**
Thus, clearly do We spell out these messages unto people who think -- Q.10:24
*I.e., they come to believe that they have gained “mastery over nature”, with no conceivable limits to what they may yet achieve…. Thus, the whole of the above parabolic sentence may be understood as alluding to the artificial, illusionary “adornment” brought about by man’s technological efforts, not in collaboration with nature but, rather, in hostile “confrontation” with it.
** I.e., “as if it had not been in existence yesterday”: a paraphrase used in classical Arabic to describe something that has entirely disappeared or perished.

And it is He who has spread the earth wide and placed on it firm mountains and running waters, and created thereon two sexes of every [kind
of] plant;* [and it is He who] causes the night to cover the day. Verily, in all this there are messages indeed for those who think! -- Q13:3
*The above phrase states that there are two sexes to every plant: a statement fully in accord with botanical science. (Usually, the male and female organs of reproduction exist together in one and the same flower of a particular plant, e.g., cotton; alternatively they are placed in separate flowers of one and the same plant, e.g., in most of the cucurbitaceae; and, in some rare cases, e.g., the date-palm, in entirely separate, uni-sexual plants of the same species.)



Prophet said

“Anyone who commits a sin and (on realization) makes ablution, prays and seeks forgiveness is forgiven” -- H: Tirmizi, Ibn Majah. Narrator: Ali.

Think of the verse 35 : 37 : (God will say to those destined for fire) : “Did We not grant you a life, long enough so that whoever was willing to reflect could bethink of himself?*….”
* According to Ibn-i-Abbas and other scholars “long life” means the age of 60 years. Some have assed it 18 years. Imams: Hasan, Kalabi and Masrooq have taken it as 40 years. In Madina it is said that when a person reached the age of 40 years, he used to dedicate himself to prayer. (Riyadh-us-Saleheen)

Let us guard ourselves from sinning in the future, and do Astaghfaar over hundred times for forgiveness of the past sins. Here is the small Astaghfaar: Subhan Allah wa Bihamdehi, Astaghfirullah wa Aatoobo elayh thus complying with the Qur’an: “extol thy Sustainer’s limitless glory, and praise Him, and seek His forgiveness”(110:3). The Prophet used to recite this Astaghfaar after the revelation of surat-un-Nasr.