GOD’S GRANDEUR.

April 4, 2020February 14, 2021 by admin

DAY 9. COVID-19 LOCKDOWN

“If the Hour (the day of Resurrection) is about to be established and one of you was holding a palm shoot, let him take advantage of even one second before the Hour is established to plant it.” – Al-Albani.

‘The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil..’ God’s Grandeur by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Nature astounds me in how it still gives of itself when so much has been plundered from it. Today, I reflected in part of just how the earth might be talking to itself now that billions of humans are either quarantined, in LOCKDOWN, in hospitals and in self-isolation. In the stillness of my heart I heard earth saying:

Earth’s whispers to the heart

Adam and Eve were lowered with ease

Allah was displeased

Adam cried “Oh! Allah I have oppressed by soul”

Never was Adam left out in the cold

For he was taught that which he knew naught

And then came Kane and Abel who fought

Adam left and then came Noah and the ark

Oh! He left his mark

When there came the flood

All was mud

Life anew and nature grew

Pollution, killing, sickness and all were few

All great ones passed until came the majesty of Muhammad

Methinks then I was never sad as he was also called Ahmed

Oh! Then came the four Rightly Guided in sequence

Mankind then became the nuisance

For they fought tooth and nail with the Four

It never affected the core

Today! Alas I am suffocating amid the smoke

I choke

Filled with holes to mine the gold

To get more sold

Deep in my belly lies all plastic

That ain’t fantastic

In my seven eyes cataracts cover

All left for the lover

Wars made me a mass grave in the name of peace

But it was like a lamb without fleece

Skies teared and the sun screamed in anger

But Mankind behaved like a child in a manger

Bereft of the Mercy of Muhammad on my face

I felt now mankind now had no space

Sickness wrecked my core

Until I was agonisingly sore

And on the Doctor’s orders I spilled

Until all was filled

With the filth stuffed in my belly

I left myself smelly

My gift was COVID-19

Nay! I am not fighting

All the Doctor said I was spent

Mankind just REPENT

And all of us will be HEAVEN SENT.

Inspired by the saying of the Prophet Muhammad (s) regarding the last action of man if he had a sapling in his hand that he should plant it indicates that this world is a tilth for the hereafter therefore, let your harvest there be forests of goodness. Today, we hear the rustling of leaves, the chirping of birds, fluttering of wings of doves, we are cognisant of the footprints we leave on the grass early in the morning, startled into amazement at the grandeur of the sun rise and mesmerised by the setting too all because; mankind is under LOCKDOWN and, nature is having its day out in the sun.

When I read Hopkins, God’s Grandeur it engrossed me in reflection of just how majestic it really is and how; we throughout our lives took it for granted. We paid little attention to the immense natural synchronisation of all elements to ensure that we, human beings, have everything in place to live in the best way possible. Yet, we have polluted so much of the earth that we suffering. It’s like been shot with your own gun by yourself and that’s scary. Hopkins illustrates the glorious power of Allah in that it will shine through with such intensity that would not be able to identify the source. Do take a piece of foil and crumple it and then flatten it; shine a bright light on to it and witness the light how it springs in all directions. What a dazzle of attraction. Nature has its own power.

Mankind has to have five marks, or establish them to show their love for Allah so that we resuscitate our connection with HIM, the Exalted. In IRSHAD-WISDOM OF THE SUFI MASTER these five are given as:

Generosity like the ocean
Tender kindness like the sun
Humility like the dust
Gentleness like death
discretion like the night

The above is instructive because nature shows us how it operates. Think on how the dead leaf falls from the tree to its death and even in the wild, the saying goes, before the lion kills, life is already drawn yet, the eye perceives not. The time we have now is time of deep reflection of how big our own carbon footprint is. Let us try to minimise it because; this very earth is a witness and our grave too, before the day when we will be taken out again for an accounting. Therefore, let the earth know you cared for it so that it will be a good witness too.

My heart ached as I recalled lectures on the pollution of the oceans, the devastation that CFCs has on the ozone layer, the suffocating of fertile land of nutrients by nuclear waste and the usurping of sand from the ocean floors to feed the greed for building more and more and more skyscrapers and concrete jungles and; the destruction of the rain forests. COVID-19 gave us this chance to say STOP! Stop for a while and give thought to the earth and yourself because the earth can do without us, we cannot do without it.

Embrace the human in you again because the consumer world has eroded our innate desire to be caring and compassionate. Love this world for its the pathway to another where the seeds are left here – EARTH.

Reflect on this:

“A man felt very thirsty while he was on the way, there he came across a well. He went down the well, quenched his thirst and came out. Meanwhile he saw a dog panting and licking mud because of excessive thirst. He said to himself, “This dog is suffering from thirst as I did.” So, he went down the well again, filled his shoe with water, held it with his mouth and watered the dog. Allah appreciated him for that deed and forgave him.” The Companions said, “O Allah’s Messenger! Is there a reward for us in serving the animals?” He replied: “There is a reward for serving any living being.” – Imam Bukhari.