Lessons from a Majestic Blue Canopy

Bismillah hir Rahman nir Raheem
As-salaamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu,

I've decided I don't really like being on the computer, especially not for long periods of time coz there's only so much you can do that's truly of benefit, and after a few hours you're most probably just wasting time and draining anything you may have attained spiritually. (Unless, of course, you're a computer science person or a web designer or someone whose actual vocation invloves the computer.) Thus it's been a little while since I last posted, but I decided to come on and post because I had some really fun reflections which I wanted to share.

Alhamdulillah, nature really stimulates beautiful chains of thought. Not to get all Emersonian or Thoreau-ian but I do think spending time in unadultured nature with contemplation, reflection, deepness of thought and expansion of mind is good for the soul. So I was looking at the sky the other day, and SubhaanAllah it really is so beautiful. There's so much to learn from it... so many of its qualities to reflect upon. Firstly, it's just so perfect. Utterly flawless. I think Allah subhaanahu wa ta 'aala even said in the Qur'an to look at His creation and try to find fault in it... you will fail. It's so true (obviously... it's in the Qur'an : ) It's this perfect blue canopy which hangs effortlessly overhead, covering and protecting us by the Grace of Allah subhaanahu wa ta 'aala.

I was also thinking about its quality of expansiveness. I mean, firstly we've established that it's utterly flawless because that's the way Allah created it. And on top of this quality it appears as though it goes on forever. We know it doesn't, obviously, but the naked eye unsupported by the intellect and heart could easily fall into thinking it does. Look in any direction at it and you'll never see the end of it. No matter where you stand, what elevation, what location, no matter what longitudinal and latitudinal region you are in, the sky above will always appear as though it just keeps on going. It makes me think of the Glory of Allah subhaanahu wa ta 'aala, because imagine: here's this thing that's so unbelievably expansive, so beautiful in its physical appearance, so necessary for our survival and sustenance and appears as though it's limitless. Yet despite the greatness of each of these qualities it falls hopelessly short of Allah subhaanahu wa ta 'aala Who created it, sustains it, maintains it and has Himself the most Beautiful and Perfect manifestations of all its aformentioned qualities. If I can barely comprehend the majestic beauty of the sky above me, can you even begin to imagine how unimaginably Beautiful and Majestic must be its Creator? SubhaanAllah : )

The third reflection I had about it was again in regards to its expansiveness and solidarity, yet this time not physically but over time. The gentle blue canopy I call the sky has contained the same glittery stars, burning sun and soothing moon for centuries, and will continue to do so until the day the universe collapses. Stars do die, of course, but most major constellations and such have remained for centuries as we can see in our study of ancient civilizations and the importance they gave to the night sky. What's so amazingly beautiful is this powerful yet unassuming constant... I mean, think about it- throughout all the wars, all the bloodshed, all the sick things mankind has done, all the transgressions we've committed against Truth, all the sins man has done -hidden and open- since the beginning of time, all the damage we've caused to this sweet planet... throughout all of this, one thing which has remained untouched and ever-peaceful is the sky.

On the flip side we have the serenity... subhaanAllah, this brings tears to my eyes... the sky I gaze upon in the middle of a tiring day, after weeks of feeling spiritually low... that very sky is the same sky that my beloved Prophet salAllahu 'alayhi wasallim gazed upon when he was on this earth. SubhaanAllah... the moon... that very moon which lights up my neighbourhood at night with a gentle blue glow, is the very same moon upon which the blessed gaze of my dear and beloved Prophet Muhammad salAllahu 'alayhi wasallim fell over 1400 years ago. That moon is the same moon that is referred to in a hadith, when one of the sahaba radiAllahu 'anh said that he was with the Prophet salAllahu 'alayhi wasallim on a night when it was a full moon and he looked at the Prophet, then he looked at the moon, then he looked at the Prophet, then he looked again at the full moon and he said, "I had never seen anything as beautiful as the Prophet salAllahu 'alayhi wasallim." Just think- this celestial smile which, when it grows to be full, is used to describe the face of the beloved of Allah... this beautiful moon was actually compared to the beauty of the Prophet salAllahu 'alayhi wasallim by one of the sahaba. SubhaanAllah...

Just try it: one day when you're feeling distant from Allah, or things are just going terribly wrong in your life, or even if you're bursting with love for Allah jalla jalaaluh and His messenger salAllahu 'alayhi wasallim and don't know where to channel it, go outside at night, turn your face toward the heavens and look. Look at that sky, gaze at those stars and soak in the light of the moon... and know that the sweet and blessed gaze of the habib of Allah salAllahu 'alayhi wasallim once glanced upon the very same gentle moon, once used those very same sparkling stars to guide him from Mecca to Madina on his blessed Hijrah... and once raised his perfect hands towards that very same majestic sky to make a heartfelt du'a for you, his ummah...

Allahumma salli 'alaa sayyidinaa Muhammad...