Signs of Allah : The Holy Qur’an – 5

    Who Recognizes Signs of Allah and How?

    Let us take Surah Nisa 3:190:

    Behold ! in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of Night and Day – there are indeed Signs for man of understanding.

    This seems like a tough game. One may ask that do I have to be conceited enough to declare myself a man of understanding to understand Signs of Allah?
    Now will you not be a man of understanding if you understand Signs of Allah?
    But this counter question does not square up the things. We must turn to our Lord Most High for guidance. Who are these men of understanding?

    Let us look at Surah Nisa 3:191:

Men who celebrate the praises of Allah standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and contemplating (wonders of ) creation in the heavens and the earth (with the thought): "Our Lord! not for nothing you have created (all) this ! Glory to you. Give us salvation from the Torment of the Fire:"

    Now looking at the first part we see that  to be a man of understanding one has to praise Lord standing, sitting and lying on side. Now this is voluntary. Thus we get two conclusions. To understand the Signs of Allah we must be men of understanding – though this does not help much on the face of it. Secondly to be a man of understanding we must praise Lord in every condition. This might be difficult but it is doable. Thus to understand Signs of Allah is indeed voluntary.
    To wind up – when we praise Lord in every condition and ponder over the heavens and the earth then we are sooner or later bound to get the thoughts that these have not been created in vain.
    When you reach this conclusion you have taken a significant step. This indeed is a matter of guidance and is in deed from Lord Most High. This is the result of your efforts but a nevertheless a favour of Lord – a blessing for praising Lord and pondering over the creation of the heavens and the earth. This is an achievement that is significant because in the beginning you were taking the heavens and the earth for granted  there were just there – that is how they must be, you thought. On the other hand your new thinking is that the heavens and the earth are not created for nothing – there is a purpose. You have picked up a Sign of Allah.

May Lord Most High grant us the facility and the felicity  to recognize His Signs.