Sunday, January 23, 2011

Signs of Allah : The Holy Qur'an – 8


Rain That Revives the Dead Earth
    Occurrence of rain is a Sign of Allah but, in addition to that, in 2:164 Lord Most High mentions another aspect of the rain that will help us recognize Him, understand Him, to connect to Him. This is the life giving aspect of rain.
    In the equatorial environment it rains every day and it is sunshine everyday. The monotony of it obliterates that striking aspect.
    Europeans are surprised when people of Indo-Pak subcontinent talk about a rainy season. There rain is a common regular phenomenon. Again monotonous.
 Thus life givng aspect of the rain can be understood best in the context of tropical environment more easily.
    Make a journey just before onset of monsoon, from Nasik to Mumbai through the Kasara ghat area by train or by road. Or from Pune to Mumbai. Or any similar location. The hills look all barren and black having at the most dried vegetation – its brown colour clearing announcing lifeless landscape. Make the journey again merely a week after the onset of Monsoon. The same hills will present a breath taking view – full of greenery full of life.
    We are used to see live things turning into dead. Our modern scientific thinking has conditioned us to think in that direction only. The rains in the monsoon turns the clock in the opposite direction. They do that every year. Do we notice? We do enjoy the greenery every year but just think that this is how the things are and that is how they should be. Obliterating a Sign of Allah by consigning it to monotony.
    Is that how they must be? What about droughts? Ah ! In that case we only think in the direction of desperation – it does not enter our minds that we might have forgotten to thank our Lord Most High for rains.
    Anyway turning a dead earth in living by rains is done by our Lord Most High – perchance we may recognize Him by this Sign and be thankful.
    So when you see the post rain greenery next time thank Lord Most High profusely for sending the rains that created that soothing greenery – this should, Lord willing, increase your relation and connection with Lord.