Translation
To God belongs the kingdom of heavens and Earth, and He has power over all things. Indeed, the manner of creation, existence of the universe and the Earth and the repeated successions of the day and the night contain evidences of truth for those who pay attention and who try to understand. These are those who are conscious of God in all hours that they are awake and in all conditions and reflect on the nature of creation of the heavens and the Earth. They say, “Our Sustainer God, You have not created all of these without meaning and purpose. You are the most awesome! Keep us away from the evils of Fire.”229
Our Sustainer God, whomsoever you bring to this Fire, a serious disgrace has descended on them. For those who do evils, there will be no helper in the end. Our Sustainer God, we have heard a voice [a prophet] calling us to faith: “Believe in your Sustainer.” So we have developed faith in You. Forgive us then our sins, remove us from evils, and help us achieve righteousness before we die. O our Sustainer God, deliver your promise that you made through your Messengers and protect us from disgrace on the Day of Resurrection; You never fail to fulfill Your promise!230
Interpretation
229. Faith in God comes to us through
1. deep reflections on our own existence—who we are and why we are here;
2. observing the nature of the world created with us in it—the earth with all its resources, all its rainbow of creations and expositions: animals, birds, fish, trees and forests, mountains, oceans, life-giving rains, and life-sustaining wind;
3. the heavens with stars, planets, and moons positioned with precision to sustain life like ours;
4. the cycle of life and death similar to the repeated succession of day and night, the repeated succession of seasons, the contrast of tropical forests and deserts, life-sustaining rivers and deathly floods, arctic cold and deadly heat, stable ground and violent earthquakes, beautiful rain and violent thunder; and
5. the presence of evil and good, and our innate desire to suppress evil and expound goodness around us.
230. The Qur’an has beautiful prayers (supplications) taught directly or through the examples of prophets and people of faith and goodwill, some of which are also found in the Bible, the Torah, and other books of revelation. Prayers of prophets of God such as Adam, Abraham, Lot, Noah, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Zachariah, and Jesus are in the Qur’an; so are prayers of Mary, mother of Jesus, the mother of Moses, the wife of Pharaoh, and other women of faith. The Qur’an also taught prayers (Dua) by either telling directly how to pray for certain things or certain conditions or showed through storytelling how people prayed to God in the past—something that we can emulate in our own language as well as those taught in the Qur’an, the Bible, the Torah, and other books of revelation as well as prayers of the faithful from all generations.
REFLECTION
The nature of things—us and other living things; our planet; the mosaic of creation and our mutual dependency on this planet and its inhabitants; earth’s vast resources and its capacity to grow fruits, vegetables, and grains for our food supply; our vast universe of solar systems and milky ways; the physics of matters and the chemistry of life; our ability to speak, comprehend, and contemplate; our mental capacity, our spiritual yearning, and so forth—are matters of critical importance for our physical survival and our spiritual revival. The Qur’an, unlike any other book of revelations, continuously reminds us to look at the natural world, including our own human nature, to seek and extract the meaning of life and its infinite possibilities. One of the famous sayings of the Prophet is, “He who knows himself knows his Sustainer [God].”
ACTION
Reflection on our own selves and our surroundings is an important action that each one of us should take and pursue on a regular basis. We need to assess how our understanding and awareness change over time and how they impact our own behavior and interactions with others and with nature during the course of our lives.