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And He has affixed into the earth mountain standing
firm, lest it should shake with you, and rivers and
roads, that you may guide yourselves.
And landmarks and by the stars human beings guide
themselves.
And if you would count the graces of Allah, never could
you be able to count them.
It was still daylight, but the moon was opening like a second
earth high above, slowly revealed by the darkness. Waali
pondered over the Surah. Nothing was at rest, he thought. The
sands over the hills were moving by the action of the wind;
water was lifted to the sky by the action of the sun; desert
plants moved underground till they reached a wet spot, and
palm-trees reproduced from their root. Even the mountains did
not stay in place and moved along the magma of the planet.
Everything was bound to die if created one day, and what
remained from the dead was given to the living. Not only was
this beautiful as was mentioned in the Surah, but it was useful,
and plentiful! Why all this?
"This? So men could worship Allah and be thankful,"
Waali said, as for himself, "if one thinks about it, each time
men had shown pride and were stingy and disobeyed Allah,
they had to face consequences."
I said to him:
"In the land I come from, there are many trees, beautiful trees
from the developed countries. Men are strong and well built,
and there is plenty for everybody. But when you look inside of
each tree, you can see there is a disease. Trees and men have a
good appearance, but at the first gush of wind, they fall down
on the ground. Men have diseases like cancer or asthma in
correlation with breathing polluted air, and trees are eaten from
inside. Because environmental pollution, like indoor pollution,
is not visible to the eye for many years, people never care
about what they waste on earth! They become proud and act as
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if they were not personally responsible for the decline of the
earth."
He answered:
"They act like this man Allah speaks about in the Qur’an:
[Al Khaf: verses32-45]:
Photo courtesy of: http://community.webshots.com/user/aziz36
Set forth to them the parable of two men: for one of them We
provided two gardens of grape-vines and surrounded them with
date palms; in between the two We placed corn-fields.
Each of those gardens brought forth its produce, and failed not
in the least therein: in the midst of them We caused a river to
flow.
The produce of one of the men was abundant, so he said to his
companion: 'I have more wealth than you, and more honor and
power (many men follow me). That will never perish. And the
Hour of Judgment will never come.'
His companion answered him: 'Do you deny the existence of
Allah Who created you out of dust, then out of a sperm-drop,
then fashioned you into a man? But I believe for my part that
He is Allah, My Lord, and none shall I associate with my Lord.
Why did you not say, as you went into your garden, that there
is no power but with Allah? If you do see me less than you in
wealth and sons, it may be that my Lord will give me something
better than that garden.'
Allah was angry with the words of the first man, so He sent
thunderbolts from heaven, and made a slippery sand of the
man's garden. The water of the garden ran off underground so
that its fruits (and enjoyment) were encompassed (with ruin),
and he remained twisting and turning his hands over what he
had spent on his property, which had (now) tumbled into pieces
to its very foundations, and he could only say, 'Woe is me!
Would I had never ascribed partners to my Lord and
Cherisher!'
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