 أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم بسم الله الرحمن الرهيم وبهي نستهين والسلعة والسلام على خير الخلق وخاتم الانبياء والمرسلين سيدنا الأولين والآخرين شفي المضنبين رحمة للعالمين وحبيب إله العالمين ولا حبيبة إلا هو وأهلو الذي ثم عف السماء بأحمد وفي العراضي بأب القاس محمد ثم الصلاة والسلام على أحلبيته الطيبين الطاهرين المأسومين المظلومين المنتجبين قال الله العظيم في محكم كتابه الكريم والقولك الحق ولا استقل القائنين أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم بسم الله الرحمن الرهيم ما لكم لا ترجون لله وقارا وقد خلقكم أطوارا ألم تروا كيف قلق الله سبا سماوات انتباقا وجعل القمر فيه النورا وجعل الشمس سراجا والله وانبتكم من العرب نباتا ثم يويدكم فيها ويخرجكم إخراجا والله جعل لكم العرض بساطا لتسلقوا منها صبولا فجاجا عملنا بالله صدق الله العلي والعظيم صل على محمد وعالي محمد الله سبحانه وتعالى has created every human being with the innate nature or the innate knowledge which allows us to know him in terms of what is known as the fitrah the fitrah is like a light that Allah سبحانه وتعالى places in the heart of every human being and this light is able to be receptive to the divine light of Allah سبحانه وتعالى the narration from the prophet صلى الله عليه وعالى states كل مولود يولد على الفطر that every child when they are born they are born with this fitrah which allows them to know Allah سبحانه وتعالى but because of their family, because of community, because of society it all taints that heart of theirs and takes them away from understanding Allah سبحانه وتعالى we come forth and we see that these narrations they continue and they tell us that the more that we begin to worship the more that we begin to increase in our knowledge of Allah سبحانه وتعالى that light begins to become more manifest within our hearts until our entire heart is only the light which is receptive to Allah سبحانه وتعالى but the more that we sin, the more that we transgress the more that we are forgetful of our responsibilities toward God we see that that light begins to dim and no longer is it able to become receptive toward the divine light but in order to awaken that heart and in order to increase our knowledge the human being needs to be in a constant state of reflection many narrations of Ahl al-Bayt عليهم سلام they speak about the importance of spending an hour of our day or a minute of our day in contemplation, in reflection, in meditation, in thinking we come forth and we see one narration it states that contemplation for one hour is better than the worship for 60 years meaning that reflection on the signs of Allah سبحانه وتعالى has the potential to awaken that dead heart has that potential to allow for the heart to be illuminated with the divine light of Allah سبحانه وتعالى and allows us to become receptive toward that which is surrounding us but the question that many people pose over here is then what exactly do we have to contemplate upon many people they make the mistake and they begin to reflect on who is Allah سبحانه وتعالى they begin to reflect and they begin to think where did Allah سبحانه وتعالى come from when we know that Allah سبحانه وتعالى is the creator of how and he is the creator of where and he is the creator of when this posing these sorts of questions will allow us to fall into further confusion rather we come and we see a narration from Imam Ali بن Musa ربا عليه الصلاة والسلام in which he states تكلموا في خلق الله ولا تتكلموا في الله he says speak about and reflect upon the creations of Allah سبحانه وتعالى thinking about the creation reflecting upon the creation reflecting upon your physical surroundings has the potential for you to truly have a better understanding of who is God but the moment that you begin to speak and reflect upon the nature and on the essence of Allah سبحانه وتعالى you fall into confusion so what exactly are the different dimensions that we need to contemplate on then in terms of the creation of Allah سبحانه وتعالى we see narration in the Bait they divide it into four different points the first point is that we have to reflect upon ourselves Allah سبحانه وتعالى states that we have made manifest the signs within your own selves and within the skies and within the horizons so the first thing that we need to contemplate upon is ourselves take a look when we were a child how we grew we take a look at old pictures for instance the first day, the first week the first month when we were born and then you take a look at yourself in the mirror today and you see how different you have changed how Allah سبحانه وتعالى has supported you over the last 30, 40, 60, 80 years this itself is a means for us to reflect a means for us to contemplate we need to go back and think about ourselves on an even more basic level why did Allah سبحانه وتعالى create us walking on two feet and not on our force why did Allah سبحانه وتعالى create us with ten fingers and not eight why did Allah سبحانه وتعالى keep our eyes on our faces and not on our faces and not on our faces and not on our faces and not on our faces and not on our faces and not on our faces and not on our faces all of these means of questioning are an opportunity for that heart of ours to become more illuminated with the light of the time when we reflect upon ourselves we come and we begin to think and we begin to recognize the greatness of the power and the authority of Allah سبحانه وتعالى so the first step the first thing the first dimension in terms of contemplation of the creation of Allah سبحانه وتعالى is that fact that we need to contemplate on our very own selves سنرى هم آياتنا في الأفاق وفي أنفسهم secondly we need to go ahead and contemplate upon the natural signs which are surrounding us we need to contemplate upon the sun and the moon and the stars and the trees and the oceans all of these Allah سبحانه وتعالى has created for us to come forth and think about him and insha'Allah when we get into the verses from Chapter 71 of the whole of Quran and continue our discussion we see that Prophet نوع عليه السلام he comes and he presents these sorts of evidences toward the community so that they do their very best to reflect upon that which is surrounding the third thing that we need to contemplate upon is the verses and the ayat of the whole of Quran Allah سبحانه وتعالى we know that every single verse in the Arabic language is known as an ayah ayah in the Arabic language means a sign what is the purpose of a sign a sign is present in order to take you toward a specific destination every single verse within the whole of Quran is known as a sign because every single verse in the Quran takes you closer in direction toward Allah سبحانه وتعالى أفلاية تدبرون القرآن أم على قلوبا أقفالها الله سبحانه وتعالى you cannot contemplate upon the verses upon the ayat upon the signs of the whole of Quran or do you have this lock upon your heart and fourthly and finally when we come toward contemplating the signs of Allah سبحانه وتعالى we need to reflect upon the greatest signs of God the most absolute signs of God the best means to take us toward Allah سبحانه وتعالى and that is رصر الله محمد صلى الله عليه و기가 عليه وسلم وهي يهر البيت عليه السلام لا نقوم بنهاء ونقوم بناسة ونقوم ببقاء أخبارهم ونقوم برناسةهم يجب أن نأخذ لنا سبحانه وتعالى نرى في ما فيه مكتب قمناء أمير العمار يطلق ذلك بسرعة والسلام يا آية الله الأظامة تبقى على مدينة الله لأن أهل البيت عره الرسالة يشفد أهل البيت يشفد أهل البيت بجانب الله بجانب كل حالة كل أحدة of there's كل moment of that كل moment of their dealing with others are all a demonstration in terms of how to get toward God the way that they demonstrated their humbleness in the eyes of Allah سبحانه وتعالى when they worshiped when they spoke to people when they were in battle the first thing that they thought about was Allah سبحانه وتعالى the last thing that they thought about was Allah سبحانه وتعالى every moment within their lives their hearts and their minds and their souls were directed toward God but when we go back to our chapter 71 of the whole of Quran and continuing this discussion we come forth and we see that the prophets of Allah سبحانه وتعالى they made very strong attempts to shake up the hearts of the people around them by forcing them or by advising them to contemplate advising them to reflect advising them to spend a portion of their days in meditation over the last couple of nights we began to reflect in terms of this conversation that Prophet Nuh عليه الصلاة والسلام he has with those in his community he tries to advise them in the night and he tries to advise them in the day he speaks to them publicly he speaks to them secretly he goes toward their homes one by one they all fell to listen and pay he told what he had to say so then we went yesterday and we began to discuss Prophet Nuh in terms of his complaints to Allah سبحانه وتعالى and what he told the community about what they would benefit if they began to seek forgiveness from Allah سبحانه وتعالى where we continue and Prophet Nuh عليه الصلاة والسلام is continuing this discussion with Allah سبحانه وتعالى he is complaining toward God supplicating toward Allah telling him exactly what he was telling these individuals within his community but even though he continuously preached as we mentioned they failed to take heed we continue with verse number 13 of chapter 71 of the whole of Quran Allah سبحانه وتعالى quotes Prophet Nuh when he states ما لكم لا ترجون لله وقارح what's wrong with you people why do you not understand the authority the presence the magnanimity of Allah سبحانه وتعالى don't you think a little bit Prophet Nuh عليه الصلاة والسلام again trying to get his community to think a little bit he's trying to get his community to reflect ما لكم literally it means basically what's wrong with you why don't you think a little bit why are you not shaken up by my advices we mentioned because these individuals their hearts at treadmill transgressed so much they had committed so much sin they violated the authority of the messenger of Allah سبحانه وتعالى he used to live amongst them which and that forced them to move away from Allah سبحانه وتعالى they were unable to be receptive to anything that the Prophet told Prophet Nuh عليه الصلاة والسلام even though he continuously tries his very best to keep on preaching ما لكم لا ترجون لله وقار do you not see the great authority of Allah سبحانه وتعالى don't you see the sun rise every day don't you see it set every evening don't you see the moon don't you see the sun don't you see the stars look around you look at the perfection of your own creation Allah سبحانه وتعالى has given you so much blessing within your life don't you spend a portion of those days to say thanks to word this God who created the heavens and the earth ما لكم what's wrong with you ما لكم لا ترجون لله وقار what's wrong with you don't you understand this authority the human being needs to recognize some portions in his life sometimes in his life that he can't control everything that is around him أمير المؤمنين عليه الصلاة والسلام and one of his famous narrations ومصنع العالم and one of his famous lines he states أرفت الله بفسخ العظاة he said I've known Allah and I recognize the authority of Allah سبحانه وتعالى over me when my plans they failed at the failure of my plans what does this mean that sometimes no matter how much we prepare no matter how much we plan no matter how much we think that today is going to be the most perfect day in the morning I'm going to do this in the afternoon I'm going to do this in the evening I'm going to do this what happens something happens in the middle of that day some sort of tragedy sometimes takes place and it completely flips your perception of that day and at that moment you realize that I'm not the one planning this Allah سبحانه وتعالى is the planner how many of us have been to a car accident for instance how many of us have had a tragedy in our family how many of us have heard bad news about an unexpected death how many of us have heard about the sad news for instance of someone in your family amongst your friends in the community being inflicted with a terminal illness did they plan for that in the morning of that day when they heard that news they didn't plan for it no one plans for things like that everyone believes that their days are going to go just the way that they reflected upon it at the very beginning of that day or the night before or whatever the circumstance but the minute that that wrench gets thrown you begin to hold back and you begin to realize hold on a second I'm not the one who is the boss of this Allah سبحانه وتعالى is the authority over this and perhaps that's always a means for us to wake up a little bit and to think and to sit back and say wait a minute I need to go back and understand that I need to be a little bit more humble in my life and in my dealings because he is the one who is the governor of all of this and as we mentioned yesterday that Prophet نوح عليه السلام he preached toward them we know that there was a drought taking place within the community women were unable to have children all of this was a punishment that Allah سبحانه وتعالى had instilled upon those people because they failed to repent to him they failed to repent toward God they failed to take heed toward the teachings of the messenger of Allah سبحانه وتعالى Prophet نوح عليه السلام is saying now that Allah سبحانه وتعالى has stripped some of these bounties for you you still have not woken up you still don't realize because we know sometimes when people are going through difficulties they completely despair why is this happening to me I'm the only one who goes through problems I'm the only one who goes through difficulties no everyone goes through problems everyone goes through challenges but we have to know that when we have our backs against the wall that is the time to turn back toward Allah سبحانه وتعالى raise your hand seek forgiveness from him and try to build this relationship try to build that link with your Creator verse number 13 of surah نوح وقد خلقكم أطوارة what's wrong with you why don't you take heed in verse number 14 Prophet نوح عليه السلام tells them don't you know that Allah سبحانه وتعالى has created you in stages وفا سرين of the whole of Quran they have two different interpretations for verse number 14 of chapter 71 they say on one level when Prophet نوح عليه السلام is speaking to this community of his and telling them don't you know that Allah سبحانه وتعالى has certainly created you in different stages he's stating that look look at the way that we were we were created from a drop of water Allah سبحانه وتعالى developed us into an embryo slowly we became a fetus slowly we were given birth how much to be weighed 5, 7, 8 lbs how tall were we a foot 16, 18 inches and now we're 6 feet tall 200, 300, 150 lbs whatever the circumstances look at the way the development that Allah سبحانه وتعالى has created us this sort of perfection is so unique when we are in the wombs of our mother there is a point in time when we're the size of something that is you know we need a microscope to take a look at us but now look at us now this perfection and creation developed by Allah سبحانه وتعالى is unique and Allah سبحانه وتعالى has been with us from the very beginning he's been with us from the very beginning and he's going to be with us after we die many people they become scared at the time of death or they become scared talking about death we don't want to talk about this we don't want to hear about it Allah سبحانه وتعالى was with you when you were nothing you think Allah سبحانه وتعالى is going to leave you later on no but we have to be amongst those who constantly are turning toward him seeking his mercy building that link with him so he remains with us by constantly showering that mercy so on one side the مفصلين of the Qur'an they stated one prophet Nooh alaih salam he addresses his community وقد خلاقكم اطوارا and Allah سبحانه وتعالى has created you in different stages he's thinking about the natural progression of the human being how we go through different phases within our life we grow in size we grow in weight we grow in length we grow in depth we grow in all of these different sort of different facets and dimensions and Allah سبحانه وتعالى has been the means to facilitate all of that a second group of the مفصلين of the Qur'an they state that Allah سبحانه وتعالى when he quotes Nooh stating وقد خلاقكم اطوارا he's stating Allah سبحانه وتعالى has surely created you in different dimensions meaning what? meaning that he's created some with very light skin some with very dark skin some speaking this language some having this color eyes this color hair he's created us with diversity and this diversity that we have amongst people coming from different parts of the world speaking different languages having different cultures is a sign of Allah سبحانه وتعالى it's something that should be embraced it's something that we should deem as beautiful it's something that we should allow ourselves to reflect upon God more when we see this sort of diversity instead of creating division instead of segregating one group from another group from another group from another group what we should do is recognize that this is all a means to get closer toward Allah سبحانه وتعالى وقد خلاقكم اطوارا verse number 15 Prophet Nooh عليه الصلاة عليه وسلم it's again addressing his community telling them ألم تروا كيف خلق الله سبع سماواتا تباقا he begins by stating ألم تروا ألم تروا when the Arabic language means do not see but he's not telling them do not see with your eyes because everyone sees physically it's physical sight doesn't do much for the human being if he doesn't have what is known it's insight doesn't have the sight of the heart doesn't have what is known in the language of the Ahadith as بصيرة in the Arabic language the term بصرة means to see بصيرة means to see but it means to see with the heart it means to understand it means to recognize it means to build a link it means to connect with something when Prophet Nooh عليه الصلاة عليه وسلم is addressing his community ألم تروا كيف خلق الله سبع سماواتا he's telling do you not see with your heart when they went toward أمير المؤمنين عليه الصلاة عليه وسلم and they said oh أمير المؤمنين do you see Allah سبحانه وتعالى he says how do I worship a God who I do not see he's not speaking in terms of the physical eyesight but he's speaking in terms of the spiritual insight أمير المؤمنين عليه الصلاة عليه وسلم sees Allah سبحانه وتعالى by experiencing him he feels the presence of Allah سبحانه وتعالى in the midst of prayers in the midst of fasting while he's performing rituals while he's making da'a while he's supplicating so on and so forth over here Nooh عليه الصلاة عليه وسلم is telling ألم تروا do you not see with your heart كيف خلق الله سبع سماواتا هل you not seen with your heart how Allah سبحانه وتعالى has created the seven heavens one level over the other the fact that we have the skies the fact that we have the atmosphere the fact that we can breathe in oxygen these are all signs of Allah سبحانه وتعالى we all see it we all deal with it on a physical basis but most of us we fail to even think about it we fail to reflect upon it in the slightest let me give you an example we see for instance that when a child is born a child as part of his فترة as part of that child's innate nature is very very curious a child likes to see a child likes to hear a child is often very attentive to you know bright light sun especially nature if you take a child who is a year or two years old outside they love to be outside they love to look at the sun they love to look at the trees it's part of our innate nature to be curious when reflecting upon the natural signs of Allah سبحانه وتعالى which is why when a child becomes a little bit older and is able to speak we know that they always ask why why did this happen why is the sky blue why are the trees green they always ask why because curiosity is something that is innate within us but often times we see that now in our you know adolescence in our older age we begin to realize that we don't really care about nature that much we drive on the highway for 2, 3, 4 hours a day 15 hours a week but most of us usually fail to reflect for one moment about the nature that is surrounding us maybe once in a while on the first of the month of Ramadan we begin to look for the moon and when we see the moon we say oh masha'a Allah this is very nice right but we're not really looking at it in terms of recognizing that these are all signs of Allah سبحانه وتعالى we see that what happens is as we grow as we become more materialistic as we're living in the societies and then the communities and then the families that we're living in this curiosity dies down and we no longer wake up toward seeing all of these signs of Allah سبحانه وتعالى and recognizing that there's something really, really unique and something really, really amazing but if we spend a portion of our days for instance every day at least during the Holy month of Ramadan once a week when we're driving sitting outside going to the beach going to the park we look up at the sky we look at the water we look at the sand we look at the trees and we say wow Allah سبحانه وتعالى created all of this that something and when we do things like that again it allows for that light in the heart that we mentioned at the beginning of the lecture to slowly become more manifest it allows for that heart to become illuminated it allows for us to become more receptive toward everything that Allah سبحانه وتعالى tells us because as we see within the Holy Quran for those of us who are reading the Holy Quran during the Holy month of Ramadan إن شاء الله سبحانه وتعالى make us amongst the readers of the Holy Quran we see that how many times does God often present these sorts of examples toward us if you want to know God reflect upon the creation we go back toward the verse الله سبحانه وتعالى says ألم ترى do you not see كيف خلق الله سبأ سماوات انتباطه do you not see how God has created the seven heavens layer after another when we go toward this particular verse and the fact that several times within the Holy Quran Allah سبحانه وتعالى mentions the seven skies or the seven heavens many people they don't know what that means and if you go toward the مفصلين they themselves they stayed we don't really know this might be a secret from the secrets of Allah سبحانه وتعالى we see that as technology as science is beginning to progress during these days and over the next hundred over the next thousand years perhaps you're going to be able to know and understand what that really means for there's another verse in the Holy Quran that Allah سبحانه وتعالى states that we've created this universe and it's ever expanding during you know if we were in 6th century Arabia during the time of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم people would have no idea what it means when Allah سبحانه وتعالى stating that the universe is constantly expanding and perhaps at this point in time in the year 2016 we have no idea what Allah سبحانه وتعالى means when he states that there are 6 7 skies layer after another we don't know and we have to submit to the fact that Allah سبحانه وتعالى has created this universe it's absolutely massive he has created it he has created it for our disposal and one of those benefits that we need to attain in these days is to be in reflection of that which is سرع with us so again he stays in verse No. 15 ألا انتروا كيف خلق السبع كيف خلق الله 7 سماوات تباطع verse No. 16 وجأل القمر في حن نورا وجأل الشمسة سراجا and we have appointed and he has appointed again نوح is telling his community and Allah سبحانه وتعالى has appointed the moon he has created the moon وجأل القمر في حن نورا he has created the moon and he has appointed it to be a light in the middle of the dark in the middle of the night we said the night that the moon is a light for the world when we go again in the middle of the night and you look up at the moon a full moon how bright it is how beautiful it is we see that that is a means again to cause us to reflect or it should be leading us to reflect and without the moon we see that scientists and professionals in this field they always stated the ecosystem of the earth would not be what it is today if there was if the moon for instance was not present وجأل القمر في حن نورا وجأل وجأل شمسا سراجا and Allah سبحانه وتعالى has also created and appointed the sun as a means to be a lantern for the earth without the sun what would we do without the sun there would be no practice of photosynthesis without the sun there would be no heat without the sun there would be no light how many of us have gone into سجود and I remind myself before I remind you and thanked Allah سبحانه وتعالى because he has created the sun probably something that none of us have ever even thought about thanking Allah for the sun but if Allah سبحانه وتعالى didn't create the sun what would happen if for one day we did not have the sun what would happen if you put an individual if you yourself lock yourself into a room and you close all of the window shades all of the blinds and you had to spend the entire day in your house without any sort of light entering into it what would you do you go crazy some people if they don't go outside of their house every one day or two days they can't deal with anymore they have to go out they have to go for a walk they have to go for a run they just have to go out or you know to see the sun to breathe the air imagine we didn't have the sun imagine we lived our lives in darkness completely but Allah سبحانه وتعالى out of his wisdom he creates the sun out of from that sun we extract heat and we extract light and all of these other benefits but at the same time out of the wisdom of Allah سبحانه وتعالى he allows for the sun to set or he allows for the rotation of the earth to take place where we have time for rest we don't like to sleep when the sun is up it's very difficult right when the sun is shining on your face when you wake up in the morning you know it's man it's time to get up you prefer to sleep in darkness who sleeps with the light on no one does out of the wisdom of Allah سبحانه وتعالى he has allowed for the sun to set so that we can't have rest in the night and too much sun what happens potentially skin diseases cancer all of these different types of you know ailments that could take place from people being exposed too much to the sun right imagine we didn't have the sun photosynthesis wouldn't take place without the process of photosynthesis what would happen we wouldn't have plans we wouldn't have vegetation what do we eat how would I put sugar in my teeth in the next 30 minutes or so how would it happen right without sugar we wouldn't be able to be very happy people when you go ahead and eat a cheeseburger what do you want to put on the cheeseburger you need to have bread the grain we need the sun right you need lettuce you need a tomato you need that meat that meat comes from the cow what does the cow eat the cow eats the grass it needs the vegetation right without the sun we don't have anything but how many times there'd be everything think about thanking Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala for creating this sun Prophet Nuh is advising his community but at the same time we need to extract lessons from it as well وجعل القمرة في هن نورا وجعل الشمسة سراج first number 17 والله أمبتكم من الأرضين باتا الله سبحانه و تعالى has then created you from the earth and allowed you to grow this is how the little translation of this verses and the Mufassa of the Holy Quran they differ in regards to what does it mean when Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is stating that we have created you from there he's stating on some Mufassa they state on one level it's because the fact that we eat and the fact that we grow from the benefits of that which comes out from the earth we grow naturally on the basis of what we eat so the fact that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is quoting نوح when نوح is telling his community that Allah Subhanahu has created you from the earth meaning that you benefit from everything which is within there on another flip side we come forth and we see another group of Mufassa they state that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is stating that when he states that we have created you from the earth meaning that we come from the earth we come from dust we come from clay والله أمبتكم من الأرضين باتا verse number 18 he continues ثم يؤيدكم فيها ويخرجكم إخراجة and then you return back to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala if we take that particular commentary of that verse then it makes a lot of sense ثم يؤيدكم فيها ويخرجكم إخراجة then you return back towards the earth when we pass away where are we going to go? we're going to go back into the earth our bodies are going to decay we are made from clay and we're going to return back to clay we're going to return back to dust ويخرجكم إخراجة then he will remove you again he will remove you he will remove us again and raise us on the day of judgment and then we begin to live that eternal life again what's the purpose of all of this? new is trying to wake up the people know that you've created you've been created from nothing don't think that you're going to live forever don't think that you own this universe you came from dirt and you're going to return back to dirt and then he's going to raise you again الله Subhanahu Ta'ala continues quoting نوح verse number 18 ثم يؤيدكم ويخرجكم إخراجة والله جأل لكم الأرض بساطع and الله Subhanahu Ta'ala has then created this vast earth وجأل لكم he has created this world for you this entire world the globe the map that we take a look at today this entire world the ocean the continents the land the islands it's all created for humanity it's for us but it's our fault the fact that we have created such divisions in the religion of Islam in true Islamic governance there is no such thing for instance as the necessity to hold a passport or visas if you want to go for Hajj you can go for Hajj if you want to go for Ziyada you don't need to wait for a visa if you want to go to Mexico there should be no wall being built no border control we don't have any of this in the religion of Islam the world is for everyone we have the ability we should be having the ability to take benefit from everything we come forth and we see many verses of the Holy Qur'an Allah SWT that when you're not able to practice your faith when you're not able to practice your religion within a specific location then go and travel see the vastness of this world go and travel in fact narrations of Ahlul Bayt علي مصرام they don't for instance hinder or tell people to not go for holidays for not people to go for vacation they should go in fact they even encourage narrations of Ahlul Bayt علي مصرام state that when you go for vacation when you go travel when you go see new places make sure that you spend a portion of that time visiting these places and reflecting upon that which happened go ahead and for instance read upon the history of that city that you are missing go visit Rome go visit Greece go visit the whole entire world no problem but make sure that you spend a day in the midst of your vacation perhaps right to go and study about the history of that particular location go see what happened to the people before go see the development of that civilization why again because it allows you to reflect on how humanity progresses on how civilization progresses on how the earth and how the ocean and how the land within that particular region progresses these are all signs of الله سبحانه و تعالى and he continues in verse number 19 and the last verse for our discussion tonight والله جأل لكم الارضة بساطة in verse number 20 لتسلق منها سبولا في جاجة and الله سبحانه و تعالى has made this land he has made this world very vast for you to travel in right not only should you go and visit but you want to see that الله سبحانه و تعالى has facilitated that travel for us we are able to travel by land we are able to travel by air we are able to travel by ocean all of this has been created to allow to facilitate for the human being to reflect and constant reflection constant contemplation constant meditation upon the natural signs of الله سبحانه و تعالى they have the ability again to awaken the heart and the goal of all of this is for us to sit back sometimes and be thankful to Allah سبحانه و تعالى for all of these things that we have the fact that we have oceans the fact that we have the sun the fact that we have the moon all of these things we should be thankful to Allah سبحانه و تعالى for we come forth and we see for instance that the word in the Arabic language and the narrations of Ahl al Bayt that they advise us in terms of how to be thankful to Allah is what is to state الحمد لله whenever any sort of blessing descends upon us we state الحمد لله all praises due to Allah for you are the one who has created us you are the one who has directed these blessings upon us constant recitation of الحمد لله is a good thing but constant recitation of الحمد لله with معرفة, with knowledge of what you're saying is something completely different for instance if today I'm walking outside of the message that I'm going back toward my car and I'm looking at the sun up in the sky and you say الحمد لله it's a beautiful day it's nice, it's warm, it's not raining الحمد لله praise be to Allah for all of this or a better example you're walking in the middle of a garden in the park and you see a plant right you see a plant you see a tree you see a flower and you say wow that plant is really really beautiful you say الحمد لله Allah سبحانه و تعالى has created this beautiful flower and you continue on your way you continue to walk and you don't give it any other thought a couple of moments later another man begins to walk in that park and he sees that flower and he picks it up and he smells it he looks at it takes a picture of it right that individual has a little bit more knowledge of the blessings of that flower because he touched it because he smelled it and he says الحمد لله not only is this flower very beautiful look at the texture look at the color look at the scent it has a lot of blessings that Allah سبحانه و تعالى has created it but then you go ahead and a couple of moments later another person walks through that particular park through that particular garden and they see that flower but this individual is an expert in plants right he goes and he begins to reflect and he begins to think wow the process that took place for this plant for this flower to grow and for it to demonstrate itself like this so on and so forth his الحمد لله is an even higher level right then for instance عري ابن أبطالب عري سلام he enters into the garden he enters into the park and he picks up that flower and he knows that Allah سبحانه و تعالى has created this entire universe and this is a sign that takes us closer toward him his الحمد لله is far different than ours isn't it saying الحمد لله being thankful to Allah سبحانه و تعالى is good that being thankful to Allah سبحانه و تعالى with understanding the details and the specifics of how we have been created or what we are actually being thankful for is completely different so we need to make sure that we allow and elevate ourselves to the next level in terms of being thankfulness in terms of demonstrating our thankfulness toward God and that is my constant reflection I will conclude with this one anecdote one day موسى عري سلام he raised his hands toward Allah and he says Oh Allah tell me who is the most thankful or demonstrate toward me who is the most thankful of all of your creation Allah سبحانه و تعالى reveals to Musa Musa كليم الله the one who used to speak to Allah Allah سبحانه و تعالى says Oh Musa that tomorrow morning after the morning prayers exit your home and go toward the nearby river from a distance see that there was one man he's an elderly man look at him from a distance and he is the most thankful of all of my creation so it is said that Musa عليه سلام set out that next morning and he went out and he said that that individual was a wood cutter his responsibility was to go toward the forest cut off some wood you know cut them into little pieces and sell them like they had like they used to do back in the day and this said that that man was very very frustrated from the morning till the evening Musa عليه سلام was watching him but no one comes and purchases any wood from him he begins to get depressed but he's looking he's positive doesn't see him the fact that he's really falling into any sort of depression he's content he remains patient at the end of the day this man perhaps a little bit dejected but with a little bit of optimism he begins to pile up his wood and say tomorrow I'm going to have to try this again no one purchase anything for me and he begins to pile it up when all of a sudden there's a man who enters into his proximity this man in his bag he has two loaves of stale bread stale bread extremely hard he goes toward this man and Musa عليه سلام is watching trying to take the lesson and trying to see how this man is the most thankful of all people this man he comes toward this individual the wood cutter and he says look I need two pieces of wood the man says it's going to cost you this he says I don't have that but what I do have is two pieces of stale bread at this moment the man gets excited he says that I'm selling this wood so I can eat some food he says no problem you give me the two pieces of stale bread and I'll give you two pieces of wood they make the trade and at this moment Musa عليه سلام understands what it means to be thankful why he sees that man he goes closer toward that river remember he lives on the river bank or he's working on the riverbank he goes he sits down on the ground he begins to take the bread dip it into the ocean in order to make it soft so we can eat it and then he looks toward the sun setting and he says Oh Allah Alhamdulillah all praise is due to you all thanks is due to you what do I need that is better than all of this I have food I have this beautiful sight I have this sun setting down upon me I'm sitting next to the water this is what it means to be thankful to you Oh Allah thank you for all of the blessings that you have given me true thankfulness in the eyes of Musa at this moment were understood what is it it means someone who's content with that which they have someone who's content understanding and recognizing that whatever they have is from Allah سبحانه وتعالى these are all the signs these are all the means for us to get closer toward God but it is upon us to step number one reflect upon them at step number two to be in constant thankfulness toward and we pray to Allah سبحانه وتعالى that we're able to take lessons from the ayat and the verses of the whole of Qur'an we pray to Allah سبحانه وتعالى to give us the dofiq to continue الحمد لله رب العالمين وصل اللهم على سيدنا ونبينا محمد وعالها طيبين الطاحرين