Have you ever thought about the fact that you did not exist before
you were conceived and then born into the world and that you have
come into existence from mere nothingness?

Have you ever thought about how the flowers you see in your living
room everyday come out of pitch black, muddy soil with fragrant
smells and are as colorful as they are?

Have you ever thought about how mosquitoes, which irritatingly fly
around you, move their wings so fast that we are unable to see them?

Have you ever thought about how the peels of fruits such as bananas,
watermelons, melons and oranges serve as wrappings of high quality,
and how the fruits are packed in these wrappings so that they
maintain their taste and fragrance?

Have you ever thought about the possibility that while you are
asleep a sudden earthquake could raze your home, your office, and
your city to the ground and that in a few seconds you could lose
everything of the world you possess?

Have you ever thought of how your life passes away very quickly, and
that you will grow old and become weak, and slowly lose your beauty,
health and strength?

Have you ever thought about how one day you will find the angels of
death appointed by God before you and that you will then leave this
world?

Well, have you ever thought about why people are so attached to a
world from which they will soon depart when what they basically need
is to strive for the hereafter?

Man is a being whom God furnishes with the faculty of thought. Yet,
most people do not use this very important faculty as they should.
In fact, some people almost never think.

In truth, each person possesses a capacity for thought of which even
he himself is unaware. Once man begins to use this capacity, facts
he has not been able to realise until that very moment begin to be
uncovered for him. The deeper he goes in reflection, the more his
capacity to think improves, and this is possible for everyone. One
just has to realise that one needs to reflect and then to strive
hard.

Someone who does not think will remain totally distant from truths
and lead his life in self-deception and error. As a result, he will
not grasp the purpose of the creation of the world, and the reason
for his existence on the earth. Yet, God has created everything with
a purpose. This fact is stated in the Qur'an as follows:

We did not create the heavens and the earth and everything between
them as a game. We did not create them except with truth but most of
them do not know it. (Surat ad-Dukhan: 38-39)
Did you suppose that We created you for amusement and that you would
not return to Us? (Surat al-Muminun: 115)

Therefore, each person needs to ponder the purpose of creation,
first as it concerns him himself, and then as it pertains to
everything he sees in the universe and every event he experiences
throughout his life. Someone who does not think, will understand the
facts only after he dies, when he gives account before God, but then
it will be too late. God says in the Qur'an that on the day of
account, everybody will think and see the truth:

That day Hell is produced, that day man will remember; but how will
the remembrance help him? He will say, "Oh! If only I had prepared
in advance for this life of mine!" (Surat al-Fajr: 23-24)

The truth can be told to a person in many different ways; it can be
shown by the use of details, pieces of evidence and by every means.
Yet, if this person does not think over this truth on his own,
sincerely and honestly with the purpose of comprehending the truth,
all these efforts are useless. For this reason, when the messengers
of God communicated the message to their people, they told them the
truth clearly and then summoned them to think.

While God has given us a chance in the life of this world to reflect
and derive conclusions from our reflections, to see the truth will
bring us great gain in our life in the hereafter. For this reason,
God has summoned all people, through His prophets and books, to
reflect on their creation and on the creation of the universe:

Have they not reflected within themselves? God did not create the
heavens and the earth and everything between them except with truth
and for a fixed term. Yet many people reject the meeting with their
Lord. (Surat ar-Rum: 8)

A man who reflects grasps the secrets of God's creation, the truth
of the life of this world, the existence of hell and paradise, and
the inner truth of matters. He gets a deeper understanding of the
importance of being a person with whom God is pleased, and so he
lives religion as is its due, recognizes God's attributes in
everything he sees, and begins to think not according to what the
majority of people demand but as God commands. As a result, he takes
pleasure from beauty much more than others do, and does not suffer
distress from baseless misapprehensions and worldly greed.

These are only a few of the beautiful things a person who thinks
will gain in the world. The gain in the hereafter of someone who
always finds the truth by thinking, is the love, approval, mercy and
the paradise of our Lord, which are above everything else.


By  HARUN YAHYA

source: [MyIslam]@yahoogroups.com