Ramadan Night 17 - The Fourth Entry

Say: Travel through the earth

And see how Allah did
Originate creation; so will
Allah produce a later creation:
For Allah has power

Over all things
S.29 A.20

I have travelled through the earth, and I have seen His work, grand and microscopic.  Perhaps I needed to see a good part of the breadth of His glory before I came fully to Islam.  It wasn't the physical majesty of the world that so enthralled me, but the human wonders I found everywhere.  True, I have climbed beautiful mountains, crossed billowing deserts, felt the cold sweet breath of thundering falls, and looked up in awe at a billion stars, a billion holes in the night.  These marvels are incredible, but pale significantly when measured against the implausible capacity of the human heart. 

I have seen crippled children crawling through filthy streets smiling, having surrendered their bodies to the earth but their hearts to Allah. I have seen men and women endure tremendous suffering, yet find enough compassion to comfort a stranger, to offer the last bit of their vulnerability in gracious deference to the needs of another.  And I have heard laughter where no sane man would search, in the darkness of despair and the depths of agony, the indomitable spirit of God effusing the weakness and frailty of broken human bodies, granting humility and hope. This is where I found my God, in the wondrous expanse of these overlooked and discarded hearts.