Humble Yourself

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate

Assalaamu alaykum

Imagine you are standing on the beach and the waves are gently hugging your legs and it recedes and you run after it and it comes back and you run away from it and it goes back to the ocean and you run after it and it comes back to you and you run away from it towards the white sandy beach and you do this many times, as though a play between you and the waves, until the sun started to set, and you sit down watching the sun setting with the sound of the gentle waves. How serene! How beautiful! How great! SubhanAllah.

وَلَهُ ٱلْكِبْرِيَآءُ فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَ‌ٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۖ وَهُوَ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ ﴿٣٧

And to Him belongs [all] grandeur within the heavens and the earth, and He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise. (37)

[Qur'an, al-Jathiyah 45:37]

But people become proud when they can do something, when they have something, forgetting how small they are in front of the Creator, Al-Aziz (the Exalted in Might), Al-Mutakabbir (the Superior), forgetting they were created from a drop of sperm, and they were a thing unremembered.

هَلْ أَتَىٰ عَلَى ٱلْإِنسَـٰنِ حِينٌ مِّنَ ٱلدَّهْرِ لَمْ يَكُن شَيْـًٔا مَّذْكُورًا ﴿١﴾ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَا ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ مِن نُّطْفَةٍ أَمْشَاجٍ نَّبْتَلِيهِ فَجَعَلْنَـٰهُ سَمِيعًۢا بَصِيرًا ﴿٢﴾ إِنَّا هَدَيْنَـٰهُ ٱلسَّبِيلَ إِمَّا شَاكِرًا وَإِمَّا كَفُورًا ﴿٣

Has there [not] come upon man a period of time when he was not a thing [even] mentioned? (1) Indeed, We created man from a sperm-drop mixture that We may try him; and We made him hearing and seeing. (2) Indeed, We guided him to the way, be he grateful or be he ungrateful. (3)

[Qur'an, Al-Insan 76:1-3]

وَإِذَآ أَنْعَمْنَا عَلَى ٱلْإِنسَـٰنِ أَعْرَضَ وَنَـَٔا بِجَانِبِهِۦ ۖ وَإِذَا مَسَّهُ ٱلشَّرُّ كَانَ يَـُٔوسًا ﴿٨٣

And when We bestow favor upon the disbeliever, he turns away and distances himself; and when evil touches him, he is ever despairing. (83)

[Qur'an, Al-Isra' 17:83

Try stopping the waves from flowing to the roads when you were playing with it, running away from it. Try bringing the sun from west. You can't. If Allah commanded the ocean to flood, it would flood (remember the Tsunami!). The waves are waiting for Allah's command to flood the earth (remember Tsunami alerts!). There is nothing we can do to stop it when this happens. The sun is waiting for Allah's command to rise from the west and the sun will obey His command, the same way it is obeying Allah's command now--and this is when the door of repentance is closed and we will be on our way to the most difficult day of our being.

So, shrink yourself before Allah and be grateful with what you have. When you love something, you cannot force Allah to give it to you. When you hate something you cannot force Allah to take it away from you. You cannot make Him do anything. When He decides something, He refuses to decide something else. Who are we to tell Him what to do? We are His slaves and slaves submit to His Lord. His Lord does not submit to him. When you are humble, naturally it will lead you to gratitude, for when you are humble before Allah, the All Mighty, only then you will see the vast mercy that Allah bestows upon you and His creation. And Allah will give you more.

وَإِذْ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّكُمْ لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ ۖ وَلَئِن كَفَرْتُمْ إِنَّ عَذَابِى لَشَدِيدٌ ﴿٧

And [remember] when your Lord proclaimed, 'If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favor]; but if you deny, indeed, My punishment is severe.' " (7)

[Qur'an, Ibrahim 14:7]

May Allah grant us humility and make us among the thankful and the grateful. Ameen.

Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wasallam.

And Allah knows best and He alone grants success.

Wassalaam