Flowers

In the Name of God/Allah, The Compassionate, The Merciful

Flowers. What about flowers? From a strictly modern biological perspective we can discuss their role in the ecosystem, or the fact that they often rely on bees and winds for reproduction. But those things do not strike me as much as the ultimate reason for their existence.

Like everything else in the world, flowers are signs of God.

A sign is something that is made to attract someone's attention and direct it somewhere else: to a place, person, or concept. The things of this universe (including the universe itself) are signs that point to God. They point to His existence and His Attributes. The Qur'an says that reflecting on the signs of the universe tell you about God, and bring you closer to Him.

Flowers are beautiful. As far as I am concerned, they exist to be beautiful, to add beauty to the world, and to remind us of beauty. Have you ever seen a flower bed filled with different types of flowers of various colors? Bright and dull red flowers, yellow and pink flowers, orange and purple flowers. All the colors of the rainbow and more in different shapes and sizes. Some flowers are bell shaped and face upward, some shaped similarly droop towards the ground. Others are small aggregations of circular petals, while others still can take on exotic shapes.

Flowers beautify anything they are near. Imagine a plain field of grass. It has it's own beauty, but sprinkle it with red and yellow flowers and the field becomes ornamented and inspires admiration. If we want to beautify a sign, or a walkway, or the insides of our houses, we plant flowers. Imagine a man-made pathway leading to a house with two troughs of dirt on each side. Better yet, imagine it with simply grass coming up to the sides of the path. Add flowers to each side; small purple, white, red and orange flowers - what a difference it makes in the mind of the individual walking up to the house! Have you ever felt flower petals? Flower petals are wonderfully soft and gentle. They remind us of the Gentleness of God. They remind us that with gentleness comes beauty.

Why am I talking about flowers while millions of men, women and children are starving to death? Why discuss flowers when human blood is being spilt as a result of greedy men’s hankerings? Why, when countless people are living empty lives, chasing wealth blindly and stepping over the weak to reach their goals, do I mention the immobile, seemingly inconsequential plants that grow along our paths and in our backyards? Why talk about flowers when humanity is losing its center, forgetting its soul, and while our societies are becoming spiritually and principally bereft? Dear reader, I talk about flowers for all of the above reasons.

As long as there are flowers, there is hope. And a great hope at that.

If God is still bringing flowers into the world, reminding us of His Beauty and Gentleness, then that is a tremendous source of hope. With every heart that is stilled by looking at the beauty of a flower, with every bit of softness felt on the tips of our fingers, with every beautiful fragrance we inhale, is a reminder of God's Beauty, and His invitation to beauty. We see this beauty in the unchanging heavens above us, in the returning green of spring, in the way snow lines every branch of a tree, in the soft blue sky and warm sun rays penetrating clouds, in the colors of a sunset - and in the unasserting yet radiant flower which blooms and smiles at us no matter where, who or what we are. Despite our darknesses, God continuously invites us to beauty by His constant creation and sustaining of beauty in the world.

For this reason, there is always hope.

"If the Day of Judgment arrives and in the hand of one of you is a palm shoot that he can plant, then he should plant it."

~Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of God be upon him~

>Saleem