In the world in which we live, Allah bestows many favours on man. All the needs of each living being are benevolently met; no detail is forgotten.
Let's think about ourselves as examples. From the moment we wake in the morning, we need many things and encounter many situations. In brief, we survive due to the many favours bestowed upon us.
We can breathe as soon as we wake up. We never experience difficulty in doing this, thanks to our respiratory systems functioning perfectly.
We can see as soon as we open our eyes. The sharp and distant images, all three-dimensional and fully coloured, are perceived by our eyes, and indeed owe their existence to the unique design of eyes.
We taste delicious flavours. The relative proportions of the vitamin, mineral, carbohydrate or protein content of the food we eat, or how the excess of these nutrients are stored or utilised in the body never concern us. Moreover, we are mostly never aware that such complicated operations take place in our body.
When we hold some material in our hands, we immediately know if it is soft or hard. What is more, we need no mental effort to do this. Numerous similar minute operations take place in our body. The organs, responsible for these operations, have complicated mechanisms. The human body functions almost like a factory of enormous complexity and in genuity. This body is one of the major favours given to man since man leads his existence on earth with it.
At this point, a question remains to be answered: how are the raw materials necessary to operate this factory supplied? To put it another way, how do water, air, and all the other nutrients essential for life come into existence?
Let's think about fruits and vegetables. Melons, watermelons, cherries, oranges, tomatoes, peppers, pineapples, mulberries, grapes, eggplants… all grow in soil from seeds, and the seed has a structure sometimes as hard as wood. However, while considering these, we should avoid habitual ways of thinking and employ different methods. Visualise the delicious tastes and odours of strawberries or the ever-changing odour of melon. Think about the time and energy spent in laboratories to produce similar odours and about the repeated trials that resulted in failure. Indeed, results obtained by scientists in laboratories prove to be no better than the unsuccessful imitations of their natural counterparts. The varieties of taste, odour and colour in nature bear indeed matchless attributes.
That all vegetables and fruits have distinct tastes and odours and carry individual colours is the result of the design particular to them. They are all favours Allah bestows upon man.
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Similarly, animals, too, are created specially for human beings. Apart from serving as food, man finds their physical appearances appealing. Fish, corals, star-fishes decorating the depths of oceans with all their beautiful colours, all kinds of birds adding charm to their habitat or cats, dogs, dolphins and penguins… they are all favours from Allah. Allah stresses this fact in many verses:
And He has made everything in the heavens and everything on the earth subservient to you. It is all from Him. There are certainly signs in that for people who reflect. (Surat al-Jathiyah: 13)
If you tried to number Allah's blessings, you could never count them. Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Surat an-Nahl: 18)
He has given you everything you have asked Him for. If you tried to number Allah's blessings, you could never count them. Man is indeed wrongdoing, ungrateful. (Surah Ibrahim: 34)
The living beings mentioned above are only a tiny part of the favours and beauties Allah bestows. Wherever we turn, we come across creations reflecting the attributes of Allah. Allah is ar-Razzaq (the Ceaseless Provider), al-Latif (the Subtle One, He Who creates things most subtly), al-Karim (the Generous One), al-Barr (the source of all goodness).
Now, take a look around you and think. And never plead ignorance of the fact that everything you possess is a favour to you from our Creator:
Any blessing you have is from Allah. Then when harm touches you, it is to Him you cry for help. (Surat an-Nahl: 53)
