What's a DAY?
Why do we receive one every day?
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Pause for a moment.
You opened your eyes today.
And another day was simply there.
A precise, silent phenomenon unfolding around us with a rhythm so familiar that we barely notice it.
Look at the great motions we have grown almost blind to:
The Earth turns.
The Sun shines.
The Moon moves.
The heavens keep their courses.
We call it a day.
And move on.
The Sun: pouring light and warmth upon the Earth, nurturing the plants that feed the living world, lifting water into the endless cycle of clouds and rain, shaping climate, and sustaining life.
The Moon: its quiet glow, the delicate crescent adorning the night, illuminating the darkness, pulling the tides, and marking the rhythm of the lunar month.
The stars: countless points of light scattered across an unimaginable expanse.
And all of this keeps happening, while we sleep, walk, eat, laugh, worry, love, and carry on with our little lives.
But what exactly have we been given?
Perhaps the strangest thing about a day is not that it happens.
It is that we have become so accustomed to it that we have forgotten to wonder what it is.
We came from nothingness. A sophisticated marvel of consciousness that will one day return to silence.
We produce sounds, and granted the power to shape sound into languages, to transfer invisible thoughts from one mind to another.
Why is it that we carry the weight of a developed brain?
And why are we gifted with the exclusive art of writing, creating symbols that preserve thought across time and distance?
What an astonishing gift!
What is this mysterious phenomenon called life?
What are human beings?
Why does Earth exist?
Why are we here, amidst the beauty of brotherhood and the tenderness of a smiling face?
Shared minds.
Joyful souls.
The strange beauty of a smile – a gift that can carry warmth, affection, reassurance, and joy; a unique expression found nowhere else in the kingdom of life.
The quiet majesty of conscience – the pull toward kindness, compassion, fairness, honesty, mercy and humility.
How did all this come to be?
What are thoughts?
What is consciousness?
How can a human mind imagine, remember, question, love, suffer, create, and reflect?
The beauty of ordinary human life.
The tender joy of babies and children. The comfort and love of family, the warmth of laughter.
The blessing of happiness, and the quiet beauty of simply being happy.
The blessing of touch: the comforting warmth of sunlight, the refreshing coolness of a gentle breeze, and the countless sensations that transform mere existence into a rich human experience.
The remarkable harmony between man and woman: physical, emotional, psychological.
The magical chemistry of attraction, love, affection, companionship, intimacy, comfort, cuddles, kisses, sleep.
The blessing of garments; the beauty and joy therein.
HAVE YOU ever truly paused to contemplate the engineering miracle of your eyes?
What an astonishing gift is vision.
We live as though sight were ordinary, forgetting that these tiny, delicate living tissues and fluids are the only thin wall standing between us and the suffocating terror of perpetual darkness.
Yet these exquisitely arranged and carefully shielded living tissues quietly unveil before us an entire universe of light, colours, landscapes, smiles, faces, beauty, and wonder.
The remarkable apparatus of the ears – delicate living structures that help transform sound into speech and meaning, while quietly preserving our balance.
And the nose, with its sensory apparatus, granting us the ability to perceive countless scents – from the fragrance of flowers and perfumes to the aroma of rain, fresh bread, spices, tea, and coffee – enhancing every meal and enriching our lives.
Cooking, baking, roasting, ripening –
transformations so ordinary, yet so magical.
The wonder of spices.
The alchemy of flavours.
Hunger and thirst – and the satisfaction that follows.
The beauty of flowers.
Bees, butterflies, pollination – delicate systems sustaining life in silence!
Think of the Earth's boundless pantry – the explosion of a sun-ripened mango, the cool, refreshing heart of a watermelon, and the creamy sweetness of a banana.
The same earth. The same water. The same sunlight.
Yet what astonishing diversity emerges – each with its own vibrant hue, texture, distinct aroma, and flavour.
The cold, sweet mercy of fresh juices, the comforting grace of a steaming cup of coffee, and the wholesome nourishment of nutrient-rich milk.
The humble strength of grains and pulses, the abundance of vegetables, the satisfying crunch of nuts, the deep, savory mystery of umami, the sharp clarity of the sour, and the elegant grace of sweetness and saltiness.
There is a profound mercy in the variety of our nourishment: the delicate flakes of tasty fish, the succulent tenderness of poultry, and the rich, savory depth of animal meats and eggs.
All of it is processed by a body equipped with miraculously hard, stone-like teeth for chewing; remarkable salivary glands producing saliva;
and then,
the tongue – a small, seemingly simple piece of living flesh, yet equipped with an astonishing sensory apparatus that transforms food into an experience of flavour and pleasure.
Then come the enzymes breaking food down; an intricate digestive system extracting and absorbing nutrients;
and blood –
with its extraordinary composition, circulating through an immense network of vessels, transporting oxygen and nourishment to every living cell.
Then there is the heart:
an engineering marvel beyond imagination, with its own natural pacemaker, tirelessly pumping around 7,500 litres of blood every day without ever being asked.
And the lungs, breathing continuously, drawing in oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide with every breath.
The liver, carrying out countless metabolic processes – regulating, storing, synthesizing, and detoxifying.
The kidneys, tirelessly filtering the blood, preserving its delicate balance, and removing what the body no longer needs.
The pancreas, performing its digestive and hormonal functions.
The hormone system, coordinating countless processes with incomprehensible sophistication.
The reproductive system – a design through which generations succeed one another.
Sperms and eggs.
And what an astonishing beginning – from a tiny, seemingly insignificant drop, an entire human being begins to unfold.
The monthly menstrual cycle preparing for new life; pregnancy, birth, and the remarkable gift of breastfeeding–nourishment, protection, and comfort, all perfectly provided at the very beginning of life.
Cells.
Growth.
Neurons.
Memory.
Healing.
A self-repairing body, guarded by an extraordinary immune system; a brain coordinating billions of neurons and countless electrical signals while we simply breathe, think, speak, and dream.
The protective cage of the ribs, the skull, and the skeletal system.
Muscles and tendons working in perfect harmony, while the skin – an engineering marvel – holds everything together, remains remarkably elastic, senses the world around us, and serves as a protective barrier.
The gift of limbs that allow us to stand upright, walk, run, jump, climb, and explore the world.
Toes that quietly provide balance and grip with every step, with toenails shielding their tips.
Hands – so familiar that we seldom marvel at them. Wrists, palms, joints, five wonderfully coordinated fingers.
And nails that protect and assist us in countless daily tasks: writing, building, cooking, creating, holding, and embracing.
Hair – the texture and character it gives to the human form, and its role in regulating body temperature.
A body that tirelessly maintains its own temperature, keeping us alive through heat and cold – a design of astonishing wisdom and convenience.
Unique fingerprints and irises, distinguishing every individual.
Wonderful water. Wonderful fire. So ordinary, so familiar – yet how astonishing they are.
Their interactions with the world around us make countless transformations possible.
The blessing of electricity; the ingenuity of technology; the unique usefulness of metals, wood, glass, paper, plastics, and countless other materials –
all ultimately built from the elements of the periodic table, each with properties precisely suited to its purpose.
Solids, liquids, and gases – each with its own remarkable characteristics,
yet capable of transforming from one state into another: melting, freezing, evaporating, condensing, and taking on entirely different forms.
The atmosphere – its precise composition, pressure, temperature, and humidity; the winds that carry clouds, and the clouds that bring life-giving rain.
Mountains standing in majesty.
The mighty oceans – their endless waves filling us with awe, joy, and quiet reflection; their calmness bringing peace; their depths concealing a world of wonders and treasures yet to be discovered.
The vast kingdoms of plants and animals, each displaying beauty, purpose, and astonishing diversity.
Reproducing without being taught how; creatures finding their mates, building nests, instinctively feeding, protecting, and nurturing their young – generation after generation.
How do they know?
Ships crossing the oceans and aircraft soaring through the skies – human ingenuity unfolding from the very laws woven into creation, filling us with excitement, gratitude, and wonder.
This giant moving planet we call Earth, carrying us through space while its gravity faithfully holds everything upon it and around it.
And beyond it all – the immeasurable expanse of space, the countless stars, galaxies? and the universe itself.
What is all this?
And why does the human heart find itself compelled to stop, wonder, and ask?
How often do we walk past the Ayat (signs) scattered across the horizons and within ourselves without a second thought?
We often move through life without noticing how little of our own breath we truly control. When we stop rushing, we begin to see the signatures of a Grand Design in the mundane.
It's a call to look deeper, to live intentionally, and to seek the Creator through the intricate beauty of creation.
And if you count the blessings of God, you will not be able to number them (16:18, 14:34)
And Iblees said: "You will not find most of them grateful." (7:17)