Assalamualaikum my dear,

A belated Eid Mubarak from myself. I hope you had a beautiful Eid.

I was actually planning to take this week off as a mini Eid holiday. Eid went on for a bit longer for myself, and I didn’t get a chance to really write much! But I realised I hadn’t let you know that I’d be taking the week off, so I really wanted to show up for you.

So, today will be a slightly shorter (and hopefully sweet) reflection than usual.

Bismillah…

Recently, I’ve become a bit of a plant mum. I’ve always wanted plants but never trusted myself to look after them well. So I’ve been buying them slowly and trying my best to take care of them.

My biggest worry about having plants was the worry that I’d be a ‘helicopter’ parent. The one who ends up obsessing over her plants and ends up killing them by watering them too much.

But the other day I got the shock of my life when I saw my poor peace lilly looking like she was about to collapse. Her leaves hung low and her lillies were nearly lying on the ground! I quickly went to feel her soil, only to find it crumble in my hands. The soil had turned hard. Like really hard.

Oops. 

I immediately made my way to the kitchen and filled a glass with water. I sat with both plants and made sure as much water as they needed. And then I carried on with my day.

I was out and about throughout the day, but my plants were at the back of my mind. I was really hoping to see my plants looking all happy with their leaves perked up again by the time I got home. But I knew I shouldn’t expect anything too quickly, so I kept my hopes low.

But that evening, when I got back and I opened the door to my living room, where my plants sat, I was greeted with the most beautiful sight. 2 of the lillies on my peace Lilly plant were no longer touching the floor. I could see their stems had begun to lift up a bit.

I couldn’t believe how just a bit of water could cause this big of a difference.

It felt like I was seeing the following verse of the Quran played out live:

And as I recalled this verses, something else hit me - it’s a lesson I was taught in nearly every tafseer class I’ve been to, again and again. That rain is a metaphor for revelation in the Quran. The land, the dying crops, these are metaphors for the state of the heart.

So as I’m looking at my plants and the way they nearly died because they weren’t given a bit of water for a few day, I’m starting to feel like this was almost a sign My Lord was showing me.

A sign on how to stop your heart from reaching close to death. 

—

Prevention is better than cure

This is almost a part 2 to last week’s reflection. If last weeks reflection was about the steps to take when your heart feels dead and spiritually numb (You can read it here if you’d like!), todays reflection feels like the step to take before that.

The step to prevent your heart from becoming that close to spiritually dead.

It is almost as though Allah was reminding me, through my plants, that my daily dose of Quran is like the regular watering of a plant.

And everyday I don’t water it, is a day closer to its stems drooping towards the ground. And soon, just like the lillies lay on the ground lifeless, so will your heart reach that place too

So water your heart regularly.

Make the Quran a part of your daily routine. Make it the food for your soul. Block time for it just like you do for lunch and dinner. Your body needs food, but your soul needs it more.

And on the days where your soul feels a but numb or tired, block some extra moments in that day. Maybe your soul is just feeling a little thirsty, its stems are drooping to the ground.

If you have a favourite reciter of the Quran, block a few moments to pop in your headphones, close your eyes and spend some time listening to Your Lords Words.

If you have a favourite tafseer series or book, push everything a side for a few minutes or hours, and rewatch or reread that tafseer.

And most importantly, settle down with your Quran, open its pages and recite it. Recite it out loud, as beautifully as you can. And feel the Words of your Lord quench your heart to contentment again.

—

One of my favourite duas I go to as much as I can about the Quran is this -

Just like the water healed the plants on the verge of death, the Quran is a healing for our hearts that feel numb and dead.

And so as you spend some time with your Quran today, imagine the water droplets of your Lords revelation sink deep into your heart. Imagine it nourishing it, healing it, and bringing it back alive.

May Allah fill our hearts with life through His Words. Ameen 🤍

—

Until next week.

From your sis,

Thasneema 🌻