O you who opened the gate to wealth and comfort using a key other than the key of piety: have the impudence to complain about the narrowness of the road of provision, even though you yourself are widening the road of your sins? If you had piety, nothing of what you seek would be difficult to attain, because the key of piety opens every door. When the pious, who fear Allah, settles himself down with pure piety, he shall never be harmed. On the other hand, when he deviates from piety, then he shall encounter nothing but distress and aggravation.
The moment you turn away from Allah, He shall turn away from you. The oceans of His Grace upon the creation remain munificent, “That is because Allah would not change a favour which He has bestowed upon a people until they change what is within themselves.” (al-Anfal 8:53)
Woe to you, if you recognise the fact that this world was created for you, then why do you think that He who created it for you would keep away from you what is yours? In reality, it is just your desirous nature that is being glutted by wordily pleasures while, in fact, moderation is more appropriate and beneficial for you.
You are the most precious creature to Allah, so be content with what Allah has decreed for you, because he who loves never questions or accuses the One he loves. The Grace of Allah upon you in all that He has created for your sake is as clear as daylight, so how could you imagine that he would neglect you when you are at the root of it all?
Greater than the wonder of a foetus in the womb getting nourishment from the menstrual blood of its mother through its connection to her, is the wonder of an egg that has come out of the mother hen, yet it includes within it both the white from which the chick is created and the yolk from which the chick gets its sustenance. This is indeed a wonder that signifies how a creature is provided with its sustenance before it has even come into existence.
When a crow hatches from its egg, it comes out with a white colour. However due to the apparent difference between the mother crow and the hatchling, the mother fails to recognise its offspring and abandons it at first. The hatchling however keeps its beak open for food, and the merciful has destined that the flies in the air fly into its open mouth, giving it sustenance, until it develops and its colour changes to black, whereupon the mother unties with her child.
Observe the kindness and compassion of Allah; He inspires ants to store food and inspires them to break the seed before storing it, so that it does not grow afterwards; he inspires them to break the seed of coriander into four quarters, because if it was broken into only two halves it would continue to grow. As the poet said: There is a sign within everything, that proves that the Creator is One.
To see a spider while it builds its house is to witness craftsmanship that would dazzle and confound architects. It seeks two points that are near each other while at the same time ensuring that there is enough space between them for it to cast its web-silk from one location to the other. Then it secretes its silk and casts it between the two points, and after it assures that the strings are taut, it begins joining the string segments together. While to the onlooker it may seems that the spider’s actions are haphazard, however in reality, the spider is actually building a net to trap its food. After completing the web it goes to the corner and waits and keeps a watch out for prey to fall into its trap; if an insect manages to get trapped in its net, the spider straightaway begins reaping the harvest of its efforts. But in case it is unable to trap an insect in this manner, it resorts to a different technique; it finds itself another nook and prepares a web thread connecting the ends, and remains suspended, in preparation for a fly that might pass by; and when a fly draws near, it leaps to capture, and utilises the web thread to wrap the flies legs to prevent it from escaping! Do you for a moment imagine that the lowly spider could have learnt this all by itself? Or did it learn it from others of it own kind? Why do you not realise the wisdom and power of the One who taught it what it knows and Who made it learn? The miraculous creation calls the heedless to observe the signs within themselves, so that they might be guided to the gates of the Creator, but they are unable to hear.