Are The Stars Out Tonight?

Yesterday on my drive into Michigan it was a cold and freezing night.  Luckily, there was no snow to mess up the roads.  The sky was cloudless and the stars were out.  I glanced out of the window and there above me was Orion, my favorite constellation.

I started thinking about how wonderful the stars were and how beautiful they are.  I know it isn’t a new thought, but the way they twinkle and sparkle in the night sky is magnificent.  They were glowing bright and making it easier for us to see the road.  I find it rather pathetic, though, that I only appreciate the stars as a thing of beauty.  I think if I was a little more removed from the hubba-ballu of “the big city” and “city life” I’d appreciate the blessing of stars in their entirety.

Imagine, living in the woods, or some desolate part of the desert, or maybe a hidden place in the jungle and depending on the star light every night.  We don’t technically “need” the star light.  We have lamp posts and bulbs inside and outside of our houses.  But what if we truly depended on the light that Allah has sent from the heavens above.  Then how would we feel about stars?

Or imagine being lost?  Nowadays we can turn on a GPS system for step by step directions on how to find our way back home.  But imagine if we depended on the stars, and a night without them is a night without direction.

Subhan’ullah.  We are blessed with such an amazing creation of Allah.   Not only are stars beautiful, but they are functional.

And it is He who placed for you the stars that you may be guided by them through the darknesses of the land and sea. We have detailed the signs for a people who know. [69:7]