Day 8 | Ayat 8 | The Earth Will be Barren

In preparing for this day's lesson, I chose to write only 1 ayat and reserve the remainder of page for the next two ayat about the people of the cave. I had originally wanted to add this ayat to the previous day's work because ayat 7 and 8 go together thematically (in my opinion). But having no room before, I added the ayat and the brief reflection and drawing to the top of this page leaving ample room for ayat 9-10 at the bottom. That will round out the first 10 ayat of this surah and the memorization that I am completing for this Ramadan 2024. The reflections I have for this ayat conjure up images of post-apocalyptic landscapes I've seen in movies. A bleak and barren landscape, dead vegetation, ash in the air, no sunlight, just a twilight darkness that permeates, no hope, no beauty, no safety. For me, the one thing missing from the imagery in post-apocalyptic movies are the mountains turning to dust. Wrapping my head around that one is mind-blowing. We live in an area surrounded on one side with a mountain range (foothills rather, but mountainous nonetheless) and imagining that one day those vibrant, sturdy, strong, reliable mountains would turn to dust is both frightening and humbling. The mountains, streams, rocks, soil, and all animate and inanimate creations obey Allah. Every particle of existence does tasbih to Allah. So one day in the future, Allah has said that this world will become barren, flat and void of vegetation and trees, etc. which means the mountains and all that is on this beautiful earth will obey Allah and turn barren and flat. There will be no escape from this inevitability, no safety except what Allah provides.