الله لا إله إلا هو الحي القيوم لا تأخذه سنة ولا نوم له ما في السماوات وما في الأرض من ذا الذي يشفع عنده إلا بإذنه يعلم ما بين أيديهم وما خلفهم ولا يحيطون بشيء من علمه إلا بما شاء وسع كرسيه السماوات والأرض ولا يؤوده حفظهما وهو العلي العظيم

Allah! There is no god but He,-the Living, the Self-subsisting, Eternal. No slumber can seize Him nor sleep. His are all things in the heavens and on earth. Who is there can intercede in His presence except as He permitteth? He knoweth what (appeareth to His creatures as) before or after or behind them. Nor shall they compass aught of His knowledge except as He willeth. His Throne doth extend over the heavens and the earth, and He feeleth no fatigue in guarding and preserving them for He is the Most High, the Supreme (in glory).

Most of us, if not all of us, should already be familiar with this great Ayah - Ayat al-Kursi. We read it often, or we’ve heard it many times, but usually what happens with things that we hear or read on a daily basis, is that one day all of a sudden some rich meaning will be derived from it all of a sudden, that you may have never realized before. It may be something that gave you a whole new perspective on your life. It may have been something small, but its impact was great.

Well something of that nature happened to me when I studying the Tafseer of this great Ayah. Moreso towards the end actually, where Allah says,

ولا يؤوده حفظهما وهو العلي العظيم

He feeleth no fatigue in guarding and preserving them for He is the Most High, the Supreme (in glory).

We know and believe that Allah manages this entire universe with ease and perfection. Without even one second of His great ability, we would all be destroyed. He manages every, single aspect of life in the universe - so many tasks that we cannot even begin to count them. And yet, what is amazing is that He, the All-Mighty, never tires even for one bit. Not a single complaint will issue forth and in no way are His abilities slackened in any way. And there is really no eloquent way I could describe such magnificence except through Ayat al-Kursi - His own words.

And yet we, on the other hand, we may have 1, 2, 3, 4 or more children and we would be finding ourselves comoplaining at the end of the day about the enormous amount of tasks waiting for us the next day - it’s monotonous and neverending at times. Every human being, to some extent, has something to complain about, something to stress over… ultimately, every human being becomes tired.

But I learned way back when, by learning Allah’s Names and Attributes, we should try to reflect the affect of those attributes on ourselves. Allah is All-Forgiving, and so we should be forgiving too. Allah is Al-`Adl, the Just, and thus we should be just in our dealings too. Allah is Al-Khaaliq, the Creator, and thus He loves to see creativity in His servants.

More specifically, after I read this last line of Ayat al-Kursi, and reflected on how Allah never tires in guarding and preserving His kingdom - I began to realize that yes, we are weak and limited, but yet Allah has not burdened us beyond what we can bear. So whatever we do have, let us do it happily, with energy and gratitude.

As one du`aa goes (received by email one day):

Allah, I thank Thee for this sink of dirty dishes… we have plenty of food to eat.

I thank Thee for this pile of dirty, stinky, laundry… we have plenty of nice clothes to wear.

And I would like to thank Thee, for those unmade beds in there. They were so comfortable last night. I know many have no bed.

My thanks to Thee, Allah, for this bathroom, complete with all the splattered mirrors, soggy, grimy towels and dirty lavatory… they are so convenient.

I thank Thee for this finger-smudged refrigerator that needs defrosting so badly. It has served us faithfully for many years. It is full of cold drinks and enough leftovers for two or three meals.

I thank Thee Allah, for this oven that absolutely must be cleaned today… it has baked so many things over the years.

The whole family is grateful for all that tall grass that needs mowing, the lawn that needs raking… we all enjoy the yard.

I thank Thee Allah, even for that slamming screen door. My kids are healthy and able to run and play.

Alhamdulillah.

Allah, the presence of all these chores awaiting me says Thou has richly blessed my family. I shall do them all cheerfully and I shall do them gratefully, In sha Allah.

Ameen.

And may Allah reward the sister who wrote it, Ameen… whoever she is.