I seek refuge from shaythaan the accursed and start in the name of our lord, Allah, ar Rahman ar Rahim. And May Allahs choicest blessings and praise be upon his beloved, our cherished prophet, Syeduna Muhammad sallahualayhiwasalam.

MashAllah I find myself in a predicament, and that is that it is difficult to articulate my thoughts into words.

Starting with the first photo of the Plato crator. The sheer age, size width, length, height as well as the shadows of the peaks inside all greatly contribute to the macro and microscopic details of the creation of the cosmos.
From here on earth, with the naked eye, somethings like the discussed specific details, can be so insignificant and meaningless to the untrained and un-interested. But to those curious, interested and those who reflect, these are marvels that baffle the mind and can give strength to the beliefs of intelligent design. As in the quoted ayah, it is a sign for the believers. I think it is important to note here the specificity of Allah’s choice of words. By saying the term believers, we can look at the characteristics of the believers, of which include fiqr or contemplation. It is this contemplation that can bring one to analyze the moons geological characteristics, the effects of time and its surroundings that contributed to these specific formations, and their affects on our planet, the divinely orchestrated orbit patterns, as well as its purpose to be among the things to be explored in reflection.

Now coming to the site of Venus, the video shows a beautiful display of the shimmering light that reflect from the clouds of the violent storms on this planet. It’s very thought provoking to observe how Venus having storms of acid rain, toxic fumes, and chemical plooms that would destroy ecosystems on our planet; from a far distance shining bright, can bring to the heart sukoon and comfort. Similar to the light that it is reflecting of the Sun. The same Sun that homes even greater violent storms of smouldering fire, which given the chance would sear flesh and bone. But also serves as the key for the order of our solar system and an integral necessary force for life here on earth.
I’d like to highlight here, Venus is only visible because of the light of the sun. It’s a brightness is not it’s own, rather some light is shone upon it, wherupon it is now able to reflect a light that is both seemingly personal while in reality, not it’s own. This analogously reminds me of the theological idea of wahdatal wujood, a concept I am not qualified nor capable of describing.

Coming to the constellations, what comes to mind is what I believe many of us will commonly share, the experience of humility before of the majesty of Allah. To witness uncountable stars, each of them having their own personal story, dating back to millennia and aeons beyond. It reminds us how insignificant we are, and how fragile life and existence is. This brings to mind a quate from the grandmaster of the Shadili Tariqa, Shaykh Ahmad Al Alawi radiyallahu an, who (paraphrased) says in his Deewan, his munajat to Allah; “I am in need of you, as much as you are independent (not in need) of me”. We are subject, so many different factors, all of which to date have actually been to our favor, whether we realize it or not. As the Beloved Prophet sallahualayhiwasalam has mentioned (paraphrased) “if you could see into the unseen, you would see that Allah has done only good for you” and “Allah love this servant, 70 times more than the love held by a mother who has lost their child for many years and then reunited with them” (Forgive me I don’t have any references on hand). Coming back to our dependence on Allah, he has effortlessly created the cosmos, and is aware of every atom that exists, he sustains them, he knows of their situation. Both individually and a whole grand level as well. So I am reminded that independence is and illusion, and I find comfort in knowing that my circumstantial difficulties can be trusted to him as he tells us to submit our affairs to him in his holy kalam that has been delivered to us by his beloved Prophet sallahualayhiwasalam.
The beautiful view of the cosmos also shows us that from destruction can arise new beginnings as the formation of the stars that we witness all come from grand explosions as understood per contemporary astronomical theory.

Praise be to Allah, who has created the cosmos not in vain! But as signs for us to reflect, to come back to him, to remember him, love him, reach out to him, search for him when we are defeated and led by life to gaze at his marvels that do not begin to do justice to his capabilities as the creator.

And May the endlesss holy blessings and praise be upon his beloved, by measures beyond the innumerable creations as they are all sourced from his primordial light which have given them life, a praise and blessing he is worthy of, which only Allah is befit of doing as he is HIS lord and he sallahualayhiwasalam, is his Abd, a station not completed by or competed with by another in creation, a salat and salam that makes him pleased with us, forgives us our sins and makes us close with him in this life and the next, a salat and salam that not bound by limitations and transcends time and space as did the blessed night journey, where these stars and planets we marvel upon, were made to be bewildered and humbled in awe at Allah’s display of his beloved’s blessed closeness of Aw adna, a closeness he has always been blessed to have from his thakhliq.

I seek forgiveness for errors, and beseech Allah for his love, favor and bounty for us all, from the hands of his beloved sallahualayhiwasalam.

Thanks for sharing. These are beautiful pictures created by the almighty God

Absolutely amazing photos and commentary! So awe inspiring! I find it so incredible that we are able to see Venus with the un-aided eye, as well as Jupiter and Mars. My favourite photo is the Orion Nebula where you can clearly see the colourful gases. It’s just so beautiful!

Just simply breath taking, shows us how grand the universe is!

Dear br. Irshad Rashid saheb,
I’ve the honour to read and listen to your wonderful devotional as well as inspirational poetry in the past and now I’m appreciating your amazing photography of nature from earth to sky and in-between. It shows us that Allah (s,w,t) has blessed you with a great treasure of abilities and skills along with deep insight. You’re able to elaborate yourself in multiple forms of expression/media.
Your new blog post on Astronomy are marvelous. MashaAllah.
Thanks for sharing.