Just a few springs ago, I was wandering, aimlessly it seemed, contemplating the meaning of life. I don’t remember what day it was or what I was doing but I remember my heart was heavy with regret, shame and a loneliness I cannot describe.  It seemed I was drowning in self-pity and feeling lost. 

I was on my way to do something and I remember the moment I walked under a tree to get to my car, a gentle breeze wrapped around me drying my tears and comforting me. As I sat in the car, I remember, hearing a command. I cannot tell you that I heard it out loud, or heard it in my thoughts but I understood it clearly.

“Recite Surah-Fateh”

As I had strayed from my religion up to that point, I forgot all my surahs for prayer, including half the Quran I had memorized when I was younger. BUT, I seemed to have remembered Surah-Fateh, as I began to recite and repeat it over and over that day.  Needless to say that that moment put me back on the right path in so many ways.

Soon after that, when I started to read the Quran in English to seek guidance and learn more about my renewed faith, I was stunned by the translation of Surah-Fateh, the first surah in the Quran:

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds,
The Beneficent, the Merciful.
Owner of the Day of Judgment,
Thee (alone) we worship; Thee (alone) we ask for help.
Guide us on the straight path,
The path of those whom Thou hast favored;
Not (the path) of those who earn Thine anger nor of those who go astray.
(1 : 1-7)

I didn’t know it at the time, but the command was a prayer that I desperately needed at that time. To this day, I find answers in the Quran to questions I did not even know I had. Every day is a miracle, and I am so grateful. Alhumduillah!

Stay blessed xoxo