Subhan Allah, recently I got the opportunity to visit Petra, known as the lost city. I have now understood how Allah has the power to completely destroy a nation. The inhabitants of this city were reaching the golden prosperity of their time. Skilled in many fields, they were flourishing as a city, but yet their existence was brought to an end by the will of Allah. Travelling to this site, and actually walking on this land that was once a central city made, I realized the reality of respite and punishment. When we live our lives the way we want, when we think we are all powerful, all able over our lives, and we forget our purpose in life, Allah shows us through signs that everyone and everything will come to an end.
In verse 6 of Surah Al-An’am, Allah says,
“Have they not seen how many generations We destroyed before them which We had established upon the earth as We have not established you? And We sent [rain from] the sky upon them in showers and made rivers flow beneath them; then We destroyed them for their sins and brought forth after them a generation of others.”
Furthermore, Allah says in the same surah in verse 11,
Say, “Travel through the land; then observe how was the end of the deniers.”
After doing more research, I learned that the city of Petra wasn’t any ordinary place:
“Two thousand years ago, Petra stood at a crossroads of the ancient Near East. Camel caravans passed through, loaded with spices, textiles and incense from distant regions–and through such commerce, the city flourished. Its people, the Nabataeans, harnessed precious water, enabling the population to soar to perhaps 20,000.
“The Nabataeans also erected monumental tombs, memorializing their kings and leaders. But over time political control changed, and so did trade routes. Eventually the city fell silent, forgotten by the outside world.” 1
“We have uncovered just 15 percent of the city,” shares Zeidoun Al-Muheisen, an archeologist. “The vast majority—85 percent—is still underground and untouched.” 2
Aren’t we in the same position? We are reachings peaks of our education, sciences, inventions, yet we are so helpless. What will be our outcome? What will happen to us as a society is in the hands of Allah? One day we can be the world’s super power, yet the very next day we can be punished with a humiliating punishment from Allah.
It’s time for us to wake up, take reminders from these signs in our world around us, and change ourselves before it is too late.
Here are some pictures I took while on this trip :
[1] American Museum of Natural History
[2] National Geographic
-Contributed by Hibah Naseer
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