A Journey Through the Blessings of Allah : From the First Drop to the Moment of Birth

 O Allah,

I want to remember Your blessings upon me from the very beginning of my existence — from the moment before I knew You, before I knew myself, before I had a tongue with which to praise You or a heart with which to thank You.

I was nothing that could be mentioned, yet You brought me into existence.

You created me from a drop, from something so weak and helpless, and You began shaping me until I became a human being.

O Allah, You created me, measured my existence, formed me, fashioned me, and guided my creation through stage after stage.

I was once a tiny drop. I could do nothing for myself.

I could not ask for food.

I could not seek protection.

I could not choose where I would live.

I could not even understand that I existed.

Yet You were taking care of me.

Then You placed me in my mother's womb.

I did not choose that place.

I did not know how to reach it.

I did not know how to remain there.

I possessed no strength with which to protect myself.

Yet You prepared a place for me and made it a secure home.

You provided for me before I knew what provision was.

You nourished me before I knew what hunger was.

You protected me before I knew what danger was.

You gave me what I needed before I knew how to ask for anything.

O Allah,

I was surrounded by darkness, yet You saw me.

I could not see, yet You saw me.

I could not speak, yet You knew my needs.

I could not raise my hands in prayer.

I could not call upon You.

I could not even understand the meaning of need.

Yet You did not abandon me.

I was weak, and You strengthened me.

I was small, and You caused me to grow.

I was helpless, and You took care of my affairs.

I was completely dependent, and You provided for me.

I did not ask You for any of it, yet You gave it all to me.

You created me stage after stage.

You formed my body while I knew nothing about it.

You created my heart before I understood that I needed a heart.

You made it beat without asking me.

You created my brain, my nerves, my organs, my bones, my muscles, and every part of my body.

You gave me eyes before I knew the blessing of sight.

You gave me ears before I understood the blessing of hearing.

You gave me a tongue before I knew how to speak.

You gave me hands before I knew how to hold anything.

You gave me feet before I knew how to walk.

O Allah,

You built my body while I possessed no knowledge of how it was being built.

You arranged my organs while I knew nothing about them.

You planned my life while I did not even know that I had a life.

Then came the moment when You brought me out of my mother's womb into this world.

I came into this world weak and completely dependent.

I did not know where I was.

I did not know who was around me.

I did not know what awaited me.

I could not feed myself.

I could not drink by myself.

I could not carry myself.

I could not protect myself.

I could not even move to a place of my choosing.

Yet You had already prepared people to care for me.

You gave me someone to carry me when I could not carry myself.

Someone to feed me when I could not feed myself.

Someone to give me water when I could not ask for it.

Someone to clean me when I could not clean myself.

Someone to keep me warm when I could not protect myself from the cold.

Someone to protect me when I was incapable of protecting myself.

O Allah,

I did not know their names.

I did not understand what they were doing for me.

I could not thank them.

Yet You placed mercy in their hearts and made them care for me.

Then You allowed me to grow, day after day.

I went from being unable to sit to learning how to sit.

From being unable to stand to learning how to stand.

From being unable to walk to taking my first steps.

From being unable to speak to learning how to pronounce words.

From knowing almost nothing to beginning to discover the world around me.

O Allah,

How many blessings surrounded me every single day without my noticing them?

I breathed without thinking about breathing.

I saw without thinking about the gift of sight.

I heard without thinking about the gift of hearing.

I moved without thinking about the gift of movement.

I slept and woke.

I became hungry and was fed.

I became thirsty and was given something to drink.

I became tired and was allowed to rest.

I became afraid and found someone to protect me.

And through all of this, You were the One blessing me, while I was unaware of so many of Your blessings.

O Allah,

If I tried to count all Your blessings upon me from the moment I was a tiny drop until the moment I entered this world, I would never be able to count them all.

You created me without my asking to be created.

You provided for me before I knew how to ask for provision.

You protected me before I knew how to ask for protection.

You nurtured me before I understood what it meant to be nurtured.

You cared for me while I did not even know that I had a Lord who was caring for me.

So all praise belongs to You, O Allah.

Praise belongs to You for the blessing of creation.

Praise belongs to You for the blessing of life.

Praise belongs to You for the blessing of protection.

Praise belongs to You for every blessing I know and every blessing I have forgotten.

Praise belongs to You for every blessing I can see and every blessing hidden from me.

And praise belongs to You for blessings I received without ever realizing that they were blessings.

O Allah, when I look back at the beginning of my life, I realize that Your generosity toward me began long before I knew how to ask You for anything.