Ramadan Night 23 - The Sixth Entry

What! Are ye the more

Difficult to create

Or the heaven (above)?
(Allah) hath constructed it:
On high hath He raised
Its canopy, and He hath
Given it order and perfection.
Its night doth He
Endow with darkness,
And its splendour doth He
Bring out (with light).
And the earth, moreover,
Hath He extended
(To a wide expanse).
S.79 A.27-30

What a beautiful, humbling reminder for us - we are but one of God's creations, blessed with incredible gifts and responsibilities, yet so insignificant in design, requiring only an after thought from God  to bring forth. I think a lot about nature these days, and I think about man's relationship to it and God.  We tend to look in two directions at nature - up and down, but not as we should, not in the same glance.  When we look down at animals and other life, we take it as a coronation, a testament to our ascendancy.  It has been a dangerous perspective historically, for as we grew comfortable, as we became civilized, we mistook this relative elevation for our own deification.  

We then did the unimaginable, we looked up and out at the majesty of nature, and disconnected it from God.  When we now look up into space, we do not so in wonder, but in arrogant calculation with dreams of conquest and exploitation.  We have pushed God to the edge of our universe and will chase Him further still when the expanse of space no longer outstrips our  avarice. And many of us have stopped raising our gaze at all, not wanting to dare His scrutiny as we cruelly rule this earthly world. What a poor substitute for God we have become, petty and lascivious manipulating our resources, mistreating His creatures and each other, trading malice and jealousy for forgiveness and grace. 

These words are here to remind us, to place us in the continuum of His dominion, to direct our gaze up and down, to provide a humble perspective to contemplate His Being, our faith. His creatures are our responsibility, not our toys or playthings.  The beauty and incomprehensibility of the universe around us is the context He provides to humble us, to bring Him to our minds and hearts each time we look around, each time we look up.

I think a lot about man, nature, and God - I dare not divorce one from another. 

Ramadan Night 20 - The Second Entry

We created not
The heavens and the earth
And all between them
But for just ends, and
For a term appointed:
But those who reject faith
Turn away from that
Whereof they are warned.
S.46 A.3

I have been thinking a great deal about nature as I read everyday.  I have also been thinking about the relationship between God, nature, and man. Reading back through my posts, it occured to me that I found the evidence of God in nature, in its glory, majesty, and beauty.  This verse has added a different perspective to me, and I hope I can articulate it here.  "For a term appointed" means that everything, except God's word, is temporary, fleeting - even the rivers, oceans, and mountains will disappear.  Everything but God's word!

Nature is still an evidence of God for me, but in a much different way.  I don't think it is the existence of these marvelous creations that brings God to mind to me, but the inner pleasure I feel, the incredible sense of the aesthetic appeal of these physical manifestations that murmurs through my heart that connects me to God.  We (humans) alone have been blessed with this gift, and it is one of the many God has granted us in reward for our pious adherence to the awesome responsibilities He has charged us with.  Nothing else in His domain realizes these treasures, nor the pain of not deserving them.

I have read with pleasure the major philosophers. I have read their explanations of the creation of the earth and all that is in it.  I have read their theories of the complex nature of man.  What I have not read is any compelling account of the beauty I feel in my heart  when their words touch me and remind me of the glory of God and His universe.  There I find God, in the gentle receptive folds of my heart. 

Ramadan Night 19 - The Seventh Entry

Among His signs are
The night and the day,
And the sun and the moon,
Adore not the sun
And the moon, but adore
God, Who created them,
If it is Him ye wish
To serve.

S.42 A.37

I think it would be easy to adore nature and to forget its provenance. Its splendor is so overwhelming, that I get caught up in simply taking it in, trying to comprehend and appreciate the moment.  I suppose it is understandable that I often fail to think beyond the physical beauty to the act of creation that made it possible.  Once removed, I make the connection in reflection, but I would like to put it together during the experience.  I would like to know what I am feeling is God's presence, and I would like to feel the gratitude His inspriation deserves.  There are so many times in the day when I allow the pettiness of the world to prevade my thoughts and consciousness, that I want to savor those times when I can commune with God in His garden.

 

Ramadan Night 18 - The Fourth Entry

We did indeed offer
The trust to the heavens

And  the earth

And the mountains;

But they refused

To undertake it,

Being afraid thereof:

But man undertook it;

He was indeed unjust

And foolish
S.33 A.72

 

I never thought of the price we (humans) would have to pay to be closest of all of God's creations. I knew we were blessed (either by a deity or evolution) in our distance from nature, and like many, focused instead on the rights and privileges accorded to our rank. I also measured the responsibility, albeit pedantically as our Buddhist friends assert, of a caretaker tasked with the welfare of another. I did not turn my gaze the other way, did not think of closing the distance between me and my Lord.  Given the awareness of God though, we task ourselves to please Him, to be worthy of the distinction.  It is an awesome responsibility, and I can understand, but not condone, why some people reject the word of God, preferring to deny His existence rather than facing the shame of their failed covenant. As for me, I feel better with this knowledge. Instead of judging my failures and shortcomings in the context of simple compliance to an imposed set of rules, I recognized that these sins and errors are feedback in my developing embrace of God.

 

Ramadan Night 16 - The Third Entry

Seest thou not that Allah
Makes the clouds move
Gently, then joins them
Together, then makes them
Into a heap? - then wilt thou
From their midst.  And He
Sends down from the sky
Mountain masses (of clouds)
Wherein is hail: He strikes
Therewith whom He pleases
And He turns it away
From whom He pleases.
The vivid flash of its lightening
Well-nigh blinds the sight.
S.24 A.43

I remember the first time I read this verse six years ago. I had just returned from my first trip to London to consider a job at a Muslim school there.  I was back in Akron for a few  months waiting for the red tape to untangle itself to return to start formal negotiations for the job. Between visits, I corresponded with several of the teachers I had met on my first trip.  One teacher, a very graceful young woman sent me a beautiful sunset picture of her hometown in the north.  It had a lovely, orangish hue, and the clouds swirled together competing to push the sun down into the earth.  I stumbled on this verse the same day I received the photo.  I loved the lyrical relationship between Allah and the natural law He commands so elegantly. I read this then closed my eyes, feeling His power and majesty, imagining the thousands of storms I had seen, boiling and brewing, rolling and tumbling across the landscape. I thought of the picture, a moment in time when Allah layered and stacked His clouds around a beautiful sunset, a gift to match this lovely woman's soul. 

I've long hoped to write about this verse, that picture, my photographer friend, the day the three intersected.  I haven't found the words to express such beautiful images, feeling doomed to try.  Reading this again  tonight resurrected the folly, and having glanced back at my words, knowing I failed miserably.............