The Lantern of Guidance
Chapter 1 Section 5
Divine Words
Allah Almighty has said:
“Say: "If the whole of mankind and Jinns
were to gather
together to produce the like of this Qur'an, they could not produce the
like
thereof, even if they backed up each other with help and support.”
“ Qur’an
[17:88] (Qur’an means something for reading, recital)
Beyond all doubts the worth
and rank of any words directly
depend upon the measure of the speaker: The loftier the speaker the
loftier the
words. Since Its Zhaat (Divine Essence) is Qadim (Immemorially
Preexistent and
Ancient) therefore It is Uniquely Incommensurable (Monfared)
resplendent with
August Sublimity (Azim), similarly Its words are Uniquely
Incommensurable
resplendent with August Sublimity.
It is close to people by Its
attributes of beneficence and
benevolence, however Afar Aloft Infinitely Sublime and Exalted above
all.
Likened to the Sun though its mass is afar, its luminosity and heat
near. If
you gaze upon Its beneficence, shall perceive It infinitely Qorb
(Divine
Nearness & Proximity) and Infinitely Zahir (Obvious Divine
Manifest). And
if you gaze upon the depth of Its reality, you shall find It infinitely
Afar
and Infinitely Baten (Searchlessly Hidden & Concealed).
Simultaneously near
and afar, both Zahir (Obvious Divine Manifest) and Baten (Searchlessly
Hidden
& Concealed) and therefore people have analyzed Its words
differently:
- If they gazed through Qorb (Divine
Nearness & Proximity) and Zahir (Obvious Divine Manifest) they
concluded that Its speech are words and sounds.
- If they gazed through Baten
(Searchlessly Hidden & Concealed) they concluded that Its speech is
not words nor sounds fearing the (misinterpretations) of Qorb (Divine
Nearness & Proximity) and Zahir (Obvious Divine Manifest).
Within the first group that
believes Its speech is words and
sounds, some said that the Divine Words are Qadim (Immemorially
Preexistent and
Ancient) similar to looking at the goblet which the color of the
container
(goblet made up of human readable words) is the color of what is
contained
(wine the Divine Speech), therefore the distinguishing factor (wine vs.
goblet)
is dissolved within the union (wine & goblet one unit):
Due to the
purity of wine and thinness of the goblet
Immixed
are the colors of the goblet and the wine
Either all
the wine and lost seems the goblet
Or all is
the goblet and lost seems the wine
And some said the Divine Words
are Mohdath (Transient &
Temporal). Since staring upon the color of the goblet (the container
made up of
this transient world) and saw the contained (wine i.e. the Divine
Words) dyed
by the color of the container (goblet or this world), therefore the
union (of
wine and goblet) lost and thus itemized individuality (wine separated
from the
goblet) has been reached: “The color of the wine the color of the
goblet”. And
these two views are infinitely apart.
Once we observed that each
group has acted upon the
sensitivities of their specific Mazhab (way or sect) and what they were
trying
to avoid, we conclude that the quarrel and argument amongst the
followers of
Islam is of no benefit. If truly a slave was busied by the principles
and
duties of the Din (Religion) never would have been infected by such
intellectual audacities. Drowning within the muse of intellectual
audacities
equals to the destruction of the principles (what is known clearly
&
correctly). Neither the Companions of the Prophet nor the Taabe’in
(next
generation) ever dared to forsake the principle to brood upon the
otherwise
peripheral.
The true principles are the
faith in Koran, to do obediently
what is ordered and avoid all that which is forbidden and observing the
rights
and limits set forth as it is “Maa
Yambaqi: As Indeed Suited” (Koran [36:69]) and deserved.
Indeed these
are the sound principles, and embarking upon troublesome extras like is
Koran
Qadim or Mohdath nothing but inventiveness and intellectual audacity.
A good example for this folly
is when a King ordains a
textual decree issued to his subjects but the subjects quarrel and
fight over
the interpretation of the details of the decree to the point that the
time is
passed and the decree undone and void. (Decree was time sensitive and
after sometime becomes meaningless)
End.
Download
Background: These are antique
Turkish Calligraphy in Koofi
style/font, compliments of Prof. Irvin C. Schick at Harvard, scanned
from En'am
manuscript by Ahmed Karahisari. Please here
for the larger scan for free download.
The top rotated square, within
each corner is written “All
Praise for Allah”. And the middle black cursive line is “In The Name of Allah
The Most Beneficent The Most Merciful” and the bottom larger
rotated square is
the following Surah (Chapter) of Koran called Ikhlas (Sincerity),
written in a
helical swirl with the end words (NONE LIKE UNTO IT) at the center of
the
square:
1. Say
(Mohammad): It is Allah, the One and Only;
2. Allah, the
Samad (Eternal, Absolute);
3. It begetteth
not, nor is It begotten;
4.
And there is none like unto It.
©
2004-2002, Dara O. Shayda
