An Important Principle in the Contemplation of the Qur'an

Assalamu 'alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh

The aayaat in the Qur'an do indeed comprise a system of interconnected signs - a system which in turn is connected with other systems of interconnected signs or aayaat both in the universe and in ourselves. The closest analogy that comes to mind to explain this amazing Qur'anic phenomenon is the stars and other celestial bodies in the Universe. Stars all group to form galaxies which in turn group together to form clusters of galaxies, and so on. A galaxy, according to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, is "a system of millions or billions of stars, together with gas and dust, held together by gravitational attraction". The only difference, I would say, is that the individual parts of the Qur'an (whether words, phases, clauses, verses, or even chapters) are even more interconnected so as to form a web or intricate network of continuously crisscrossing parts. This network of crisscrossing parts in turn communicates with networks of signs that are external to it, such that everything becomes one Huge Macro Network, the parts of which all sing and celebrate the praises of the One Who created them, and they all attest to His Absolute Unity and Oneness. As the poet says:

وفي كل شيء له آية تدل على أنه واحد (and in everything there is a sign that points to the fact that He is One)

This is what the Qur’an itself is all about: it points us to Allah, because it itself comes from Allah, and then tells us that everything else in the Universe (including ourselves) also points to Allah, because it is the Creation of Allah – and the creation speaks volumes of its Creator.

Just to digress a little. The above definition of a galaxy is quite interesting in that the Qur'an describes to us some of the major events leading up to Qiyamah. One of these events is that the stars will be scattered (وإذا الكواكب انتثرت) "and when the stars / celestial bodies are scattered" (82:2). The verb used here is انتثرت (intatharat) which comes from the root ن - ث - ر which means 'to scatter or disperse'. The interesting aspect in the use of this verb is that it is the exact opposite of انتظم (intathama) which comes from root ن - ظ - م which literally means 'to string beads together so as to form a necklace'. The act of الانتثار (scattering / dispersing) obtains when you cut the string and the beads scatter or fly in all different directions. This is why poetry is often called "nathm" and prose "nathr" as the former is more governed by a system of meter and the latter is free from any such restrictions.

Now, this is the interesting part: the use of the verb انتثر (to be scattered / dispersed), implies that prior to this action of the stars / celestial bodies they are held or strung together by something that connects them all. This 'something' is the gravitational force / attraction mentioned in the definition above. On the Day of Qiyamah, the "gravitational string" holding all celestial bodies together will be severed or cut as it were and total chaos will ensue. This could also maybe extended to other forces in the Universe holding things together.

Anyway, coming back to my original topic of how everything in the Qur'an as well as the Universe is somehow interconnected. For example, we don't find a particular Qur'anic theme being exhausted in one part of the Qur'an never to be mentioned again elsewhere. Instead we find often a theme is mentioned several times throughout the Qur'an, and every time it is mentioned a different aspect is introduced that is very specific to the context of the chapter in which it occurs. In other words, it feels and reads differently in different parts of the Qur'an. A case in point is the Story of Musa ('alayhi al-salam), or the Resurrection, and so on.

Other very salient examples which make very interesting material for contemplation are:

(1) the different Names and Attributes of Allah, and how each Name or Attribute highlights a different aspect of the Divine Reality

(2) the different names and attributes of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) himself

(3) the different names and attributes of the Qur'an itself, and how each name or attributes reveals a different aspect of the Qur'an

(4) the different names and attributes of Qiyamah ("the different faces of Qiyamah"), which is very powerfully and with great effect used in the Qur'an.

These are only a few instances. When you read the Qur'an, you find that it stimulates you differently all the time.Then apart from cross-referencing aayaat within the Qur'an there is also cross-referencing with the aayaat in the universe, and it is very significant that both are referred to as "aayaat" in the Qur’an. An "aayah" points to something, and the Qur'an encourages us to find out what that "something" is, what is at the end of the aayah, what is the direction that it points you into, and so on. This makes the whole experience a full-on and total experience, that cause many a contemplator just to fall down in prostration crying or just utter "Allah" or "Allah Akbar" or as the Qur'an says "Subhanak" as if something deep, very deep inside his soul has been stirred.

A Tribute to and a Radiant Prayer for the Lovers of Bint 'Adnan

Assalamu 'alaykum warahamtullahi wabarakatuh

A Tribute to and Radiant Prayer for the Lovers of Bint 'Adnan

Whether your involvement with Arabic is as a teacher or a student, a blogger or a forum administrator, an author or a publisher, or just an ordinary contributor, I pay tribute to you and applaud your efforts in this regard. Remember that: whatever you do of good (no matter how little), Allah knows it (al-Baqarah: 197, 215) and it will not go unrewarded, and remember that: whatever you send forth of good for the benefit of your own souls, you will find it with Allah even better and greater in Reward (al-Muzzammil: 20).

I ask Allah to reward you richly for taking the time out to serve the language in which the Qur'an was revealed and the tongue in which the Prophet of Allah communicated and made clear to us (both in word and deed) the teachings and injunctions contained in the Noble Qur'an. "Bint 'Adnan" (the Daughter of 'Adnan) is another name for Arabic, and the Lovers of Bint 'Adnan are all those who love the Arabic language. The Daughter of 'Adnan - by herself - is already beautiful, but when she moreover becomes the medium and form through which the Noble and Sublime Meanings of the Qur'an are expressed, a Beauty of a totally different kind is added to her already existing beauty - that Beauty is no other than Divine Beauty. It is truly a case of Nur 'ala Nur (Light upon Light), with the result that our love for her increases even more. May Allah guide us all to both these radiant lights - the Light of the Qur'an and the Light of Bint 'Adnan - so that we in turn are lit with their light and become light-bearers ourselves illuminating the world that we inhabit just as those before us were light-bearers who were also lit by their light and illuminated the worlds that they inhabited.

اللهم اجعل في قلبي نوراً ، وفي لساني نوراً ، واجعل في سمعي نوراً ، واجعل في بصري نوراً ، من فوقي نوراً، ومن تحتي نوراً ،وعن يميني نوراً ،وعن شمالي نوراً ، ومن أمامي نوراً ، و في خلفي نوراً، و اجعل في نفسي نوراً، وأعظم لي نوراً ، وعظم نوراً ، واجعل لي نوراً ، واجعلني نوراً ،اللهم أعطني نوراً ، واجعل في عصبي نوراً ، وفي لحمي نوراً ، وفي دمي نوراً ، وفي شعري نوراً ، وفي بشري نوراً ".
"اللهم اجعل لي نوراً في قبري .. ونوراً في عظامي وزدني نوراً ، وزدني نوراً ، وزدني نوراً وهب لي نوراً على نوراً"

O Allah, place light into my heart, light in my tongue, light in my sight, light in my hearing, light on my righthand-side, light on my lefthand-side, light above me, light beneath me, light in front of me, light behind me, (O Allah) place light in my soul and magnify for me my light, increase for me light. O Allah, grant me light, and place light in my muscles, light in my bones, light in my flesh, light in my blood, light in my hair and light in my skin.

O Allah, place light in my grave, light in my bones, and increase me in light, increase me in light, increase me in light, and grant me light upon light.

اللهم إني عبدك ابن عبدك ابن أمتك ناصيتي بيدك، ماضِ في حكمك، عدل في قضاؤك، أسألك بكل اسم هو لك سميت به نفسك أو أنزلته في

كتابك، أو علمته أحداً من خلقك أو استأثرت به في علم الغيب عندك أن تجعل القرآن ربيع قلبي، ونور صدري، وجلاء حزني وذهاب همي"

O Allah, I am Your servant, the son of Your (male) servant, the son of your maid-servant, and entirely at Your service. You hold me by my forelock. Your Decree is what controls me, and Your Commands to me are just. I beseech You by every one of Your Names, those which You use to refer to Yourself, or have revealed in Your Book, or have taught to any one of Your creation, or have chosen to keep hidden with You in the Unseen, to make the Noble Qur'an the springtime of my heart, the light of my eyes, the departure of my grief, and the vanishing of my affliction and my sorrow.

اللهم ارحمنا بالقرآن واجعله لنا نورا وإماما وهدى اللهم ذكرنا منه ما نسينا وعلمنا منه ما جهلنا اللهم اجعلنا من أهل القرآن الذين هم أهلك وخاصتك يا أرحم الراحمين

O Allah, Have mercy on us through the Qur'an, and let it be for us a light, a leader and a guide. O Allah, make us remember what we have forgotten thereof, and teach us what we are ingorant thereof. O Allah, make us from the People of Qur'an - those who are Your favourite people and Your select, O Most Merciful of those who show mercy.

Ameen