Chapter A’raf – Part 10

part 10

7:23 “They replied, Our Lord, We have wronged our souls, if you do not forgive us, and have Mercy, we shall be losers.”

Human beings are not essentially corrupt as mentioned in a certain religious tradition.  Our spirit is given to us by God, given the perfect opportunity to fulfill its purpose on Earth.  We notice how every plant is perfectly created, with patterns.  Example: I took a fruit and did not eat it, then the fruit died.  Similarly, human beings age and we slowly die.  It does not mean that there is something wrong in my creation.  We observe some fruits dying and at the same time, new plants are coming.  The way of their creation is like this, not that something is wrong in my creation.  Nothing can make themselves perfect here.  When human beings realize their weakness that they are not perfect by themselves, then they ask God to forgive their mistakes.  That is worship and we refresh ourselves like this.  Example: when something goes wrong with your laptop, you reset it, by turning off the power button.  Similarly, when we ask for forgiveness, it means that we are refreshing ourselves and going back to our original state.  If this was not essential to us, we would never ask to refresh ourselves and repent.  By accepting “the original sin” as if something is wrong in our creation, we block ourselves from repentance, i.e., worship.

The latter part of the verse is a conditional sentence.  If we don’t ask for forgiveness, then we cannot get rid of the mistakes.  Acknowledging our mistakes is like resetting ourselves to its original state; it is the salvation to belief and worship.  While we repent, we hope that our Creator’s Mercy will reach us.  We always hope that our Creator is Merciful.  I make a mistake, repent and worship.  Acknowledging and relating yourself to God by acknowledging that you made a mistake is belief, establishing a connection with your Creator.

When I make a mistake, we do not take credit for the mistakes. On the contrary, we try to hide it or feel the need to avoid it. In asking for forgiveness, I am passive, and I do not take an active role as being the doer.  Example: when you are healthy, you do not remember that you are healthy.  You may take pride in your health, which does not mean that you may deny God.  When I am healthy, there is no way to ask for health.  I may remember it once in a while. When I do a good deed there is a possibility that I may take credit for my good deeds, which leads me to pride. Rather, I should be thankful to my Creator for enabling me to know what is good and doing it. Then good actions become means of worship. However, when you get ill, then asking for forgiveness is more sincere.

Adam and Eve asked for forgiveness in the latter part of the verse, which is an acknowledgment and reflection of belief, because I cannot guarantee my position; I am always in need of Mercy.  Creation is Mercy, and if it was not manifesting Mercy, then the creation would become meaningless.

7:24 “God said, All of you get out as enemies to each other, you will find in the earth provision and a residence for a while.”

When we experience some event, we react to it without realizing that it is a deliberate set up.  Reaction is not fruitful.  As a consequence of reaction, people reject principles.  Hence, we must refresh and renew our beliefs.  When we reach adulthood, we become aware of our options.  If our wrong assumptions take over, (waiting for permanent satisfaction from material being rather than the Creator), then we are out of Paradise because if I attribute my hope to anything of this universe, it does not satisfy my human expectations.  If my bodily needs are satisfied and not my spiritual needs, then the universe can only give me my bodily needs until I die.  Being deprived of full satisfaction, I understand that I need to investigate creation. By doing so I realize that I can only be satisfied by my Creator who created me with the need of permanent satisfaction.  I can experience it only when I refer my needs to its Source.  Example: if you need $10, and ask from someone who only has $1, do you get satisfaction?  No.  Similarly, if a very rich person says that I can even give you more than what you need, as a result of my investigation, if I realize that s/he is really rich, I feel secure because He demonstrates his generosity in all of his treatments of others and promises that when I need it, He will give me.

I can keep my expectations, because He gave it to me.  This need is a promise and He gave me this need of Permanent Satisfaction.  Example: We buy a car hoping that it will last through my expectations by hearing reviews from people.

In the creation we observe that everything is created in pairs. They are contradictory but at the same time complimentary. Likewise, right or wrong can never be reconciled. They are always distinct from each other but they help each other to be recognized as something is right or wrong by comparison.  The two sides of human beings (ego and angelic) will never reconcile.  Ego represents not reality, nonexistence, therefore wrong. The Angelic side is the opposite. All of us are given the option of choosing one or the other. We always swing in between. Only the Prophets are under the protection of God while displaying the message in their lives to protect it from being misrepresented so we should trust their exemplary lives.  In order to protect human beings from making egoistic choices, God demonstrates us with their best examples.

Provision is something human beings utilize.  What do we need here?  How about spiritual provision?  What do I need to get spiritual satisfaction, not only bodily?  To educate yourself in what satisfies you makes you more valuable.  In order to get ready to go to our Paradisiacal status, we have to train ourselves.  You will be given a short period of time to utilize yourself.  I have to be careful to be on the right side.

7:25 “There you will live, there you will die, from there you will be brought out.”

If someone does not take care of his education, he will be a loser.  Utilize your qualities as densely as possible, otherwise, there will be no more education.  We wonder what the Creator wants from us?  What option does He want me to choose?

Life= education
Death= degree

Then go back to the origin.

What are we doing here?  We look for guidance which will be in a way that will help me make sense of my existence.  Be careful, there is a purpose in being here.  Before you die, utilize all opportunities given to you to improve yourself.

I do not need to read the Quran to tell me what I already know or can learn from the creation.  We are living here and we are going to die.  Why do I need guidance about something that I already know?  But I forget, or I need to be reminded.  Every creation has a mission.If I say it is happening from itself, then I murdered its mission which teaches me what I am in my reality.  Example: the material side of the creation just provides food for my body. How about the qualities in their existence? Are they not introducing to me their Creator’s  Qualities? If I regard them only as meaningless matter, then I would turn them to be lifeless corpses, i.e. kill them. This is what the materialist scientists are treating the creation, they are murdering it and turning them into meaningless corpses.  Similarly, if we look into a stone as a piece of matter only, then its existence becomes meaningless in our eyes. This is how we may kill and shed blood in the world by murdering the meaning side of creation.

What does covering our nakedness with “garments of God-consciousness” represent in the language of the Qur’an?  It is an adornment of the qualities of my Maker in my spirit.  The Quran speaks to my spirit.  Try to understand the message of God for us.  The  scripture is out there  to help us train our spirit to grow.  What is the essence of the teaching of the guidance is something to reflect on to get ready for the next discussion on the following verses?