Chapter A’raf – Part 12

Part 12

7:26 “Children of Adam, We have given you garments to cover your nakedness and as an adornment for you; the garment of God-consciousness is the best of all garments- this is one of God’s signs, so that people may be mindful.”

It is a necessary part of our life to enjoy our world.  Our life on Earth needs some sort of satisfaction to acknowledge who is the Provider of all the bounties and qualities that we are benefitting from.  Who is the Creator of the enjoyment that I experience from eating delicious food?

Seeking refuge with God through interacting with the universe brings infinite happiness to us, because it is the way of interaction with our Creator.  As a result, our spirit that desires eternal satisfaction will be satisfied.  Example: while we are doing any activity, do we do it as a source of transient self-centered pleasure or are we doing it with the consciousness and pleasure of meeting our Creator?  Am I experiencing the presence of the Absolute Being in my life and feeling secure in my existence with the infinite pleasure of His promises in my creation?  In the belief that makes me understand my existence including my feelings are created by Him.  My feelings that He put in my manufacturing settings is a promise that they are going to be satisfied.

Example: if I use my laptop only for responding to emails, then I miss out using/experiencing the other functionalities that it offers.  Similarly, I may not be using myself to its full capacity, however my Engineer/Creator tells me that you will benefit infinitely more if you use yourself to the maximum.  This promise is from the Creator of the universe.  The One who created me with the feelings of eternal happiness is promising me that they are going to be satisfied.  When?  After I die, however, I want to be convinced right now and confirm the news that in another creation I will be satisfied, and I need evidence now.  Hence, when you perform religious duties, it must be a source of pleasure.  Unfortunately, religious duties are divorced from the belief perspective as they are presented to us in general.  Also, the secular approach to life makes us hopeless about our existential future because the news about another creation looks like a wishful thought.  It is as if on one side the secular approach to religion misses the pleasurable side of our existence, while on the other side, the interpretations presented to us by secular people in a charming language cheat us in our humanity.  All this reduces us to entertain our lives only in this world.

Are we experiencing eternal happiness while having delicious food and experiencing eternal satisfaction from our Creator that He is promising me that only He can create eternal happiness for me while satisfying me with this food?  No one can create one seed in a cucumber. Nothing in this world has the capacity to do that, so He is presenting this to me.

Comment: I am supposed to be experiencing eternal happiness while having delicious food, how so?

Comment: I am not the owner of this need for eternal happiness, neither anything of this universe can be the creator of my feelings. We are in a relationship with the universe, so what?  The conclusion of knowing that I have a Creator is not enough to satisfy my human expectations.  Example: I am playing with my child and having a good time, what am I supposed to do with this emotion?

This universe is a means of exercising our feelings, but we have been given consciousness and we can only question what everything points to.  Yes, we must entertain our lives here.  Now, if the elements of the universe cannot satisfy my needs, my consciousness urges me to question what is going on in this contradiction.  I need full satisfaction, and nothing can provide me, but I need it.  This is the means to transfer my concern from matter and what matter points to in its existence.  If I study matter carefully, we understand that they cannot be the source of their own existence, so there must be some agent giving existence to them with the qualities manifested in them.  When we look at the qualities of anything, we easily understand that these qualities cannot be coming from the parts of the things themselves.  They are consciously combined and acting within an order perfectly arranged universe-wise. Hence, we can conclude that the universe must be arranged and given existence by a One who must not be limited within the creation of this universe, and He must be the Source of existence of this created world.  Therefore, it cannot be limited with the qualities of this created universe, so we call it Absolute.  When we realize that the Creator of each being in this universe must be an Absolute Source, then that is a great perspective to have, and our spirit will say that I need this Creator and the universe is a means of reaching out to Him and the universe is functioning as a sign to His Necessary Existence, without which we cannot explain anything.  Even if we say, how can I reach satisfaction, that concern becomes meaningless anyways.

Comment:  There is no eternal happiness in this universe, and I wonder what satisfies me here.  What am I seeking in this journey of eternal happiness while I am acknowledging and connecting with the Source of Existence?

We need full satisfaction as a result of the recognition of the Source of existence of our feelings.  We can be successful by being aware of the Creator of our feelings and being aware that the material side of the universe cannot satisfy me.  Our life in its entirety needs full satisfaction, i.e., when I get something, I feel that I need more and more.  That is correct, but spiritually, what I can experience is the presence of an Absolute Being in my interactions with the rest of the world.  The body feels nothing as far as the relationship with another being is concerned, but the feelings are there which gives the news that the Creator of these feelings is an Absolute One, whereas another being/your friend is a transient being.  If you say that I love my friend for the sake of friendship, you get only a temporary pleasure mixed with pain that you will both die.  That is painful, because we cannot get rid of this reality.

Yes, there is no full satisfaction here, we can experience full satisfaction spiritually but not bodily which can be experienced only temporarily. But as much as we are aware and conscious of the source of existence and keep our awareness that we are always interacting with Him, through what He creates for us temporarily.  Although the things that exist for us temporarily have the Creator’s presence permanently.  That is how we understand that He must be a permanent Absolute One.  Nothing is permanent in this world, but the Creator’s qualities keep constantly manifesting and introducing themselves to us.  Again, there is not full satisfaction in this world, that is why we need resurrection with full satisfaction of our experiences.  It is very human to feel the need for the description of Paradise as it is presented in the Quran, as if this is my present and you need this (Permanent satisfaction with nothing missing in it, always constantly present with you.). That is why our experiences are refreshed every moment, because we need this realization.  After resurrection, we need a body which will enable us to experience what the human spirit needs (as much as we are aware of it).  

Example: you take care of your child, and no one tells you to do so.  This need of providing protection for your child is a message that you also need a source of protection.  Also, by taking care of your child, you are accepting the invitation from your Creator that through these experiences, you get to be in the presence of your Lord.  We must connect to our Lord, and we must use ritualistic prayers to establish this loving relationship.  Also, this need for protecting the child is a messenger that you also needs protection from the source of your existence.

Finally, we must use all experiences to connect with the Source of our Existence, and that requires being conscious of our reality that nothing in this universe can provide me with the satisfaction that I need (lailaha), and only the One who makes me realize this need must satisfy me (illallah).

7:27 “O Children of Adam, do not let Satan seduce you, as he did your parents, causing them to leave Paradise, stripping them of their garment (God consciousness) to expose their nakedness to them: he and his forces can see you from where you cannot see them.  We have made evil ones (Satans) allies to those who do not believe.”

Satanic forces are whispering that urges us for immediate satisfaction and deluding us with the fact that the things will provide us with satisfaction.  Example: if you buy this item, then you will be satisfied.  That is our tree, this does not mean that we should cut it, rather we must be vigilant not to expect any satisfaction from “our trees”.  The Creator is only saying not to have any hope from the tree.  The things may appear to us as if they will satisfy us.  The sellers of the things see our weakness, and we do not see that those advertisements are cheating us.  We must use our human qualities and not get carried away by their flowery languages and presentations.

We must question the Source of existence of everything.  That is the start to religion, which is just our human reality.