Chapter Buruj – Part 6

Buruj part 6

Recap: 85:15 “He is the Lord of the Glorious Throne.”  The Supreme verse of the Quran (ayatal kursi) refers to the Glorious Throne as well.

How can I relate these verses to my life now and benefit from it?

What do you understand from the Lord of the Glorious Throne?

• Everything in existence has an aspect of the throne.  Everything exists with multiple qualities that we can read.  Example: an orange has different attributes such as shape, taste, nutrition, and color…  All these qualities being present in that orange signify something i.e. these qualities are coming from somewhere.  
• “Throne” is everything in creation i.e. His throne has encompassed and includes everything. 
• Something or somebody settles down somewhere.  

“Glorious” is an adjective describing the Throne.  There is a Lord and the “Throne” belongs to Him.  Whenever I see that the qualities are manifested on something, I need to ask whose are the qualities?  Is there anything in the world that own its qualities or existence (or whatever is happening) has the right to claim its qualities?

• Anything in creation with its qualities is the “Throne”. Those qualities have an owner.

• The Glorious throne represents the qualities of the authority in my life.
• The laws of the universe are all His Throne.

Is there anything in the universe which is not the Throne of the Creator?  

• Whatever qualities we see here, they are created in a purposeful and wise way.
• Beauty, shape, arrangement…are qualities manifested here.
• He is the Source of all the qualities that I see here, nothing is exempt from His qualities.
• His throne is everywhere.

Our qualities (feelings and freewill) are given to us so we become the user of these qualities.  We are not the originator of these qualities.  Look at yourself and ask the question given above, you will see that nothing in me can claim to be the Source of Existence of the qualities.  We are all consumers; we are not inventors.  We may say that “John has a creative mind.”  However, we need to bear in mind that qualities such as intelligence and creativity are given to us by the Creator of the universe. Do I give existence to my own brain, blood circulation, respiratory system?

In my life I encounter things and I question how come they exist.  Every part of the universe has some qualities and I understand that these qualities cannot come from the universe.  Hence, these qualities belong to something else.  Whatever we can comprehend, we can understand that everything is coming from the Creator’s will.

• Every property in the universe belongs to Him.  

Wherever I look and whatever I see, takes me to the Lord of the universe, that is very comforting.  Whatever I am interacting with, is for me to be in the presence of God.  We can be in the presence of God and I can live in this world like this in every occasion.  This needs concentration and this realization helps me understand the presence of God.

Everything belongs to Him.  Example: The tree is given life and that life is not from the tree itself.  The tree grows and then starts dying after a few years.  Just like giving life, the giving of death to the things also belongs to Him.  He gives death to the tree, just as He gives life to it.  Wisdom and purpose belong to Him.  

• In the life of the tree, the authority belongs to the Creator of the universe.  
• In the death of the tree, the authority belongs to the Creator of the universe as well.

Comment: The word throne refers to the order of the universe that everything is subject to.

All disciplines study various aspect of the universe.  Just as one atom is studied in different disciplines and whatever conclusions come out belongs to the Owner of that throne.  Let us enlarge the content of “order” i.e. creating wisely, purposefully, teaching human beings as far as human consciousness is concerned.  In other words, “We create everything in order to teach you who your Lord is”.  

Comment: How do we explain human disappointment with pain and suffering is by Him as well.

Pain is in creation and suffering is a human perspective.  

Example: I was given something in order to fulfill the purpose of my existence to teach me and become aware of the reality that the thing does not belong to me.  If I do not see this (i.e. who my Lord is), then I have the option of suffering. The other option is to realize that the thing is taken away from me to teach me that it was not mine to begin with.  Hence, I inflict pain on myself which is a suffering by having the wrong perspective.

Human beings can choose the opposite of justice.  Whatever I choose is created and the act of creation is just.  For example, when I cut myself, pain is created.  The feeling of pain and not being happy with the pain is to teach me that what I did was wrong. I should learn from my mistakes and make the right choices going forward.

As far as human beings are concerned, in order to know who my Owner is, I am always given two options.  One option is justice (reality) and the other option is lack of justice.  Whatever is created is for a purpose and I can choose either option.  The Lord of the throne demonstrates that you have chosen this and its created, now have you learned your purpose of existence from it.  

This world is a training place in order to appreciate what justice is, what health is, generosity, kindness, mercy, etc. We can avoid injustice and illness (as far as its within our capacity) and my feelings are given to me to make the right choices.  As a result, be thankful to the Health Giver, the Healer, the Just One.

We are given right/wrong options to choose from so we can learn what leads to pain.  Pain is created, I feel it but its creation is good. It lets me know that something is wrong, and I look for a way out of it.  Similarly, if there was no option to choose injustice, I would never know that justice exists in creation and injustice is wrong. 

• Everything is created in a just way.

Creation of the feeling which likes justice and dislikes injustice belongs to the Source of Existence, however the choice to act is mine.  Example: In the education system, when someone learns, s/he is happy with that learning.  Whereas, if someone does not listen to the teacher in a class, s/he remains ignorant and the teacher knows what is missing.  Remaining ignorant is a choice which teaches one to learn that the choice is wrong.  Just like the teacher, I can understand that my Teacher (God) must know what I am missing.

• If there was no option for choosing ignorance which is lack of knowledge, we would not know about what learning is.  Human beings are free to choose not to learn and remain ignorant.  

When we don’t like something and see injustice, we question this sense which teaches us that justice is a good thing.  Justice exists in the universe.  Everything is created in the perfect balance, order, and position according to their existence.  However, we may spoil this with our choices.  Example: Lack of light, we call it “darkness”.  Lack of light can be chosen by human freewill or arranged by the Source of Existence.  Just like a part of the universe is in darkness at night.  

• Darkness is a relative description of light which signifies lack of light, and is not real.  
• We are given the sense to make the distinction between the two options presented to us.

When I do not like something, I say this sense of disliking is given to me to make the distinction of what is good and what is not good for my understanding of existence.  Hence, I prefer justice by using my freewill and entertain justice as an example of listening to my feeling of seeking justice.

Through the feelings arranged within me by the Lord of the throne, I will be motivated and encouraged to choose justice.  

• The sense of disappointment is perceived and given to us through the sense of disliking injustice and valuing justice.  

As a matter of fact, only good is created.  Evil is the lack of good.  When there is something perceived as evil, that result is created by God. We need to watch for our usage of freewill.  That is why the Quran says: “All that is good is from God and what hits you that you don’t like is from you.”  It means that I have not chosen what I am supposed to choose by my freewill.

• All that you like is from God.  
• All that you don’t like is from you. However, there are some caveats such as illness and death created to seek our reality of wanting health and eternal bliss.

Life is beautiful so why is there death?

Life is valuable and you do not want to lose your life just like we do not want injustice to happen.  When you appreciate life, then you appreciate the Giver of Life. Connect your life to Him and understand that only He is the giver of life and can give you never ending permanent life.  When you attribute this conclusion to Him, you understand that only He can give you permanent life.  This universe does not answer these queries which only the Prophetic message assures that there will be a permanent life.  Expect permanent life from a real source that can give you, rather than nature.  

• Can nature produce justice, or can nature give eternal life?

Nature is created under the throne of the Authority of the universe!

• We need to concentrate: who is giving color, existence to sunlight?  Who is providing the qualities of different creations and making a beautiful scenery?  

• Who is arranging this relationship between me and the universe outside of me?

Comment: Water is also a sign of His signature.

Whatever we see in creation is the signature of the Creator i.e. manifesting the qualities of the Creator.  Let’s enlarge this concept of signature.  Every quality manifested in the existence of everything demonstrates that they can only belong to the One who creates the whole universe.

• Signature represents the authority of the Source of existence of all the qualities manifested in creation.

85:16 “Always doing whatever He wills.”

He, the Creator of the universe is constantly acting whatever He prefers, however He chooses, He wills and acts.  His action is not static.  The universe is dynamic, changing at every moment, nothing in the universe is static.  The order observed in creation is dynamic and in continuous motion.  Notice all the different kinds of continuous motion/actions happening in the universe, wonder at His act! 

• We don’t usually see that there is a gradual development in the universe. At every stage the creation is perfect. 
• Example: An artist is drawing a painting.  He uses different colors and adds different shapes, only then the picture becomes perfect.  

Is it the same thing going on in the universe?  No.  

Everything is given qualities from its Source of Existence at the same time.  

• Example:  Consider the fetus in the womb of the mother.  At every stage, all the qualities of the Creator are manifested (order, wisdom, knowledge… are there).  As the fetus grows, we think that it is perfected.  From one perspective for us, yes, it is perfected and undergoing the act of perfection.  At the same time, all the qualities are equally manifested/created.  Just like, yesterday’s baby was given a different existence and today’s baby is given a slightly different existence from yesterday.  According to our expectations, everything is becoming perfect.  As far as the fetus is concerned, at every stage, the manifestation of the Creator is perfectly manifested there.

• Example: A fruit is growing.  Act of creatorship is manifested as it grows i.e. attributes of the Creator (giving existence) are manifested.  In the same fruit developing that is now decaying, the act of Creatorship is equally manifested.  He is always manifesting His qualities as He wills.  

• In the painting, we see a gradual development.  But in creation, it is not like this, for us we see a gradual development, but everything is coming into existence right now.  In other words, He is always manifesting His qualities, but the observed part of the qualities may change according to our observation.

Let’s take another example to understand how existence is happening all at once.  For human beings, manifestation of the Creator is on the throne of water.  That is to say, the qualities of the Creator are the Real Source of authority.  Water is not the Source of authority but all the qualities in the water belongs to its Source of Existence.  

Life is given to all beings by an Absolute Source.  Do plants and human beings have the same qualities of life?  No.  God giving life to a tree is comparatively different than giving life to human beings.  Even if it is less life that we observe on the tree, after studying the tree, we can conclude that only the Absolute Owner of life can give life to the tree.  

What can be the Source of less amount of manifestation of life in an object?   

• Only the One who has an Absolute quality of life giving can give this small amount of life.

Example: Consider the amount of light coming from a tube light and a night lamp.  Can the material side of 1000 watts be the result of coming from the wire itself or the wire is a transmitter of the real source?  If the power generator did not provide that light, there would be no light.  How about the night lamp?  In order to produce that light in one watt, you need the power generator again.  Similalry, everything comes from the owner of the Absolute qualities be it life in a small tree or a big human.  

• Creation is at every moment.  He is always active in motion, nothing static but dynamic.  
• He adds every level of manifestation of every quality and is constantly demonstrating that my Source is the Absolute Owner of these qualities, not me.    

We can see the Absolute manifestation of the qualities in everything we see.  While people’s attitude towards each other, anger and revenge towards each other is disturbing but everything ends in justice i.e. we get what we deserve.  One side wants to deny the reality and the other side wants to spread the reality.  A person denying reality does not mean that s/he always denies the reality.  

• If this person repents to Him and turns towards the truth they will see that He is the One who loves, while people were committing mistakes. When people turn back from their mistakes, He welcomes and forgives them while they want to delete their mistakes saying: “I can delete it for you if you sincerely repent for, I am the Loving One.”
• Even if this repentance happens very late in life, the mistakes are deleted.  Example: A student fails in the first couple of exams.  The teacher tells the student to be careful as the semester is coming to an end. Death is approaching, and you are not doing your duty and not choosing the right options and falling behind by not learning anything.  By not choosing the right options, I was ignorant.  The student realizes his/her mistake and says that I am going to prepare for my exam before the semester comes to an end.  In the final exam, the student passes the exam.  The good teacher gives the student a passing grade according to what is earned.  However, in the Quran, the Creator says that I am going to treat you with the best of your actions.  I am not going to punish you for your previous failures because you now learned and fulfilled the purpose of your existence.  That is, He is the Forgiving One and Loving One and He never fails in His act of doing what He wills.  Every stage is a manifestation of His qualities at different levels pointing to the Originator of these qualities as to be an Absolute One.

The aim of the Quran is to teach us who the Creator is and what the qualities of the Creator are.  All the qualities manifested in the universe point to the Lord of the Glorious Throne.  That is the aim of the Quran to teach us about the Lord of the Throne.  

• At every stage in creation, it is His manifestation which points to His Absoluteness.
• My owner is the Absolute One and I belong to Him and I expect every human desire can be realized by the Owner of the Absolute qualities, who is the Lord of the Glorious Throne, God.

Learning is a gradual development process and we need to grow from every experience we have here!