Recap: Thus far, the subject has been about the Revelation of the Speech of God to human beings. We left off with verse 8 in part 2, where the case is being established for how Revelation gets conveyed to humankind through some means referred to as “angels”. Regardless of whatever means is used to convey the Absolute Speech of the Creator of the universe, we are given existence to understand what the Absolute Speech is all about as it pertains to fulfill the purpose of our existence. That is why God speaks and discloses Himself to human beings. Do we really need God to speak to us and give us guidance? We must question ourselves, what am I going to do with the guidance from Revelation.
One may claim that they are all set in their worldly lives, with financial stability, a beautiful spouse and children, good relationships with people, and a healthy life. Is there anything else that is needed? We want to be young, healthy and happy forever, although we know that we will die one day. We cannot hold on to this desire, let alone our physical side, because our consciousness is aware of the transient reality of this universe.
Where did we get this need of eternal happiness from? How come we are aware of our consciousness? If we understand the reality of our consciousness, it means that we understand that we do not own it. If we do not own our consciousness then as an extension we can not own anything in the universe.
Life is beautiful but with contradictions. I have feelings of wanting to be eternally happy but that is not possible in the conditions of this life. This want and desire is given to me, and yet I cannot own it. Human beings have feelings to have everything in perfect form forever. Although we do not know where these feelings came from, we know that we cannot hold on to any of it. Everything is fleeting away from us. Youth bids farewell gradually, the human physical side starts to decay steadily, our children grow and change and yet we cannot stop it from happening or control any of those continuous changes. This should make me wonder: What am I, really?!
Although I may not be able to describe who I am, I know that I want to be eternally happy. This contradiction leaves us perplexed. Now we need guidance to solve this human contradiction. I am made in a way where I need everything in perfect form and I cannot get it. Nothing in this world can guide me because everyone is bewildered about this human contradictory dilemma within themselves. Therefore, how can something of this universe give me guidance as everything is subject to the same contradiction that I am in?
We all are going through the same existential journey. The real purpose of life is to find ways to fulfill our human desire. Although our human desires do not belong to us, we find ourselves existing with it. Thus, they are given to us. These human desires are forcing us to look for a permanent solution. Where should I find such a solution? The One who created me must provide me with the answers to my human questions.
I need guidance from a One who gave me existence within this contradiction. He makes me experience a fleeting life, but also gives me a strong desire to receive eternal happiness. The purpose of our life is to fulfill this aim of eternal happiness. Within this world, it is not possible at all to attain eternal happiness. Nothing in this world can make up for this human desire, but I find myself with this strong desire of eternal happiness.
With this human dilemma, human beings can either fall into complete despair or look for satisfactory answers to solve the contradiction of experiencing transience and seeking eternal happiness. There is only one satisfactory way that gets rid of this contradiction i.e. look for the One who has established this contradiction in the universe. That is, the One who has created me with this contradiction must be the only One who can help me solve this human problem.
Besides human existential problems, all other problems that we are attributing to life conditions will eventually come to an end when we die. If we are aware of our human reality, most of the problems that we are encountering in this life are mostly related to our bodily life in this world, only effective until we die. After we die, no one bothers about it anymore. However, human consciousness looks for a solution to human contradiction, the need for eternal happiness is valid and active forever. That is what we need guidance for – how can I become aware of the Source of my existence who will give me guidance to solve this contradiction and get rid of it?
We experience good and unpleasant moments here. With the unpleasant experiences, we learn from it, and hope that it will never happen again. With the good experiences, we hope for more of it, and get into despair of losing those moments. The greater value we attribute to this world, the greater our pain. For example, if you only have $ 500 in your wallet and lose your wallet, you will not be that pained as opposed to having $ 50,000 in your wallet. Similarly, the bigger our worldly aims, the bigger our pain. Without any proper guidance of fulfilling the purpose of our existence, we are in a desperate human situation; the past is lost, we cannot guarantee the expectations of our hopes and desires, and we cannot stop time, let alone guarantee our future.
What kind of creation is this? Mysterious, yet wonderful. We must ask the One who gave us this contradictory situation to help us solve this dilemma, for He must help us get out of this human contradiction. That is why guidance is needed about this case.
Can the universe itself help you? No. The universe is dependent on a One that sets up its order. Can the stars help you? No. The stars and the galaxies are all subject to a perfect order by a One that establishes this universe and brings it into existence. What about your fellow human beings, can they not help you? No. Everything here is bound by time i.e. Whatever established this order of the universe is taking sovereignty of everything in the universe, including human feelings and expectations.
Can you desire something despite your reality? No. You find yourself wanting to be eternally happy. Can you deny it? No. But the reality of wanting to be eternally happy is pleasant. Hence, we cannot get out of our human reality. We are bound within the way that we are created, there is no way out. Impossible! What is treating us in this way? There is only one answer: The One who gave me existence must help me attain eternal happiness.
Although full of contradictions, our existence is consciously arranged. Even in problematic situations, everything is consciously arranged. For example, are your nails growing accidentally? No. Is there anything happening accidentally out of the order of the universe? No. Whether we accept it or not, we must always follow Something beyond our limits and control here. What can this Something be? This is a perfect way of experiencing the world, and it keeps us humble because we cannot claim ownership over anything. At the same time, it is valid for human beings to express that we are vulnerable in our existence, we do not control anything. Therefore, we ask the One who gives existence for a solution. However, the One who gives us existence cannot be found within this universe. This One you can call “God” or “Creator”. You expect guidance from God to help you with your essential human problems.
We cannot expect guidance from anything in this universe (as emphasized earlier), except the One who gave existence to this universe in a conscious way. Similarly, we cannot expect our Creator to give us guidance about things of this universe that are obvious to us. For example, after a certain age, we all want to have a profession and get married. Your Creator will not guide you about how to get a profession or to get married. Every rational human being knows what to do to fulfill this desire. The word “zawj” in the Quran cannot be reduced to its literal meaning of “spouse”. Rather, the word “zawj” refers to the life contradictions that we are consciously put into by our Creator. Therefore, the guidance that I expect from my Creator is not something that I can discover within my experiences of this world.
The human expectations for guidance from the Creator of the universe is what matters. This relationship is what this section of the Quran is about. My Source of existence must provide me with the answers that I cannot solve with anything of this universe. How can I get guidance from my Creator then? Although the human being is a spec in the universe, it carries huge potentialities that goes beyond the limits of this universe. Human beings desire eternal happiness and there is no eternity in this universe. If the human being confines himself/herself to this universe, s/he cannot fulfill his/her human expectations. Human beings must know how precious they are as they carry human expectations bigger than anything of this universe.
Whoever endowed the human being with such expectations of desiring eternity, this One must speak to humankind and provide answers to the questions that cannot be found within the limits of this universe. Also, this One must not be within the capacity of this universe, because it is the Creator of the universe. Human potential receives this guidance and applies it in order to satisfy the human expectations which goes beyond the limitations of this universe. This relationship is amazing i.e. the human expectations will be fulfilled by the guidance from his/her Creator. In other words, the guidance that comes to a speck with huge potential and expectations that goes beyond the limitations of this universe into eternity will be met by his/her Creator. That is why this is the greatest event in human history i.e. the Creator of the universe speaks to human beings in order to give guidance to solve human expectations.
We may divert our human expectations to be fulfilled in this world only, which is unfortunately bound for a dead end upon death. We must know the value of our human expectations, and act accordingly. For example, if you need to go from point A to point B, you may rent a car and drive to the destination. Similarly, human beings must use their human qualities and feelings in this physical universe to solve the needs of their human expectations. We need guidance with how to read and benefit from Revelation.
ثُمَّ دَنَا فَتَدَلَّىٰ
53: 8 “Then drew near and came close”
An Absolute Being must speak to me within my capacity. I am a tiny creature but the Absolute Being is Infinite. If you know who you are, you would know that your desires go to eternity. Otherwise, if you define yourself as a being who just lives here until they die, then you do not bother about anything, because you don’t have any problem. Similarly, if you reduce your life to nothing, then when you die, you become nothing.
The One that created the human spirit “rooh” with endless potentiality, is speaking to this tiny creature, and knows his/her potentiality in order to satisfy the need of his/her immense capacity. We should listen to the Absolute Speech to get guidance in order to fulfill the purpose of our existence. We have to recognize who we are i.e. human potentiality for seeking eternal happiness is endless. We must know our value and use our human feelings to connect our existence to an Absolute Being. We all know that we are bound to die. Rather than being wasteful for 45 years given to us and not using all these feelings given to us in this world, we keep struggling with this dilemma until death. We must recognize how precious our human feelings are and act accordingly to fulfill the purpose of our spirit.
We must seek guidance for our human spirit, even if that requires traveling to the other side of the world. We must seek knowledge which will be everlasting for us. Any struggle in that way is worth it. That is how Revelation will come to me, a tiny being. Revelation will come from an Absolute Source in order to satisfy our infinite human desires. Otherwise, if we take the guidance from the Revelation to fulfill our worldly needs only, Revelation will never make sense to anyone. That is why some people say that the Quran does not make sense to them because they take it as providing guidance for this world only. Also, some people bluntly reject Revelation because they think that it is telling stories to take lessons from for this world’s sake only. If our aim is not to seek guidance to fulfill our human expectations that transcends beyond this world (answers to human existential questions), then Revelation will never speak to us. Revelation speaks to your spirit, and you must be open to receive its guidance.
فَكَانَ قَابَ قَوْسَيْنِ أَوْ أَدْنَىٰ
53: 9 “until he was two bow length away or even closer”
Revelation must inspire your spirit. A bow length is a traditional way of measuring distance, based on the size of an archery bow. The verse here is used to describe a moment of intensity that Someone is showing proximity. In other words, it is emphasizing the closeness that the Absolute Being is approaching you, a tiny being. This is possible only if you realize the potential of your human capacity. The more you are aware that your capacity goes into infinity, the more comfortable in your existence you feel. The Speech of the Creator has infinite meaning, it only makes sense to you if you expose your spirit to it. That is, the more you become aware of your human reality, the two edges of the bow come closer to each other.
Benefitting from guidance depends on you. It is within your capacity to seek guidance. In order to get guidance, you must discover yourself i.e. who you are and what do you want. The Source of guidance is the Absolute Creator, you must open up your spirit to realize and reflect on who you are in this world.
This verse is interpreted in a classical way as symbolizing the ascension “miraaj” of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). That is, the Prophet was expected to be aware of his potential reality and experience it densely. He was expected to reflect on his human reality to receive the message of God. Similarly, we must internalize this experience for ourselves. The ascension of the Prophet (pbuh) has to do with our life story. How should I make it my ascension? That is, the more you realize who you are, the better receptors you will have in your capacity to get the answers to your human questions.
Although the two edges of the bow are not connected to each other, they are linked through the overall bow. That is, the One who created me with an infinite need is speaking to me to answer my infinite human needs. I can not expect any other source to give me guidance except from my Source of Existence. If my source of existence is nature, then nature must provide me with answers. Similarly, if your Creator is your DNA, then expect answers from your DNA. We must stop being ridiculous! It is as if you are sitting by a lake and expect running water to reach your mouth and quench your thirst. Do you think that when you are thirsty and drink water, water satisfies you? No. Again, we must be realistic with our human expectations, for nothing in this universe possesses any qualities to satisfy our needs. It means that it is not water that is satisfying you but the Creator of the water, hence become aware of it. Similarly, if you look at your other idols, your idols are expecting your help. For example, you may think that the tree is feeding you with the fruits, rather the tree needs you to plant the seed, cultivate it, water it, and needs atmosphere to have the right climate to grow in.
Just as we may falsely associate divine power to our idols/caretakers who are in much need to be taken care of like us, the following Quranic verse paints a beautiful picture of our false idols.
لَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ نَصْرَهُمْ وَهُمْ لَهُمْ جُندٌۭ مُّحْضَرُونَ
36: 75 “They cannot help their idols, even though they serve the idols as dedicated guards.”
Anything that we think is the source of satisfaction for our needs is our idol, and yet it needs our care to survive, so how can it be our caretaker?! Impossible! If you listen to Revelation with your human side, it speaks to you. Otherwise if you just listen to Revelation for the satisfaction of your worldly life, then it is meaningless. I can benefit from Revelation as much as I open up my human side and transcend beyond worldly life. That is, the more I realize my reality, the more I benefit from the Absolute Speech of the Creator of the universe.
فَأَوْحَىٰٓ إِلَىٰ عَبْدِهِۦ مَآ أَوْحَىٰ
53: 10 ”So He revealed to His worshiper what He revealed.”
A worshipper is a human being that is aware of his/her Creator and connects his/her existence to Him. It is the created being “a’abd” and the Creator “ma’abood” relationship. This calls for expressing, “O Creator of the universe, I acknowledge You as the Source of my existence”. The more I realize my createdness, the more I realize my Creator. If the Creator is far from your reality, then there is no connection. We must make this connection alive in every situation. For example, if you want to be happy in life, realize that this desire is created for you by your Creator. Similarly, your desire not to be harmed is created by Him. The more you become aware of your reality (which is created), the more you become aware of your Creator. If you identify yourself with your body only, then your Creator becomes a tiny body. How insulting is it to your Creator ?!
Who are you and what is your Creator? When I realize my human reality, the Revelation comes to me and I establish my connection with my Creator and this becomes worship. That is, establishing a relationship with my createdness and my Creator, “uboodiya”. Your human potentiality is created by the same Creator, and to realize your infinite potentiality is also from Him. He is speaking to your human side, which goes beyond the limits of this universe. You can have this Revelation only possible as much as you have this worshipping relationship i.e. “uboodiya”. He is as much as you understand who you are. “Whoever knows who s/he is, that much s/he becomes aware of His Lord”. That is the worshiping relationship.
When your acknowledgment of your reality is being expressed to your Creator, in physical form through the ritualistic prayers, it is done through the same worshipping relationship established when realizing your reality. When you are aware that all the things that you have are given by Him, then you express yourself to your Creator consciously and emotionally with your body. You must worship your Creator wholeheartedly. That is why we must prostrate physically and we must be conscious of this acknowledgment, because we understand our human reality and what our Creator is, an Absolute Grand Merciful Being. Since we have feelings, we must use them to feel being in His presence, and open up ourselves to Him wholeheartedly. That is worship.
The awareness about what our Creator is begins with being aware of our reality. You cannot own anything in this universe and attribute your reality to any part of the universe. As much as you become aware of your reality, that much you become aware of the reality of the Creator of the universe. It makes life meaningful! Similarly, the meaning of the Quran becomes clear to you as much as you become aware of your reality.
The Creator of the universe reveals Himself to the one who is conscious of Him. It means that you can never grasp the Absolute altogether, but you can grasp as much as the consciousness of your worshipful position is. Does God put the limit to the consciousness of your human reality? No. One’s consciousness of His Creator depends on how much they realize their human reality. Just as a student would learn from a teacher based on the effort they put into studying for the subject, similarly, we increase our awareness of what our Creator is based on how much effort we put into reflecting and understanding our human reality. It means that we understand the Absoluteness of our Creator according to our awareness and need; it’s all about us.
Revelation is endless but we put a limit to it according to our realization. The worshipping relationship with our Creator lies in acknowledging who we are because the Creator, by definition, is Absolute. You can become aware of His reality as much as you become aware of your reality. Finally, Revelation guides you as much as you realize your need for guidance. What do you want to be guided with? The Speech speaks to the worshiper, the one who established a conscious relationship between himself and his Creator.