Chapter Sa’d – Part 1

Sad, 38th Revealed section.

Recap: The earlier revealed verses emphasize on the fragile nature of this world, how human qualities and feelings must be employed and respected in our lives.  Also, humanitarian, and social life is emphasized a lot. If we do not accept that the universe has an Owner, then we will destroy our life. The earlier revealed verses emphasize the destruction (spiritual turmoil) of nations who rejected the Prophets and did not take the message of their Creator seriously.  These verses pinpoint the practical side of the human feelings, i.e., if we think that there is no requital for our choices, we don’t take our responsibility seriously here. The Prophets were compassionate towards people and tried to teach them about their reality in a loving and friendly way.  Now, people who were not happy with the content of the message, did not accept the messengers as to be employed by God.  They believe in a Supreme Being, God but they do not want to submit to this God and their reasoning for denial has no sound rational base, for they never brought up a serious point of view with a counter argument. If someone is rejecting a very reasonable message, and trying to make up excuses, with no evidence and rational base against the content of the message, then there is a preconceived mindset here. As a result, one cannot argue with such people at a human level. For this reason, the Quran says that you are just being obstinate not to accept the message, for you have no real reason to prove your denial and thus, this will be the end of your life and you are bound to destruction.

That is why it was necessary for the Prophet’s life (in his life experiences) to have situations where some people resisted the message and did not let it spread. If someone does not let you share your understanding with other people, then there is some personal agenda behind such endeavors. The message was asking people to accept their reality, and not to be arrogant.  The deniers did not see the value in the message because it opposes their personal egoistic ambitions, and they fear losing their esteemed rights in the society.  Their psychological state of being was fear of losing value, i.e., if people get to know the reality of this existence, then their honor in the eyes of others will be lost. Think about it, if everyone admires you in a certain society and you enjoy it, if  the light of the guidance from the Speech of God arrives and makes it clear that the values of this society are completely corrupt. What happens? It becomes obvious to the people that their admiration of you is false.  We all know that we lose our unrealistic expectations if we accept the message. That is why it is impossible to come up with reasonable evidence letting know that the message is harming you.  Example: Your message is causing a problem because it contradicts my worldview.  Any sound rational being can confirm the truthfulness of the message within themselves.  Hence, the great majority of the people who reject the Prophets, that community needs to be given a good lesson.

38:1 “Sa’d. Consider the Quran, full of reminders”

“Sad” just catches my wonderment.  What is the verse referring to, in terms of reminding us about what is in us, what is my reality?  I am a needy created person. I need to be created.  Everything is given, and I cannot keep it.  I cannot secure my life by my own power because I have no quality of myself, everything is given to me.  I have the senses, understanding, feelings, and I need to be consistent with the message they convey.  The Quran says that I am full of reminders: ” I am not saying something that is strange to you, I am just reminding you what you are and what is in you.”

The message of the Creator is nothing but confirming what I have already been given. “Be consistent within yourself.  What is your value and reality, and I keep reminding you what you are because you keep deluding yourself with things that do not fit your reality, and I am calling you back to your reality?”  

The universe must be created by an Absolute being in such a way that we cannot reach the end of any knowledge about the reality of existence, including conducting research on the smallest measurement of a quanta.  We cannot even hold on to the passing moment or time, so how can we get to the depths of the universe and claim that we found something as the source of existence of the smallest particle of matter?! 

“Who is God?” The One who supports your needs. Why do you claim to be self-sufficient?  You cannot create anything.  You are created in such a way that you automatically feel that needy people must be taken care of, and when you help someone you again automatically feel happy. That means your Creator is telling you, “I am calling you to do this. Don’t cheat them or be arrogant over them.” No one is superior to others, as far as existence is concerned. Let’s treat each other as friends, and brothers in creation and be in harmony with our reality as we are created. 

The order of the universe treats everyone equally. Example: if you study well, you do well.  This is the equality before the choice of God. God does not treat and give privilege to some people over others if they do not deserve it. Believers are always mentioned as being superior to what? That is, they do not contradict their human nature/reality.  In other words, the message of God is plain and simple, if you contradict yourself, you will suffer.  Whoever contradicts his/her nature, s/he will suffer.  That is why there is equality before the law of creation.

Principles of organizing social life are based on human nature, these laws are a reflection of the laws of creation. If someone follows the reality of his own existence, he enjoys this life.  If someone corrupts himself, he enjoys momentarily but is always anxious about the existential future. 

38:2 “The unbelievers are full of arrogance.”

Why does unbelief appear as “arrogance”?  Unbelief is based on rejecting one’s reality as a created being. Some may attribute their source of Existence to something of this universe.  Everyone knows that all beings need to be given existence by the Creator of the universe.  I may say unconsciously that I am the result of accidental happenings. Nowadays, every interpretation of existence, studies how the universe is working, presenting to us and to other people, as happening by itself or randomly. The essential problem of this age is going deep into the atomic world and trying to discover something that cannot be measured.  To measure how existence is happening, you need a yardstick (letting you know of your limits as far as your reality is concerned).  Scientists cannot know what is going on in the entirety of this universe, and they go deeper to get an answer but there is no end to it, either in the macro or the micro words. It  is impossible to have a final yardstick to measure the reality of anything. That is why the scientists have to claim their own “made-up” yardsticks to measure things and come to a final decision about the cause of the existence of the subject matter they are investigating. However, the existential answer to this universe cannot come from this universe.  Furthermore, we can never provide a timeline of this universe, as you measure an object from beginning to end to get its length, or you put an object on the scale to get its weight.  The universe is not like that type of object, it is so dynamic in its creation, and it is created in such a way that no one can get hold of the end, by saying that if I start from this point, then I get everything.  IMPOSSIBLE! Since human capacity is bound to be within the capacity of the universe, then, it cannot get hold of the entire universe and measure it neither in macro nor in micro worlds. Neither can we change the way the universe is given existence, i.e. the order that the universe is subject to. In order to claim that we found the cause of the existence of the universe we have to get out of the universe and measure it. Can we? IMPOSSIBLE! We exist within the universe, we cannot even imagine that we are out of the universe. Human capacity cannot reach the end of the universe. We have to accept our reality of total dependence on theCreator of the universe. Therefore, we have to accept that the universe including in it as a whole must have a Creator who is not of the nature of the universe. 

The universe must be created in such a way by an infinite Absolute Being that every action is related to the infinite qualities of its Creator, and we cannot grasp how existence happens, let alone this Absolute Being.  When scientists come to the level of quarks, they cannot measure and calculate it, and as a result, they say that all is happening randomly. They refuse to give a chance to the idea that this is created by a One not of the nature of this universe, Absolute Being. If someone is insisting that I am going to explain the reality of everything within the universe, not referring it to the source of existence, then it insinuates that the Creator’s qualities are limited within the universe. That is the problem of this age, limiting existence to this universe only.  Rather, the things point to the necessary existence of a Being whose infinite qualities manifest in the universe.  There is no limit to these qualities manifested, and they don’t change that someone can stop it, space and time wise.  If you look at the location of a thing, it disappears.  Why does this trouble some people?  Well, they want to explain the reality of matter within the matter itself but they cannot even get hold of the matter in its finality. That is, if they want to keep the smallest part of matter, according to their claim, as soon as they see it it disappears and is given another existence, which we call “time.” Nothing can sustain its existence even for a transient period of time. Existence is constant. That means its Creator must be an Absolute One with no limitations whatsoever! 

That is why they say that quarks and quanta are happening on a random base. Rather, our human inability to grasp infinite qualities must be infinite, that is why I cannot get to the end.

Sense of self-sufficiency and arrogance reflects that I am going to declare my independence in my existence. How can you, you are totally subject to the order of the universe? The entire universe declares their existence to be totally dependent on its Creator; He is your Owner.  Why don’t you stop insisting on denying your reality? If you look at yourself, you know that your senses have no limits, and you can practice them as much as you want to develop as a human being.  The deniers know the reality but do not want to submit to their reality.  If someone conditions himself not to accept that this universe may be created and given existence by something other than the universe itself, then that is a choice.  We can understand the Creator of the universe with an art example. I can only explain the piece of art not within itself, rather in relation to the artist.  That is, the artist cannot be within the art and be part of the art, that is human logic, and you cannot deny it. The Cause of existence of this universe cannot be found within the result of this cause/the universe. If someone takes my wallet out of my pocket, can I say that it disappears by itself, we all look for a cause, who did it?

I am not going to accept the author because I am not going to submit myself to the Creator. Claiming hostility towards the reality and truth that God presents to human beings through the Prophets destroys my claim, therefore me. If someone defends the truth, that means they want to get rid of falsehood deluding them from reality.

38:3 “How many generations have We destroyed before them (for the same sins? They called out (to us), but it was too late to be saved”

Here, every moment that disappears is death. Can we stop aging? No, there is an order and everything is passing within an order according to the will of the One who established the order. When they are given death, they have to accept that I cannot keep my life and I am not self-sufficient. I cannot claim that I own myself. He is operating on us as He gives us life and He will give us death within this transient and created work. We are given the ability to understand that this world is given existence by a Creator.

The One who gave us existence, is educating us to get knowledge of my Creator, so I can train myself on how to communicate with my Creator. Before it’s too late, we have to admit the reality and never contradict ourselves, i.e., the reality that we can understand with all our senses, all human side of my being can understand it and it is very comforting for a human being to be aware that my Source of Existence is the absolutely Powerful One, the All-Absolutely Knowledgeable Being.  The universe is given to me, appropriate to my needs. 

The universe is prepared in such a way that I can benefit from it, understand intellectually and benefit physically.  When I appreciate the way anything, the universe is created, its Creator is happy with me. That is the mutual relation between me and my Creator.  If we do not appreciate it, then by old age, we cannot keep ourselves from being unchanged.  You do not get old, someone is giving you a new existence,  reminding you that your life will be taken one day from this place, this is a preparation process for your life eternally.  Don’t be arrogant and have false self-sufficiency, you are totally dependent, whatever you claim is a false concept.  Your heart does not will according to your will, your feelings are prepared for you, you can choose to use them in the right way or harm yourself with the misuse.

38:4 “And they were surprised that a warner has come to them from among themselves. And the deniers said, this is a magician, a liar.”

If you do not want to confirm your own reality, then you are being dishonest to yourself. The Prophet (PBUH) is using his freewill in an appropriate way as an exemplary way, to warn people that they are contradicting themselves by misusing their freewill.  He is given guidance from the Creator, He has not spoiled his nature and is entrusted to convey the message. I confirm the message because it is appropriate to my reality, the message represents my reality.  You are not losing anything by accepting your reality.   Every human nature realizes it, every single thing is perfectly adjusted. How can I say that all perfectly functioning things are coming into existence within a perfect order, and this is the result of random happenings?  Which human mind can accept his existence to be random?  That is the trick to scientific interpretations.