Chapter Sa’d – Part 8

38:28 “Would we treat those who believe and do righteous deeds like those who spread corruption on earth!  Or would We treat those who are the God-conscious in the same manner as the wicked!”

Recap: This verse refers to the hereafter, and in principle these types of news needs to be confirmed.  In this world, we see that not only the believers are treated well, but unbelievers are treated well as well.  The Quran always says that the physical temporary means of this life is a means of education, so we should benefit from it. We need to understand that God does not physically favor the believers, however, belief brings peace in one’s mind and heart.  If from within, I am carrying doubts which do not serve as a stimulus, rather to make me despair, then how can I find tranquility in my existence.  How do I reconcile this apparent contradiction?

While an unbeliever is prosperous, the more worries concern him that s/he will lose all of it.  Everything s/he is accumulating, everyday more worries encompass his heart and mind. Also, death is always out there in the minds and feelings.  We must understand that physical prosperity does not necessarily bring safety in one’s life.  Temporary, yes, but human beings are created for permanence.  We can compare the flip side of this matter, even a believer may  not be given a material property.

The Quran’s news is not about prosperity in material wealth.  The believers are always prosperous in their spirituality. Whatever is given they are aware that it is an introduction to an eternal reality. It does not mean that we should not seek material property as well.  Prophet David and Solomon will demonstrate that.

38:29 “This is a blessed Book, which We have revealed to you so that they might reflect upon its verses and that those who are endowed with insight may take them to heart.”

In most of the cases in the Quran, “book” contains two meanings because they are interrelated with each other.  One cannot separate revelation in the form of Speech and act of Creation.  Human beings study the truth in the universe, and the Prophets bring the truth from the Creator to check in their truths.  The universe is a sign pointing to the qualities of its Creator.

“Yatadabbarun” means to reflect and stay on it, ponder over it, so that you will get really a conclusion and lesson from it.  Remembrance may take place from mind; you know something, and it may slip from your mind.  You may forget it and not realize its importance.  This memory may not have an active presence in your mind.  The Quran says that “uloolalbab” is people who have not only the insights but also the gist of the message in creation.  That is, the kernel of something, a deep understanding of what something means.  That is why, “tazakkara” means to deeply remember.  Superficial studying the universe and the Quran does not help anyone much.  It may remind you of the Speaker, and helps you understand some reality, but not as much as your mind and spirit needs to be satisfied.  Belief requires spiritual satisfaction, your mind and heart must be in peace, I am sure who I am and what I am doing here with no worries.  Serious worldly comfort may disturb your peace if you do not use them to get the message in them introducing their Giver, because you know that at the end you will leave all of them behind and disappear from existence.  Belief is to have security in the meaning of your life.  Deep reflection and thinking of understanding your reality go into the heart.

• If I experience this security once in my life, then I understand that my existence is fragile, and I cannot guarantee anything.

Comment: How does belief bring in serenity if it starts with a logical conclusion?

It starts with a logical conclusion but does not stop there. When the police put shackles on a victim, s/he cannot use arms, but s/he can use legs to run away.  Similarly, I can always use all my tools, mind, and feelings freely.  

Mind and feelings are different entities.  Mind is not the satisfaction of the heart.

Let’s say you go to the store and buy oranges.  Feelings say don’t buy it because it does not look good.  Mind says you need to buy it. If my mind is not satisfied, then how can I have a satisfied feeling?  My mind collects information and looks at matter and describes beauty in physical terms, i.e., red, good smell and nice shape.  But my feelings love it or do not.  Some things may look ugly to someone, but it may look beautiful to others.  It all depends on how information is collected and analyzed.

When the mind is satisfied, it needs the confirmation of the satisfaction with the feelings.  When I conclude that this universe must have a Creator, how do I love the Creator?  My mind loves through mathematical formulation, which counts physical objects.  If my mind does not confirm something, I cannot tell my feelings to love it.  Example: if I never experienced mangoes, can I love it and enjoy the taste?  No. Mind and feelings work together, but that is one’s personal experience, you may like it but put it aside.

First, the mind must be satisfied, and have a physical experience of something, have a formulation and reasoning of things.  Example: carpet is made of thread, but my mind says that the thread cannot make the carpet, they have no consciousness.  Even if someone tells me that one billion years ago, the strings got together, however, I do not see something in the nature of the carpet as such. I see no consciousness and choice in the threads because my mind is not satisfied that the carpet can be made by the threads because the threads does not have the notion of beauty, does not have the capacity to decide, and make the decoration symmetric.  Symmetric cannot happen randomly (zawjain), impossibility of the combinations of two things complementing each other and contradictory to each other.  My mind rejects it, then my feelings confirm this rejection.  I love the color of this carpet, and that is how I expect it to be, confirmed by my feelings.

Satisfaction of mind concludes satisfaction of the heart.  If the mind is not satisfied, then hearts and feelings cannot be satisfied.  It is a prerequisite for the feelings to be satisfied.  Belief starts with the process of mind, i.e. this universe needs to be created, therefore there must be a Creator, mathematical equation.  Feelings say that if I exist, I must have a source of existence, that is what I am looking for.  We cannot separate one side of human beings from another. Just as to walk, you must have both legs, with one leg, you cannot run fast, hence we must combine all bodily functions.  Another example, if the kidneys don’t work, you are in trouble because everything must work together.

• Similarly, a human being is a one unit being and we cannot be divided into parts.  
• We must see human capacity working together. Materialist Biology denies the spirit, they reduce it to the function of the brain. The brain also needs to be created and prepared by a conscious being, some call it Order-er, Designer and Creator.  Everything is perfectly given existence with the rest of the body.

38:30 “We granted Solomon to David; what an excellent servant he is! Indeed, he constantly turned to God.”

The previous verses were about our relationship with feelings, there must be a reason for this jumping. Now it is time to give a real-life example through Prophets.  My spirit is what makes me, I include consciousness, I include mind.  With the meaning I get, it is spirit. Material side goes to the earth but meaning remains with me.  Consciousness and human self are two parts of the same entity.

He is always and constantly turning to God.  That is a certain way of understanding the Quran, which some scholars don’t agree with.  Whatever the examples given in the Quran is my example. The Quran narrates a story to relate to me, I must understand the Quran in the present tense.  My future must be taken care of by my Absolute Creator. If He is Absolute then He is beyond time and space, my existence belongs to Him, and I cannot speak of my life with past and present for I am experiencing it right now. We are given the memory to remember the past, and the expectations to hope for them to happen in the future. But we must realize that the memory and the expectations are experienced right now. 

Next creation is my necessary conclusion, as I experience the death of other people.  Also, I am not subject to past present and future if I connect my existence in relation to my Source of Existence.  If we want to be excellent worshippers, we must turn to God right now in the present which means being conscious that what we have experienced in the past and what we are hoping to happen in the future and what we are experiencing right now all are to be attributed to the Absolute Creator who is beyond time and space conditions. 

38:31 “When the well-trained, swift horses were brought before him in the evening.”

We don’t like darkness. When we fall into negligence, darkness prevails everywhere, and I don’t realize what am I doing in this world, everything slips from my mind. But we should never forget that we are given consciousness which never falls into darkness. It is always awake to remind us that negligence is the choice and we should not choose it. Otherwise, the function of free will would be denied. For some biological reasons if someone loses his consciousness partially or totally, then he is not responsible for anything he does.

38:32 “He said, I love to love good things because of remembrance of my Lord, and when the horses disappeared from sight,”

Loving the qualities of the good things means that I am happy with my Creator who provided the good qualities to me, and this love provides the source of joy in my life.

• If I didn’t have the sense of loving, I would not appreciate the taste of loving something, and would not be able to understand how the Creator of these things is generous and entertaining me in this world.

Yes, I love the love of good things.  The sense of loving the objects may cause us and keep us away from remembering God or it can keep us to love God depending on how we use our free will.

When God wants to teach me how to correct my mistakes through real-life experiences, he gives examples on the prophetic practical life to correct myself. Otherwise, He teaches me the foundations of belief matters by presenting examples from the creation or from our feelings with abstract reasoning and of experience of our feelings.

Worship= which kind of attitude you assume of your being while living in this world, are you conscious of your Creator or by choosing to follow our ego-centric concerns immersed in the worldly life as a material entity only?  

• Worship means being conscious of your reality of existence.

Finally, Love of God cannot be imaginary, it must be practiced in our feelings, which are given the capacity to refer the beauty to its Creator.