Chapter Takathur – Part 2

102: 5 No indeed if you only knew with the Knowledge of Certainty

102: 6 You shall most definitely see Hellfire

102: 7 And again you shall surely see it with an eye of certainty

You get a book because it is nicely decorated but do not read it. What good is this book? What shall I do with the material/body of the book? Book is beneficial to me with the meaning that is transferred to me.

Similarly, what good is the book of the universe?

My body is my material side of the book, the meaning side is the human side – the one that becomes aware of what the material side points to, which is the meaning. Human soul is the meaning of my existence.

The meaning has no limit whereas the material has a limit.

Do we see ourselves as a walking/talking book?

You realize what is going on in your expectations. Your eyes only see a certain distance even with sophisticated tools and despite using certain lenses. Your ears hear limited to a certain range and legs are limited to a certain range. But I want Eternal Satisfaction, I do not want any end to the expectations of my satisfaction. I cannot grasp the limit to my limitations of humanity, it is endless. I am expected to discover what is in me. This is the starting point. A lot to discover. Come to ourselves and discover what is in us.

‘Knowledge of Certainty’ (Yaqeen)

In the Quran, certainty means “yaqeen”. You can only reach this certainty within yourself because you can experience the infinity. I can experience the infinity – I cannot put an end to my expectations and desires. All human beings share this common quality. All experiences around the world repeats. All the experiences we have is to get to know our human reality. This body is just a tool that I am experiencing with to get to know my human reality. For example, hunger, need to eat, getting the taste. Through the meaning in the book of my being, I am experiencing not only the material flesh of the food but what is the meaning in it. Body and meaning has communication now. Taste is deposited in the food, I can appreciate it, I communicate with the taste. It is through the soul that human beings get in touch with the outside world and their meaning deposited within it.

Consciousness comes and turns this experience into a meaningful form.
Human conscience is the pillar of humanity.

Materialist philosophy says we must use our reasoning in order to get more meaning from material side of the world, rather than getting the meaning of my existence, because they reduce the book to paper. Do they read the meaning of humanity? Have you tried to see the meaning in matter itself?

When there is no meaning, book is reduced to material paper only, not the meaning. People should try to see the meaning in the matter, rather than just study how the matter works.
When I realize this universe is like a book, not just a collection of paper sheets, then I will be inclined to get the meaning from it and not being dualist i.e. paper and meaning or body and soul – again not being dualist, just two aspects of one being, both of which address the two aspects of human beings: Material body and the meaning ingrained within it, like a book.

My soul is experiencing the meaning. The brain as flesh is going to die, human soul is the one looking at the meaning not the brain.

There is non-real side of matter, matter is what it is – matter. Matter is not subject to infinite. How can the brain desire infinite by itself when it is subject to death after a certain period?

Human side must be greedy in its nature because you cannot put an end to its desires and expectations.

We cannot put an end to the human desires and expectations. I am not greedy, these expectations are within me, that’s how I have been made.

A book needs to be read to communicate with the author through its meaning.

I do not communicate with matter but meaning, i.e. what corresponds with soul. Although I eat materially, I communicate with the meaning side/eternal side of the food. How does one communicate with the author of a book, by holding the book and papers at first? We cannot communicate with the author by simply holding the book and not reading it.

I am encountering the meaning in the existence of the world, through my soul – acknowledge the Source of existence, the Creator. That is reaching the reality i.e. “knowledge of certainty”.

This world has no meaning as far as body is concerned. When I read myself as a talking book, I say: “what is going on with me and things I am communicating with?” Example: You love beauty and you get the message in the existence of everything. I am going to encounter the meaning in the existence of the world to match the meaning in my existence. That is why human beings are created to get to know who they are and who their Creator is.

102:6 “You shall most definitely see Hellfire,”

Why is the verse making a comparison between Yaqeen and Hellfire?

If I do not recognize my eternal need, what is left? Vacuum or the lack of it.

Why fire? When one doesn’t reach certainty then there is a vacuum.

Is there anything in the universe that you cannot satisfy in the material side of the universe?

Love is always there, and affection is always there but I want more. The whole universe is my property, can I get satisfaction from it? No, I want more. “We are all Your needy admirers’. That is not enough for us as we will always look for what we do not have.

When everything is mine, what should I do with all those things?

Eternal satisfaction is not available in this universe (I am certain of it, that is the result of my practice of the universe).
Fire cannot be satisfied, the more you put into it, the more fire burns (that is Hell)

Three things that cannot be satisfied in the universe:

Human soul cannot be satisfied with anything in this universe. Human soul yearns for eternity, universe is transient.
Fire cannot be satisfied, metaphor – you cannot make it more – fill it, fire never says that is enough. Hell is represented as “fire.” Hell is where wrongs are represented and there is no end to wrong conclusions.
The meaning we extract from creation. Can I get to the end of beauty? The end of justice? Compassion? Mercy? I experience only countable numbers of things coming into existence, but the beauty and the other qualities are uncountable.

The more I recognize and acknowledge a quality such as love, that much I experience the lack of it if I do not see the Source of that love.

When we do not communicate with the universe and introduce ourselves to the Source of meaning in creation, then we experience the lack of Eternal Satisfaction (hell), rather than Eternal Satisfaction (Paradise) when I recognize the Eternal Source.

Divine Speech can never be read literary.

We aim the destination of the path. We do not walk in the destination. We walk towards the last destination of the path.

Non-fulfillment of our expectations is hell.

They will certainly reach certainty – when trying to satisfy the material body: Best food, house, for example. When man realizes the spirit is a separate entity from the body – the best food doesn’t mean anything anymore.The one who needs eternal satisfaction is now experiencing eternal lack of satisfaction. Is there any end for satisfaction in this world?
Eternal lack of satisfaction and its continuation is referred to in the Quran as “fire”.

Meaning is endless = knowledge of the Author is endless.

If one starts elementary school and learns something and stops. What is left, all the lack of knowledge that could have been obtained.
When I stop getting the meaning in creation – how will I get eternal satisfaction?
I will be lacking all the meaningful communication that could be obtained to fulfill my eternal satisfaction.
Recognizing that there is no end to getting the meaning – that is Imaane. belief.
I know this much, and I know it has no end. That is “yaqeen”.
With every bit of knowledge as a result of experience, would that add to something we didn’t know. Yes, I become aware and know more.

Question on being obsessed by greed. It is not implying that it is bad to have that greed?

If I collect books but do not read them – what good is that collection of books? That is what the reminder of the Quran is telling me. Human soul never gets satisfied with anything in the universe, so there should be no greed. To read the book and getting the meaning is not greed. The greed is for the sake of collecting the books. I am obsessed with obtaining the world in a greedy way.

Everything has two aspects, the corporal and then meaning. In this sense, we must be “dualist” to make the distinction. Like a book has two aspects, paper and meaning.

Quranic verses describe the satisfaction: Anytime, they receive the favor of God, they say thank you, express their happiness of God. Faces will be bright, shiny, lit and as they see their Lord (his disclosing His qualities to them), they are pleased.

In paradise, no one must suffer with the lack of anything. What is presented to the being, that is what is presented in this life and what is made out of that according to his capacity.

“Eye of belief”- This universe cannot be the object of knowledge to make my life meaningful. After getting knowledge of this universe, one realizes that this world has no satisfaction and that is belief or yaqeen. The hellfire can be felt here. E.g. At 80 years of age, what will I do with owning the Empire State building? I need only one comfortable bed and a room.

Everything we do in this world by itself is meaningless, one must see the meaning and communicate with the source of existence. We are sure that the last day for me will come, while eating, I can see that this can very well be the last meal. Any experience of enjoyment can be seen as such unless relating it to the one who brings the things into existence.

That is why we get to experience over and over again – opportunities to get the meaning. Otherwise, anything we do in this world is meaningless anyways.

The purpose of life is not to get the book but to read the book – get the meaning. We suffer from lack of purpose in life.

Satisfaction in knowing that I have an Owner – who is satisfying my needs. I am in the presence of my Lord.
Search for meaning for your life, rather than material pleasure only. “I have an Owner and He reminds me of His Presence”. We do not get excited because we do not have a reliable purpose of our life.

Fee sabilillah – in the way of the Lord.

Not to satisfy the stomach but to satisfy the human need in recognizing the Lord.

Balanced life?

How to strike the balance between my eternal needs and 8 hours need/satisfaction (work, school, money, food, family…)?

Working for a temporary time or for eternity? Can any number be comparable to infinity in mathematics? What good is to open schools that teach Quran and I never study what the Quran is teaching.
Real charity is to share and teach others how to read meaning of existence. Example: if you are learning science, try to get the meaning in the science that you are learning.
I am responsible for my life now, reach certainty now while I am here in this world. I realize that this world is transient, I am certain about that. So, there is no need in accumulating all the material goods, desires and pleasures because those expectations are endless.