New Literature for a New Era

Here are some of those simple miracles in the Qur’an – self-evident and compelling:

1. The first message revealed by God in the Qur’an was: Read! – “Iqra’!” This was 1400 years ago, at a time when reading material was scarce; libraries a rarity; printing unknown; and reading mostly the prerogative of the rich and the powerful such as royalty, nobility and clergy. The world since then has been evolving in the direction of this divine commandment of “Iqra’!” – Read! The world now does what the Qur’an commanded it to do 14 centuries ago.
2. The Qur’an refers to itself as “The Book.” A book, in the burning desert of Arabia, 1400 years ago, at the hands of a man who could neither read or write?
3. The word “Qur’an” itself means reading; or to read; or something to read or to be read. Talking about reading at that time, in that place and environment, and naming a book “Reading“? How can a human mind come up with something like that? The Qur’an set the trend that the rest of the world was to adopt in later centuries.
4. The Qur’an says that God taught human beings through “the pen.” There is an entire chapter in the Qur’an called “The Pen.” And not a single mention of the word sword! And this in a world of 7^th Century? It does not make sense unless you believe in the divine origin and miraculous nature of the Qur’an.
5. The Qur’an refers to human collectivity with that most amazing of all names, “The People” – not mankind, even though that is what unfortunately you may find in some of the translations, but “The People.” And it does so consistently every time – well over 200 times. The world has finally caught up with the Qur’an on this issue.
6. The Qur’an refers to the sun as the lamp and to the moon as the light – and it does so consistently every time.
7. The Qur’an says God made every living thing out of water.
8. The Qur’an invites human beings to reflect and to reason their way to the discovery of truth and their way to God.

The list goes on. The entire Qur’an, as you read it, is one miracle after another that challenges the reader to stop and to reflect and to decide.

Therefore, what you have in your hands is not an ordinary book. It is God’s abiding miracle that he chose to place in our mortal hands out of love and compassion for us. Yet it is not the actual Qur’an, but only an English rendering of its passages – a mere translation.

It is not possible for human minds to fathom or translate the word of God in any language. A translation, no matter how well done, is only an attempted approximation to the real thing. It is limited by the background, culture, abilities, skills and understanding of not only the individuals doing it but also of the time and culture in which the attempt is undertaken.

A classic example is translating the word An-Naas as “Mankind,” just because that was the prevailing expression at the time of the translation. But the Qur’an itself has nothing to do with that expression: “Mankind.”

Qur’an’s own word An-Naas is gender-inclusive. It applies equally to men as well as to women. The only word that comes close to it in the English language is “people.” The word An-Naas was given to us by God at a time when our own English language did not have anything even closely resembling it. In fact that was a time when what we know as English language today was still in its prenatal stages in the wombs of Latin, French and several other parent languages.

The story of the world, therefore, has been one of trying to catch up with that divine concept and expression – An-Naas. If the Qur’an had given the world nothing but this one word, or if the Qur’an had given the world nothing but the commandment that says “Read!” the world will still be in Qur’an’s debt forever.

The question, therefore, is what do you do when you hold a copy of the Qur’an translation in your hand? I don’t know how many people have ever asked this question of themselves, but it is a question worth asking. The answer is simple: Let us just read it! And let us do so, however, with the greatest humility and respect and with the clearest heart and mind.

And that is quite possibly the single most important thing we will ever do in our life: reading the Qur’an.

If possible, take a shower or a bath. Make sure your body is clean. Make sure your clothes are clean. Wash your hands and mouth and face. And then ask God to protect you from the Devil. And then begin in the name of God, the most merciful, the most compassionate and full of grace.

And then be aware that you are reading the word of God – even though you may be reading it only in translation form and therefore many levels and several degrees removed from the original Arabic text. Yet, in picking up his book to read, you are more directly and immediately in the presence of God than you have ever been before.

Ask God to guide and help you. Ask him to open your eyes, heart and mind to his light. And then read with great humility and respect. But at the same time, keep your critical and reasoning human faculties about you. At every stage ask yourself if in the light of what you know, whatever you were reading was true; if it made sense; and if it sounded logical and reasonable and practical.

Allow yourself to be intrigued by what you read. When you read something that you do not understand, investigate and research it further. Do not be afraid to reason through and question what you read. But do so respectfully and with a view to find the truth – and not to score points.

God’s word is clear and robust enough to withstand any light you may shine upon it. In fact, the more light you shine upon it, the more that light will reflect back upon your own heart and soul and illumine them – provided you are truthful and honest and you leave your common human arrogance and partisanship behind.

So, as you read the translation of the Qur’an, reason and question and rationally and critically inquire your way through to God’s light and guidance. And be mindful all the time that what you have in your hands is only a translation – and not the real thing.

After that it is you and your God – each alone and face-to-face with the other. No one can get between the two of you. And that is the most wonderful place for anyone to be – alone with God Almighty, the most merciful, the most compassionate and loving, and the most full of grace and bounty.

If you truly want to find him and go to him, and then he, on his part, wants to have you, there is no one and nothing that will stop you from getting to him. If that does not happen, that means you have not received the invitation from him. That means you are not on his priority list; and it is not yet time for you to be accepted by him.

Somehow you have allowed the Devil to cloud your judgment; to pollute your heart and mind; to clog the arteries of your soul; and to arrest your progress toward God. If at this stage panic and fear grip you, it is a most natural thing to happen. And it could be a good thing – provided you make sure your panic and fear make you run to god and not away from him.

Throw yourself at God’s mercy. Evidently, your only recourse now, as always, is God and his mercy and grace. You must now double and redouble your efforts and your supplications to him to help and guide you and have mercy on you. His mercy, he says in his book, is not far from good people.

At the same time, don’t hesitate to talk things over with those whose knowledge, judgment and integrity you trust. And then watch the torrents of divine mercy pour down on you and around you.

May God’s “As-Salaam” – peace, blessings and all the wonderful things of this world and the next world – and his Rahmah (mercy, love and grace) cover and envelope those who seek, pursue and embrace his guidance!

END

© 2004 Syed Husain Pasha

Dr. Pasha is an educator and scholar of exceptional 
talent, training and experience. He can be reached at DrSyedPasha [at] 
AOL [dot] com or www.IslamicSolutions.com.

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