surah xvi: the bees

surah xvi, the bees - the guidance of the qur'an is in the scripture of the living, of nature, of mother earth, surah xvi reminds us over and over: "and thy Lord inspired the bee" (xvi: 68) "there cometh forth from their bellies a drink diverse of hues, wherein is healing for mankind. lo! herein is indeed a portent for people who reflect"(xvi: 69)

honey. the sacred honey. my friend-guide in qur'anic matters tells me that honey was one of the most revered medicines of the prophet. if the honey of the bee is a sign towards the Greatness, what sign can we gather from the disappearance of bees, of their becoming a monocrop like the monocrops they are driven to feast on?

surah xvi is a homage to nature, to the delicate balance that is the Mother (earth), and how profound of a Gift the Mother is.

"therewith He causeth crops to grow for you, and the olive and the date palm...and all kinds of fruits. lo! herein is indeed a portent for people who refelct" (xvi: 11)

in babylon, forgetting the Gift is as easy as all you can eat sunday morning brunch, is as deep and convoluted as a a talk on prophecy and worship, and afterwards, a feast of chicken and beef and mad food on foam and plastic plates with plastic cutlery in trays of aluminum (and a bunch of other non-decomposables that holistically destroy Air Land Liquid Atmosphere Heat), and the homeless outside, stiff as the bare trees, cracking their hands for change, and a way into the event. babylon!!! and yet, this is so normal, not a bat of an eye, not a twitch of the nose from the religious, from the progressives and radicals.

somehow, in the course of babylon life, we forget that: "He it is who sendeth down water from the sky, whence ye have drink, and whence are trees on which ye send your beasts to pasture"  (xvi: 10)

think 3 generations ahead, three generations before, my abbu told me once. seven generations, the hopi said. think 7 generations ahead. live life for the planet your great great great....grandkids will tread on. surah xvi tells us to live in accord with nature, in alignment with it, for always, to live now in Harmony for Always. all praise is due...

surah xvi underlines the hypocrisy of rote practice in religion, in what has become the men and women of religion, who wear the name of surrender (islam), but operate with the utmost arrogance towards the Creation. the Creation, surah xvi, reminds us, is sacred, and aligning with it "is the direction of the way" (xvi: 9). this should be apparent to those who think, have sense, reflect, surah xvi reminds us like the hook of a song: think, reflect, use your senses, think, reflect, use your senses...think...

"and he hath constrained the night and the day and the sun and the moon to be of service unto you, and the stars are made subservient by His command. lo! herein indeed are portents for people who have sense" (xvi: 12)

we are too busy - i am too busy - thinking with my indiryas (senses), with my belly - dem belly full, but they hungry, marley tells us.

in traditional chinese medicine, there is yang and there is false yang, there is yin and there is false yin. eating beyond our capacity is false yang, is transporting more food than our body can digest. any food, no matter how "good for you", becomes toxic after a certain amount.

the opportunity to reflect is eclipsed by our ego, by our condescension on the laws of nature. forgive me. forgive me if you have been subject to my crooked nose held higher than the 3rd world that colors me. forgive me for soaring above the sun. i forget ALLAH, that i am the sun, that my destiny is tied into the large chinese man i practiced shiatsu channels on today. i forget to love those who hold high their keys to their social clubs, institutions, organizations, companies, noprofits, and keep me locked out. i forget that they are also hurt.

our hurt grows with arrogance, with our unwillingness to be supple. to understand that we may not understand, that our words have power and our keys, if we hold them, if we are in positions of babylon power, affect the bread of others. in the process of forgetting we tune in to iblis-frequency, to clear channel stations - 95.5, hot 97, z100, power 105... from pop to hip hop, genres of devil frequency that has us feeling insecure about our clothes, has us wanting to drop a thousand on a date, that prioritizes the left lane, and f everyone else in the way -

"so enter the gates of hell to dwell therein for ever. woeful indeed will be the lodging of the arrogant" (xvi: 29), unlike those who show humility, who surrender, "for those who do good in the world there is good" (xvi: 30). this includes those "who became fugitives for the cause of ALLAH after they had been oppressed, we verily shall give them goodly lodging in the world, and surely the reward of the Hereafter is greater, if they but knew" (xvi: 41). this is the jesus path, the muhammad path, the gandhi path, the harriet beecher stowe path, the harriet tubman path, the malcolm path.

be abnormal, surah xvi is saying, if what is normal is to cut throats by capitalist gain, by rationalizing wealth and notions of success to leave others stranded, to uphold class and notions of professionalism by keeping your circles constrained to your perceptions of babylon success. go beyond the social mores that hold you accountable to wearing levis and jordans and going to cheese tastings and talking about the superbowl.

the arabs of pre-islamic arabia, like many cultures, practiced an exreme misogyny that we may gasp at, but is a lens into our culture now - "when if one of them receiveth tidings of the birth of a female, his face remaineth darkened, and he is wroth inwardly" (xvi: 58). this perspective is likened with the devil, the iblis-frquency - "verily evil is their judgement" (xvi: 60)

 the revelation of surah xvi shuns these practices by Divine decree, shows the fallacy in this logic, as it is not grounded in the geometry of the One-ness and instead is an individualized idol-worshiping. this is the slippery slope of taking on idols, of bowing down to cults of personalities, celebrities, statues, etc. hence the quran, which serves as "a guidance and a mercy for people who believe" (xvi: 64). thus the posters on the wall of men and women who worship material, who never wear the same clothes twice and brag about it, who convince you that what makes them great is that they are heartless.

surah xvi burns the posters of idols, gives us clarity to see fully beyond it, reminds us of the Oneness, that we have a choice to walk forth with a blindfold or see the Real:

"and unto ALLAH belongeth the Unseen of the heavens and the earth, and the matter of the Hour is but a twinkling of the eye, or it is nearer still" (xvi: 77). just a moment. this is just a moment. this too shall pass. then what are you holding on to? what is preventing you from surrendering these chains of illusion? afterall "ALLAH brought you forth from the wombs of your mothers knowing nothing, and gave you hearing and sight and hearts that haply ye might give thanks" (xvi: 78) "and ALLAH hath given you, of that which He hath created, shelter from the sun; and hath given you places of refuge in the mountains, and hath given you coats to ward off the heat from you, and coats to save you from your own foolhardedness. thus doth He perfect His favor unto you, in order that ye might surrender (xvi: 81)

in the process, when you have grown, when you have ascended, maintain your garbs in your nakedness to the Beauty. keep low your gaze, and keep clean your ears, as others may compliment you, may seek your advice. keep your head from the clouds that could leave you a statue - "and speak not concerning that which your own tongues qualify, the falsehood: 'this is lawful, and this is forbidden,' so that ye invent a lie against ALLAH. those who invent a lie against ALLAH will not succeed" (xvi: 116). what would a lie against ALLAH be in this context? to shirk the work, the purpose, and instead of doing, of living breathing the path, talking about it, talking and being, among what plato referred to as the sophists- the wandering teachers who were passed off by a glib population as being the knowledgeable, the teachers, the so-called gurus. but, plato argued, it is those who are behind the spotlight, those who remain hidden and are really deeply entrenched in seeking and engaging with knowledge who are the teachers.

repeat your actions in ritual, in constant practice to deepen.

 "and unto ALLAH belongeth the Unseen of the heavens and the earth, and the matter of the Hour is but a twinkling of the eye, or it is nearer still" (xvi: 77).