surah xxiii: the believers

there is a fear that abounds. religion causes people in my circle to stir nervously. to cook up new convo on the weather and last spring. the anti-religion fervor is so great that when God is mentioned - terror. 

it makes sense. i can see it now. when capital is god, when the notion of freedom is wanton consumerism - buying jeans n polos to match every sneaker, boot, sandal, mood and song; buying everything from culture and dates and water. talk of God, striving for Higher, is terrorism.

surah xxiii makes flagrant the issue at hand - between those who prostrate to condos, cars, status, and those who believe, those who prostrate to Higher:

"successful indeed are the believers

who are humble in their prayers,

and who shun vain conversation,

and who are payers of the poor-due

and who guard their modesty" (surah xxiii 1-5)

i would imagine that this definition of belief, of worship, as laid out in surah xxiii, may threaten the bourgeois, who are wont to take charge of the cannon of intellectual culture, including islam.

the god of many of the muslims i come across seems to be status, seems to be their sense of pride in their degrees and their property, and their sense of distinction from others of a lower class. odd, seems to be in contradiction to the spirit that the surah's of the qur'an speak of. do they believe? in what? is there a striving there?

messenger after messenger has been sent down, and yet, "whenever its messenger came unto a nation they denied him (xxiii: 44). why? 

surah xxiii seeks to explain that the reason many may disbelieve is that they are too engrossed in this reality, in feeling good in a superficial way. in doing so, they seek to justify their perspective by ridiculing those who may not be arrogant, those who may bow down to the Higher, those who place less emphasis on material. "they say: when we are dead and have become dust and bones, shall we then, forsooth, be raised again? we were already promised this, we and our forefathers, lo! this is naught but fables of the men of old." (xxiii: 80-81)

how should believers respond? humility. focus. meditation. prayer. "repel evil with that which is better." (xxiii: 95) spend time with nature so that you can see how the Essence works to "send down from the sky water in measure, and We give it lodging in the earth, and lo! We are able to withdraw it." (xxiii: 18). in doing so, in seeing how nature works, in spending time with the Mother, ALLAH becomes clear, the evidence abounds. 

the proof of why we should live a life of modesty, of work, driven with a devout purpose in getting Closer, abounds. death may be one of the clearest proofs. "deemed ye then that We had created you for naught, and that ye would not be returned unto Us?" (xxiii: 115)

have u forgotten that you were born? do you recall that process, of being born, of being in a womb and coming forth from it, of ageing, of illness, of people around you dying? 

under a microscope, cells can be seen, atoms that make up the elements, can be distinguished. yet, we still have not been able to prolong youth, even though we have grown more childish. we have accomplished a lot but there is more. 

belief is the ability to let go, to allow yourself to get Deeper by bowing down, by humbling yourself. this takes work. this takes a lot of work, because belief is meaningless without work. without work nothing is possible. but work, i'm learning is more than just doing. it's doing full-heartedly, it's striving for Higher, for Deeper. in whatever you do, get Deeper by striving. Work. all praise is due... 

surah xxii: the pilgrimmage

"o mankind! if ye are in doubt concerning the resurrection, then lo! we have created you from dust, then from a drop of seed, then from a clot, then from a little lump of flesh shapely and shapeless, that We may make it clear for you" (xxii: 5).

surah xxii tells us that life is more than death. that our lives are forever. that we are all held accountable for our deeds. that actions have reactions "because the hour will come" (xxii: 7).

according to science, modern science, the conglomeration of previous knowledge, the smallest stable unit of matter is the atom. every atom, based on the number of protons it has, is an element, i.e. hydrogen, helium, carbon, oxygen, etc. when these atoms combine to form molecules, a chemical reaction is said to happen. the combination of two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen is an example of this. water, can be liquid, solid, or gas. but regardless of what form it takes, matter exists.

we are chemicals in motion, born into bodies, live a short while, become dust, trees, apples. with each chemical reaction, we undergo a change - ageing, wrinkles, building, muscles, flexibility. much of our new manifestation, whether it be as someone doing a headstand and a split, or someone becoming obese and depressed, has to do with the work we put in, the energy we invest. the resurrection is observable, as it is constant, and the circumstance you find yourself in is due to actions in the way you spend your time and energy yesterday.

certain pillars are here to ground us, to remind us of this Oneness, so that we maintain our circumference within the orbit of life. otherwise we stray, otherwise we drift off orbit, otherwise we forget chemical reactions, the immortality of matter, that our actions today will shape what we will become tomorrow. "and when We prepared for abraham the place of the house, saying: ascribe thou no thing as partner unto Me, and purify my house for those who make the round and those who stand and those who bow and make prostration" (xxii: 26).

surah xxi details the requirement of people who surrender to make a pilgrimage, around the house of ALLAH - the house that abraham built - the atom, the first element, the 108 elements. our circle around this, is that of the electron around the proton and neutron. our negative charges - nafs - ego, become neutralized in the process of orbit, of the orbital that we follow in communion like flocks of birds flying in circles in the clear blue skies, without a clear indication of who is the leader, to the human eye.

the leader in the circles around the house of ALLAH - the cell - the atom, the core, the nucleus, is none other than what our lives are integrally tied to like an umbilical cord.

"and proclaim unto mankind the pilgrimage. they will come unto thee on foot and on every lean camel; they will come from every deep ravine" (xxii: 27).

the pilgrimage allows us to humble ourselves, to let go, to be Guided by the prescriptions set forth by Air Land Liquid Atmosphere Heat. our orbit is designed for us, it is laid out, and what is required of us, is to submit as ALLAH "knows all that is before them and all that is behind them, and unto ALLAH is Hearer, Seer. (xxii: 75)

surah xxi: prophets

all praise is due to the 1, the Essence, the Universal...

prophets have walked this earth. prophets through a process of surrender have established communication with Divinity, and in the process of doing so, carried forth their message like the chorus of a song, throughout the millenia - abraham, noah, moses, jesus...

the majority of people rejected the word of the fearless enlightened ones - " The Final Accounting has approached for the people, but, they turned away from the Truth without regard for it." 

the enlightened ones, surah xxi tells us, all had the same message - the One-ness. live life in worship to the One and place no one besides the One.

the battle front, surah xxi tells us has at stake Truth. truth, i have learned from the marriage between militarism and media, is the first casualty of war. it's not an expression i came up with, but have heard from the doers, those shaking corporate scrapers like piggy banks sledged with a hammer.

over-emphasizing the gods of small things has the danger to eclipse the fabric that ties all these together - that which we may not grasp but can observe tangibly - the One-ness. surah xxi repeatedly refers to nature, the sun and the stars and the moon and the earth, as portents, as the signs you need to understand, to make sense of it all, to piece the puzzle. the signs abound.

a tree roots in mud, is sustained by the streams and the rains, is fed by the sun and the heat, is cooled from scorch by the shade of night, reproduces through air. trees breathe. a tree like every form of life on the planet, exists in the nexus of Air Land Liquid Atmosphere Heat, and hence the One-ness of the 5.

surah xxi reminds us to learn from our ancestors, it implies that we visit their graves if we need further evidence in the messages brought forth of the One. my grandfathers (s.a.w), have no use for gold in their graves, nor do they have use for stone statues, nor the djinn that some revered. the djinn are afterall, beings like ourselves. being in awe of difference should be distinguished from worship.

worshipping the Oneness means worshiping ALL, as we, u, me, our mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, aunties, uncles, great uncles, great aunts, great grannies, trees, rivers, mountains, bears, deer, tigers, eagles, monkeys, dolphins, sun, moon... are all part of the One-ness. so bow down to all in recognizing the One-ness we are all connected to. and when you do, when you kneel to the One in the ALL, and when you feel alone and ridiculed and alienated by those of idol-worshipping cultures, whether they be the atheists of babylon, or the muslims, christains, jews, hindus... of babylon, recall that the path of the prophets was a lonely one. 

surah xx: ta ha

all praise is due to ALLAH, the 1, known through becoming 0, by way of the 5.

5 tenets - 1. prayer, 2. fasting, 3.giving share of money to betterment of community, 4. pilgrimmage to the mecca to circle in community, in One-ness the atom of human breath. 5. bearing witness to the Oneness

5 eleements - Air Land Liquid Atmosphere Heat

what does ALLAH want? i ask in each surah, i ask in my confusion about message, about the message in the message, as i get into the folds of text. why is prophet muhammad (s.a.w) revealing this to the people? there is no asking of/for money in surah xx or any of the previous surahs we have tread through together.

"lo! I am ALLAH. there is no God save Me. so serve Me and establish worship for My rememberance". there is no intermediary to islam, so no hopes, no opportunties for others to commodify guru-hood, to sell tickets to the ride that will bring one to the One. the only request is to serve the One-ness by way of bowing, surrender (islam) and living in this dusk.

surah xx tells us to have faith in the One, and that to have faith means to be fearless. In the commune with moses, ALLAH tells him to lay down his staff. as he did, moses saw how the stick of wood became a snake.  "grasp it and fear not.We shall return it to its former state", ALLAH told moses. (xx:21). although this instance strengthen's moses' faith, fear still resides in him -

"go both of you, unto pharaoh. lo! he hath transgressed
"and speak unto him a gentle word, that peradventure he may heed or fear
"they said: our Lord! lo! we fear that he may be before hand  with us or that he may play the tyrant
"He said: fear not. lo! i am with you twain. hearing and seeing" (xx: 43-46)

this passage reminds us of how important fearlessness is in the path of Truth, how much fear is an obstacle in faith. that regardless of the outcome, when you place fear aside, anything is possible, the seemingly impossible is attainable. the two peasants - moses and aaron, seek court with pharaoh and receive it.

fear, surah xx tells us, allows for oppression to reign. when the two put aside there fear, when they enjoin in rememberance, despots, the strongest of rulers, can be brought down. arrogance, surah xx, like the arrogance of pharaoh is a quick road to paving your own painful death. those following this false leader are also headed for destruction. "pharaoh led his folks astray, he did not guide them" (xx: 79)

no babylon leader whether they be brown or red or black or white, can lead you. in babylon, all is skin deep. if you align with surface relations, you will exist in surface spirituality that can be adorned with your bead necklace and ohm tatoo. it's just an image. means nothing.

you are rich, surah xx reminds us. regardless of your economic condition. you have resources beyond your sight, if only you would see, surah xx tells us that we are not lacking, just as adam was never lacking - "and thou thirsteth not nor art exposed to the sun's heat" (xx: 119), ALLAH reminds adam, in preparing him to meet with iblis/shaitan.

there is water - rivers, lakes, streams for our thirst, there are layers in our atmosphere that keep us from the scalding possibility of the sun. all nature is part of a divine mathematic, and bowing your head on it. worshiping it by shepherding it, will keep us clean, will keep us fearless.

but adam easily fell prey to the whispers of the devil. instead of seeing what he had, iblis gave adam the veiw of more, and adam began seeing. thinking of what he didn't have. adam became the first casualty of the iblis-frequency. he gave in to his indriyas (senses) and in stead of allowing his manas to connect with atman (soul) in informing his decision, he used his base lusts. so he fell.

if you are down - bluesing, scraping, confused, broken-hearted, get up, surah xx tells us, as moses had. fet up and work fearlessly by way of worship, by way of constant rememberance - this is short. we are here for a short while. keep your eyes on the Prize. all praise is due...

surah xix: maryam

bismillahirahmaniraheem.

audzu billahe minash shaitanur-rajeem.

dedicated to maryam reborn in queens, ny. all praise is due. prayers for your grandmother.

for the past month i have been listening to surah maryam, as recited by saad al gahmdi, on spins. all praise is due for his gorgeous voice, in complete surrender. i have been sitting with my legs crossed, eyes closed, back aligned with obtuse triangles, mind drifting behind into the One.

this brother i met the other day from washington heights, told me that in his work as a personal athletic trainer, he noticed that much of our movement was focused on forward motion. very little involved backward strokes. this accumulated injury into our health, one that we our only now understanding.

the manas (mind/inellect) connects with the indriyas (senses) in forward motion, but has the capability to connect us beyond the senses to the atman (the One). the manas can place us in a balance between this realm and the infinite, which is the essence of yoga - yuj - union. each asana sequence has to be balance - both sides - a complete whole number of surya namaskar is when both body sides are extended. the completion of our manas, our mind, is only possible if we reach back, above, beyond, into the Great Consciousness, which is ALLAH. all praise is due.

surah xix reminds us of the importance of reaching back, of training the mind to sear beyond the stimulation of the present sense of gratification, of withdrawing attachment from the satiation in the ephemeral.

surah xix accomplishes this message of connecting with the Higher by way of letting go, by way of the story of zacchariah. zacchariah, desperate and distraught, pleaded in his prayers for the Essence to provide for him and his barren wife. zacchariah prayed, received message from the One to move beyond a sense of helplessness, beyond the ridicule he and his wife faced in their community. when zacchariah established communication with the One, he received word: "thy token is that thou, with no bodily defect, shalt not speak unto mankind three nights" (xix:10)

we are reminded of the need to seek, to listen beyond the frequency of z100 and hot 97 and the iblis-frequency of clear channel, of the disease we have become, that we bop to in creating and recreating a spectacle of worship to the gold calf of babylon.

the baggy track pants that squeeze on the bottom will pass. it's a trend. the army green jackets with the thin black leather arms will pass. its a trend. there are companies fishing for your prostration. you want to be a part of something. of course. you want to belong. of course. i understand beautiful diamond in the dust. i know. i am you. i know. but it's not real. what is real though is the trend will pass and the hurt will already be exacted on mother earth, the precious resources exploited for your submission to babylon. this and the system that structures sweatshop work to allow for this consumption, just as these same structures incarcerate 100000 cattle chained to wooden gates, sinking in their own feces, so you can have meat everyday. slow down homie. whatever your religious/spiritual/nonreligious background. slow down for science.

i can't say that i read the surahs and feel greater in my conviction of difference, of a religiosity in separation, in the need to convert anyone into anything other than Higher. as one on the path of Surrender, of letting go of this ego, of shedding this prisoners uniform that has a color, an ethnicity, a name, a swag, i understand and have witnessed how this happens in the way it happens.

surah xix tells us the importance of shedding from the iblis frequency by way of Mary, of how in her trials of rigamarole and tribulations of health and destitution, "she had withdrawn from her people to a chamber looking East" (xix: 16).

maryam resolved to move beyond the material fabric of what laid before her eyes - the maya that seemed so real that she needed to physically divorce into the womb of the Essence - nature. in her seclusion, in her meditation, she encountered a spirit. "she said: lo! i seek refuge in the Beneficient One from thee, if thou art God-fearing" (xix: 18).

i understand the word fear to mean awe, as i experience a nervousness from the awe of being before the ocean during sunsets - an awe at the beauty and thee expansiveness and the science that i have no words for.

maryam qualifies her ability to place faith in someone else, in receiving spiritual truth and guidance from them, so long as they share this awe in the One-ness. this is an important distinction, as for many of us, we immediately may prostrate to the spirit and not the One that the spirit belongs to. this fascination with difference in being, which in babylon are celebrities, lends itself to idol worship. herein lies the constancy of One-ness, in the path of surrender. maryam never bows to the spirit, but sees her potential connection to him by way of a shared path in the Oneness. deep. this opens up doors to the questions of dimensions beyond the three we walk through.

surah xix goes deeper, asks us to go deeper in our Quietude as we seek guidance by way of tuning in beyond this moment of maya. even after maraym gives birth to isa, inside the trunk of a palm tree (which signifies the motherliness of trees, of earth, and in turn the sacred alignment necessary in our shared existence), baby jesus says to Maryam: "if thou meetest any mortal, say: lo! i have vowed a fast unto the Beneficient, and may not speak this day to any mortal" (xix: 26).

it is the Quiet that allows maryam to work, to produce, to bear fruits, to make sense of what seems senseless, to grow in strength. only after this does she come forth to her people.

this meditation beyond maya if done right, will reveal the transience of much that we place importance in - clothes, adventures, clubbing, drinking, sweets and steaks. the meditation of maryam will humble you into the realization that there is more to you than this body, and the desires of flesh. that the Universe, this Great Mystery "will inherit the earth and all who are thereon, and unto Us they are returned" (xix: 40).

in the process of seeking, of being/becoming a seeker: "ALLAH increaseth in right Guidance those who walk aright, and the good deeds which endure are better in thy Lord's sight for reward, and better for resort" (xix: 76).

walk, strive, put in the work. go hard. all praise is due...

surah xviii: the cave

the cave exemplifies the game of life - "lo! We have placed all that is on the earth as an ornament thereof that we may try them" (xviii: 7).

the trial of life, as discovered by job and lot and others of scriptural stories, is a series of tests. it is our understanding of Higher that will ensure our endurance through it. life, afterall, is suffering according to prince gautama, who set out on a pilgrimmage through the impoverished world outside his princely estates, and in the process became enlightened, recognized as the budhha.

ernesto guevera discovered, through a very similar process to the budhha, the suffering rampant outside his insular middle class life in buenos aires, argentina. he recorded his reflections in his motorcycle diaries and his words lifted him into an action that insisted on the path of prophets before him - a fearless struggle for equilibrium.

the people of the cave, embody tribulation. the cave is a place of retreat from the realm of chaos, distortion, widespread corruption, what most of us in babylon understand to be the real world. wait till you get to the real world, teachers say as a mantra. as if scraping for money, wearing ties and sitting behind a desk for 8 hours a day in exchange for paper that will secure a box you live in, is real. babylon. only in babylon.

in the reality of babylon, the retreat, the cave, gautama's walk, ernesto's motorcycle ride, moses' retreat into the mountain, becomes essential for perspective: "and when ye withdraw from them and that which they worship except ALLAH, then seek refuge in the cave; your Lord will spread for you of his mercy and will prepare for you a pillow in your plight" (xviii: 17).

in the process of retreat, doubt may surface, as symptoms of disease rise in the process of cure - you're going to get worse before you get better - the medicine people of my life have said. "and in like manner We disclosed them (to the people of the city) that they might know that the promise of ALLAH is true, and that, as for the Hour, there is no doubt concerning it" (xviii: 22).

the truth will make itself known, the truth appears in your Quietest hour, when through the process of surrender (islam), your humility sets you free from the bonds and chains of race, gender, economics, and aligns you with the Great Harmony. all praise is due.

all praise is due because without the Essence that your breath is a part of, nothing is possible. hence praise, and so "say not of anything: lo! i shall do that tomorrow, except if ALLAH will" (xviii: 24-25). nothing is possible without the Universal Force, without the prana that moves your body, mouth, thoughts, the qi-energy that is steeped in your very blink of an eye. so inshALLAH.

inshALLAH i will see you tomorrow, when we have grown a bit Closer in our Quiet through worshipful work. work like you mean it, like today is it, like this snowstorm serves as a sign. see the signs in the sun, moon and trees, in the rains and storms. see the signs. peace to the tortured, those being twisted by twisted minds, for the sake of punishment, for the sake of belief. ALLAH will absolve you.

obama never shut down guantanamo like he promised as a campaign point against mccain 6 years ago. obama never ended the war against iraq or war, as he alluded to the need for peace during his nobel-peace prize speech (babylon). instead he increased the wars we are in, increased the number of drone attacks, increased the attack on peoples while giving sweet talk on religious tolerance and civil rights. babylon. babylonians, so lured by color and the colonial traps of race-constructs, make excuses, apologize for obama's imperialism, as if black imperialism, black cut-throat capitalism, black genocide, were better. deep. sad. pathetic. prayers for you. prayers for those in iblis-frequency whatever race they feel they belong to.

placing faith in the babylon structures, systems, leaders, will satiate your sweet tooth for belonging to something, of the complacency present in the redundancy of mickey d's and holiday inns. there is a sense of comfort in familiarity. it is the gold cow that the israelites sold out moses for. stay on the moses path. placing faith in the babylon system is the equivalent to idol-worshiping, to placing faith in gods that ensure the rationalization of infanticide. "and i ascribe unto my Lord no partner" (xviii: 39).

remain vigilant in doing "good deeds which endure, are better in thy Lord's sight for reward, and better in respect of hope" (xviii: 47). our hope lies in doing good, in staying focused on the path of righteousness, of alignment with the earth, sun, waters, the frequency of the cosmos - the portents/signs.

if you are confused, if babylon runs so deep in your veins, that you don't know which way to go to seek Truth, then seek out a cave. seek out a forest, a body of water. seek it out and retreat for days, for however long it takes to get you to a place of Quiet.

if you are still confused, seek out a teacher, one who knows. there are few. 144,000. a split of a percent. seek out a teacher as moses did, to be guided by. "moses said unto him: may i follow thee, to the end that thou mayst teach me right conduct of that which thou hast been taught?" (xviii: 67) the guide was reluctant, told moses, "if thou go with me, ask me not concerning aught till i myself mention of it unto thee" (xviii: 71)

moses walked with his guide, looking for answers, for truth, but couldn't stomach the actions of his guide. moses couldn't understand why the guide would drill a hole in a ship and lead it to sink, or slay a boy, or rebuild a wall that contained a town of people. moses lashed out each time, confused and deeply disturbed. he questioned his guide over and over even though he promised not to. at the end, moses understood that there are things that he did not understand, that meaning comes with time, with faith, with getting deeper. the guide explained his actions at the end of their journey, and each was driven by a Purpose much Higher than what appeared.

trust the people of the cave, surah xviii tells us. they know. they have spent time in Quiet, in deep meditation, in being in the dark side of the limelight moon. 

surah xvii: the children of israel

moses and noah and jesus and abraham come up a lot in the qur'an. they are men who are recognized, who people can remember, identify with, revere. they are referred to as men of great humility who brought with them the message of One-ness, to "choose no guardian beside Me" (xvii: 2).

the message of the prophets are accentuated with the refutation they received from the people of the time and in turn the lesson the masses missed out on, which will result in "a painful doom" (xvii: 10). the disbelievers lay in constant contrast to the believers: the zalimoon versus the mu'minun, the idolaterers versus the subscribers to the One-ness, the arrogant versus the humble, those who are cynical and miss portents and those who believe in the hereafter and see the signs.

"an We appoint the night and the day two portents. We make dark the protent of the night, and We make the portent of the day sight-giving, that ye may seek bounty from your Lord, and that ye may know the computation of the years, and the reckoning;" (xvii: 12)

the hereafter is essential to keeping man on the right track. it is the distraction we need to abide to aspire for greatness, surah xvii suggests. in ottavia butler's parable of the sower, the protagonist, olamina, tells people that the goal of earthseed philosophy is to fly into the stars. this, according to butler herself, during an interview, is a necessary distraction. people need distractions to keep them reaching, she said.

the hereafter lies around the bend, as the now is as short as the lives of your grandmama and great great dada. surah xvii reminds us of "how many generations we have destroyed since noah!" (xvii: 17). placing too much emphasis on "that which hastenth away" (xvii: 18) will only lead a state of being "condemned" (xvii: 17).

for those who recognize the impermanence, there is a code of conduct they follow, one of surrender. in babylon, the surrenderer appears as winter blues, being in bed for hours after daylight, of not wanting to get up, of blowing out nicotine and walking like ekg after another pub crawl.

surrender surah xvii says, as the people of israel did not, as the people of noah did not, as the people warned by messengers did not. surrender from the example the arrogant have left, afterall, where are they now? surrender to the One-ness by being a good human being.

there is the surrender of humility and the surrender of nihilism. sometimes the line is blurry.

sometimes i'm walking a tight rope, middle fingers up to everyone, opening the suicide doors, singing kanye out loud - i decide my fate, you decide yours, man is you saying something? man you can't tell me nothing. no, you can't tell me nothing.

you can't tell me nothing i say as i keep it pushing, walking past you like u were just another ad in the babylon train, as i strut like a royal bengal puma through the bourgeois, the saggy-pant hood, fake thugs, prissy desi chicks, the haters, the women who want men who will sweat them, the men who demand being the center of attention, the gatekeepers who hold keys to organizations and funding and talk community but work like monarchs - nah, you can't tell me nothing. 

but really, you can tell me, and i'll listen, as part of my worship, my namaste - "thy Lord hath decreed, that ye worship none save Him and show kindness to parents. If one of them or both of them attain old age with thee, say not 'Fie' unot them nor reoulse them, but speak unto them a gracious word" (xvii: 23). abbu has been reminding me of this recently, as i grow isolated from them, from everyone, between heaven and hell, tightroping between surrender (islam) and surrender (nihilism).

among other things, this is part of the ticket in to the herafter, the Guidance, is your ticket to ride. the Guidance is treating your parents with respect, keeping your voice low, and your composure diminutive to theirs. the Guidance is to "slay not your children, fearing a fall to poverty, We shall provide for them and for you" (xvii: 31). the Guidance is: "come not near the wealth of the orphan" (xvii: 34).

the Great Guidance paves a path of righteousness for you. walk right little homie.

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).

surah xv: al hijr

i forget sometimes. i forget what i should be eating. i forget to eat greens - kale and red onion salads, forget to have soups and roots in the ny winter, forget to pause during my meal and chew and breathe. i forget to stop eating and instead snack for hours, giving no time for this temple to rewire, rest and rejuvenate in a shivasana. i forget about food, and its importance, and the importance of it as a substance (food) of substances (Air Land Liquid Atmosphere Heat), of a gross magic derived from other substances (brahma, atman), all of which have an Origin (the Oneness - ALLAH). then ramadhan comes and i am reminded. the qur'an serves as a reminder.

i forget, soon after, why i am drinking fresh juices, but then my body tastes the heaven and i remember, all praise is due.i remember to praise, namaste from my Highest to your Highest. i am here to serve, this body in this body of earth in this body of galaxy, to "serve thy Lord till the inevitable cometh unto thee" (xv: 99), until i am merged. hence the fearlessness of a muslim (surrenderer) which is so heavily patholigized in the media. no fear of death in this manifestation, in this temporary shell for the surrenderer (muslim).

serving, means falling prostrate (islam) to this mosque/temple/church you reside in, and beyond it. serving means to be mindful, to be present, to be Love, to work with Love, to work, to work and do it Quietly regardless of who sees or does not, regardless of whether anyone will read this or not, regardless if there are people who call themselves muslim, spiritual, on a path, and do everything to obstruct and keep you, or not. self, ego, is a harbinger of iblis-frequency, seeks audience with fame, self-importance - gate -keeperism. but there is  no security in the gates of narcissism that they hold tight to. surah xv reminds us of this, shows us in the example of the people of al hijr:

"and the dwellers in al-hijjr indeed denied messengers (xv: 80)
"and we gave them our revelations, but they were averse to them (xv: 81)
"and they used to hew out dwellings from the hills (wherein they dwelt) secure (xv: 82)
"but the cry overtook them in the morning hour (xv: 83)
"and that which they were wont to count as gain availed them not" (xv: 84).

the people of al hijr, like alexander the great, like genghis khan, like mussolini, like james dean, ronald reagan, eazy e, sammy davis jr, george burns - met the inevitable. we all do. the passing of this body is guaranteed. even the gatekeepers have to pass, even those who keep doors shut to you in the name of democracy, in the name of religion, in the name of movement, grassroots, progressive...

yet and still i have yet to meet anyone who has returned from the dead, or atleast anyone who has dwelt their long enough to report back on the angels and messengers they saw, in the heights, the line for judgement day and the Judge on the great throne, before the cracked sky. no one i know.so why serve, why surrender?

the surrender (islam) is necessary for alignment with Self, serves to make us a shepherd to live correctly, to take care of the body (organ systems) we wear, the body (earth) we walk on, the body (space/time) we travel through. putting the wrong foods, the wrong quantity of food, at the wrong times, for too long, without proper etiquette, without sitting right, chewing right, thinking right, will hold severe consequences - hence diabetes, hence 90 percent of overweight people passing off as normal, as normal as the injected and corn-stuffed chicken and cattle in the factory farms throughout the midwest, throughout the cages of halal poultry places in brooklyn and queens - babylon halal.

the signs are clear surah xv tells us, the surrender is essential, and those who serve, taken care of, as was lot and his wife and children, a righteous family who lived among "a guilty folk" (xv: 58), whom abraham was sent to rescue from the fate that was inevitable:

"the cry overtook them at sunrise (xv: 73),
"and we rained upon them stones of heated clay" (xv: 74)
"lo! therein verily are portents for those who read the signs" (xv: 75)

the signs are stiff necks, legs cracking, insomnia, high blood pressure, feeling bloated, with excess gas and gastrointestinal issues, with heart ache and hot flashes and arched eyebrows that look like knives everytime someone walks slowly in front of you, anytime someone accidentally pushes into you in a packed train. the signs abound:

"and we send the winds fertilising, and cause water to descend from the sky, and give it to you to drink. it is not ye who are the holders of the store thereof" ( xv: 22).

this was the single greatest realization for me, in this surah - that we have very little control, that as much as the genius amongst us have collaborated with their intelligence to develop - electricity, nano-technologies that make flatscreens and ipads possible, phones that can be taken with you from one time zone to another and then place you in contact with someone half way across the globe sitting in a penthouse on the 89th floor of a skyscraper in shanghai - we have very little control. we have very little control over the winds and sun rays and the movement of the tectonic plates below us. we have very little control over time and space and the greying of our hair and the wrinkling of our skin, as much dye as we may put on, as much callogen as we may shoot up. afterall, surah xv reminds us "it is not ye who are the holders of the store therof" (xv: 22).

who are we then? who are we in this manifestation as humans? surah xv tells us:

"verily, We created man of potter's clay of black mud altered" (xv: 26)
"and the jinn we did create aforetime of essential fire" (xv: 27)

there are things we don't understand, atleast i don't. i don't get djinns. i live in ny, i have always lived where buildings are taller than trees, where trains float through bridges and spirits are another name for liquor. if anything, if i've learned anything, it is that i know very little, that there is a whole lot i am scratching my head about, that i want to know and know that i am confronted by time. i lose touch with this understanding, with this frequency of humility in the limelight of the blocks of this city, of this paint that colors my skin and these clothes that colour my swagger. i got my middle fingers up to the gatekeepers and am fighting their barring me from opportunities. in the process, i tremble, become this skin, become outraged at those who defile my sense of me. i tap into the frequency of iblis, until i remember - shhhh - quiet, pause, the Source appears, i remember to surrender, to let go of that which is maya and connect with that which is Always... all praise is due.

surah xiv: abraham

"this is a scripture which we have revealed unto thee that thereby thou mayst bring forth mankind from the darkness unto the light, by the permission of the Lord, unto the path of the Mighty, the Owner of Praise"

(xiv:1). over time, i've found school teachers, workshop presenters, panelists, and ultimately, even myself. regurgitate the frustration with there being no guide to life - "there's no guidebook to life", i 'd hear, say.

the qur'an serves as a guidebook, as a blueprint to live righteously, and over and over again, the repetition in the message lies in belief, in the Oneness, and doing this by way of living within limits, what gandhiji phrased as: live simply so that others may simply live.

gotham has been wearing the garb of glum again. it is snowing, raining, sleeting at once. slick streets deride slick talkers selling stocks and bonds from wall street to retail outfits and spirit stores. such is the frequency of babylon - everything is for sale from paper and trees, to canaries and iguanas, to breasts and kidneys, to water and air. this is the darkness.

in the ancient world, of jahillya middle east, the practice of infanticide, of women barred from even the right of inheritance, far from divorce, far from dignity, of the enslavement of wayfarers (whether they be from asia, europe or africa - dis-similar from the understanding of slavery in the modern context which synonymizes african/.black with slave/slavery/slave-trade)

we are arguably in a greater darkness then at any other point in human history. with the advent of the internet, we have grown lazy beyond what my elders can recognize, let alone stomach. we are in greater need of Spirit then ever. but how does this happen? does it happen by us just picking and choosing rules that work for us. this is a fallacy of logic according to Plato, in his polemic - euthyphro. you don't just pick and choose the laws of a state, he argued. so, how do we know?

the first act, may be meditation, may be a daily practice - 10 minutes, 20 minutes... 1 hour. the meditation should allow you to silence your wandering by focusing on breath and in doing so, moving beyond your ego, your sense of being an idol, of a subject of worship in yoga, in teaching, in dance, in music, in film making, in money making, in fashion, in being hot. this process is essential according to surah xiv:  "those who love the life of the world more than the hereafter, and debar men from the way of ALLAH and would have it crooked, such are far astray" (xiv: 3)

once you have meditated, once you realize you may be off, you are having great challenges quieting your loquacious mind, that you're not really sure what you are doing, seek out a teacher. the teacher of spirit lives by example.

in the babylon frequency, the teacher of spirit is recognized as all things in babylon are recognized - appearances  - dress (shawls, head-wraps, indigenous patterns on clothes...), accessories (beads, moon rings, piercings, bracelets with ancient looking script), hair style (long hair, dred locks, shaved head...), and words (language and tonalities that sound like ancient knowledge - embrace the now, be present, let go, you are the power...).

proceed with caution, steer clear of the babylon gurus. Real recognize Real. so arrive into a place of Real and search from Real. "and we never sent a messenger save with the language of his folk that he might make clear for them" (xiv: 4).

there are guru's among you, people who know the teachings of the sacred, who may be gone now, whose lives exist in the stories of your grandparents. they are what the qur'an refers to as prophets, messengers. they know your landscape and context, they are of your tribe. find their teachings. seek them out. they have tread on the very road you walk on.

the messengers arrived as "mortals like us" (xiv: 10). they came with the same message of moving their people away from "serving idols" (xiv: 35), as Abraham prayed for in striving instead for an understanding of the One-ness, that - "ALLAH verily is Absolute" (xiv: 8)

abraham, the father of ishmael and isaac (xiv: 39), prayed, praised and like the messengers before and after him, was persecuted. his faith in the One-ness was resilient. why? why such a deep concern? why were the messengers, so concerned with everyone else? what did it matter if the rest of us practiced in what they deemed as righteously, or not? why couldn't they just mind their neck and do their own thing, as we have been deeply ingrained with in contemporary culture?

abraham, like moses, like noah, like a'ad, (xiv: 9), were mailmen delivering a message that needed delivery over and again, because their lives were inherently tied into that of their community, and their community was their people, the people of the bordering regions and in turn the people who bordered the bordering nations, ad infinite. but the community, the messengers understanding of community, as expressed by abraham's prayers in surah xiv, was also the land, was also the plants and the water and time and space - "nothing in the earth or in heaven is hidden from ALLAH" (xiv: 38).

the message of the messenger, as expressed through abraham in surah iv is one of community, which is essential for the collective worship in forging the Oneness - in the great convergence of yin, yang in wujing - the great nothingness. the nourishment and growth of community is deeply tied into this spiritual well being, "as a goodly tree, its root set firm, its branches reaching into the heaven" (xiv: 24).

if one of us is in practice of drone bombs, of opening up sweatshops for purposes of our fashion line, of trashing the earth with device after gadget after thing, because our wants are insatiable, then all of us suffer. all of us. the messengers knew this. shaitan (the devil) knows this - "ALLAH promised you a promise of truth; and i promised you then failed you. and i had no power save that i called unto ye and ye obeyed me" (xiv: 22).

just as we have the beauty within, the devil (=laziness, hatreds, misery, fear... it all really boils down to fear - racism, sexism, xenophobia, work-o-phobia...) is within. worship, true worship, surah xiv suggests, is in the work, is in focusing on what will grow you Higher, and working like it was your last day on earth to ensure that, working like the banished prophets who continued their path with the understanding of consequence, of retaliation.

"this is a clear message for mankind in order that they may be warned thereby, and that they may know that He is only One God, and that men of understanding may take heed" (xiv: 52)

surah xiii: thunder

surah xiii: thunder - illustrates the omnipotence/omnipresence, all-ness of ALLAH. surah xiii recalls the song of lovers of old, in tales throughout history.

thunder only happens when it's raining, players only love you when they're playing, they say women, they will come and they will go, when the rain washes you clean, you'll know. you will know - fleetwood mac.

players. krsna was a player. 16,660 concubines. but radha was his main squeeze. radha didn't mind. she loved the harmonics of krsna's flute, she is often portrayed smiling, looking nervously at him like a lover in want. i am more aware of their differences than they seem to be. radha's fair skin and dark large eyes, long eyelashes and quintessential geometric features in contrast to the blue skin of krsna, to the bubbly cheeks and his lipstick red lips.

krsna and radha are eternal lovers, beyond a moment, beyond till death do us pardon. their Love lies in an eternal submission to the frequency of timelessness. radha and krsna represent for each other, the deeper I, so when the rain washes away the others, it is only them. so come with a thousand lovers, radha seems to speak in the words of pablo neruda to the woman he loved, the one who in her polyamory fleeted. but neruda wasn't worried. he had faith. he knew.

the tale of lovers throughout history seems to be more than just a relationship between man and woman. sanu ek pa chan na we... nusrat fateh ali khan sang, first in a deep lulling melancholy and then as the song continues, as his devotion grows, his voice becomes a shouting demand that reaches to the heavens. sanu ek pa chan na we - not a moments rest without You - a song about the surrenderer's (=muslim - one who surrenders to the One) undying, restless love for his Love, ALLAH.

there are those in your life who will keep you apart, who will make attempts to wedge daggers between you and your love, plant seeds of doubt, cause dissension - even your very best friend tried to warn me on the low, beyonce lamented in her song - me, myself and i. even your intimate others may be the harbingers of walls, of separation. but you know: "ALLAH, and whosoever hath true knowledge of the Scripture, is sufficient witness between me and you" (xiii: 43).

your Love gives you glimpses, but your doubts are strong. who is this force that you only feel in trepid moments in chaos, in near death? surah xiii explains: "ALLAH it is who raised up the heavens without visible supports, then mounted the Throne, and compelled the sun and the moon to be of service, each runneth unto an appointed term; He ordereth the course; He detaileth the revelations, that haply ye may be certain of the meeting with your Lord" (xiii: 3).

ALL - ALLAH is ALL. everything. you ever call someone up, and in a love brimming so high you are drowned, and you can't say a word, and there is silence on the phone?
hello?
silence.
baby?
silence.
you there?
everything.
what? 
everything.

everything is all you can say, because that is the only word that comes close to that feeling. because in that moment you experience more than the mortal shell you are in, in your love you get a glimpse of something even more than that person "...and they rejoice in the life of the world, whereas the life of the world is but brief comfort compared with the Hereafter (xiii: 26) "

over time, over and through the loves of your life, family, friends, special friends, you begin to note a pattern, a Higherness in the Love that you thought was that one person. you notice that there is a One - "He is the Knower of the invisible and the visible, the Great, the High Exalted" (xiii:9).

whether you choose to Love or to hate, whether you decide how to engage with this reality, you Realize that your Love is ALL - "And unto Allah falleth prostrate whosoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, as do their shadows in the morning and the evening hours" (xiii: 15)

surah xii: joseph

nana used to tell me things before they happened. she'd have graphic dreams and tell me about her brother being in pain and how he was in trouble and she needed to call him, to get to him before the others did. just then, seconds before it happened, as she sat on a stool with wide green eyes, behind the cash register of the specialty clothing store she worked in and i lounged in, by the wall windows, watching the soho crowd, she said: my father needs to talk to me. a second later the phone rang. hi poppy, she said, talked about her brother with her father who also seemed to carry this clairvoyance. i never understood it. just accepted it as part of something that happened. it is, according to surah xii - "the tidings of the unseen which we inspire in thee" (xii: 102).

surah xii, may shed light on the hidden realm, may explain the powers that your ostracized aunty, crazy little brother, melancholy special other, may hold, may carry like a crystal ball that spins always in front of them. surah xii confirms dimensions beyond these 3 dimensions we walk in like paper cut-outs. surah xii reminds us that the unseen are as intertwined with the seen, in a seamless coexistence that is Love, that is ALLAH, if only you would humble yourself, if only you would take the path of silence, of quiet worship, as does joseph.

"joseph said to his father: o my father! lo! i saw in a dream eleven planets and the sun and the moon, i saw them prostrating themselves unto me" (xii: 4)  joseph saw. have you seen? have you had dreams that were more than the symbols explained in how to interpret your dream books at barnes and nobles, dreams that kept you in clouds in the day and up all night? have you known people who have? 

when i was in marakech, i was surprised by the bungalows of buildings jammed next to each other. they were distinct from western architecture, and so, occupied the position of interesting, but not more. not until i walked in. once the gates of these blase buildings were opened up - brilliance - sun moon and stars, a court yard with gardens, balconies with doors encrusted in royal detail. this style of architecture is called riyadhs. it follows in the teachings of surah xii, of behaving as joseph did, as there is a such thing as human frailty which if outside the limits that surah baqarah sets forth - ego, haterations, jealousy. 

joseph's father immediately warned joseph to keep his vision to himself, as his brothers, enflamed by jealousy, would plot against him. i can hear it now, that's their (joseph's brothers) problem. they need to change, not joseph. true. but jealousy is real. 

i can't explain jealousy. i could probably provide a sociological context for why people hate others making it, doing good, being happy, of hating immigrants who walk around in their traditional garb, work 32 hours in 24 and "steal jobs", why some kids i knew with accents thick as molasses insisted that kids of varying language persuasions speak english, we are in america, why worship that does not involve a cross and church is abomination, why before someone is excited about a friends success, they are grieved, upset, internally sucking their teeth - f them then.

i've felt the pangs of envy, i've felt it when after a hundred resumes and coverletters, i heard nothing and others i knew who i might've felt more qualified than, were landing jobs with ease. but it's a moment. it's my ego, my lack of faith in Essence, my faith in capital(ism) that creates this frequency of noise, which the lox detailed as "money, power, respect - the key to life"- the babylon frequency that most of us are tuned into, that we sing along and justify like the nihilistic materialism praised in this tune made sense.

i know jealousy exists. there is context. i just can't see how it's healthy. i can't see how it could grow anyone. but it exists and hence the riyads in morrocco, hence the qur'anic concept of the beauty within, of quietude, of hijab, of beard and long hair for men, of between you and your Maker. hence joseph's father telling his sons: inculcating in the generations to come:  "i expose my distress and anguish only unto ALLAH, and i know from ALLAH that which ye know not" (xii: 86). all praise is due

surah xii, tells us the fulfillment of joseph's dreams. unlike the surah's on jonah and hud and maryam, this surah is entirely focused on the story of joseph. 

although joseph maintains his dream in secrecy, he is duped by his brothers who feel that joseph is "dearer to our father than we are" (xii: 8). his brothers manage to carry him away and throw him into a pit, soon after, he is abducted and sold in egypt to a royal couple who intended to take joseph in as a son. finding joseph attractive, the wife, demands that he partake in an "evil act" (xii: 51) and when joseph refuses and attempts to run away, she tears his shirt. they are met by her husband at the door. he is able to discern joseph's innocence, but rumours abound in town and the wife attempts to use joseph to physically cut the hands of gossiping women. joseph refuses and prefers imprisonment. 

josephs' ability to see is soon discovered by the king. joseph is released and given a title over some land, where he comes across his brothers again. ultimately, through a process that pre-requires humility, and that replaces joseph's blind father into a central role, the brothers reconcile. we are reminded over and over in surah xii and the surahs preceding this that ALLAH is "forgiving, the Merciful" (xii: 98).

practice in the quietude of worship, of faith beyond the babylon frequency of show, of me me me, of business cards and flamboyance. practice and be quiet, and ALLAH, the Essence, the Oneness will act as your Guru, "will prefer thee, and will teach the interpretation of events" (xii: 6).

surah xi: hud

"and ALLAH's is the invisible of the heavens and the earth, and unto Him the whole matter will be returned. so worship Him and put thy trust in Him." (xi : 123)

in ayurveda it is believed that everything stems from the great nothingness, the supreme consciousness, which is understood as brahma. the subtlest of essences that emanates from this consciousness is akash (ether/space), and from this descends the gross elements of vayu (air), pitta (fire), jala (water), and prithvi (earth).

in the dao, the ancient chinese believe that all arise from this nothingness - that which cannot be known - the wuji, and the opposing forces -yin yang, and from this the seasons or the wu xing (the five phases)... and all return to the wuji. it is an endless cycle.

ALLAH is that from which all descend and that to which all return. the duality of the Creation and the Creator becomes nebulous, a point of speculation in this framework.

surah xi tells the story of hud in relation to the anecdotes of prophecy before hud and after hud. each of the messengers, people like noah, and shuyaeb, and salih and abraham, were all ordinary men. they were persons from amongst the people. they carried forth a message. the majority of their people denied it and in turn the disbelieving supercilious lot felt the wrath of ALLAH, which can be understood as karma - action/reaction.

but the question for me is, why the intervention? what does ALLAH want? why does ALLAH need us to follow the message? if ALLAH is almighty, why is our adherence necessary?

lets begin with the first question - why the intervention?

the message carried forth by the prophet muhammad is to "serve none but ALLAH" (xi :2). the qur'an, as the seal of scriptures, as revealed by the seal of prophets, serves as a point of clarification on the messages brought forth by the messengers of the past - "this is a scripture, the revelations whereof are perfected and then expounded" (xi: 1).

the revelations of surah xi as revealed by the prophet muhammad, reviews the attempts of the prophets before him and how more often than not, their work was futile but their message accurate and the losers, the people who denied it. this message throughout history is redundant, is as clear as the sun in the arabian dessert.

hud came to the tribe of aad with the message to "serve ALLAH" and ALLAH only - "ye have no other God save Him" (xi: 51). he encouraged them to seek guidance and "ask forgiveness of your Lord, then turn unto Him repentant; He will cause the sky to rain abundance on you and will add unto you strength to your strength" (xi: 52).

unto the tribe of thamud, the messenger salih came with a similar message - to believe in the One, in ALLAH and to act accordingly. one of the messages that salih brought is to be kind not just to others but to extend compassion to animal life: "this is the camel of ALLAH, a token unto you, so suffer her to feed in ALLAH's earth, and touch her not with harm lest a near torment seize you" (xi: 64). the message, the intervention of salih was to hold compassion, to be mindful of how we interact with life, that all life, whether it be human or not, is sacred and a creation of ALLAH, the One we are all responsible to .

among the messengers was shuyeb, who came with a message to the people of midian. "he said: o my people! serve ALLAH. ye have no other God save Him! and give not short measure and short weight. lo! i see you well-to-do, and lo! i fear for you the doom of a besetting day." (xi: 86).

the warnings were time and again shunned, denied, laughed at and for each was a consequence. on behalf of the people of Lot, the father of jacob and isaace, abraham intervened. "he mistrusted them and conceived a fear of them" (xi: 70). the people among lot sought to disgrace him and his family and refuted the message. "so when our commandment came to pass We overthrew (that township) and rained upon it stones of clay, one after another (xi: 82).

in each instance, whether it be with the waters parted for the people of moses, in exodus of the reins of pharoah, or the ark of noah and one of each species carried forth, there is a doom that settles on the disbelievers, the wrongdoers. they are warned by the interventionist, the messenger, to serve, be compassionate, humble, and focus not on self-gain but on the greater good by lowering their arrogance and prostrating to the One-ness - ALLAH. they refuse and continue to beat their chests and act with the sense of invincibility and disbelief. they are fuels by a confidence in their god of small things - cattle, plots of land, utensils, etc., which they believe will protect them from, as these gods are separated, divided, and in turn easier to conquer by the human. and each instance, their act of arrogance is met with doom.

in  real life we have gaza and the terrorizers of gaza are glorified and revised as victims. in real life we have mumia and the move 9 and shawn bell and trayvon martin and the terrorizing police are portrayed as victims, as the sufferers. in real life we have sweatshops and exploited laborers and third world and the exploiters of labor lionized as fashion gurus - versace, sean jean (puff daddy), donna karen, tommy hill, rocawear (jay z), etc. in real life - incarceration, unemployment, scarfaces, war, emigrate, urbanization, deforestation... the warned hold the canon of sacred texts and rewrite them. they are kings of arabia and morocco and prime ministers of india and bangladesh and presidents of the u.s. and france. they run this. they eat at restaurants with only a helipad entrance.

the message, surah xi reminds us, is that all will pass. this is not permanent. any act of exploitation has a consequence, and that even if you don't see that justice, even if you are losing your patience because rent, because cut-throats, rat race, gossipers, haters... maintain focus. thus the prescriptions of prayer and ritual:

"establish worship at the two ends of the day and in some watches of the night. lo! good deeds annul ill deeds. this is a reminder for the mindful." (xi: 114). this will get you through. this will keep you anchored. this keep you from losing your mind and joining the cacophony. this will tune you in to the greater Frequency.

"and have patience, for lo! ALLAH loseth not the wages of the good." (xi: 115).

surah x: jonah

bismillah hirahma nirahaeem.

bismilliah. in the name of ALLAH. in the name of all that is in the sky and below ground. all that is seen and unseen - macro biology and micro biology - all that is observable to the gross eye, and all that remains hidden to the naked eye. 

i haven't known anyone to return from the dead. i cannot speak to heaven or hell. i've known Love. i've hidden in the folds of my ammu's sari when the world seemed to rain comets. i've been under the storm and dragged my feet home in tatters. 

heaven and hell. yin and yang. night and day. heru set, al and lah. devil and angel. who are we humans? where do we fall in the spectrum? according to patanjali's yoga sutra's we are all of it, we embody every element of the cosmos - the periodic table that chemists study to extract drugs, all exist in our body: o h c k ga ti sm pm... 

"lo! in the difference of day and night and all that ALLAH hath created in the heavens and the earth are portents..." (x: 7). 

surah x reminds us of learning from history, of going beyond the ephemeral of this moment, of this joy and pain, of paying heed to signs - "He it is who appointed the sun a splendour and the moon a light, and measured for her stages, that ye may know the number of years, and the reckoning" (x: 6). 

surah x reminds us of not just taking note of these signs but of letting them guide us, of learning from the ways of those who have come before us, those who have succeeded from belief, those like the people of jonah: "if only there had been a community that believed and profited by its belief as did the folk of jonah! when they believed, we drew off from them the torment of disgrace in the life of the world and gave them comfort for a while" (x: 99). 

i often wonder about this. i often wonder how far my meditations and prayers will bring me, if it will carry me through this chapter of city living that has been endless, that sometimes feels like the babylon-systems war on so-called terror - a no end in sight - four walls closing in. 

"and moses said: o Lord! lo! Thou hast given pharaoh and his chiefs splendour and riches in the life of the world, our Lord that they may lead men astray from Thy way" (x:89) i can see the lesson inherent in the proofs that are brought through in these anecdotes of the struggles of messengers of the past - "and for every nation there is a messenger" (x: 48) - messengers like abu taher of the faction of mukti bahini who fought for a socialist revolution in bangladesh, of el hajj malik el shabazz who brought forth the dichotomy of a minority white rule in a majority darker hued world, of john afrika and huey newton and harriet tubman and the mirabella sisters and pablo albizu campos and ibn arabi and the teachings of noah and john brown...  

the monied, whether they be black as blue or white as chalk or pink as pig, like pharaoh find a way to rationalize their lust for more. somehow, their money is a curse, i can see that. but being of the subject class, of the humiliated class, brings forth a challenge.

money, and the security that seems to stem from it, is afterall insecure, is relative and ephemeral and the search for this security underlines a belief, and if not a belief, a practice, in worship, in worshipping that which will bring forth security in this realm, in placing credence in this to accomplish, as my my scraping friends and i speak of often - economic liberation. 

can wall street get us freedom? 

no, my friends with money will say as they live large on eating out five meals a day, globe trot like they were 100 feet tall running the planet like a basketball player. 

yes, my friends without have been saying. this way we don't have to worry about rent and bills and lights going off all the time. 

seems like there's a thin line between the lights of con ed and the lights of kanye's all of the lights - fast cars, shooting stars, until it's vegas everywhere we are. 

does all this talk about money, about the suit for the wedding and the wedding band and the five star spectacles and the resumes and coverletters and grant applications begin to replace Essence? "and set thy purpose resolutely for religion, as a man by nature upright, and be not of those who ascribe partners" (x: 106).

does money become our idol of worship? our god, our ism? capital - ism. do u believe? 

does this process of the money hunt do something to us? where, instead of yoga and meditation, i am spending hours on the net tryna figure out how i could reach the goals maino set forth - dollar bill y'all, lotta bills y'all, this year i'm tryna touch me a mill y'all. 

ya, i could understand that, the crew says, i say, i sing along every morning like a mantra. am i tuning into some kind of frequency that is of another god? have i begun bowing, even if resentfully, begrudgingly? am i bowing to wall street? 

i wonder if my belief in the Essence, in knowing truth to be change, to be beyond this moment, this body, these sense organs and senses, even beyond this mind, if this belief, if this utter prostration (islam) to this understanding will get me through another year of job rejections, of counting dollars against bills, of forgoing social activities, of seeing soul in wolves i know wearing sheepskin and eckhart tolle quotes. 

i wonder if my mother is job and my father jonah. i wonder how belief, how meditation, that of the dalai lama's  breath control, would work in rikers, in sing-sing, in fulsom. i wonder how ticht na hans' walking meditations would work in 40 houses/ bailey projects - southside jamaica, queens, and it's crazy, cause i'm still hood, hollywood couldn't change me - niki minaj tells us. 

i wonder, as my tribe, jeremiah, greg... is hurting now, after the series of tragic-deaths in this new year - rest in peace, rest in peace, rest in peace - will he/they ascend in understanding of the transience of it all. the blessing of the funeral we all attended 2 weeks ago was that it brought us together, it drew a humility, a reminder of another moment in this manifestation, another opportunity to reach Higher - "and cry not beside ALLAH, unto that which cannot profit thee nor hurt thee (x: 107). afterall, "if ALLAH afflicteth thee with some hurt, there is none who can remove it save Him (x: 108)