the surah makes clear tawhid - the One-ness, that there is no one but One. hence the word of departure in interchanges in 80's, 90's, 2000's nyc went from salam (peace) to tawhid (one). the streets know, from a place of thirst for deeper meaning than the devil's pie.
the mathematics of existence is made unmistakeable in this Surah: it is ALLAH who has created all things and measured them out precisely. the Great Mathematician.
even with the math, the criterion tells us: those whose hearts are sealed, deny. they deny so the prophet is told during this moment of divine intervention, to tell the people that this revelation was revealed by the Being "who knows every secret between heaven and earth."
could you fathom this? there are the secrets only you know and have kept hidden about your deeds/self. there are secrets only those closest to you know. but do you know the secrets of everyone in your family? block? the trees, bees, dolphins, pigeons, wildebeest, obis', polar bears, chakma, altai, dogon, ancient egyptians and sumerians and babylonians, and brontasaurus, and t-rex, and saturn and mars....
21. those who do not expect a meeting with us...they are too proud oft hemselves and have greatly exceeded all bounds...22...and we shall take all they did and turn it into scattered dust.
can this be denied? whatever degrees you have, however many material gains you may have obtained, whether that be houses, cars, brand named shades and purses, and jeans and kicks, and hats...all the tasty storehouse of jams and nuts, and munchies you have...none of it lasts. u ultimately...u meaning this body u r in, become ash...inna illahe, wa inna illahe...from ALLAH we emerge, to ALLAH we coalesce...
33. the qur'an was revealed in a gradual manner so as to build up and strengthen the hearts of people. wouldnt this be true today as well. go slow...work up through practice....ramadhan is a practice, a deep one, in non-attachment from the senses.
the process of removal takes time. most of us dive into it, and go through a period of hunger and then eating. even still, it is a deep experience. but to go deeper, delve gradually, one thing at a time. perhaps take out intimacy for a while first, then meats, then...the training is longer lasting in this way, holds an imprint in our mitochondria...
but even with the previous warnings, the criterion reminds us, there has been denial. the denial was met with consequences, the drowning during the era of noah (25:36), the people of moses (25:35) were met with destruction as were the people of ad and thamud (25:38)...but is God's response really so immediate? is it so literal? do these things happen so quickly? a messenger comes, warns the people, some accept, some deny. those who deny may even go to great measures to debunk the messenger, and continue in their wanton materialistic ways. then God shows up with doom. is that what is meant here? literally, it appears to be the case. but science shows me otherwise. there is no proof for this just intervening God character in my lifetime. the wolves get away with bloodshed and pass off as the sheep. it's constant. yet, no big flood to take them out. no rain of comets to incinerate them.
what's the deeper meaning here? that for those who deny, and are arrogant in their denial, the consequence is they drown in their own misery, they burn in their own hell, because they are faced with truth. that truth resides within them. so when moses came with guidance, when noah came to warn, they were just figures who represented what was at the core of the people around them - a mirror. in denying, the people of the time gave credence to the greater whisperer - shaitan - ego - idols. the idols were the senses, the tastebuds, genitals, waterbeds, silk shirts, and gold medallions. yet, this only hurt and furthered the denier's soul from Essence.
the stories of previous warners serve as an example of what may happen. it serves to perhaps keep people who are resistant to humility and given to materialism, and arrogance, something to fear, to keep them in line. but why would this even conceivably work? because none of us live forever. because there is a great unknowing, and in that unknowing is the place where our brain meets our spirt. herein, questions engage a process of wrangling with what is undeniable - truth.
these stories may be just fables. fables carry morals. aesop's and grimm's tales serve the function of bringing forth a morale. these tales exist in bangli/indian/desi culture as well. my grandmother told my brother not to waste food when we were shorties. to drive this point home, she related a story of a grain of rice that was thrown away, and how it went to the heavens to complain to God, who then made it cloudy and thunder and storm. the tale instilled a value in my brothers and i that have stuck. the literal accuracy of whether a grain of rice went to the heavens or not is unimportant.
but what are the consequences then, for those who are destructive towards others, the earth, themselves? the criterion, lays down the science of Air Land Liquid Atmosphere Heat:
"it is ALLAH who sends the winds as heralds of his mercy. and we send down pure water from the sky so may bring life to a dead land." (25:47/48)
the remainder of the surah provides other such math, of nature, of the karmic action involved in nature, and the profound science and interdependent discourse involved in the existence of all life.
this discourse of ALLAH is so unfathomable, and yet, at once scientific, that evolution, as understood by modern science, is made clear - "it is He who made man from water..."
nature is in conversation. action reaction. land without rain = drought. rain on land without sun = flood and ice.
"man from water...". we are a part of a process that has been always. what is the Source? the One from which all Life emanates, who has no beginning or end...
...so "put your trust in the One who is Ever-Lasting, who never dies..." (25:58)
the science is clear, for anyone who is a skeptic, like myself, of blind faith. ALLAH is the Source, the Great Scientist who through the evidence of science, of that which can be observed, of that which is tangible, verifies the role, the Source:
"Exalted is He who put constellations in the Heavens, a radiant lamp and an illuminating moon - it is He who made night and day succeed each other, a sign for those who would take heed and be greatful." (25:61)
why is it important to be greatful? because existence is so delicate that the sun not coming up for a few days may ruin the entire market of foods, may leave us so hungry that cannibalism.
how can we be greatful?
"the servants of the Gracious One are those who walk through the earth with humility and when they are addressed by the ignorant ones, their response is: Peace; and those who spend the night prostrating themselves..." (25:63) "and those who are neither extravagant nor cheap, but a balance between the two; those who never invoke any deity besides God, nor take a life, which God has made sacred, except with the right to do so, nor commit adultery." (25:68)
our greatfulness is not a mystery, not just in the internal work of rememberance, but in the inside out of it, in all our deeds and actions. worship, is practical. spirituality is lived, in how we engage with ourselves and our community. and if we make a mistake, our goal becomes to repent, make amends, and be humble in moving forward...
...all praise is due...
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