Tuesday, September 23, 2008

3 excerpts on the Qur'an from Ibn 'Arabi

From Al-Futuhat al Makkia

" Recite the Qur'an and reflect on it. When you recite, look at the qualities, attributes and at the praises by which Allah (swt) has described those He loves among His servants and avoid the qualities and attributes which Allah disapproves of in the Qur'an... Allah has mentioned them to you, put them in His Book and acquainted you with them so that you would act by them.

SO WHEN YOU READ THE QUR'AN, BE THE QUR'AN BY WHAT IS THE QUR'AN.

No one will have a greater punishment on the Day of Resurrection than someone who memorizes a verse then forgets it. It is also the case of someone who memorizes a verse and fails to act by it. This is confirmed in what the Prophet ( saaws) stated:" The metaphor of a believer who recites the Qur'an is that of a citron- its scent is fragrant and its taste is good" referring to recitation and reading. They are breaths that emerge and they resemble the fragrances which the breath exhales; because the Qur'an is sweet and not other than the breaths of the reader and reciter when it is being recited in the state of recitation.{{ note: Sweetness refers to faith as in the Hadith: " The one who is pleased with Allah as a Sustainer (Rabb), Submission (Islam) as religion and Muhammad as a Prophet, has tasted the food of faith". So "taste" is ascribed to faith}} And he said (saaws) :"The metaphor of a believer who does not recite the Qur'an is that of a date. Its taste is sweet but it has no fragrance since he does not recite when he is in the state (Hal) of reciting EVEN if he has the Qur'an memorized". The metaphor of a hypocrite who recites the Qur'an is that of basil- its scent is fragrant , but its taste is bitter because hypocrisy is inward denial of the Truth. The metaphor of a hypocrite who does not recite the Qur'an is that of acolocynth ( bitter apple)- its taste is bitter and it has no scent because he is not a reciter in the state.".........The station (Maqam) of the Qur'an cannot be hidden. No other words are equal to the Words of Allah in drawing the slave near to Allah."-


"When someone recites the Qur'an and does not adhere to any of it, he is one of the worst people by the testimony of the Prophet (saaws). A man may be reading the Qur'an and the Qur'an is cursing him, so he curses himself as when he reads: " in Surat Hud 11:18 " Yes indeed !Allah curses the wrongdoers". Since he is doing wrong He is cursing himself. He reads in Surat al- Dukhan 44:7 " Allah' curse is on the liars" and he is a liar; so the Qur'an curses him and he curses himself when he recites. He may read a verse which denounces a quality by which he himself is described and does not abstain from it; or he may read a verse which praises an attribute which he does not act by and which does not apply to him; in this way the Qur'an is an argument against him, not for him( on Judgment day).The Prophet ( saaws) said in a sound Hadith: " The Qur'an is evidence for you or against you. Everybody goes out and trades with his own Self, either setting it free or leading it to perdition."

" So when one performs Remembrance (Dikhr Allah), he should remember in his Dhikr that this Dhikr is mentioned in the Qur'an. So that, when he performs Dhikr'allah, he is also reciting the Qur'an. And if he is reciting , then he is uttering the Remembrance by which Allah mentioned Himself. When he is in this state, then He is putting Himself in the position of His Sustainer (rabb) and it is His words (that he is uttering) Surat al- Tawba (9:6): "Grant him protection until he has heard the words of Allah (from you)", and His words " Allah says on the tongue of his servant", "Allah hears whosoever praises Him". On the Day of Resurrection, the Reciter will be told:" Recite and ascend". While in this world, in the days of responsibility for his deeds (takleef), it is with his recitation that he ascends from his own recitation to His recitation. Allah becomes the one who recites on the tongue of His servant. He is his hearing by which he hears, his sight by which he sees, his hand by which he strikes and his feet by which he runs.Therefore, a man only praises Allah, glorifies Him, testifies to His oneness by keeping in mind what has come in the Qur'an. Thus he elevates himself by himself to the Recitation of his Sustainer.....On the day of Resurrection, he will ascend to the last verse he reached and will stop at the rank which is appropriate to that verse which Allah recites on the tongue of this slave, when the slave is reciting in the Presence (Hudur).
The best words are the Words of Allah both the particular (al-Khawas) and those known to the regular people (al'awam)."

Notes for me:
Reciting is Remembering-Reciting so that one is in the Presence-Reciting and ascending -Reciting so that it is the Rabb Who is Reciting the Qur'an. The Rank achieved through Recitation and Remembering = (through the Qur'an in this world), will be the rank attained in the next world.

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