2006, IV - The Muslim Sunrise

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Soul in the Likeness of AllahBy Bilal RanaThe outer world is the real make-believeThe literal truth is actually the universe inside you.Why do you obsess about guidesWhen the real Teacher is in you?That true sense-ability which picks up the scent of truthIs given to all for free!Shatter the chains binding you to this world!For if you have not done so in this life why would they cease to exist in the next?Do you actually think that evil ghouls will smash them for you?Can the dead rally the dead?Awaken now!For if you are fast sleep here why do think you will ever wake up?There is no salvation which does not know paradise on earthThe real afterlife begins now.Do you wish to know the soul?Inside the vast ocean, lies all its creation, billions of water dropletsAnd yet, inside each single drop is all the deep ocean, and all the oceans of the earth.Within a mere iota - a revolving universe, a thousand marvelsAnd the radiance of a hundred million stars!Dear friend, if you want to know the truth, I will tell it to you:The Call of the Eternally Besought that a believer hears is heard insideWhat I am speaking of goes back to the earliest of speciesA consciousness so timeless it cannot be eradicatedAs the leaf floats on the wind so soar we on the infinite space of the DivineThe fetal soul a drop of fluid becomes a universe embarking on a endless journey.The destination is in the experience, on the edge of the ever-unfolding scrollNever there yet never farFrom the Elusive One.Like a nut that becomes a great oak tree so expands the soulThough the nut is tiny, inside it is the mighty oak itself - its roots, its branches and its shade.In each sailing vessel burns a flame which no earthly water can put outIn it lies a candle lit by the Opener of Hearts.Whether a flicker or a flame in each and allThe luminous aura of Eternity can be found.You are a soul-mirror reflecting the Everlasting Refuge.You must polish it with your tears to clearly reflect some of His BrillianceA choir sings a melody but earthly ears hear it notStrings are harped by a hand no one can see and drums are beating an ecstatic tenor.For one and all, but are you listening?With every pious thought and deedThe secret inside you in a parallel world grows an otherworldly eye to behold truths, a new limb to employ to good useIf you only knew! Ah, If you only knew!Under the penitent one’s ruffled garb, beneath his hungry stomachLies a luxurious feast and a silken cloak.Many came and died searching for the door to the IrresistibleWhen ultimately the knob to turn was hidden in them -No one will turn that knob for you!The Poet, Dr. Bilal Rana resides in Lansing, MichiganPoetry Corner22 MuslimSunrise
Signs of Allah“Verily, in the creationof the heavens and theearth and in thealternation of the nightand day, and in the shipswhich sail in the seawith that which profitsmen, and in the waterthat Allah send downfrom the sky andquickens therewith theearth after its death andscatters therein all kindsof beasts, and in thechange of the winds, andthe clouds pressed intoservice between theheaven and the earth areindeed Signs for thepeople who understand”(2:165)Part IIBy Imam Mubasher AhmadSigns as Miracles and WondersThe Holy Qur’an is replete withreferences to Signs of Allah as miracles andwonders that appeared to lead men to God.God’s Prophets and Messengers performedthem. For example, the Qur’an declares:We sent Moses with our Signs to Pharaohand his chiefs, but they rejected them.Behold, then, what was the end of those whocreated disorder! (7:104); (10:76). And ofa truth We gave Moses nine manifest signs(17:102); (27:13, 14); (11:97); and We didsend Moses with Our Signs, saying, ‘Bringforth your people from every kind ofdarkness into light, and remind them of thedays of Allah.’ Surely, therein are Signs forevery patient and thankful person (14:6).Jesus as was also sent to the House of Israelwith miracles. Allah directed him to say tothe Israelites:‘I come to you with a Sign from yourLord, which is, that I will fashion out foryou a creation out of clay after the mannerof a bird, then I will breathe into it a newspirit and it will become a soaring being bythe command of Allah; and I will heal thenight-blind and the leprous, and I willquicken the dead, by the command of Allah;and I will announce to you what you willeat and what you will store up in yourhouses. Surely, therein is a Sign for you, ifyou be believers’ (3:50).Obviously, here Jesus as is speaking insymbolic language. He was given the Signto transform his humble and poor disciplesinto saints - soaring high in lofty regions ofspirituality. He cleansed them of many moralimpurities, healed them of spiritualblindness and revived them from dead toforge a living connection with GodAlmighty. The important point to note is thatall such Signs and wonders are performedby a Prophet ‘by the command of Allah.’Thus, in reality, it is the power andauthority of the Divine presence workingbehind the Signs.Signs in the CreationThe Holy Qur’an emphatically declaresthat cosmos is replete with the Signs thatlead to an awe-inspiring recognition of theGlorious God.“Verily, in the creation of the heavensand the earth and in the alternation of thenight and day, and in the ships which sailin the sea with that which profits men,and in the water that Allah send down fromthe sky and quickens therewith the earthafter its death and scatters therein allkinds of beasts, and in the change of thewinds, and the clouds pressed into servicebetween the heaven and the earth areindeed Signs for the people whounderstand” (2:165).The significance of these Signsbecomes evident to men of understanding“who remember Allah while standing,sitting, and lying on their sides, and ponderover the creation of the heavens and theearth. They come to the conclusion thattheir Lord has not created all this in vain”(3: 191, 192).“Verily, it is Allah Who causes the grainand the date-stone to sprout. He bringsforth the living from the dead, and He isthe bringer forth of the dead from theliving. That is Allah; wherefore, then, areyou turned back? He causes the break ofthe day; and He made the night for restand the sun and the moon for reckoningtime. That is the decree of the Mighty, theWise. And He it is Who has made the starsfor you that you may follow the rightdirection with their help amid the deepdarkness of the land and the sea. We haveexplained the Signs in detail for a peoplewho possess knowledge. And He it is Whohas produced you from a single soul andthere is for you a home and a lodging. WeWINTER 2006 23
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Page 7 and 8: About the Soul...The Unity of God A
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Page 33 and 34: Kalamazoo GazetteNovember 12, 2006
Page 35 and 36: From the Archives:“Assalam-o-Alai
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2006, IV - The Muslim Sunrise

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