My Tumble Crags. South Rocks, Tanjung Mangsit, Senggigi, Lombok, Indonesia
A while back I had a nasty tumble off these craggy rocks but I come here quite often anyway. The other day with a companion from Sumbawa also in thrall to Nature but not really much of a hiker or climber. He kept muttering something... I thought maybe complaints and feared distraction from our steep path. But no. Here's the story which - a bit shyly - he told me.
His father had fallen ill and died. And the family is convinced that this is the doing of a dukun - a kind of shaman and herbal doctor - in a neighboring village. The remedy for keeping the ill-doing ghosts and the devil at bay is to recite Ayat al-Kursi, 'the Throne Verse' (Koran 2, 255). It's quite beautiful:
“Allah, there is no God but He, the Living and Self-Sustaining. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes him. Unto Him belongs all that is in the heavens and on Earth. Who is there who can intercede with Him save by His leave? He knows what is in front of them and what is behind them, while they encompass nothing of His knowledge except what He wills. His throne extends over the heavens and the Earth, and He is never weary of preserving them. He is the Most High, the Magnificent.”
This he was softly proclaiming. And he thought, too, that it would keep us safe on our hike.
Then we sat down in the shade of a great Pandan and talked about the signs of Nature as they are given meaning in the Muslim, Christian and Jewish traditions. Concepts such as 'the book of Nature' which is communal to all three faiths.
PS The Monsoonal thunder-and-lightning wreaks havoc here with my internet connection. Sorry... will soon when I move on be a better 'commenter'.
My Tumble Crags. South Rocks, Tanjung Mangsit, Senggigi, Lombok, Indonesia
A while back I had a nasty tumble off these craggy rocks but I come here quite often anyway. The other day with a companion from Sumbawa also in thrall to Nature but not really much of a hiker or climber. He kept muttering something... I thought maybe complaints and feared distraction from our steep path. But no. Here's the story which - a bit shyly - he told me.
His father had fallen ill and died. And the family is convinced that this is the doing of a dukun - a kind of shaman and herbal doctor - in a neighboring village. The remedy for keeping the ill-doing ghosts and the devil at bay is to recite Ayat al-Kursi, 'the Throne Verse' (Koran 2, 255). It's quite beautiful:
“Allah, there is no God but He, the Living and Self-Sustaining. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes him. Unto Him belongs all that is in the heavens and on Earth. Who is there who can intercede with Him save by His leave? He knows what is in front of them and what is behind them, while they encompass nothing of His knowledge except what He wills. His throne extends over the heavens and the Earth, and He is never weary of preserving them. He is the Most High, the Magnificent.”
This he was softly proclaiming. And he thought, too, that it would keep us safe on our hike.
Then we sat down in the shade of a great Pandan and talked about the signs of Nature as they are given meaning in the Muslim, Christian and Jewish traditions. Concepts such as 'the book of Nature' which is communal to all three faiths.
PS The Monsoonal thunder-and-lightning wreaks havoc here with my internet connection. Sorry... will soon when I move on be a better 'commenter'.