The Nature of Fire with text
“(Allah) said, ‘What prevented thee from prostrating when I commanded thee?’ (Iblis or Satan) said, ‘I am better than him. Thou hast created me from fire, whilst Thou hast created him (Adam) from clay.’”
- The Quran: Surah Al-A'raf (The Heights) – 12.
The scene set for this verse in the seventh Surah of The Quran is immediately after the creation of Adam. All the angels obeyed Allah and prostrated themselves before his human creation, except for Iblis (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iblis).
In The Study Quran (Harper) edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr, it has this to say:
“(Iblis argues) that he was created from fire, which he perceives as a more powerful and nobler substance than clay…(But) although fire may be luminous, subtle, and characterized by levity and lightness, it is also associated with fickleness, recklessness, and destructiveness – with grandeur, but also haughtiness, qualities consistent with the arrogance that ultimately leads to Iblis’s perdition.” (p.410).
* Notice how all those negative facets of fire fit the spirit of the people who inspired the attack a few days ago on Salman Rushdie. True Muslims, like Rumi and those who understand spiritual things, will know that the fundamentalists who attack Rushdie do not represent God, but Satan (fickleness, recklessness, destructiveness and haughtiness). But that’s true of ALL fundamentalists (even secular ones). Rumi would have agreed with John the Apostle’s statement, “God is LOVE and those who live in love, live in God and God lives in them.” (1 John 4:16). It is obvious then that those who do NOT LOVE know NOTHING of God - whatever their theology!
Salam, shalom, pax in terra, peace to all.
* 25 single photographs taken at one minute intervals with the Leica D-Lux 7.
The Nature of Fire with text
“(Allah) said, ‘What prevented thee from prostrating when I commanded thee?’ (Iblis or Satan) said, ‘I am better than him. Thou hast created me from fire, whilst Thou hast created him (Adam) from clay.’”
- The Quran: Surah Al-A'raf (The Heights) – 12.
The scene set for this verse in the seventh Surah of The Quran is immediately after the creation of Adam. All the angels obeyed Allah and prostrated themselves before his human creation, except for Iblis (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iblis).
In The Study Quran (Harper) edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr, it has this to say:
“(Iblis argues) that he was created from fire, which he perceives as a more powerful and nobler substance than clay…(But) although fire may be luminous, subtle, and characterized by levity and lightness, it is also associated with fickleness, recklessness, and destructiveness – with grandeur, but also haughtiness, qualities consistent with the arrogance that ultimately leads to Iblis’s perdition.” (p.410).
* Notice how all those negative facets of fire fit the spirit of the people who inspired the attack a few days ago on Salman Rushdie. True Muslims, like Rumi and those who understand spiritual things, will know that the fundamentalists who attack Rushdie do not represent God, but Satan (fickleness, recklessness, destructiveness and haughtiness). But that’s true of ALL fundamentalists (even secular ones). Rumi would have agreed with John the Apostle’s statement, “God is LOVE and those who live in love, live in God and God lives in them.” (1 John 4:16). It is obvious then that those who do NOT LOVE know NOTHING of God - whatever their theology!
Salam, shalom, pax in terra, peace to all.
* 25 single photographs taken at one minute intervals with the Leica D-Lux 7.