JOURNEY OF THE UNIVERSE
 AS EXPOUNDED IN THE QUR`AN
 (Excerpts Only)

By: Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri

Introduction
Journey of the Universe

The Qur`an is the book of tawhîd, divine unity, the book of lâ ilâha illa-llâh, there is no god but Allah. It is the direct revelation of Reality. The Qur`an illuminates the connectedness between man and his environment and the interconnectedness of all aspects of creation, visible or invisible. It expounds upon the meaning of time and the experience of man in time, although the truth from which it emanates is beyond time, for time itself is encompassed in a timeless dimensional reality.

Shedding light on man's biological passage through life, this divine revelation promises another experience after death in which time ceases to have meaning, where action is not possible, and where everything stays as it is forever – beyond time.

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The Qur`an expresses the opposing aspects of finity and infinity through that most concordant language in which it was revealed, the pure and ancient tongue of Arabic. The life and culture of the Arabs was always held in a finely tuned balance between two extremes, and their language necessarily reflected this. The most startlingly beautiful flowers grew out of the harsh sun-scorched desert; the most eloquent and passionate poetry emerged from the hearts of men who daily faced the mundane and sometimes treacherous challenge of surviving in such barren, unfriendly lands. The Arab mind, with is finely honed faculty of awareness, was in harmony with its environment; and the Arabs unified with the demands their lives made on them.

The sharpness in the contrasts of opposites made the Arabic language fit for giving expression to the duality that emanates from unity. The desert night is bleak, cold, and black, while the day is blindingly ablaze with heat and light. Yet, at what point does night end and day begin? They are part of one continuous cycle.

The linguistic structure of Arabic reveals this diversity within unity. Arab, the language of primordial high consciousness, of tawhîd, reflects the knowledge which is inherently embedded within us. The only way to gain access to these truths is to trace the Arabic words to their roots and see how all their multifaceted levels of meanings develop from one root.

In the following chapters, we shall try to explore aspects of the Qur`an that relate to the creation of this world, and take from them what is directly, commonly, and experientially meaningful to us. Examining the Arabic words of those relevant Qur`anic verses will be our major tool in decoding these truths. But because the Qur`an transcends time and man's experiences, this is inherently a very difficult task. We therefore have to approach it cautiously and with great courtesy.

We will try to extract from the Qur`an the knowledge that is already programmed within us, to glean from this infinite ocean what appeals to us as human beings who are subject to the limitations of our temporary existence. What we would like to take from the Qur`an is subject to time, so we will try to put this in a chronological order – and may Allah forgive us because time has been created by the one and only Reality Whose nature transcends time.

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