a good word

It's rare that I find a good word in the Koran and thereby a good word to say of the text.

Koran 14:29-30 (Arberry) Hast thou not seen how God has struck a similitude? A good word is as a good tree -- its roots are firm, and its branches are in heaven; it gives its produce every season by the leave of its Lord. So God strikes similitudes for men; haply they will remember.

Koran 14:24-25 (Yusuf Ali) Seest thou not how Allah sets forth a parable? - A goodly word like a goodly tree, whose root is firmly fixed, and its branches (reach) to the heavens,
It brings forth its fruit at all times, by the leave of its Lord. So Allah sets forth parables for men, in order that they may receive admonition.

quatrain 910

I planted roses, but without you they were thorns.
I hatched peacock eggs. Snakes were inside.
Played the harp, sour music.
I went to the eighth heaven. It was the lowest hell.

Quatrain 910, Coleman Barks and John Moyne

I plant some flowers without you,
they become thorns.
I see a peacock, it turns into a snake.
I play the rubaab – nothing but noise.
I go to the highest heaven, it's a burning hell.

Quatrain 910, Jonathan Star and Shahram Shiva

Thanks to Sunlight.

I can smell eternity

birds are free from the cage
cage is empty from the birds
where have you flown from
to be so happy
I can smell eternity
in your songs

-- Quatrain 1955
Translation by Nader Khalili

common man comments

It often happens that some ordinary citizen comments on a website and provides a plain man's understanding of things esoteric. I've come across a couple of these lately so I'll start collecting them under "common-comments".

The first relates to a passage from the Mathnawi posted at the beliefnet.com message boards under Daily Muslim Wisdom.

To exalt oneself is to claim partnership with God.
Unless you have died and become living through Him,
you are an enemy seeking to hold the power.
But when you have come to live through God,
that which you have become is in truth He:
it is no longer copartnership, but absolute Unity.

Rumi: Mathnawi IV: 2765-2767
Version by Camille and Kabir Helminski

A reader, presumably a Muslim, inquires about this as follows:

JTornado1 9/3/2006

"But when you have come to live through God, that which you have become is in truth He: it is no longer copartnership, but absolute Unity." What does Rumi mean? Is is saying that one can become one with God in absolute Unity? Is that another way of saying one can become God? I don't understand what he is saying.

A second reader, apparently not a Muslim, replies as follows:

lightdancing 9/12/2006

Hello JTornado1,

I am not of your faith, but I like your question. Please understand that I am not offering anything other than my interpretation of a beautiful expression by Rumi.

If you find anything in this reply that helps you, well and good. If you find that nothing in this reply helps you, that is good too. Stay true to what works for you, what resonates within you.

Thanks so much for quoting this beautiful quote. I had no idea that Rumi was a part of the Muslim faith.

>To exalt oneself is to claim partnership with God.
>Unless you have died and become living through Him,
>you are an enemy seeking to hold the power.

To say that you, the person you think you are, is God, is to be blind to the truth of God. When you are blind to the truth of God, you will believe that whatever you dictate is God's word. You will not bring peace. You will not experience peace.

>But when you have come to live through God,
>that which you have become is in truth He:
>it is no longer copartnership, but absolute Unity.

When you come to realize that God is all there is, everything personal is surrendered. The love that is God is in your heart. You become a channel of God. God's love is expressed through you, bringing unity where there was once strife and division.

> Is is saying that one can become one with God in >absolute Unity? Is that another way of saying one can >become God? I don't understand what he is saying.

No, you don't become God. Instead, you become transparent and God shines through you. The you you believed yourself to be is only a shadow.

Blessings

I especially liked the idea that "you become transparent and God shines through you". It's a nice clear way of putting it.

The next comment I liked occurs at Gospel of Thomas Saying 22 which reads:

Jesus saw some infants who were being suckled. He said to his disciples: These infants being suckled are like those who enter the kingdom. They said to him: If we then become children, shall we enter the kingdom? Jesus said to them: When you make the two one, and when you make the inside as the outside, and the outside as the inside, and the upper as the lower, and when you make the male and the female into a single one, so that the male is not male and the female not female, and when you make eyes in place of an eye, and a hand in place of a hand, and a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image, then shall you enter [the kingdom].

Gospel of Thomas Saying 22, trans Blatz

Under Visitor Comments occurs this simple gem:

Children do not use words, nor do they divide the world into parts. They do not know themselves to exist as a separate "me," using the body as a point of reference, and so the world does not exist as a separate "not me." For children, all is One. Words are convenient tools that describe reality, but they are not themselves part of the real world.
- nothing

This is a very straightforward understanding of the original unity we experience before our intellect develops discernment. The mystic vision returns to that original unity, apparently at will.

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