"When the sky is cleft asunder, and when the stars are dispersed, when the seas are burst forth, and when graves are turned inside our, then shall each soul know what it has sent forth and what it has left behind."
Quran 82:1-5
These are the first five verses al-Infitar, the 82nd surah, here rendered as the "The Cleaving Asunder." I chose these verses mainly because I think they're beautiful and they give a small sense of the powerful language in the Quran, even translated into English. My Arabic-speaking friends will tell me that I'll never truly understand the Quran until I speak Arabic and can read the book in its original tongue. Truthfully, I don't think I agree with that notion, but I fully believe that I'll never be able to appreciate the beauty of the Quran. Muslims believe that the fact that Muhammad, a generally unlettered merchant, produced a work of the poetic beauty and metaphoric splendor of the Quran is proof of the miracle (as compared to somehow rewriting history to make the Prophet seem better educated). Now, do I think the world will actually end this way? Well, no - I always try to be honest and not say what folks, especially my fellow brothers and sisters, would like me to say. I think it is a beautiful and powerful metaphor, but a metaphor nonetheless. I think the world will end, or at least our personal world will end, and either our life and deeds add up to something or they don't. Explaining the enormity of a life lived without purpose, and a life that failed to make the world a better place, is a failed life, and a life that leaves you at odd with God, even if the sky is not actually cleft asunder.
Quran 82:1-5
These are the first five verses al-Infitar, the 82nd surah, here rendered as the "The Cleaving Asunder." I chose these verses mainly because I think they're beautiful and they give a small sense of the powerful language in the Quran, even translated into English. My Arabic-speaking friends will tell me that I'll never truly understand the Quran until I speak Arabic and can read the book in its original tongue. Truthfully, I don't think I agree with that notion, but I fully believe that I'll never be able to appreciate the beauty of the Quran. Muslims believe that the fact that Muhammad, a generally unlettered merchant, produced a work of the poetic beauty and metaphoric splendor of the Quran is proof of the miracle (as compared to somehow rewriting history to make the Prophet seem better educated). Now, do I think the world will actually end this way? Well, no - I always try to be honest and not say what folks, especially my fellow brothers and sisters, would like me to say. I think it is a beautiful and powerful metaphor, but a metaphor nonetheless. I think the world will end, or at least our personal world will end, and either our life and deeds add up to something or they don't. Explaining the enormity of a life lived without purpose, and a life that failed to make the world a better place, is a failed life, and a life that leaves you at odd with God, even if the sky is not actually cleft asunder.
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