Thursday, July 3, 2014

The blessings we receive from the One Creator

Bible Isaiah 42:5 
Thus saith God the "I AM", 
He that created the heavens, and stretched them out; 
He that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; 
He that giveth breath unto the people upon it, 
and Spirit to them that walk therein:
 OR

Thus says God, the Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people on it
and spirit to those who walk in it: -
 
This Biblical verse reminds me of these Qur'anic verses (translation by Asad)
2:21 O Humankind! Worship your Sustainer, who has created you and those who lived before you, so that you might remain conscious of Him
2:22 who has made the earth a resting-place for you and the sky a canopy, and has sent down water from the sky and thereby brought forth fruits for your sustenance: do not, then, claim that there is any power that could rival God, [13] when you know [that He is One].
***
2:28 How can you refuse to acknowledge God, seeing that you were lifeless and He gave you life, and that He will cause you to die and then will bring you again to life, whereupon unto Him you will be brought back?
2:29 He it is who has created for you all that is on earth, and has applied His design to the heavens and fashioned them into seven heavens; [20] and He alone has full knowledge of everything. -
***
32:7 who makes most excellent everything that He creates. [6] Thus, He begins the creation of man out of clay; [7]
32:8 then He causes him to be begotten [8] out of the essence of a humble fluid; -
32:9 and then He forms him in accordance with what he is meant to be, and breathes into him of His spirit: [9] and [thus, O humans,] He endows you with hearing, and sight, and feelings as well as minds: [10] [yet] how seldom are you grateful! -
***
67:23 Say: "[God is] He who has brought you [all] into being, and has endowed you with hearing, and sight, and hearts: [20] [yet] how seldom are you grateful!"
***********
Here is a Qur'anic verse (2:41) which reminds us that the Qur'an was revealed to confirm and to remind us the truth of earlier revelations such as the Bible (Torah and Injil/Gospel; Old and New Testaments).
2:40 O CHILDREN of Israel! [31] Remember those blessings of Mine with which I graced you, and fulfil your promise unto Me, [whereupon] I shall fulfil My promise unto you; and of Me, of Me stand in awe! -
2:41 Believe in that which I have [now] bestowed from on high, confirming the truth already in your possession, and be not foremost among those who deny its truth; and do not barter away My messages for a trifling gain; [32] and of Me, of Me be conscious -
2:42 And do not overlay the truth with falsehood, and do not knowingly suppress the truth; [33]
2:43 and be constant in salat {prayer}, and spend in zakat {charity for the needy, poor}, [34] and bow down in prayer with all who thus bow down. 
2:44 Do you bid other people to be pious, the while you forget your own selves -and yet you recite the divine writ? Will you not, then, use your reason? ; 
2:45 And seek aid in steadfast patience and salat {prayer}: and this, indeed, is a hard thing for all but the humble in spirit, 
2:46 who know with certainty that they shall meet their Sustainer and that unto Him they shall return. -
2:47 O children of Israel! Remember those blessings of Mine with which I graced you, and how I favoured you above all other people; 
2:48 and remain conscious of [the coming of] a Day when no human being shall in the least avail another, nor shall intercession be accepted from any of them, nor ransom taken from them, [35] and none shall be succoured.
******
for Arabic original and other translations:
islamicity.com/QuranSearch

No comments:

Post a Comment