4 When the earth shall be shaken with a (severe) shaking...

4 When the earth shall be shaken with a (severe) shaking, 5 And the mountains shall be made to crumble with (an awful) crumbling, 6 So that they shall be as scattered dust, "When the earth shall be shaken with a (severe) shaking." Ard ( earth) is whatever serves as a foundation, such as land. Rajja is to shake. Everyone wants stability, whether in one's. home, relationships, or in the economy. But those who seek absolute stability find that it only exists when there is trust in Allah.

Every, other stability is relative. Even though it may last his lifetime, the seeker knows that the world and the cosmos are on a journey, and that the foundation upon which he has built his relative security may get shaken and pulled out from under him. At the time of the shaking, the flimsy relative foundation, having served its purpose in this creational cycle, is finished. For the man on the path such a calamity is regarded as direct evidence of the love of Reality for him.

He therefore looks for some better foundation until he discovers the foundation of all foundations. The solid mass, which came to equilibrium after the earth cooled down, giving it relative stability, will crumble into dust. The fortunate one who has intellect comes to realize that what he perceives as the solidity of his foundation is only in his mind. Nothing in this world is going to last, whether it be health, wealth or children.

Once that is recognized, the awareness, immediacy and urgency of the quest be­come the major preoccupation in his life, and all other aspects become secondary and therefore acceptable because of their transiency. After his foundation has been shaken and destroyed, a new and much firmer foundation is built. The measurement of worldly things is based upon specific time factors which are very different if there is a turning of the heart, resulting from a turning over of one's situation.

It isa matter of attitude. The dislodging of the heart from this world is truly and genuinely a major event. It is a prelude to the experience of after-life. The heart is then totally uprooted and enters a state beyond freedom, for freedom is only meaningful because there are shackles. Man is capable of grasp­ing this state intellectually and experientially, to varying degrees of clarity.

For example, the most solid visible realities in this existence are the mountains which anchor the mantle of the earth.