ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Mercy of Qur'an and the Advent of Zaman - Commentary On Four Suras Supplement 1 10 And the earth, He has set it for living creatures; 11 Therein are fruit and palms having sheathed clusters, Allah set up the earth in order that man, who is in continuous flux and disturbance, should come to recognize his origin, to recog­nize how he has fallen from before time into fitra (innate character), and to recognize how he has come into being from non­being.

As part of His mercy, he has been dropped into janna (the garden) in the same way as his forefathers were. When Adam came out from the crack of non-time, Allah told him that this garden had been given to him so that he could have maqarr ( a place of stability, such as a house). Qarra the root of maqarr, means to settle. He who has settled admits to the mercy of the Creator. Everything points to the Rahman. Life is characterized by motion and can only be experienced in time.

When time stops, life stops. That is al-qiyamatu-s-saghira (the small Day of Reckoning). On that day there is no time left to change the balance of the accumulated good and bad actions. People who have come close to death through accidents and have returned, say that on the Day of Reckoning a film of one's life is played to them in a split second. If man is to qualify for knowledge of Allah, it will be by his knowledge of the Rahman, which is attained by upholding the mizan -the Qur'an.

Man's qualification for admittance to the rahma of the knowledge of the Qur'an is dependent upon his leaving himself behind when he enters the Qur'an, because the Qur'an is like the room of Allah: it is where Allah's laws and knowledge are kept. Man can only come to Allah with taqwa.

He can only approach Him with abandon­ment and the right attitude, waiting to see the mercy, trusting that there is nothing other than the mercy of Allah, praying that he will see it manifest to him in the form of knowledge which can be transferred into behavior. That is the qualification; otherwise the study of the Qur'an remains "Islamic Studies." Everything goes back to Allah. Every knowledge takes man back to where it emanated from, its root and source.

Al- ard (the earth) is necessary for man and is part of the garden. Ardiyya, which means foundation or ground floor, provides man - who is in continuous turmoil biologically, physiologically, mentally and spiritually - the possibility of remem­bering the beyond-time.