سُورَة التَكْوِير
The Roundup
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
In the name of God, the Universally Merciful, the Singularly Compassionate
Muslims are taught to begin all actions with this phrase. What does it mean to do something in the Name of Allah, The Universally Merciful, The Singularly Compassionate? It means to act as Allah’s representative of these Divine Qualities. It means to become mercy for the whole world and to become singularly compassionate to whatever or whomever you are dealing with in a specific moment.
إِذَا ٱلشَّمْسُ كُوِّرَتْ
1. When the sun is rolled up.
External Signs: The sun is now a sphere, but it used not to be a sphere in its early stages of formation. So, you can say that the sun has already rolled up. Science tells us that when the sun burns its fuel, like all stars, it will turn into a white dwarf without light or heat.
Internalized Reflections You are the macrocosm of the microcosm. Your neurons are like stars, and your illuminated consciousness is like the sun. When you realize that you are the master of your thoughts and your thoughts are not you, all your thoughts will be rounded up and circulate around Allah, and the Divine Qualities. Alternatively, the ayah could mean when you pass away, and the sun of your consciousness is rolled up.
وَإِذَا ٱلنُّجُومُ ٱنكَدَرَتْ
2. When the stars are dimmed.
External Signs: allstarsare distanced to die. Some turn to dwarfs, while others turn to supernova.
Internalized Reflections when all of your shining neuron cells die, what would you turn to? A super soul or a dwarfed soul? Alternatively, you may die before you die whenyour thoughts are dimmed, and you are fully present before Allah as nothing.
وَإِذَا ٱلْجِبَالُ سُيِّرَتْ
3. When the mountains are set in motion.
External Signs: When the dikes in a mountain are heated, the minerals get liquified and exert pressure on the rocks to the extent of moving them, like what happened to the Heart Mountain between Wyoming and Montana. To all belongs all the forces in the Universe. He moves mountains and reshapes the earth into a new earth.
Internalized Reflections If heat and pressure can move mountains, surely, they can move the hearts of people. Our egos melt with the heat of hardship and challenges, and the pressure transforms us into true representatives of Allah.
وَإِذَا ٱلْعِشَارُ عُطِّلَتْ
4. When the relationships (`ishar) are suspended. (Alternative translation: when the she-camels are held on)
External Signs: The word `ishar could mean ten by ten (that is why it was translated as relationship), or could mean she-camels.Today, many in-person relationships are suspended, and people feel more isolated from one another. Ten by ten, they meet via zoom, social media, and dating apps. With the evolution of AI, people may be suspended from their jobs, and become more isolated. In some Arab countries, camel races are a huge business, and she-camels are held and used for such races.
Internalizing Meaning: At times like these, we are called to roll up within to find guidance on how to deal with the new changes. We need to find strength when our relationship with someone is severed when we are suspended from a job, or from meeting in person. How can we make technology serve everyone rather than only a few, and how can we hold one another in compassion, as we grieve the old world and find the ethical guidelines for the new world that is emerging?
وَإِذَا ٱلْوُحُوشُ حُشِرَتْ
5. When the beasts are crammed.
External Signs: beasts are already crammed, held in our zoos, circuses, labs, and mass-production cages.
Internalizing Meaning: Instead of focusing on cramming and controlling theexternal beasts, let us cram our internal beasts: greed, jealousy, envy, rage, conceit, promiscuity, etc.
وَإِذَا ٱلْبِحَارُ سُجِّرَتْ
6. When the oceans are set aflame.
External Signs: Many oceanic underwater volcanos could erupt. In fact, there has been a recent eruption of an underwater volcano near Tonga that resulted in the formation of a little new island in the ocean. The eruption is expected to warm that part of the earth more.
Internalizing Meaning: Under the surface, in the depth of your being, you have hidden potential that can erupt like a volcano and reform your inner reality. New Islands can appear with shades, fruits, and beauty.
وَإِذَا ٱلنُّفُوسُ زُوِّجَتْ
7. When the souls are paired.
External Signs: gender issues have been emerging: ‘The Me Too’ movement, gender fluidity, and issues related to gender and the meaning of masculinity and femininity.
Internalizing Meaning: According to Sufism, inwardly, we all have the masculine and the feminine, where masculinity means being active and strong, and femininity means being receptive and gentle. Masculinity means being focused and practical, and femininity means being holistic, inclusive, and intuitive. When the soul is paired, it feels whole and fulfilled.
وَإِذَا ٱلْمَوْءُۥدَةُ سُئِلَتْ
8. When the one buried alive, is asked:
بِأَىِّ ذَنۢبٍۢ قُتِلَتْ
9. For what crime was she killed?
External Signs: Random killing has spread as Prophet Muhammad (sa) predicted, and many innocent souls have been killed, oppressed, and buried alive with their voices and freedom suppressed. Human trafficking is one way of burying souls alive.
Internalized Reflections It is time toask ourselves an important question: are we burying part of ourselves alive by being unauthentic, being afraid to show that part out, pretending we are OK, seeking to please others, or gaining a fleeting pleasure? or conforming to a status quo that is against our values?
وَإِذَا ٱلصُّحُفُ نُشِرَتْ
10. When the records are made public.
External Signs: most of our records are now published on social media and on the internet.
Internalized Reflections our body language publishes our inner states to the world, testifying on our behalf. A smile may show how nervous or joyful, welcoming or encouraging others. Our eyes show that we are lustful. Our postures, red faces, and tightness show if we are angry, enraged, or envious. Our tears and dimmed light in our faces and eyes show our sadness. Body language is more authentic than some social media posts. Remember, when you are looking at social media, at other people’s records you are only seeing a snapshot of their lives that may not even be as genuine as it seems. Focus on your record. Share your authentic self, express vulnerabilities, and acknowledge your imperfections. If we do so, we will communicate more compassionately with one another than when we try to show how perfect and right we are.
وَإِذَا ٱلسَّمَآءُ كُشِطَتْ
11. When the sky is peeled away.
External Signs: The Ozonlayer is already peeled.
Internalized Reflections In the Arabic language, the sky is Sama’ from the root verb “sama” to be refined. When your being is peeled, you are refined, and you find your beautiful fitrah (intrinsic nature as a soul from God. The invisible layer between heaven and earth will disappear, and you will realize that the inner and the outer are reflections of the same one reality of your being. The more refined you are, the more beauty you see within and without.
وَإِذَا ٱلْجَحِيمُ سُعِّرَتْ
12. When the Fire is set ablaze.
وَإِذَا ٱلْجَنَّةُ أُزْلِفَتْ
13. When Paradise is brought near.
External Signs: Recently, there have been many natural fires across the world. A forest fire can be beneficial to the earth in the long run. It can misplace people but, in this misplacement, they may find themselves, their godly qualities, and their connection to Allah and to others in a deeper way than before, and Paradise is brought near.
Internalized Reflections When we are set in an inner fire, we should know that Paradise is near. Allah says, ‘Indeed, with every difficulty, there is ease. Indeed, with every difficulty there is ease.” When you reach a state of helplessness, the ego is gone, and you find Allah.
عَلِمَتْ نَفْسٌۭ مَّآ أَحْضَرَتْ
14. Each soul will know what it has brought.
External Signs: People build houses on the cost lines with generators and strong structures, but when a fire or a hurricane comes, all of that is demolished, and every person knows what they were heedless of.
Internalized Reflections Spiritual fire exposes our egos. It destroys our pictured and helps us see reality. It shows us the falsehood that the ego brings and the truth that our authentic self brings.
فَلَآ أُقْسِمُ بِٱلْخُنَّسِ
15. I swear by the hidden galaxies (black holes.)
ٱلْجَوَارِ ٱلْكُنَّسِ
16. The racers that sweep away (everything on its path)
External Signs: Black holes are invisible bodies, like vacuum cleaners, they suck in everything that comes into their orbit. It is predicted that they function as loop worms that lead to other universes.
Internalized Reflections: during sleep, we fall into black holes that suck us in and transport us to another universe, a subtle realm. Sleep is a minor death. It is a gentle process, mercy from Allah, that vacuums clean our bodies and our souls. Our cells get regenerated during sleep, our brain is sorted out, and our emotions are realized in dreams, and we may receive revelations from Allah in a form of subtle bodies embodying meaning and qualities and carrying Divine Messaged. These are signs for those who may reflect so that in their wakeful state, try to be sucked and cleaned before they outwardly respond.
وَٱلَّيْلِ إِذَا عَسْعَسَ
17. And by the night as it recedes.
وَٱلصُّبْحِ إِذَا تَنَفَّسَ
18. And by the morn as it breathes.
External Signs: The night and day alternate as we need both.
Internalized Reflections: darkness and light fluctuate in our beings. At the time of darkness (the night of the soul), we are asked to allow ourselves to be sucked inwardly and to trust that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, so we should be grateful for it because it will lead us to receive more light. We can seek the help of spiritual beings, our role models, and archetypes and follow their wisdom, teaching, and guidance. When we experience the light, we are asked to be grateful and humbly be active and share it outwardly.
إِنَّهُۥ لَقَوْلُ رَسُولٍۢ كَرِيمٍۢ
19. This is the speech of a noble messenger.
ذِى قُوَّةٍ عِندَ ذِى ٱلْعَرْشِ مَكِينٍۢ
20. Endowed with power, eminent with the Lord of the Throne.
مُّطَاعٍۢ ثَمَّ أَمِينٍۢ
21. Obeyed and honest.
External Signs: most traditional Qur’an commentators said that the noble messenger is the archangel Jibril.
Internalized Reflections: many Muslim mystics called archangel Jibril: The Active Intellect that fashion forms by the permission of Allah. Archangel Jibril has six hundred wings which can be understood as vibrational forces. Every person has the potential to have access to the Active Intellect.
وَمَا صَاحِبُكُم بِمَجْنُونٍۢ
22. Your friend is not possessed.
وَلَقَدْ رَءَاهُ بِٱلْأُفُقِ ٱلْمُبِينِ
23. He saw him on the luminous horizon.
وَمَا هُوَ عَلَى ٱلْغَيْبِ بِضَنِينٍۢ
24. And He does not withhold knowledge of the Unseen.
وَمَا هُوَ بِقَوْلِ شَيْطَـٰنٍۢ رَّجِيمٍۢ
25. And it is not the word of an accursed devil.
External Signs: The Prophet (sa) is a friend to humanity who was sent by Allah as a mercy for humankind. He saw archangel Jibril (as) in the luminous horizon between the physical reality and the non-physical realm that is abstracted from the physical reality. Therefore, he was able to bring knowledge of the Unseen and did not withhold it. The Qur’an is not a word of an accursed devil.
Internalized Reflections There is a voice of Truth inside every person that is not possessed by accursed thoughts of confusion, comparison, and malice. This voice can understand the Divine Guidance and follow it. It is in tune with our fitrah.
فَأَيْنَ تَذْهَبُونَ
26. So where are you heading?
إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا ذِكْرٌۭ لِّلْعَـٰلَمِينَ
27. It is only a Reminder to all humankind.
لِمَن شَآءَ مِنكُمْ أَن يَسْتَقِيمَ
28. To whoever of you wills to go straight.
External Signs: What is happening in the outer world and in our outer life is asking us this question at every moment: where are you heading? External events are clues that give us either warning or good news.
Internalized Reflections We should listen to the warnings and rectify our affairs and should be grateful and humbled when we receive good news.
وَمَا تَشَآءُونَ إِلَّآ أَن يَشَآءَ ٱللَّهُ رَبُّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ
29. But you do not will unless Allah wills—The Masterful Nurturer of the Worlds.
External Signs: We have free will: desires and steps we take to pursue our desires following the straight path or not. So, how can we see Allah’s will behind our will?
Internalized Reflections We cannot go straight in acting upon our desires unless we align our consciousness with Allah, purify our intentions, and understand the motive behind the desire, the Divine Quality behind the desire, and how our desire should be achieved in a straight path pleasing to Allah.”
Salaam and Blessings,
Amany
