THE WORD OF GOD

THE WORD OF GOD From The Scriptures The Quran is the book of God. It has been preserved in its entirety since its revelation to the Prophet of Islam between CE 610 and 632. It is a book that brings glad tidings to humankind, along with divine admonition, and stresses the importance of man’s discovery of the Truth on a spiritual and intellectual level. Translated from Arabic and commentary by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. O you who are wrapped up in your mantle, stand up to pray for much of the night. It may be half the night or a little less than that or a little more, but recite the Quran slowly and distinctly. For We are about to send down to you a message of considerable gravity. (73:1-5) Literally ‘recite the Quran in slow, measured rhythmic tones’. This means ‘recite, paying full attention to the import of the content’. When recited like this, a two- way process between Quran and its reciter comes into play. For him, the Quran is an address or speech by God and his heart starts answering this address at every verse. In the Quran where there is any mention of God’s majesty, the reciter’s entire existence is strongly affected by the realisation of His greatness. When God’s blessings are enumerated in the Quran, the reciter’s heart overflows with gratitude; when God’s retribution is described in the Quran, the reciter trembles on reading it; when an order is laid down in the Quran, the feeling becomes intensified in the reciter that he should become the obedient subject of his Lord by carrying out that order. Literally ‘weighty words’ refers to that order for giving warning which is mentioned in the next chapter, ‘Arise and give warning’ (74:2). This means inform people about the hazards of the Hereafter. Undoubtedly this is the most difficult task in the world. For this, the missionary has to stand by the pure and unadulterated Truth, even if he becomes a stranger to all his people. He has to tolerate being tormented by the people, so that the relationship between him and his addressees remains unaffected till the last moment. He has to be unilaterally