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Wednesday, January 2, 2013

The Economics of God, the Universe and the Language of Love



I Am Offering Me
I have a river,
And it is cleaving its way
From Me to you,

I have an ocean
And it is lapping on your shore,
Surrounding you with My mercy
And the richness of My generosity,

I have a sky
And it shelters you,
And when it rains,
Beauty blooms in your earth,
Knowledge flowers in your garden
And you are dressed in Adab,

I have Me,
And I am the Unique One
Beyond your idea of uniqueness,
Incomparable am I
Beyond your little idea of comparisons,

And I offer Myself to you.

Lo, o' inventors amongst you mortals!
Who of you have offered yourselves
To that which you have created?!

None but Me! None but Me!
All praise to Me! All love to Me!
For I am the One who returns
What His creation gives
In infinite numbers
And in infinite ways!

How can you despair?

O’ my servants,

Believe!
..............................

Scarcity. In economics, we are taught that scarcity equals value. And the more scarce the resource the more valuable and desirable it becomes. Thus a grain of rice is more valuable than a blade of grass. Emerald is more desirable than turquoise. And copper is more valuable than iron. 

Demand. And a resource becomes of greater value if it can be put to some useful use. And this happens as Mankind's knowledge of its elements and utility grows. Thus even a grain of sand of little worth suddenly becomes valuable to make glass and in the manufacturing of silicon chips, and even in the reclamation of land from the sea. 

Multiples. But everything in Creation is created in multiples, as a sign of divine generosity. Gold is scarce but there is gold still to be mined. Oil is scarce but there is still oil yet to be discovered. Even the Sun, which some pagans used to believe to be only one, is now known to be just a medium-size star of a rather small solar system in a galaxy among billions of galaxies. The richness of the Creator, and His unstinting generosity is apparent for those who would contemplate.

Left to our own devices, we could already be immensely happy with the fruits of the universe. But God is not just offering the Sun, the Earth, the sea and all their provisions to humanity...

The Heavens. Above all the mortal creation of this world, God has also promised the hereafter with its eternal heavens and angels and divine gardens of pleasure. Unimaginable palaces and rivers of milk and honey coursing through the trees of light and fountains of holy compassion. But wait. God is not done yet.

Me. For God is offering God to you, His very Self to His beloved creation. The Unique One to be known. The Absolute One to be understood, to be praised and to be worshiped. It is to Him that all analogies, metaphors and parables of life would lead the seeker towards. And it is cast in a net of infinite compassion, in a sea of infinite mercy... drawn through the divine veil as how the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s) on the his night journey of al-Isra' wal-Mi'raj left the arch-Angel Gabriel and passed from even the vision of the arch-angels themselves into the divine presence of God.

Thus, what ails you o' humanity? What fear do you hide in the well of your spirit when the only fear you must feel is to become cold and indifferent to Love. For above all else, God is ever speaking to us in the Language of Love. This is self-evident. 

So do not despair, sunshine. Believe.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam
Love will show the Way

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