This Ramadan, MuslimMatters reached out to our common (and not-so-regular) crew of writers asking them to share their reflections on varied ayahs/surahs of the Quran, ideally with a deal with a particular juz – those who could have impacted them in some particular means or have influenced how they strategy each life and deen. While some contributors are well-versed in at the least a part of the Quranic Sciences, not all essentially are, however mirror on their selections as a means of illustrating that our Holy Book is approachable from varied human views.
Introducing, A Ramadan Quran Journal: A MuslimMatters Series
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The Bird
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by Wael Abdelgawad
Flying over the ocean off the coast of the good central land – what the people known as Africa, although the chicken didn’t know this – the albatross heard the sound of a boy reciting the Quran. The sound arrived on the wind like a righteous stowaway, faint however discernible. The wind was like that. It might carry the sound of a chicken’s cry throughout an enormous distance, or might snatch away and conceal even essentially the most horrible noises.
Wind was one thing the albatross understood higher than any dwelling creature.
The nice chicken was a glider, with a wingspan of 4 meters. He knew air currents as he knew his personal heartbeat. He might journey 100 kilometers with out flapping his wings, utilizing strategies corresponding to dynamic hovering, during which he expertly flew into an air present to achieve elevation, turned, and dropped in elevation to survey for fish. If he noticed a faculty of fish he would dive straight into the wild sea and snatch one up. In reality, his identify, albatross, got here from the Arabic al-ġaṭṭās, ‘the diver’, although the chicken didn’t know this.
Special tendons within the albatross’s shoulders held his wings prolonged with out effort. He might journey a thousand kilometers in a day – almost the space between Madinah and Amman, each of which he had visited. His habitat was the complete southern hemisphere of the world, and he had crossed it a number of occasions.
The albatross knew the Quran as effectively, as did all dwelling issues, for did Allah 
– and subsequently the Quran that he introduced – was a mercy to all of the worlds? And was not Allah the Lord of all of the worlds? And did this not embody the animal world? Oh, the albatross didn’t perceive the linguistic that means of the Arabic phrases, however the Quranic essence flowed into his coronary heart as simply because the wind flowed over the ocean.
He glided in towards shore, drawn by the recitation, coming in quick and low towards the emerald hills of Cape Town, South Africa.
The boy who recited the Quran was small and brown-skinned, sporting unfastened white clothes and a white cap with gold embroidery. He sat cross-legged and barefoot on the bow of a crusing boat that was tethered to the dock, and held the mushaf in his lap, reciting Surat An-Nur out loud.
Albatross (PC: Paul Carroll [unsplash])
The albatross prolonged his talons and landed easily on the highest mast of the boat. Folding his nice wings into his sides, he settled himself to hear.
Perhaps having caught a glimpse of movement by means of his peripheral imaginative and prescient, the boy appeared up, startled, and gaped.
The albatross knew he was an uncommon sight. There weren’t lots of his type left, nearly all of his race having been destroyed by human poachers, poisoned by air pollution, killed by cats or rats as chicks, starved by human overfishing of the seas, or caught in fishing nets and hooks. He was a grizzled old survivor, over forty years old, although the chicken himself couldn’t depend. He solely knew that he had survived his brood, his pair-bonded mate, and possibly most of his personal chicks.
The boy known as out phrases that the albatross didn’t perceive, however – having had a lot expertise with people – guessed was in all probability one thing like, “Baba, there is a big bird!”
A voice from the ship’s maintain replied gruffly, perhaps saying, “So what? Birds are everywhere. Continue your recitation.”
Reluctantly, the boy tore his eyes from the good albatross and chanted:
- Allāh is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The instance of His mild is sort of a area of interest inside which is a lamp; the lamp is inside glass, the glass as if it had been a pearly [white] star lit from [the oil of] a blessed olive tree, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil would almost glow even when untouched by fireplace. Light upon mild. Allāh guides to His mild whom He wills. And Allāh presents examples for the folks, and Allāh is Knowing of all issues.
The chicken exhaled softly by means of his nostrils, pondering, subhanAllah! What glory, what magnificence! He knew effectively that Allah was the sunshine of the heavens and earth, for was it not Allah who guided him on his journeys? Wasn’t it Allah who introduced him by means of lightning and storm, throughout huge distances of open ocean, and throughout nice landmasses, even because the people polluted the world with noise and synthetic mild? Wasn’t it Allah who managed the solar, moon and stars, by which the albatross navigated?
The chicken understood that the lamp within the area of interest was the center of the believer, which is full of the sunshine of Allah , and is of course inclined to Allah . As for the sunshine upon mild, it could be the sunshine of the Quran, and the sunshine of religion. And Allah knew finest.
- In homes which Allāh has ordered to be raised and that His identify be talked about therein; exalting Him inside them within the morning and the evenings…
- [are] males who neither commerce nor sale distracts from the remembrance of Allāh and efficiency of prayer and giving of zakāh. They worry a Day during which the hearts and eyes will [fearfully] flip about –
- That Allāh could reward them [according to] one of the best of what they did and improve them from His bounty. And Allāh provides provision to whom He wills with out account [i.e., limit].
The albatross was an observer of human beings by necessity, for of their arms lay the survival of all earthly life. And they had been making a merciless mess of it. But sure, he had seen women and men who worshiped Allah , devoted themselves to righteousness, and harmed no dwelling factor. Such folks had been unusual strangers on this world. May Allah have mercy on them and reward them.
The boy recited:
- But those that disbelieved – their deeds are like a mirage in a lowland which a thirsty one thinks is water till, when he involves it, he finds it’s nothing however finds Allāh earlier than him, and He pays him in full his due; and Allāh is swift in account.
The albatross was as soon as blown far astray by a storm, and located himself over deep desert. He flew for days, using the eddies, utilizing a method generally known as slope gliding to remain within the air. He grew to become desperately thirsty, and on the fourth day noticed a shimmering lake of blue amid the huge expanse of sand. He landed, solely to seek out dry mud. In frustration and desperation, he took a invoice filled with sand, solely to choke on it. If such had been the deeds of the disbelievers, then he thanked and praised Allah that he was not one in every of them.
- Or [they are] like darknesses inside an unfathomable sea which is roofed by waves, upon that are waves, over that are clouds – darknesses, a few of them upon others. When one places out his hand [therein], he can hardly see it. And he to whom Allāh has not granted mild – for him there is no such thing as a mild.
Ths ayah made the chicken’s breath catch, for it took him again to a different expertise of his during which he’d been shot and almost killed. He’d been far out over the deep ocean on a windy, pitch black evening, during which there was no moon, and heavy clouds blocked the celebrities. Albatrosses might float upon the ocean when drained, however on this evening it was not attainable, for the ocean was in turmoil, with large waves rising up and crashing down. It may very well be troublesome to navigate on such nights, and the inky darkness weighed on one’s spirit. An albatross’s life was lonely, however nights like that reminded him of all he had misplaced. If such was the soul of the disbeliever, it was a frightful strategy to reside.
On that specific evening, he noticed one of many immense, brightly lit container ships plying the ocean, rocking with the waves, however massive sufficient to remain afloat. It was a welcome sight, and he landed atop the pilot home to relaxation. As he sat, wings folded, head tucked into his feathers, he heard an odd sound. Lifting his head, he noticed an unlit boat approaching quickly. Knowing this was not regular, he took flight, because the conflicts of males weren’t his affair.
Circling above, he watched as human loss of life sticks chattered and flamed, males yelled and screamed, and the container ship caught fireplace. A loud explosion made his coronary heart race, and the container ship started to listing. Men had been washed overboard. A stray bullet – a sizzling stone in his understanding – clipped his wing and he cawed in ache. Cursing himself for his curiosity he sped away, his wing dripping blood. The last item he noticed was the container ship sinking into the frigid, uncaring sea.
The boy’s recitation introduced him again:
- Do you not see that Allāh is exalted by whomever is inside the heavens and the earth and [by] the birds with wings unfold [in flight]? Each [of them] has identified his [means of] prayer and exalting [Him], and Allāh is Knowing of what they do.
- And to Allāh belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and to Allāh is the vacation spot.
This verse made pleasure geyser within the albatross’s coronary heart, for it spoke of him! It was true, he did certainly exalt and reward Allah , Master of the sky and sea and stars, Creator of all, and the only real Provider. Excited to listen to himself talked about, the albatross unfold his wings broad.
The boy stopped his recitation and appeared worriedly on the chicken. Seeing this, the albatross tucked his wings once more and settled down.
Hesitantly, the boy continued:
- Do you not see that Allāh drives clouds? Then He brings them collectively; then He makes them right into a mass, and also you see the rain emerge from inside it. And He sends down from the sky, mountains [of clouds] inside which is hail, and He strikes with it whom He wills and averts it from whom He wills. The flash of its lightning almost takes away the eyesight.
- Allāh alternates the evening and the day. Indeed in that may be a lesson for many who have imaginative and prescient.
The albatross was excited. Clouds, rain, hail, and lightning, had been a part of his every day expertise. They had been his actuality, for good or unhealthy.
The people had been free creatures, however they didn’t know they had been free. In giving them free company, Allah had elevated them, making their ‘ibadah treasured. And in giving them khilafah over the earth, Allah had enabled them to create a world of gardens and peace. Yet they chained themselves to meaningless possessions and killed one another out of greed. They lived within the muck, scrabbling and bleeding, forgetting how Allah had honored them.
The albatross, however, was completely free, within the bodily sense. He had seen the way in which fishermen and beachgoers gazed at him in longing, faces upturned, wishing they might fly as he did. Yet he was old and weary of contending with storms, waves, and starvation. He yearned for a secure place he might name home.
He was not a creature of will, nevertheless, and couldn’t change his nature.
With these turbulent ideas and feelings working by means of his thoughts, the albatross opened his mouth and uttered the attribute – and really loud – name of his type: “UWAY, UWAY, taak tak tak tak tak tak tak tak tak tak tak!”
It was an excessive amount of for the boy. He closed the Quran and bumped into the boathouse, calling out for his mother and father.
Ah effectively. The albatross preened his feathers for a second, then stretched out his wings, flapped just a few occasions, and located an air present. Banking into it, he climbed rapidly and steered towards the tough waters off the coast of Cape Agulhas. The yellowtail and snoek had been shoaling presently of yr, and he would have a fish in his stomach quickly sufficient, inshaAllah.
THE END
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See the Story Index for Wael Abdelgawad’s fiction tales on this web site.
Wael Abdelgawad’s novels – together with Pieces of a Dream, The Repeaters and Zaid Karim Private Investigator – are available in book and print type on his author page at Amazon.com.
Related:
– A Ramadan Quran Journal: A MuslimMatters Series – [Juz 17] Trust Fund And A Yellow Lamborghini
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