Gems from Juzz 'Amma: "Striving for balance"

~ Gems from Juzz 'Amma ~

Day 14/ Gem 14

Surah Shams: "Striving for Balance"

وَالشَّمْسِ وَضُحَاهَا   وَالْقَمَرِ إِذَا تَلَاهَا

   وَالنَّهَارِ إِذَا جَلَّاهَا وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا يَغْشَاهَا

وَالسَّمَاءِ وَمَا بَنَاهَا وَالْأَرْضِ وَمَا طَحَاهَا

"By the Sun and its brightness, And I swear by the moon as it follows it (the sun). And [by] the day when it displays it. And I swear by the night as it covers it [the light of the sun] up.  And [by] the sky and He who constructed it. And I swear by the earth and He who spread it." (91:1-7)

Allah centred the theme of the first part of this Surah to the Sun, the Day, the Moon, the Night.

Allah makes us reflect on these creations by doing an Oath by them. We also get to see through Allah’s description of them – how these creations are in conflict. The Sun is in conflict with the moon, the day in conflict with the night. The people who live in nature have totally different experiences each time all these different conflicts of the universe occur, since these people are directly affected by them.

These opposites of nature seem conflicting, but they are there to cause harmony for us – the human race.

Imagine this harmony disappeared and the routine of the Sun, Moon, Day and Night rebelled [Tughyan.] Who would suffer the most? The humans on earth.

Despite the greatness of the Sun, the Moon, the Day and the Night – who gave these great beings such great harmony so these percieved conflicts benefit us in our day to day lives.

So the point of reflection which has been put forward to us is how this harmony has been spread out around the Earth – so us living beings are able to survive and be sustained on this planet for thousands of years, even through all these percieved conflicting stages above us in the skies – yet they are a means of benefit for us. I.e. The sun provides energy for food and warmth, and then it is covered for us to rest etc.

We will see how the conflict in the skies is a parallel and similarity to the human Nafs in the aayaat to come.

The beginning aayaat are making us reflect on the universe, and the fruits of reflecting on them will make us understand ourselves. 

Then Allah says:

وَنَفْسٍ  وَمَا سَوَّاهَا

                            And [by] the Nafs/Conscience and He who proportioned it

Nafs – Conscience. (Nafs al-lawwaama – reproaching soul – النَّفْسِ اللَّوَّامَةِ [mentioned in Surah Qiyamah 75:2], Nafs al mutma’inah – soul at ease/tranquility النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ [mentioned in Surah Fajr 89:27])

Sawaa – taswiyah - take things that are uneven, balance them in a way so they are balanced and organised. I.e. To balance a waying scale.

How amazingly the Nafs is balanced, how remarkable is the One who balanced it! Our body requires a Balance: This is why there are so much terms used by people throughout history for it; Left and right, yin/yang, the animal side/spiritual human side, good/bad energy etc

Al Bicaa’i comments: Allah compares the nafs with the body the same way He compares the sun with its glow.

There is inclination of good and bad inside us.

Al Aloosi; When Allah created us, He created the clay and blew into it the Rooh (soul). Whatever we want in this Earth is created from this Earth; food, drink, other peoples companionship etc. – all these come from the Earth. But there is something within us which is not from this Earth, it is from the command of Allah – that is our our Rooh (soul).

When we feel hungry in our stomach – we want Earthly food.

When we are hungry spiritually – we need food from out of this Earth, we need it directly from Allah – Wahy [revelation].

These two things (Nafs and Rooh) are always in Conflict – just like the Sun and Moon.

So when there is extremes in any of these, there is harm for the human. There should be a balance of spirituality for Allah’s sake, and also channeling our body’s desires in a permissible way.

May Allah grant us this balance, ameen.