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The Cage

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  بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن زَكَّاهَا وَقَدْ خَابَ مَن دَسَّاهَا Qad aflaḥa man zakkāhā; wa qad khāba man dassāhā. “Successful indeed is the one who purifies their soul, and doomed is the one who corrupts it.” Sūrat ash-Shams 91:9–10 ( Quran.com ) There are stories that entertain us. And there are stories that remove the veil from the face of our own condition. Rūmī tells one such story in the Mathnawī . A merchant had a parrot. A speaking parrot. A parrot whose voice brought pleasure into the house. But the parrot was inside a cage. This is how strange human life can become. A thing may be loved and imprisoned at the same time. A thing may be admired and deprived at the same time. A thing may be praised for its song while its wings are forgotten. The merchant did not necessarily think of himself as cruel. Perhaps he thought he was caring for the bird. Perhaps he thought the cage was protection. Perhaps he thought beauty belonged nearer to him than to ...
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Intelligence Sans Obeisance to the Divine

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بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ  وَٱتْلُ عَلَيْهِمْ نَبَأَ ٱلَّذِىٓ ءَاتَيْنَـٰهُ ءَايَـٰتِنَا  فَٱنسَلَخَ مِنْهَا فَأَتْبَعَهُ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنُ فَكَانَ مِنَ ٱلْغَاوِينَ وَلَوْ شِئْنَا لَرَفَعْنَـٰهُ بِهَا وَلَـٰكِنَّهُۥٓ أَخْلَدَ إِلَى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَٱتَّبَعَ هَوَىٰهُ Watlu ʿalayhim naba’a alladhī ātaynāhu āyātinā fansalakha minhā fa-atbaʿahu ash-shayṭānu fa-kāna mina al-ghāwīn. Wa law shi’nā la-rafaʿnāhu bihā wa-lākinnahu akhlada ilā al-arḍi wa-ttabaʿa hawāh. “Relate to them the story of the one to whom We gave Our signs, but he slipped away from them, so Satan pursued him, and he became one of those who went astray. Had We willed, We would have raised him by those signs, but he clung to the earth and followed his desire.” Sūrat al-Aʿrāf 7:175–176.   There are verses that frighten us because they speak of ignorance. And there are verses that frighten us more because they speak of knowledge. Not the absence of knowledge. The loss of knowledge. The betrayal of knowle...
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