We are all affected by the changing season which is why many of us to mark the seasonal cycle including the Spring and Autumn Equinox (when the length of the day is exactly equal to the night). It is really interesting when this seasonal cycle relates to the digital clock, we usually live our lives by. In November 2020 this meant that my need to get ready and leave for work nearly made me forget my morning prayers. I had to think of something that would keep me focussed on the changing prayer times whilst preparing for work.
The solution reading the Quran! I found seven different translations and started to read them. I started to read them simply so that I would not forget to do my prayers but the journey, was greater than I had anticipated. Reading the 7 together enhanced the power of some of the imagery, stories and concepts. At times it felt a chore but once all 7 were read a spark of light invariably shone through and it was great to be able to share.
The 7 translations were:
1. Mohammed Asad, The message of the Qur’an, The Book Foundation 2003
2. Abdel Haleem, The Qur’an, Oxford 2004
3. S.H. Nasr (ed), The Study Quran, Harper Collins 2015
4. Ahmed Hulusi, Decoding the Quran, 2013
5. Saheeh International, the Qur’an Al-Muntada Al-Islami 2012
6. Rodwell, The Koran, Phoenix 2009
7. Muhammed al-Ghazali, A journey through the Qur’an, Dar al Taqwa 1998
I started with the chapters at the back because they are the shortest so easy to read 7 in one session.
I had not intended to share until I read chapter 113 and it seemed that the “envier that envies” being referred to was myself! I just wanted to apologise to all those whom I had ever envied. It was as if I had just realised the destructive nature of envy and jealousy and wanted to protect myself and others from it. It was amazing what I got back when I sent out a message saying how illuminating I had found the chapter and “may you all be protected from the “envier when he envies.”
“…and of course, seeing our own envy in this world of comparisons … we may think we are in the daylight but may be in unconscious continual darkness and we may be likewise feeling the light that can be found in deep darkness…”
Quran Chapter 113, Sura Al -Falaq, the rising dawn, Daybreak.
