Reflections on Revelations

Today is a public holiday because it is Nuzul Al Quran or the Quran Revelation Day--the day when Muslims celebrate the Prophet Muhammad's first revelation from God through the Angel Gabriel at the cave of Hira' in the year 610 CE.

Iqra!--was the first word uttered by the Angel Gabriel. This is usually translated as 'read' or 'recite'.  Read what? I don't know how to read! This was the first shocked reaction of Muhammad, who was then nothing but an ordinary Arab merchant, wise, pious and trustworthy, but quite illiterate. 

The Angel Gabriel, comforted the cowering man and then proclaimed the famous first five verses:

Read in the name of your Lord who created--

Created man from a clinging substance.

Read, and your Lord is most Generous--

He who taught by the pen--

Taught man that which he knew not.

You can find these verses in the Quran today in chapter or Surah 96, called 'Al-Alaq'. Why are they not in chapter 1 of the Holy Book itself? Well, the chapters of the Quran are not arranged in the chronological order as they were revealed to the Prophet Muhammad over a period of 23 years. This was based on historical and practical reasons. In the beginning the Quran was memorised and transmitted orally.  The arrangement, as it was passed down, was probably arranged based on thematic coherence and linguistic flow.  

I like the three key words that immediately strike the mind with powerful imagery when we read these verses: 'read', 'clinging substance' and 'pen'--iqra, alaq and qalam.   The 'clinging substance' -- al-alaq--from which the surah takes its name, is sometimes translated as 'clot'. It reminds us of the humble origin of man as nothing but a sticky lump of blood, an embryo clinging to the wall of the uterus. The act of reading and the instrument of the pen (by which God taught Man), symbolises the heights of knowledge and wisdom which that clinging substance could ultimately aspire to.

The task for Man as decreed by God is immediately conveyed: rise from ignorance to enlightenment. Reading and writing are indeed the hallmarks of a great civilisation. And the inspiration from the written verses of the Quran, together with their stirring recitations have certainly roused the nomadic tribes of Arabia into a conquering force, creating a civilisation and empire, which at its heights covered great portions of the three continents of Europe, Africa and Asia.

Though I do not know Arabic, let alone the classical version used in the Quran, I could see how poetic and powerful its verses are. I hear the rousing call of azan and sometimes prayers broadcasted from the nearby mosque, every morning while lying in bed. The sound and rhythm of the recitation alone carries deep resonance.

Karen Armstrong, author of A History of God and many other books on religion including a biography of Muhammad, wrote that it was like Muhammad had invented a new literary form--the verses of the Quran struck the minds of the Arabic speaker deeply and emotionally. 

Having the aesthetic sense stirred, is the first sign of spiritual awakening.  The most direct path to the spiritual source of the human psyche is through sound. And the poetic verses of the Quran, combining meaning, imagery and sound, ignites the divine spark in the reader and listener.

We humans have different constitutions and dispositions. Like the Prophet Muhammad, we will all find one or many moments in our lives which completely shift our entire perspective. All of us receive revelations; just that sometimes they pass right through us, because or we did not notice them or are plainly ignorant. So what's the remedy for that? 

Simple: Iqra!