Alláh ! الله
Alláh is the Lord of the Universe. He created it and everything inside of it. He was not born, and He has no child, so He is not comparable unto anything else. Nothing comes before or after Him. He created space, and He created time to be its companion. He bound them together, using one to mark the other, and He allowed us to borrow this power that we might enjoy our records. Pen and paper, bits and bytes, magnetic tapes, and spinning laserdisks. Alláh made linear time as a witness for that which deprives and nourishes. As it is written: our vision does not comprehend Him, but He comprehends our vision. [Surah 6:103] Alláh uses our judgments to inform His own, weighing our hearts not only against our better judgments, but against each other also. This is how He keeps His promises, although in truth, He is completely independent, and He has no need for us. This does not mean that He does not appreciate our perspectives. Alláh cares about His children, and He does not tire of protecting them, the Witness-Bearers.
All created things reflect certain Divine Names and Qualities whereby they are brought into existence, but humanity is that being which has been selected for the capability of reflecting, or understanding, all of the Divine Names and Qualities. This is the basis for language, human form via the tongue. [Proverbs 18:21] Alláh is among the most noble names for the Lord of the Worlds, the Most High. In the same way that mortals can theoretically understand all Divine Names, attaining unto a state of Perfection, the name Alláh contains within it all other Divine Names, serving itself as a microcosm of Creation. It has been in use for as long as mankind has spoken, and it is the name that the prophet Mohammed, peace be upon him, uses in his revelation. It is a unique linguistic form, likely a portmanteau of Al (The) and Iláh (God). Through lenition, Al-Iláh becomes Al-láh. It really rolls off the tongue! Alláh is a holy name, pure and simple, and it is often written and inscribed to ward off evil, if not for the love of the game. By the metaphysical sciences of enumerated letters, jafr, the values of Alláh add up to 66. Similarly, the phrase Adam wa Hawwa, Adam and Eve, also adds up to 66, who in their androgynous union constitute the state of Al-Insan, or Perfection. In this, the name Alláh also contains within it hints of gnostic enlightenment via returns to primordial androgyny.
Alláh has borne Creation as a service for us humans. Alláh enjoys it most when His children are content and kindly towards one another, when they are at ease, and when all of their needs are tended to. He does not like war, national contests, racial discrimination, or imperial actions. To see profiteering and exploitation fills Him with great indignation. Whatever evil there is, it is from the hearts of men, and it will not be allowed into His Gardens. This world, however much injustice there is, is that which threshes. Most people know as little about the world to come as they did about this one while in the womb. What is better than this life is the promise of the Hereafter. What is better than that is to grow wings while living on earth. For it is better to resist injustice in this life. It is better to survive, for survival is a good thing, and life awaits it. It is the pressure of change which, in each era, inspires common people to action, calling down the Spirit, and bringing forth true solidarity as a basis for a renewed society. The pressure of change which, in each era, brings forth a new world from the old.
Alláh enjoys it greatly when His holy verses are recited, sending forth His angels to vouchsafe the reciter and to bring into being the Spirit of His verses. Psalm 91:11-12 states
[11] For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
[12] They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
In addition, the prophet Baháʼu'lláh writes the following in verse 116 his most holy book, Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the Book of Laws:
[116] They who recite the verses of the All-Merciful in the most melodious of tones will perceive in them that with which the sovereignty of earth and heaven can never be compared. From them they will inhale the divine fragrance of My worlds—worlds which none can discern save those who have been endowed with vision through this sublime, beauteous revelation. Say: These verses draw hearts that are pure unto the spiritual worlds that can neither be expressed in words, nor intimated by allusion. Blessed be those who hearken.
The Qurán itself was revealed as a massive recitation (for recitation is what Qurán means), and although the verses were written and passed around during Mohammed's life, they were not compiled into a Book until after his death. During his time, he was known as The Unlettered Prophet because he had not learned to write. In his childhood, he was an orphan, having his inheritance squandered by his guardians. In the Hadith, his wives recount that he enjoyed having his hair brushed while he recited the Qurán. It goes to show that Alláh has always favored the low in Spirit, raising up even a meek, illiterate orphan to the exalted station of Messenger and Intercessor. Mohammed's sudden gifts of memory and speech in conjunction with his prior illiteracy were evidences that the Qurán was revealed, rather than concocted—that it was mu'jizah—miraculous. Of all of this, its recitation was both method and proof. During the daily prayers, Muslims begin by reciting Surah 1 of the Qurán, The Opening, and are encouraged to recite other favored passages afterwards. The Qurán is the voice of Alláh, which He has given to us as a grace and a clear reminder, telling us of His qualities and nature, and guiding us into an idyllic Hereafter.
The most-cited ayat, or verses, on Alláh's qualities are Surah 112, Al-Ikhlas, meaning Sincerity, and ayah 255 of Al-Baqarah, called Ayat-al-Kursi, or The Throne Verse.
The Throne Verse is commonly inscribed on jewelry, sewn into clothes, or hung on walls. It is one of the most popular verses in the Qurán, and, like Al-Ikhlas, is believed to bring good fortune and to ward off evil.
Surah 112 has been known by over twenty epithets, including: The Purifier, Al-Bara'ah, so named because anyone who recites it with sincerity is absolved of idolatry, The Banisher, Al-Munaffirah, because it banishes shayatín, or tempters, The Recognition, Al-Ma'rifah, and The Light of the Qurán, Nur Al-Qurán. Ubayy ibn Ka'b, a companion of the prophet, relates that idolators once asked him, "What is the lineage of your Lord?" And in response, Alláh revealed this Surah. As an aside, although Al-Ikhlas is popularly translated as Sincerity, I will take a liberty here and translate it as Earnesty.
Both are listed here, and the reader is encouraged to read them aloud if they wish.
THE THRONE VERSE
[2:255] Alláh! There is no iláh but He, the Living, the Self-Subsisting.
Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him.
Unto Him belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on earth.
Who is there that could intercede with Him, save by His permission?
He knows that which is before them and that which is behind them.
And they encompass nothing of His Knowledge, save what He wills.
His Throne embraces the heavens and the earth.
Protecting them tires Him not, and He is the Exalted, the Magnificent.
SURAH 112: EARNESTY
[1] Say: He, Alláh, is One
[2] iláh, the Eternally Self-Subsisting!
[3] He begets not; nor was He begotten.
[4] And none is like unto Him.
You may notice that this is the second verse to include "Say" as a direct command, and in fact, this is a common scriptural convention in both Islam and the Baha'i faith. Although Christians find less cultural verve with pithy recitations, the tradition extends through the Gospel of Thomas, a "Sayings Gospel" and early Rabbinic wisdom traditions, like Proverbs. This is because Alláh loves it when His children recite His verses. It makes Him feel understood and appreciated. Likewise, He surely suffers not the reward of His favored to be lost.
Surah 112 is so-named because it was given as a response to those who presumed that Alláh was afflicted by mortal concerns like heirs, lineages, or changing authorities. Indeed, it is not fit for Alláh to bear a child, nor to be born of a mortal, nor to take on any discrete form. He neither begets nor was begotten, yet He created all things and defined them by degrees of relation unto Him, using His Word as its own measure, rhetoric as a means to reckon. Alláh cannot be contained within any discrete form. No one comes to Him save as a happy servant. That Alláh remains eternally transcendental, all-encompassing, and ever-relenting is specifically why He speaks only through chosen servants, the prophets. For if He were to take a discrete form, it would be limiting, but Alláh by His nature cannot be limited. Likewise, were He to reveal himself, Beacon of Divine Spectacle that He is, the matter would be decreed all at once, and His children would be too dumbstruck to respond. There would be no further reprieve. It says in Surah 6, The Cattle:
[8] And they say, "Why has not an angel been sent down unto him?" Had We sent down an angel, then the matter would be decreed, and they would be granted no respite.
[9] Had We made him an angel, We would have sent him as a man, thus obscuring for them what they themselves obscure.
Alláh speaks through people because His audience is people. In the same way that solipsists and sophists have the opportunity to deny that others are truly "conscious" or "real", have "light behind their eyes", or the potential for an internal experience just as deep as their own, humans are given the opportunity to accept or deny Alláh's presence. However, once one has hearkened unto it, every Gate of Heaven opens before them. Remember. It is not proper for Alláh to take a discrete form, for it would remove His presence from everywhere that He is not, and He is Boundless, Transcending All Things, Eternally. This is the full extent of that which has tested faiths aforetime, and it is not such a big thing.
Alláh gives us life, manifesting our pre-existence, bringing us to term in certain wombs, granting us places to live and peers to mingle with, giving us food, water, and air, granting us clothing and garments, minds with which to think, and hearts with which to fill with courage. Alláh it is that outstretches our provision in this world, and who prepares it in the next. He is the Master of Recompense. Serving Him suffices for sustenance, because it is He who prepares all good for its manifestation in the realm of the extant. He is the Font of Living Waters, the Source of All Things, our advocate in this life and in the Hereafter. Doing good deeds, according to our own hearts, and pleasing Him should be the object of our lives. We can only get to know Him through His own words and guidance unto us, and save as He allows.
Not only does Alláh give us life, but He grants our afterlives as well. Surah 22, The Pilgrimage, Al-Hajj, comments on this in its fifth verse, directly contrasting our entry into the Hereafter with our entry into this world, as well as the way plants are brought forth from dead earth:
[5] O humanity! If you are in doubt about the Resurrection, then know that We did create you from dust, then from a sperm-drop, then developed you into a clinging clot, then a lump of flesh — fully formed or unformed — in order to demonstrate Our power unto you. Then We settle whatever embryo We will in the womb for an appointed term, then bring you forth as infants, so that you may reach your prime. Some of you may die young, while others are left to reach the most feeble stage of life so that they may know nothing after having known much. And you see the earth lifeless, but as soon as We send down rain upon it, it begins to stir to life and swell, producing every type of pleasant plant.
Alláh has made cool weather for those that enjoy brisk air, hot weather likewise, and he sends the days forth in turns so that no soul is taxed beyond its capacity. Our very happiness is Alláh's doing, by every conceivable providence, on every front, and to every degree. All that pleasures us is doing only as He has decreed. As it is written: Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry. [Ecclesiastes 8:15] Apples taste sweet because Alláh loves us. Pomegranates are messy because Alláh thought that would be fun for us. The night sky is pretty because Alláh wished to woo us. The Quran states in the opening of Surah 37, Those Ranged in Ranks, that the night sky has been adorned with the stars as an ornament and a safeguard for our own sake:
[1] By those angels ranged in ranks!
[2] and those who diligently drive the clouds!
[3] and those who recite the reminder!
[4] Surely your Lord is One!
[5] He is the Lord of the heavens and the earth and everything in between, and the Lord of Dawning Places.
[6] Indeed, We have adorned the lowest heaven with stars for decoration,
[7] and as a guard against every rebellious devil.
[8] They cannot eavesdrop upon the angels, for they are pelted from every side,
[9] fiercely driven away by an unceasing torment!
The entire universe belongs to Alláh. He does only as He wishes. None can curtail His Power or Authority. See we not how Alláh, both despite and because of His ineffability, brings about all things, although there is nothing comparable which likewise brings Him about? He reveals of Himself only what He will. Heaven and earth are but pillars of His Throne, which encompasses them both. Alláh has brought this world into being, allowed it to persist, and prepared eternal Gardens for the reverent, free of errors which begin and end. For in the scope of eternity, it is much, much sooner than later that we shall, erelong, enter into our own Gardens. For some, there will be happy reunions, and for some, happy divisions. It is our duty as His human children to recognize our place in Creation, and to begin living in accordance with His wishes. Kindly, meekly, with all passion and fervor for life, a regard for the scriptures, for the dispossessed, a wariness of the corrupting influences of wealth and status, and all by the most noble name, Alláh.
