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By Paul Salahuddin Armstrong
“When the boy was old enough to work with his father, Abraham said, ‘My son, I have seen myself sacrificing you in a dream. What do you think?’ He said, ‘Father, do as you are commanded and, God willing, you will find me steadfast.’ When they had both submitted to God, and he had laid his son down on the side of his face, We called out to him, ‘Abraham, you have fulfilled the dream.’ This is how We reward those who do good ― it was a test to prove [their true characters] ― We ransomed his son with a momentous sacrifice, and We let him be praised by succeeding generations: ‘Peace be upon Abraham!’ This is how We reward those who do good: truly he was one of our faithful servants.”
The Qur’an 37:102-111 (M.A.S. Abdul-Haleem)
“Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, Father? Yes, my son? Abraham replied. The fire and wood are here, Isaac said, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering? Abraham answered, God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son. And the two of them went on together. When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, Abraham! Abraham! Here I am, he replied. Do not lay a hand on the boy, he said. Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son. Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”
Genesis 22:7-14 (NIV)
The story is familiar to Jews, Christians and Muslims; the prophet Abraham, peace be upon him, was asked by God to make the ultimate sacrifice, his beloved son, though perhaps disagreeing on which son Abraham was asked to surrender, the meaning of this account doesn’t change. Who could make such a sacrifice, when we’d give everything for our children? Abraham dearly loved both his sons and their mothers, he surely would not have wanted to harm either of them in any way or form. To understand this account, we need to look beyond the worldly veils disguising it’s true meaning. Everything that manifests in the physical world begins with an intention, a beginning within a person’s heart.
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Lyrics:
Shanim kulam borchim,
shanim kulam chozrim,
Rodfim achrei hashemesh,
Shvuim betoch ma’agalim,
kulam mesubachim,
Az mah at od cholemet,
Shanim hem mastirim,
shanim kulam yodim,
Even mitapechet,
Baleilot uvayamim kulam kvar medabrim,
Lama at od nisheret…
Adif larutz laeish,
lidrosh lo livakesh,
Mimah at mifachedet?
Ein ma lachsov shehu omer,
ein zman yafeh yoter,
Hevi et hayom…
Shanim hem shoalim,
shanim lo makshivim,
Somrim hakol babeten,
Ze mitztaver v’ze gover
v’ze basof gomer,
Al mah at medaberet,
Adif larutz laeish…
Yotzei sheat tamid shoteket
Aval bifnim ze bo’er v’nisraf hakol,
Kol hamilim she ne’almo
Timtze’i otan bachalomot shel acherim…
Shanim hem niftachim v’nisarim sgurim,
neachazim baruach,
Kol ason rodef acher,
ze ba ze medaber,
Chozrim l’petza hapatuach…
Adif larutz laeish…
Yotzei sheat tamid shoteket…
Shanim kulam borchim,
shanim kulam chozrim,
Rodfim achrei hashemesh.
Translation:
OTHER PEOPLE’S DREAMS
For years everyone flees,
for years everyone returns,
Chasing after the sun,
Prisoners inside cycles,
everyone is involved,
So what are you still dreaming of,
For years they all hide it,
for years they all know,
A stone is turned over,
In the nights and the days everyone is already talking,
Why do you still remain…
Better to run to the fire,
to demand rather than to beg,
From what are you scared?
There’s nothing to think about that he says,
there’s no time more beautiful,
Bring the day…
For years they ask,
for years they don’t listen,
Keeping everything in the stomach,
It piles up and it gets stronger
and in the end it finishes,
What are you talking about,
Better to run to the fire…
On the outside you are always quiet,
But inside it burns and consumes everything,
All the words that disappear
You will find them in the dreams of others…
For years they are opened yet remain closed up,
held by the wind,
Every tragedy chases differently,
it comes it speaks,
They return to the open wound…
Better to run to the fire…
On the outside you are always quiet…
For years everyone flees,
for years everyone returns,
Chasing after the sun.
Translation by Mark Hafter of Wilmette, Illinois, USA. www.hebrewsongs.com
Lyrics:
Mime’amakim kar’ati elaich boi elai
beshuvech yach’zor shuv ha’or be’einai
lo gamur,
lo ozev t’aamaga beyadaich
sheyavo veya’ir lemish’ma
kol tz’chokech.
Mime’amakim kar’ati elaich boi elai
mul yare’ach me’ir et darkech shuv elai
nifrasu venamsu mul
maga shel yadaich
be’oznaich lochesh sho’el:
Mi zeh kore lach halailah – hakshivi
mi shar bakol elaich – el chalonech
mi sam nafsho shetehi me’usheret
mi yasim yad veyivneh et beitech.
Mi yiten chayav, yasimam mitachtaich
mi ka’afar leraglaich yichyeh
mi yohavech od mikol ohavaich
mi mikol ru’ach ra’ah yatzilech
mime’amakim.
Mime’amakim kar’ati elaich boi elai
mul yare’ach me’ir et darkech shuv elai
nifrasu venam’su mul
maga shel yadaich
be’oznaich lochesh sho’el:
Mi zeh kore lach halailah …
Translation:
From deep depths I called to you to come to me
with your return the light in my eyes will come back
it’s not finished,
I am not leaving the touch of your hands
that it may come and light up/wake upon
hearing the sound of your laugh.
From deep depths I called to you to come to me
the moonlight I will again light your way to me
they’re spread out and melted again
the touch of your hands
I whisper, ask in your ears:
Who is it that calls to you tonight – listen
who sings loudly to you – to your window
who put his soul so you’d be happy
who will put his hand and build you your home
who will give his life, put it underneath you
who will be like dust living at your feet
who will love you of all your lovers
who will save you from all evil spirits
from the deep depths.
From deep depths I called to you to come to me
the moonlight I will again light your way to me
they’re spread out and melted again
the touch of your hands
I whisper, ask in your ears:
Who is it that calls to you tonight
Translation by Kol Echad.
“God is the light of the heavens and the earth.
The semblance of His light
Is that of a niche in which is a lamp,
The flame within a glass,
The glass a glittering star as it were,
Lit with the oil of a blessed tree,
The olive, neither of the East nor of the West,
Whose oil appears to light up
Even though fire touches it not,
Light upon light.
God guides to His light whom He will.
So does God advance precepts of wisdom for men,
For God has knowledge of every thing.”
Al-Qur’an 24:35 (Ahmed Ali)
Ivan Aivazovsky (1817–1900) - The Ninth Wave
“It is He [God] who enables you to travel over land and sea. When you sail in ships in a favourable breeze, you rejoice. But when a gale begins to blow and the waves dash against them from every side they realise that they have been caught in it, (and) they call on God in all faith: ‘If You save us from this we shall ever be grateful.’
But when He rescues them, they commit excesses in the land unjustly again. Your rebellion, O people, shall recoil back on your own selves. The joys of the world (are only ephemeral): You have to come back to Us in the end. We shall then inform you what you were doing.”
Holy Qur’an 10:22-23 (Ahmed Ali)
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 8 October 2009 17.35 BST
A woman carries a child on her shoulders as Muslims pray to celebrate Eid al-Adha in Jakarta, Indonesia. Photograph: Supri/Reuters
Islam may be most closely associated with the Middle East, where it emerged in Arabia in the seventh century, but today the region is home to only one in five of the world’s Muslims, according to a study of the religion’s global distribution.
The world’s Muslim population stands at 1.57 billion, meaning that nearly one in four people practise Islam, according to the US Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, which published the survey. This compares to 2.25 billion Christians.
Related: The world in muslim populations, every country listed
