ملاحظات على النقاش حول الدين والعلوم المعاصرة
هذه المقالة تستند إلى معلومات ذكرت (وفيها متابعة لبعض النقاط التي جاءت) في المقالة التالية:
المنطق بين الرؤية العلمية المعاصرة والآراء الإسلامية التقليديةوسأفترض فيما يلي إطلاع القاريء الكريم على تلك المقالة.
Al-Burdah - Translation and a Brief Explanation - Verses 30 to 47
Related Article: Al-Burdah Verses 1 to 29
There are many translations of the meanings of the Holy Quran. The one I usually refer to first is Yusuf Ali's translation. Specifically the following old edition:
Ali, Abdullah Yusuf, "The Holy Quran, Text, Translation and Commentary", Hafner Publishing Company, New York, 1946. (PDF Download - Over 1800 pages - Size: About 90 MB. I hope it is ok to offer a download link. I have not seen this edition sold anywhere. Please note that the whole preface has been moved to the end of the pdf file, most likely to keep the page numbers in sync between the printed pages and the pdf file pages.)
This edition came in two large volumes. It was part of father's book collection, and was the first English translation that I started to explore.
Later on, I bought a newer edition, that came in one volume with better paper quality and better printing. However, I was surprised to find that there were changes (in the translation of verses and the associated comments) compared to the original edition. In many cases, such changes would give a meaning of a verse that is different from the original.
The phrase "على بيّنة من ربي" appears several times in the Quran, specifically when different Prophets were arguing with nonbelievers.
In Surat Al-An'am (ch. 6), Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him is addressed as follows (Quran 6:57):
"قل إني على بينة من ربي"
Yusuf Ali's translation of (6:57): "Say: 'For me, I (work) on a clear Sign from my Lord'."
Pickthall's translation of (6:57) : "Say: I am (relying) on clear proof from my Lord".
Imam Al-Razi (in his exposition, Mafateeh Al-Gaib) interprets "على بيّنة من ربي" in his comment on (11:28), saying it means: "Knowing the Essence of God and His Qualities".
Sufi shiekh Ibn Ajeeba (in his exposition Al-Bahr Al-Madeed) interprets (6:57) as: "Say: I am on a clear Path that leads to Realization of Knowledge of God, and being exposed to the good pleasure of God "رضوان الله" (which is described in Yusuf Ali's translation of (9:72), as the greatest bliss and the supreme felicity), myself and those who follow me." A couple of paragraphs later, he adds about the same phrase, that it points to "having a penetrating insight which enables to clearly see/experience the secrets of the Lord".
This story happened about a couple of generations back. It is about a Pilgrim in Makkah Grand Mosque who needed to go to a WC.
A story about a young man and his experience with reading about Wars in History books.
This is an attempt to translate the text of Ibn Arabi's Al-Salat Al-Akbariah, which presents a summary of his view of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, and how that view relates to a view of the spiritual nature of Existence.
Please note that, regarding Sufism, I am an outsider both to Academic communities and Sufi fellowships.
Familiarity with concepts of Aqeedah (Elements of Faith) and Oneness of Being is expected.
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A friend back in college enjoyed solving math problems. He once told me about a
lengthy assignment his class was given. He solved all the problems and was
certain that all the solutions were correct. He got the highest mark in class,
but not the full mark. He quickly went through the pages and spotted the
professor's remark on the side of one page. It said (translated): "It's not what
you think". And there was a line under a phrase that my friend wrote, that said
something like: "If so and so information about x is available, y can be
measured with absolute precision". He did not ask the professor for an
explanation. He understood that, in college, saying 'absolute precision' can get
you less marks.
His fascination with math and logic was great. Even after college, in his spare time, he would read books about math and logic, including books about the philosophy of math. What caught my attention was that he said that, in his twenties, the biggest shock was losing a parent, and the next biggest shock was realizing that mathematics was not absolutely solid.
The shock was probably inevitable since my friend was like many people who would see math as the last solid ground that eventually can explain everything.