"The Qur'an itself is the great ocean of truth that lies undiscovered before us. In 'Journey of the Universe' the Shaykh has built an island in this vast Qur'anic see of knowledge so that we on the shore can build a bridge to it from religion, or from science or from wherever we may stand. Then, when we have bridged this gap between our intellectual knowledge and what is already written in our hearts we see, on looking back to the shore we left, the whole landscape of our existence from an entirely new perspective.
The creation of the Universe is the eternal instant unfolding in time. There was the 'nothingness' and with the fiat of creation, 'kun fa-yakun', the 'nothingness' was split into the duality of existence, symbolized in the first Arabic letter 'alif', the primary mark of creation that descends from God. Viewed from the other side of time, from where we stand, there was this vast creation of immense energy that flung everything into separation, which we can liken to an explosion, or theorize as the 'Big Bang'. But everything is from its Creator and must return to its Lord." -- From the Foreword by Ibrahim Stokes
The Qur'an traces the journey of all creation explicitly and implicitly, seeing the physical, biological and geological voyage of life as paralleled by the inner spiritual evolution of man. Bringing together the meanings and derivations of individual words, the author reveals vibrant images which the language of the Qur'an so subtly projects.
ABOUT SHAYKH FADHLALLA HAERI
Acknowledged as a master of self-knowledge and a spiritual philosopher, Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri’s role as a teacher grew naturally out of his own quest for self-fulfillment.
He travelled extensively on a spiritual quest which led to his eventual rediscovery of the pure and original Islamic heritage of his birth, and the discovery of the truth that reconciles the past with the present, the East with the West, the worldly with the spiritual – a link between the ancient wisdom teachings and our present time.
A descendant of five generations of well-known and revered spiritual leaders, Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri has taught students throughout the world for over 30 years. A prolific author of more than thirty books relating to the universal principles of Islam, the Qur’an, and its core purpose of enlightenment, he is a gifted exponent of how the self relates to the soul, humankind’s link with the Divine, and how consciousness can be groomed to reflect our higher nature.
The unifying scope of his perspective emphasizes practical, actionable knowledge that leads to self-transformation, and provides a natural bridge between seemingly different Eastern and Western approaches to spirituality, as well as offering a common ground of higher knowledge for various religions, sects and secular outlooks.
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