I want to ask about the verses in Surah Al-Najm. Now you always come prepared, Ghamdulillah. Not always, anyway. Won’t you lift it a little bit to suit your own height? Yes please, that would be better. Verses 8-10 which says, And he revealed his word when he was on the uppermost horizon. When the Prophet drew near to Allah, then Allah leaned down towards him, so that he became, as it were, one chord of two bows, or closer still.
Now this is one of my favorite passages, but it’s always intrigued me what it means when it says that Allah leaned down towards him. I’m not sure what it’s… Well, this verse can be interpreted in various ways, and this translation is one of the interpretations, in fact. Because this verse defies translation. It’s too rich in meaning, and it has various aspects. But this version of the translation means, and it is very significant in this respect, that no finite being can reach the infinite by itself. Allah is beyond every creation, and unless Allah himself makes it easier for his creation to reach him, no creation, however big that be, can reach Allah.
So whenever a man wants to reach Allah, apparently he’s travelling towards Allah, but what happens is that it is Allah who is travelling towards him. So that is the lesson which is given to the mankind, that even the holiest of the holy prophets, even the greatest of all beings that were ever created by Allah, Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa sallallahu alaihi wa sallam peace be upon him, it was not through his labours independently that he reached those heights. It was Allah who condescended upon him, and made him accessible and available to Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
So he went away, some way, but most of the journey was traversed by Allah. That is the pictorial description of this. And this exactly confirms with the traditions of the holy prophet peace be upon him, where he tells us that if you take one step towards Allah, he takes ten steps towards you. If you go walking towards him, he comes running towards you. That is exactly what has been described by the holy Quran, that of course the holy prophet rose to a certain extent, but it was Allah who came all the way to meet him. That is just a descriptive facet.
