Quran Talks (6 of 9): Surah Ar Rah'man

Every surah in the Qur’an has its special flavor. Surah Ar Rah’man, or ‘The Beneficent ’, containsthree major sections through which the total Quranic message is relayed. Shaykh Fadhlalla guides the listener through each in a verse by verse disclosure, unfoldinging key words via their root meanings as a way of opening the tapestries of this great surah. The three segments include: the nature of divine mercy as it manifests itself; duality and its basis in complementary opposites; and the akhira, or hereafter. The interplay of dualities and balance is a key theme of this surah, which illustrates how this life is a gymnasium in which we are practicing the return to our origin. Ar Rah’amnan presents sketches in which multitudes of opposites coalesce and connect: meaning and form; the seen and unseen; the limited and the absolute; the inner life of the human and outer cosmos, each of which mirrors the other in the evolving arc of life until otherness itself is overcome by mercy. Shaykh Fadhlalla indicates the dynamics of growth, development and fruition of a human being as they move towards awakening and wholesomeness, which is ultimately the meaning of the midpoint between existential dualities and the boundless lights of divinity.