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I Saw Only Beauty – Abdur Rahman’s Corner
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Peace, one and all…
As I was getting ready to go out recently, I found myself thinking about the difficulties I face in my life. Often enough, these kind of thoughts would lead me to dwell on how hard I find life at times, and how much I resented such circumstances. On this occasion, however, as these thoughts began to arise within, the clouds parted. I was listening to Robert Glasper’s wonderful cover of So Beautiful (you can listen in to it yourself below) when a deep sense of tranquillity descended into my heart. A clear sense of the educational value of the personal challenges I face came clearly into focus: for a moment, I understood the beauty of these difficulties. I then recalled the words of beloved Lady Zaynab (as), as she spoke in defiance of Ibn Ziyad, the Umayyad governor of Iraq, after the brutal murder of her brother, beloved Imam Husayn (as). He asked her, ‘How did you find the way Allah treated your brother and your family?’ Lady Zaynab (as) responded thus:
‘I saw nothing but beauty … It was Allah’s wish that they should be martyred, and they met their deaths valiantly’.
In the face of murder, violence and oppression, Lady Zaynab (as) was able to say that all that Allah had done in her life was beautiful. As my heart held these words, the following words of Mevlana (from the Mevlevi wird) bubbled up from deep within:
’adatu li kulli hawl-in: lā ’ilāha ’illā ′llah, or ‘I have readied the following words: facing all fears, ‘There is no god but God’
Allah! The moment came with its own exegesis. Beauty comes from seeing through surface events to the transformational purpose of Allah’s plan, and thus to seeing Allah. Lady Zainab (as) saw through the horror of Karbala and imprisonment to the beauty of God. Mevlana’s words help carry us there too. They help us to see Allah, and His beauty, in all things, and they also communicate his vision as a possibility for us, as a state that we can all aspire to.
All of it flowing from the meaning of this verse of the Quran:
‘Say, ‘If you love God, follow me, and God will love you and forgive you your sins. And God is Forgiving, Merciful’ (3:31)
The story of Lady Zaynab can be found here.