Closer Than His Jugular Vein – Abdur Rahman’s Corner
Peace, one and all…
In the Quran we read the following passage:
وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ وَنَعْلَمُ مَا تُوَسْوِسُ بِهِۦ نَفْسُهُۥ ۖ وَنَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ حَبْلِ ٱلْوَرِيدِ
‘We created man. We know what his soul whispers to him: We are closer to him than his jugular vein’ (Quran 50:16)
This is a powerful verse, and one that I often return to. In the past, I understood this ayah as meaning that God looks at us sternly, and with open disapproval, as though we could never be good enough. As I have grown older, and have struggled to help raise our children, I have come to see things differently.
It is true that there are actions that God most definitely disapproves of. Allah does not love evil (3:57), nor does He love treachery (8:58). Allah does not love corruption (5:64), nor does He love arrogance (16:23; 31:18). That said, God’s intimate knowledge of us is really about love. We are known by the Real. Hu is aware of all our faults and foibles, all of our strengths and weaknesses, and all of the hurts and woundings we carry with us. Divine love walks alongside us, constantly calling us home, constantly urging us to become an ever-better version of ourselves. His love is our life blood, it is what pulses through our jugular veins.
Understanding this brings joy to my heart, and grateful prayer to my lips.
And praise be to God, who maketh it so
