The Anticipation of Creation

Sometimes I wonder about the beauty in the pauses before creation. The pause before this word is created and joins the last. The pause before an empty canvas is touched by a painter’s brush. The moment before God decided to say “Be!” and I was.

Surah Insan, 76:1: “Has there [not] been an endless span of time before man when he was not yet a thing to be thought of?”

An endless span of time before man was created. There must have been a deliciousness in that space-time, not only of what was to follow, but also in the anticipation of it.

And then, He decided to end the anticipation, and create:

Surah Bakara, 2:30: “Behold, thy Lord said to the angels: “I will create a vicegerent on earth.” They said: “Wilt Thou place therein one who will make mischief therein and shed blood?- whilst we do celebrate Thy praises and glorify Thy holy (name)?” He said: “I know what ye know not.”

In another place in the Quran, God answers the question of the purpose behind our creation:

Surah Mulk, 67:2: “He Who created Death and Life, that He may try which of you is best in deed: and He is the Exalted in Might, Oft-Forgiving.”

Through our good deeds, then, we must prove worthy of not only the gift of our existence, but also the beauty in the anticipation of its creation.

Your Pair is Out There

I love Surat Yasin, which is why I made a commitment years ago to memorise it. Whenever I would open the Qur’an, I’d remember that it was Chapter 36 in the Qur’an and would go straight to the page to start memorising.

You can imagine my surprise when I read verse 36:

(36:36): Glory be to Him, Who has created all the pairs of that which the earth produces, as well as of their own (human) kind (male and female), and of that which they know not.

It’s amazing; something so small that I often overlooked, but when noticed sent shivers down my spine. In the 36th Chapter of the Qur’an, in the 36th verse, God talks about pairs. Amazing how He paired 36:36 together.

In the dictionary, the word pairs is explained as: two identical, similar, or corresponding things that are matched for use together.

I don’t know about you, but as a romantic at heart, this gives me the sense that pairing is something special, something that we are all destined for. That we are all paired up. So singletons out there, don’t give up hope, your pair is out there somewhere!