This is the 21st of Ramadan. Muslims in Iran believe in the importance of vigils during Ramadan, specially in three nights of Ramadan known as "Qadr Nights: 19th, 21st and 23rd.
Although in Iran it's 7:30 am now and most people are done with their prayers and are often taking a nap after their "sahari" (the food and drink muslims have right before the dawn when they want to fast during the day till dusk), here in NY it's 11:56 pm, and I have just started my praying. It's so silent here in the "middle room", where I am using my laptop. I will tell you about the "middle room" later (and why it is called like that), but for now, just to let you know understand how silent it is here, I should say that the only source of sound is Bastet the cat, who is laying down beside me on the single bed here, purring and yawning (the purring can be heard, but not the yawning, for sure!) Another source of sound, which is considered as secondary, is my husband's snoring, heard through the door of the bedroom right next to the middle room. In the first month after us getting married, I used to get annoyed by him snoring all during the night; I even ended up asking my mother-in-law to buy me earplugs, which she did when we were are RiteAid. I remember that evening when my husband was back from work and saw those small pink plastic pieces he exclaimed, "YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" Apparently, he couldn't believe his snoring was that serious. Shaking his head in utter disbelief, he mumbled, "None of my girlfriends ever told me of that... this should be relatively new", and my answer was simple and frank: "Well dear, perhaps none of your girlfriends could stay with you long enough to get to diagnose that." It's strange, but actually my husband stopped snoring loudly right after me getting the earplugs. Anyway... now after almost 5 months being with him on a daily (and of course, nightly) basis, I find it very pacifying to hear him gently snoring every now and then. It indicates that he is sleeping peacefully, and since he has problems falling asleep in the first place, it means that I can sit here and add new posts to my blog without feeling like an uncaring, unloving wife.
OK... enough of back-biting! Tonight is supposed to be a spiritual night.
Right before sitting here and writing this, I read parts of the 30th section of Qoran (Joz'e 30). This section mostly include short chapters (Suras) which are very beautiful in regard to their rhymes and rhythms in the original language, Arabic. I have quite a few favorite ones here, but my most favorite tonight was Sura Al-Infitar.
When John converted into Islam 2 years ago, he bought an English translation of Qoran (which includes the original Arabic text as well), and tonight was the first time that I got a chance to seriously browse through this book. I found the translation pretty decent, and the editor/translator had done a nice job too, clarifying the English version by adding detailed footnotes at the bottom of each page. This version of Qoran is by "Abdullah Yusuf Ali", Amana Publications.
Here is part of the English translation of Al-Infitar as appears on page 1612:
"In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
When the Sky is cleft asunder,
When the Stars are scattered,
When the Oceans are suffered to burst forth,
And when the Graves are turned upside down,
(Then) shall each soul know
What it hath sent forward
And (what it hath) kept back."
Quite poetic, isn't it?
Although in Iran it's 7:30 am now and most people are done with their prayers and are often taking a nap after their "sahari" (the food and drink muslims have right before the dawn when they want to fast during the day till dusk), here in NY it's 11:56 pm, and I have just started my praying. It's so silent here in the "middle room", where I am using my laptop. I will tell you about the "middle room" later (and why it is called like that), but for now, just to let you know understand how silent it is here, I should say that the only source of sound is Bastet the cat, who is laying down beside me on the single bed here, purring and yawning (the purring can be heard, but not the yawning, for sure!) Another source of sound, which is considered as secondary, is my husband's snoring, heard through the door of the bedroom right next to the middle room. In the first month after us getting married, I used to get annoyed by him snoring all during the night; I even ended up asking my mother-in-law to buy me earplugs, which she did when we were are RiteAid. I remember that evening when my husband was back from work and saw those small pink plastic pieces he exclaimed, "YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" Apparently, he couldn't believe his snoring was that serious. Shaking his head in utter disbelief, he mumbled, "None of my girlfriends ever told me of that... this should be relatively new", and my answer was simple and frank: "Well dear, perhaps none of your girlfriends could stay with you long enough to get to diagnose that." It's strange, but actually my husband stopped snoring loudly right after me getting the earplugs. Anyway... now after almost 5 months being with him on a daily (and of course, nightly) basis, I find it very pacifying to hear him gently snoring every now and then. It indicates that he is sleeping peacefully, and since he has problems falling asleep in the first place, it means that I can sit here and add new posts to my blog without feeling like an uncaring, unloving wife.
OK... enough of back-biting! Tonight is supposed to be a spiritual night.
Right before sitting here and writing this, I read parts of the 30th section of Qoran (Joz'e 30). This section mostly include short chapters (Suras) which are very beautiful in regard to their rhymes and rhythms in the original language, Arabic. I have quite a few favorite ones here, but my most favorite tonight was Sura Al-Infitar.
When John converted into Islam 2 years ago, he bought an English translation of Qoran (which includes the original Arabic text as well), and tonight was the first time that I got a chance to seriously browse through this book. I found the translation pretty decent, and the editor/translator had done a nice job too, clarifying the English version by adding detailed footnotes at the bottom of each page. This version of Qoran is by "Abdullah Yusuf Ali", Amana Publications.
Here is part of the English translation of Al-Infitar as appears on page 1612:
"In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
When the Sky is cleft asunder,
When the Stars are scattered,
When the Oceans are suffered to burst forth,
And when the Graves are turned upside down,
(Then) shall each soul know
What it hath sent forward
And (what it hath) kept back."
Quite poetic, isn't it?
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