The stars are saying, "You, only You, are God; you made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host; the earth, and everything that is in it; the seas, and everything it is in them; and you preserve them all; and the host of heaven prostrate themselves to you." Nehemiah 9:6
It was a dark and starry night. Not even a campfire competed with the dazzling array of the lamps of heaven. Looking up at lights whose source originated in the distant past, Abraham believed in a promise that stretched far into the future.
Like the stars and their light, the promise extends over time in a way that dwarfs the lifetime of a man, even a septuacentenarian like Abraham. This contrast between the longevity of the promise and the brevity of human life is what gives Abraham’s story its poignancy. He was promised numberless descendants, but is well into old age before he has even one. He is promised the land of Canaan. Toward the end of his life, as a grieving widower, he finally comes to possess a small part of it: a field with a cave where he can bury his wife, Sarah.
Reading that made me think of this:
ReplyDeleteIt is We Who created you and gave you shape; then We bade the angels prostrate to Adam, and they prostrate; not so Iblis; He refused to be of those who prostrate.
(Allah) said: "What prevented thee from prostrating when I commanded thee?" He said: "I am better than he: Thou didst create me from fire, and him from clay."
—Quran, sura 7 (Al-A'raf)
Iblis: the one who causes despair.
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