i went on a bit of a rabbit hunt on the jugular vein part. a thought came to me, why does God mention jugular vein and not carotid artery?
the name itself, wareed, has very intriguing meanings and linguistic connections. the root word warada means to come, arrive, go towards etc (see verse 28:23, "arrived at the well" ; warada/wurood is often used for going to a well to get water, or taking animals to a well to give them water). the same three root letters make the word dawara (and daara, the more common form), which has some meaning like circling (e.g., dawaratul miyah means bathroom, which is to say a water-place you frequent).
the point i'm getting to is this:
veins bring blood to the heart. the jugular brings it from the head to the heart. heart is where knowledge and taqwa (possibly iman as well by deduction) and "baseerah" are. there is a verse that says to the meaning of "it is not the eyes that go blind but the hearts in the chests." so if the jugular vein brings blood from brain to heart, in my mind it's a sort of metaphor for coming back/going to your heart, returning to the origin, aka God. this is a cyclical process, just as blood pumping is, and based on the verb root similarities i mentioned before.
in other words, the jugular vein doesnt only act as a metaphor for God's closeness to us, but withthin there is a reminder to keep going back to God, keep retuning from "mind/ego" to heart; return to presence, in body and spirit, aware of the Divine presence. The best form of belief is Ihsan, where you "worship God as if you can see Him; if you can't see Him, then surely He sees you." (paraphrasing from hadith of jibreel).
okay that's all lol. i should turn this into a post.
The two ayahs that really stood out to me were the ayah from Surah Maryam when Allah included her wish to die and be forgotten and the one in Kahf where khizr tells musa—peace be upon them both—how can you be patient over sonething you don’t know.
What Maryam alayha AsSalam said really makes me feel… idk the word… but shows me that it’s okay to feel like that sometimes. And to think that Allah put it in here for all of us to know that it’s okay to feel like that in your challenging moments in life and still be an amazing human is so comforting. Like being a strong believer doesn’t mean you can’t have feelings and emotions.
And the way you reflected on what khidr alayhi AsSalam said was so nice. Ive been reflecting a lot about parenting these days, so it really made me think about it in that sense.
thank you for reading and engaging! they are so beautiful aren’t they subhanAllah…and i’ve never thought about it in regards to parenting though now i definitely will! appreciate your thoughts :)
jazakallah khayr for sharing these beautiful verses and your reflections. on ALLAH (SWT) swearing by the position of the stars specially, i am reminded of the cosmic distance ladder and how much of an achievement in logic and mathematics it has been for us humans to solve the question of what is around us, from the radii of the earth, moon and sun, the distance between them all the way to the size of the galaxy and universe. in the time of the ancient greeks, some scholars used geometry to estimate the sun as being massive and quite far away (+ heliocentric) even though it appears to be the same size as the moon—what complicated this was the greeks could not imagine that the stars which appear fixed or moving at a constant rate could exist under this framework because they would have to be so massive and so far away. if only they knew the might of ALLAH who is limitless, who has created space and time, who has created such a marvelous universe that we can only say subhanallah when we examine anything from the subatomic level to the galactic, from the most simple of life to ourselves!
JazakiAllah khair for your reflection on these very beautiful verses. I agree that the verse about attributing lies to Allah should make us pause and take it as a warning for everyone, including Muslims. We must be extremely careful when attributing anything to Him or when attempting to interpret the meanings of His Book. Thank you again!
'If you only knew'. Great title. The first thing I wished as I read through the Quran as a new Muslim. My wish for others. If you only knew! If you only opened your eyes, your mind, your heart. Enough with the nonsense. The ridiculous propaganda against Islam. If you only knew the contents, the beauty, the breath, the knowledge that only The Creator could possess and share with us in His divine book!
Thank you for sharing these beautiful reflections, it's made me think more deeply about (8:24), which is one of the verses that has always stuck with me.
It’s such a memorable verse, I could’ve included its entirety because it’s so beautiful and impactful but that warrants a much longer post! Thank you for reading :)
thank you for sharing these reflections!
i went on a bit of a rabbit hunt on the jugular vein part. a thought came to me, why does God mention jugular vein and not carotid artery?
the name itself, wareed, has very intriguing meanings and linguistic connections. the root word warada means to come, arrive, go towards etc (see verse 28:23, "arrived at the well" ; warada/wurood is often used for going to a well to get water, or taking animals to a well to give them water). the same three root letters make the word dawara (and daara, the more common form), which has some meaning like circling (e.g., dawaratul miyah means bathroom, which is to say a water-place you frequent).
the point i'm getting to is this:
veins bring blood to the heart. the jugular brings it from the head to the heart. heart is where knowledge and taqwa (possibly iman as well by deduction) and "baseerah" are. there is a verse that says to the meaning of "it is not the eyes that go blind but the hearts in the chests." so if the jugular vein brings blood from brain to heart, in my mind it's a sort of metaphor for coming back/going to your heart, returning to the origin, aka God. this is a cyclical process, just as blood pumping is, and based on the verb root similarities i mentioned before.
in other words, the jugular vein doesnt only act as a metaphor for God's closeness to us, but withthin there is a reminder to keep going back to God, keep retuning from "mind/ego" to heart; return to presence, in body and spirit, aware of the Divine presence. The best form of belief is Ihsan, where you "worship God as if you can see Him; if you can't see Him, then surely He sees you." (paraphrasing from hadith of jibreel).
okay that's all lol. i should turn this into a post.
[and Allah swt knows best]
Ameen! Thank you for sharing these.
The two ayahs that really stood out to me were the ayah from Surah Maryam when Allah included her wish to die and be forgotten and the one in Kahf where khizr tells musa—peace be upon them both—how can you be patient over sonething you don’t know.
What Maryam alayha AsSalam said really makes me feel… idk the word… but shows me that it’s okay to feel like that sometimes. And to think that Allah put it in here for all of us to know that it’s okay to feel like that in your challenging moments in life and still be an amazing human is so comforting. Like being a strong believer doesn’t mean you can’t have feelings and emotions.
And the way you reflected on what khidr alayhi AsSalam said was so nice. Ive been reflecting a lot about parenting these days, so it really made me think about it in that sense.
thank you for reading and engaging! they are so beautiful aren’t they subhanAllah…and i’ve never thought about it in regards to parenting though now i definitely will! appreciate your thoughts :)
jazakallah khayr for sharing these beautiful verses and your reflections. on ALLAH (SWT) swearing by the position of the stars specially, i am reminded of the cosmic distance ladder and how much of an achievement in logic and mathematics it has been for us humans to solve the question of what is around us, from the radii of the earth, moon and sun, the distance between them all the way to the size of the galaxy and universe. in the time of the ancient greeks, some scholars used geometry to estimate the sun as being massive and quite far away (+ heliocentric) even though it appears to be the same size as the moon—what complicated this was the greeks could not imagine that the stars which appear fixed or moving at a constant rate could exist under this framework because they would have to be so massive and so far away. if only they knew the might of ALLAH who is limitless, who has created space and time, who has created such a marvelous universe that we can only say subhanallah when we examine anything from the subatomic level to the galactic, from the most simple of life to ourselves!
Thank you for reading and engaging! Yes absolutely you’ve said it perfectly!! How majestic SubhanAllah! JazakAllah ☺️
JazakiAllah khair for your reflection on these very beautiful verses. I agree that the verse about attributing lies to Allah should make us pause and take it as a warning for everyone, including Muslims. We must be extremely careful when attributing anything to Him or when attempting to interpret the meanings of His Book. Thank you again!
Thank you for reading! Definitely! And thank you also for recommending my newsletter, I’m so appreciative! Jazakallah :)
'If you only knew'. Great title. The first thing I wished as I read through the Quran as a new Muslim. My wish for others. If you only knew! If you only opened your eyes, your mind, your heart. Enough with the nonsense. The ridiculous propaganda against Islam. If you only knew the contents, the beauty, the breath, the knowledge that only The Creator could possess and share with us in His divine book!
Thank you for reading Noor :) Beautifully said, if only!
This is an excellent piece! Thank you for sharing your thoughts. It would be great if you include the Arabic text of the verses as well.
Thank you Zeena! I appreciate you reading and your kind words - I will try to do so later tonight iA :)
Wow. Mashallah. Amazing job <3
So kind! Thank you 🤍
Thank you for sharing these beautiful reflections, it's made me think more deeply about (8:24), which is one of the verses that has always stuck with me.
It’s such a memorable verse, I could’ve included its entirety because it’s so beautiful and impactful but that warrants a much longer post! Thank you for reading :)
This is so spiritually reviving and soothing! Thank you for writing this piece that reveals the eternal beauty of the holy Qur'an. ✨💖
JazakAllah dearest Marwa! 🤍 Thank you for such kind words, I’m humbled and so grateful they could be impactful!
I can feel the sincerity with you wrote this piece mashallah, May Allah swt be pleased with you ❤️
Thank you so much for reading and your kind words beautiful 🤍 I extend the same dua to you, may Allah always look upon you favorably 🤲🏼🤍
may Allah bless you, such a thoughtfully written piece.
Thank you jaani, likewise Allah bless you always 🤍
A beautiful and gently written piece. May Allah bless you!
Thank you so much Mubeen! Likewise Allah’s blessings be upon you :)
Ilahi Ameen! 😍💞✨
🤍🤍🤍
this is so lovely Zahra, loved reading how such beautiful verses land in your heart 🤍
thank you dearest Fatima 💕
https://al-islam.org/black-thursday-muhammad-al-tijani-al-samawi
Ameen! Thank you for reading and your kind words Aima 🤍 Allahs blessings be with you 🌷