al hadid

first...last...hidden...manifest...all knowing Allah!
for me, that whole sura (Chapter#57 al-hadid/iron)
is VERY powerful.
it had a major effect on me about 8 months ago...

before i came back to miami,
i was living alone in a small apartment in austin.
i'd started reading thomas cleary's "the essential koran."
its a clean translation of the most spiritual verses.
i was reading it everyday after fajr.
i'd also started drawing islamic geometric designs.
each drawing took hours. sometimes days
each drawing required full concentration...
no tv...
no one else home...
no distractions...
no class tomorrow...
so, i started drawing a complicated one. a brainbuster.
i totally lost track of time...
til the alarm went off at dawn...
usually i was half asleep at fajr time.
but not this morning, man...
after i stoped concentrating on the design.
i was wide awake and my mind was TOTALLY clear.....

it was a very peaceful morning.
the weather was cool those days so i kept my windows open and my a/c off, i could hear the birds sing outside every morning...
so...
i prayed... started to read qur'an...
and got to sura al-hadid!
i'd never read this entire surah in english before.
i couldn't stop reading...
one verse pulled me to the next....
each adding to the power of the message.
when i got to the end i read the surah again.
it was just as powerful the 2nd time.
i closed thomas cleary's translation and went to my bookshelf and grabbed my other translations. i flipped frantically to the sura and read it again.
after i was done i just sat there for a while.....
i was in awe....
before this experience, i would SAY that i believed the Qur'an to be the word of God. i had been taught to believe that from childhood. but THIS was the first time i really BELIEVED that what i'd just read was Allah's Word...
i just sat there for a while,
sayin "Glory be to Allah"
subhanallah.
first...last...hidden...manifest...all knowing Allah!