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"TWO EASTS"
(He is) Lord of the two Easts and Lord of the two Wests.This is one of the several verses of the Qur'an that are not easy to understand without an in-depth study. Once the intended meaning is comprehended it is easy to recognize that this awe-inspiring composition could only have come from the Rabb (Lord) Himself. The Arabic word Rabb translated above as "Lord" is a poor substitution. It does not do proper justice to its true meaning. Rabb has no equivalent term in the English language. This Arabic term represents the Creator, the Organizer, the Regulator, the Provider, the Cherisher and the Sustainer as well. Within the Islamic concept, Allah who Created this universe was not tired of His sublime performance. He needed no rest. He has since then continued and will continue to expand, dispose, provide, organize, cherish, sustain and re-create again, His Creations. As the verse reveals, Allah is the Rabb of everything encompassed between the two points on the sphere of our globe (the earth) from where the sun rises and sets. That obviously would constitute the "first east" and the "first west". Which are these "second East" and the "second West"? What do they encompass? The traditional interpretation by commentator Abdullah Yusuf Ali is: "The two Easts are the two extreme points where the sun rises during the year, (between the summer solistice and the winter solistice) and includes all the points between. Similarly the two Wests include the two extreme points of the sun's setting and all points between." Below is my interpretation. It may be far from the Truth. Because, Allah Alone knows the meaning of His Signs (Ayats). Today, the astronomers with their modern technologies and electronic gadgets know that the solar nebula is like a spinning disk. So are the galaxies and the observable universe. Hence, the entire expanding universe also has its East and the West. We may call them the Outer Space East and the Outer Space West. The verse therefore acknowledges that Allah is not only the Rabb of everything that is upon this globe called the earth but also of what the astronomers can and can not observe today, with their most sophisticated electronic instruments. He is the Lord of the known and the un-known worlds. Fourteen centuries ago what better way there possibly could be to convey the great vastness of Rabb to the readers of His Message? It was an era when an average man was not aware of the shape or size of the earth upon which he was born and was going to die. Until Sir Frances Drake (d. 1596) circumnavigated the globe, many believed the earth to be flat. Until the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (d. 1543) published his book 'On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres', many astronomers of that era and the Catholic Church believed in the earlier theory advocated by Claudius Ptolemaeus that the earth occupied the center of the universe. The Italian astronomer Giordano Bruno defied the prevalent theory and declared that the universe was infinite. Bruno was burned at the stake by the order of Pope Clement VIII in 1600. Astronomers Gerard Kuiper and Thomas Chamberlin argued that about 4.5 billion years ago many dense globules of gas and dust clouds contracted into a disk. The hot dense center of it became our sun and the remaining outer material formed a spinning disk called the solar nebula with the planets and their satellites. Today, the scientists have discovered the trace of water that can support lives, on some the outer planets. They have yet to find the living creatures on other worlds. However, the Qur'an did reveal to mankind in the seventh century its opening verse 1: 1, there are other worlds. Praise be to Allah, Lord (Rabb) of the Worlds. 'Al-Hamdu lillaahi, Rabbil 'Aalamiin. This verse acknowledges that there are other Worlds (plural) besides our. And, Allah is the Rabb (the creator, disposer, provider, organizer, cherisher and sustainer) of all these worlds, which the mankind has yet to discover. In the first two verses of chapter 12 it is revealed:
One of the many Wisdoms learnt by the readers of the Qur'an is: then which of the favours of your Lord will you deny? To learn many more such Wisdoms please read the entire chapter number 55. (He is) Lord of the Heavens and the Earth and all that is between them, the Almighty, the All-Forgiving. Glorious Qur'an 38: 66  |
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