![]() And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". Dense with details, this impressive volume rewards a slow, meditative reading.Įye-opening in terms of the parity between the Abrahamic faiths, this fine model of scriptural analysis merits study by mystics of any faith.Īn extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. Erratic hyphenation is a rare stylistic flaw in an otherwise fluid text. The book, written in an inviting first-person plural, makes scholarly comparisons between different translations of the Quran (in italics, with footnote references), accompanied by Arabic script and color images. “To those who have made the plunge” of faith, Malik insists, those seemingly contradictory pairs become a nonissue. ![]() Indeed, his modus operandi throughout this learned guide is to seek intersections between two ideas: empirical and subjective free will and predestination. Bypassing the usual quagmire that results when religion tries to disprove science, he instead imagines the two coexisting. Malik cleverly links this example of “time dilation” to quantum physics’ concepts of time and space while also invoking metaphors of resurrection. Another key parable concerns some young men who take refuge inside a cave and, Rip Van Winkle–like, emerge to find that centuries have passed. As Malik observes, this is like the journey of faith: the big picture is usually hidden from mortals. For Moses, it’s a lesson in unquestioning obedience, even when God’s will doesn’t make sense. Moses’ companion on the quest for knowledge, Khidr, impairs a boat, kills a boy, and then-in a sudden merciful turn-repairs a crumbling wall. While this might be a real place, this is also a mystical journey to the union of heart and mind. A central story has Moses-the Quran’s most-mentioned prophet-setting out to find the meeting place of two seas. Such watery metaphors pervade the author’s language as he expounds on various parables in the Surah Kahf. ![]() “Having lived a life immersed in physical sciences, I now find myself drawn by an irresistible appeal to the mystical shorelines of the hidden sea,” Malik ( A Perspective on the Signs of Al-Quran, 2010) writes. A thorough examination of Chapter 18 of the Quran exemplifies allegorical interpretation and reconciles common dichotomies like heart and mind, science and religion. ![]()
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