By M.S. Alaoui
Enlighten Yourselves
“Iqraʾ does not mean recite. It means seek. It means awaken. It means: engage with reality until light breaks through.”
In this chapter, we revisit the very first word revealed to the Prophet Muhammad: *Iqraʾ*. Far from a call to ritual recitation, this is a divine imperative to engage with the world, to question, to witness, and to internalize meaning. The Pen is not a tool of tradition — it is a symbol of inner recording, of perception and memory, of a mind processing divine truth through lived experience.
The command *Iqraʾ* is linked to creation itself — it is the mode through which the soul fulfills its divine trust. The Pen, referenced in Sūrat al-ʿAlaq and Sūrat al-Qalam, represents the inner capacity to absorb reality and extract meaning. Knowledge is not transferred — it is awakened. Enlightenment is the result of experience filtered through the self, aligned with justice and truth.
ٱقْرَأْ بِٱسْمِ رَبِّكَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ
“Read in the name of your Lord who created.” (Quran 96:1)
This chapter reveals the heart of the human journey: from ignorance to illumination. It redefines reading as an act of divine self-realization — and shows how every experience is a verse, every insight a sign, and every life an unfolding revelation.
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