7. Al-A’raf
Rabbanaa ẓalamnaa anfusanaa wa’in lam taghfir lanaa wa tarḥmanaa lanakoonanna mina l-khasireena
Our Rabb! We have wronged ourselves... If You do not forgive us and grace us, we will surely be among the losers. (Quran 7:23)
When Adam and Eve made the notorious mistake while living the life of Paradise, out of their grief and sadness, they asked for forgiveness with the above verse. Their prayer was accepted and after living the life of the world for some time, they were returned to the life of Paradise once again.
This prayer teaches us what to do in case of doing wrong to ourselves. Given we wrong ourselves by not giving the due of the infinite perfection in our essence, what better option do we have but recite this prayer.
By the one who is denoted by the name Allah (who created my being with His Names in accord with the meaning of the letter ‘B’), the Rahman, the Rahim.
1. Alif, Lam, Meem, Saad.
2. This Knowledge (Book) of the reality and sunnatullah that has been revealed to you, is for you to warn (the unbelievers) and to advise the believers (as to how and what to believe and what to practice)... So, let there be no more distress in you regarding this.
3. Follow what has been revealed to you from your Rabb... Do not follow allies (those who give external [information that leads you away from your divine reality] and internal [ego based, carnal information]) outside of your Rabb... How little you remember and contemplate in depth!
4. How many cities of people We have destroyed; Our torment came to them while they were sleeping at night or during the day.
5. When Our torment came to them, their exclamation was no other than, “We were indeed wrongdoers.”
6. Most certainly We will ask both those to whom a Rasul has been sent and the Rasuls!
7. Surely We are going to reveal the truth of the matter! We are not unaware (of what transpires) (He is the Batin and the Zahir – The angelic forces comprising manifestation are derived from Our Names).
8. The evaluation (of everything that transpires) in that time is done in truth (based on the creeds of Allah)... Those whose scales (evaluations) weigh heavy, they are the ones who will overcome all obstacles and attain liberation.
9. And those whose scales (evaluations) weigh light, they are the ones who will have wronged Our signs and thus become losers.
10. Indeed We have established you upon the earth and produced blessings therein with which you sustain your livelihood. How little you evaluate!
11. In truth, We have created you and given you form. Then We said to the angels, “Prostrate to Adam (in respect of Adam being the manifestation of the totality of Allah’s Names)”; so they all prostrated (realized their nothingness in the sight of the manifestation of Allah’s Names), except for Iblis. He was not of those who prostrated (He was of the jinn; an ego-based existence).
12. (Allah) said, “What prevented you from prostrating when I commanded you?” (Iblis) said, “I am better than him. You created me from fire (radiation – a specific frequency based existence. Note that the word fire [naar] in this verse is the same as the word used in reference to hellfire. This is worth contemplating upon!) and created him from clay (matter).”
13. (Allah) said, “Descend from your rank, for this rank is not for arrogance and feeling superior over others! Go! Indeed, you have debased yourself.”
14. (Iblis) said, “Reprieve me until the Day they are resurrected (after death).”
15. (Allah) said, “Indeed you are of those reprieved.”
16. (Iblis) said, “Because You have led me astray, (yudhillu man yashau – based on the reality that He leads astray whom He wills), I shall most certainly sit on Your straight path (sirat al-mustaqim) to prevent them.”
17. “Then I will come to them from before them (by provoking ambition in them and glorifying their sense of self [ego] to lead them to the denial of the Truth) and from behind them (by imposing delusive ideas in them and leading them to disguised forms of shirq [duality]) and on their right (by inspiring them to do ‘good deeds’ that will take them away from You) and on their left (by beautifying misdeeds and making the wrong appear as right)... And You will find most of them as ungrateful to You (unable to evaluate what You have given them)!”
18. (Allah) said, “Leave my rank; debased and distanced (from experiencing your reality)! Whoever follows you among them, I will surely fill hell with you all.”
19. “O Adam! Dwell, you and your spouse, in Paradise... Eat and drink from wherever you please, but do not approach this tree (the body – the consequences of accepting yourself as the body)... Lest you be among the wrongdoers.
20. Thereupon Satan whispered suspicions to them to make them aware of their ego and corporeality... He said, “The reason your Rabb forbids you from this tree (experiencing your corporeality) is so you do not become two angels (in the realm of forces) and live eternally!”...