Ayat
Definition
Ayat — usually translated as 'verses' (of the Quran) but literally meaning 'signs' — points to al-Ghazali's key understanding: the entire universe is a text written by God, filled with signs pointing to their Author. Every phenomenon in the natural world is an aya — a sign — that the contemplating heart can read. The human body is an aya. The alternation of night and day is an aya. The growth of a seed into a tree is an aya. Al-Ghazali teaches that the spiritually trained eye learns to read these signs — to move from the sign to what it signifies — and that this reading is a continuous form of worship available in every waking moment, requiring no special place or condition.
As understood in the classical tradition of Imam al-Ghazali and the scholars of his school.
Appears in
1 book in the library
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