Destiny is the first and eldest of the Endless, and the personification of destiny. To the ancient Greeks, he was known as Potmos. As the universe came into being, so it would be that it would come to its inevitable future, its end.
books on destiny and fate
Destiny came into existence once sentient lifeforms capable of having a destiny appeared in the universe. The first child of Night and Time, Destiny is usually more of an observer of creation rather than a participant.
Whether the fate of man is predestined or he himself is thearchitect of it, is a question which has been very often discussed by scholars of alltimes. This problem is significantly important as no sensible man. not even the man inthe street, can afford to ignore it. Faith in Taqdir (Destiny) has a very deep impactupon our lives and we always find our lives oscillating between determinism andfreewill. As a man looks around himself and looks to his own self and within himself, hefinds that there are hundred and one things in shaping and reshaping of which he hasno hand, e.g. in determining the climate of the land in which he is born, incanalising the courses of rivers which flow therein and in determining the nature of thesoil thereof. He finds himself absolutely powerless. As he looks to himself hefinds that there are so many things In him which are beyond his control, viz. the measureof intellect he has been endowed with, the shape and form of his physical structurewith which he has been sent to this world, and the inclinations and so many otherqualities of head and heart which are embedded in his very nature. In all these aspectsof life he finds himself helpless before the Great and Mighty Power that created him.
The first principle which Islam lays down in regard to Taqdir isthat man is neither completely the master of his fate nor is he bound to theblind law of predestination. So far as the sovereignty of Allah's Will isconcerned, it is all-pervading and nothing falls outside its orbit. Not even a leaf, therefore,stirs without His Will.
The concept of predestination in Islam, therefore, does not in any way mean helplessabandonment of oneself to otherwise unwelcome fate. It means rather co-operation with God, studying His will andbringingoneself into unison with His Planning Will.Destiny as conceived by Islam is, thus, by no stretch of imagination, fatal tothe freedom of conduct and unfoldment of one's inherent possibilities; it is a sourceof inspiration and encouragement and opens up vast fields of human activity. It is nota message of despondency and despair, but a source of solace, comfort and inspirationand a powerful means of evoking a sense of piety and humility and self-surrender tothe Will of God. It does not inculcate in mind frustration and pessimism, making hislife dark and dreary, devoid of hope and promise for the future, but it teaches him toput his heart and soul in the sublime work as assigned to him by his Master.
Abdullah (b. Mas'ud) reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be uponhim) who is the most truthful (of the human beings) and his being truthful (is a fact)said: Verily your creation is on this wise. The constituents of one of you are collectedfor forty days in his mother's womb in the form of blood, after which it becomes aclot of blood in another period of forty days. Then it becomes a lump of flesh and fortydays later Allah sends His angel to it with instructions concerning four things, so theangel writes down his livelihood, his death, his deeds, his fortune and misfortune. ByHim, besides Whom there is no god, that one amongst you acts like the peopledeserving Paradise until between him and Paradise there remains but the distance ofa cubit, when suddenly the writing of destiny overcomes him and he begins to act likethe denizens of Hell and thus enters Hell, and another one acts in the way of thedenizens of Hell, until there remains between him and Hell a distance of a cubit thatthe writing of destiny overcomes him and then he begins to act like the people ofParadise and enters Paradise.
Hudhaifa b. Usaid reported directly from Allah's Messenger (may peace beupon him) that lie said: When the drop of (semen) remains in the womb for forty orfifty (days) or forty nights, the angel comes and says : My Lord, will he be good orevil ? And both these things would be written. Then the angel says: My Lord, wouldhe be male or female ? And both these things are written. And his deeds and actions,his death, his livelihood; these are also recorded. Then his document of destiny isrolled and there is no,addition to and subtraction from it.
'Abdullah b. Mas'ud reported: Evil one is he who is evil in the womb ofhis mother and the good one is he who takes lesson from the (fate of) others.The narrator came to a person from amongst the Companion of Allah's Me ssenger(may peace be upon him) who was called Hudhaifa b. Usaid Ghifari and said: How cana person be an evil one without (cornmittilng an evil) deed? Thereupon the person saidto him: You are surprised at this, whereas I have heard Allah's Messenger (may peacebe upon him) as saving: When forty nights pass after the semen gets into the womb,Allah sends the angel and gives him the shape. Then he creates his sense of hearing,sense of sight, his skin, his flesh, his bones, and then says: My Lord, would he be maleor female ? And your Lord decides as He desires and the angel then puts down thatalso and then says: My Lord, what about his age? And your Lord decides as He likesit and the angel puts it down. Then he says: My Lord, what about his livelihood?And then the Lord decides as He likes and the angel writes it down, and then theangel gets out with his scroll of destiny in his hand and nothing is added to it andnothing is subtracted from it.
All reported: We were in a funeral in the graveyard of Gharqad thatAllah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) came to us and we sat around him. He hada stick with him. He lowered his head and began to scratch the earth with his stick, andthen raid: There is not one amongst you whom a scat in Paradise or Hell has not beenallotted and about whom it has not been written down whether he would be an evilperson or a blessed person. A person said: Allah's Messenger, should we not then dependnpon our destiny and abandon our deeds? Thereupon he said: Acts of everyone will befacilitated in, that which has been created for him so that whoever belongs to the com.pany of the blessed will have good works made easier for himand whoever belongs tothe unfortunate ones will have evil acts made easier for him. He then recited thisverse (from the Qur'an): "Then, who gives to the needy and guardsagainst evil andaccepts the excellent (the truth of Islam and the path of righteousness it prescribes),We shall make easy for him the easy end and who is miserly and considers himselfabove need, We shall make easy for him the dificult end". (XCii. 5-10).
'Ali reported that one day Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) wassitting with a wood in his hand and he was scratching the ground. He raised his headand said: There is not one amongst you who has not been allotted his seat in Paradiseor Hell. They said: Allah's Messenger. then, why should we perform good deeds, whynot depend upon our destiny? Thereupon he said. No, do perform good deeds, foreveryone is facilitated in that for which he has been created ; then he recited thisverse: "Then, who gives to the needy and guards against evil and accepts the excellent (the truth of Islam and the path of righteousness it prescribes), We shall makeeasy for him the easy end . . . " (xcii. 5-10).
Abu al-Aswad reported that 'Imran b Husain asked him: What is yourview, what the people do today in the world, and strive for, is it something decreed for them or preordained for them or will their fate in the Hereafter be deterrained by the fact that their Prophets brought them teaching which they did not actupon ? I said: Of course, it is something which is predetermined for them and preordained for them. He (further) said: Then, would it not be an injustice (to punishthem) ? I felt greatly disturbed because of that, and said: Everything is created byAllah and lies in His Power. He would not be questioned as to what He does, butthey would be questioned; thereupon he said to me: May Allah have mercy uponyou, I did not mean to ask you but for testing your intelligence. Two men of thetribe of Muzaina came to Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) and said:Allah's Messenger, what is your opinion that the people do in the world and strivefor, is something decreed for them; something preordained for them and will theirfate in the Hereafter be determined by the fact that their Prophets brought themteachings which they did not act upon. and thus they became deserving of punishment ? Thereupon, he said: Of course, it happens as it is decreed by Destiny and preordained for them, and this view is confirmed by this verse of the Book of Allah, theExalted and Glorious: "Consider the soul and Him Who made it perfect, thenbreathed into it its sin and its piety" (xci. 8).
The book makes use of the Persian tale The Three Princes of Serendip. It is philosophical in nature, and presents human life as in the hands of a destiny beyond human control. Voltaire challenges religious and metaphysical orthodoxy with his presentation of the moral revolution taking place in Zadig himself. Zadig is one of Voltaire's most celebrated works after Candide. Many literary critics have praised Voltaire's use of contradiction and juxtaposition.[2]
Astarté returns to Babylonia where she is pronounced queen before a competition begins to find her a new king. Zadig is secretly given white armor and a fine horse to compete with by Astarté. Zadig in his white armor triumphs in the contest which takes place between four anonymous knights, but one of the losing competitors, the lord Itobad, steals Zadig's armour and replaces it with his own before the winner is revealed, and dressed in Zadig's armor falsely claims victory. Zadig is forced to wear Itobad's armor and is recognized as the losing knight by the people. Zadig is ridiculed and bemoans his fate, thinking that he will never be happy. 2ff7e9595c
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