Understanding a Moment in Time

In Michael Sell's "Mystical Languages of Unsaying," I was very confused when I initially read his analysis on the "Eternal Now."  I was unsure of how early Muslims interpreted the concept of time as it applied to objects as well as the creation of those objects.  After re-reading Ibn Arabi's interpretation of certain verses from the Qur'an, it seems that the message is very similar to Drake's motto-- "You Only Live Once." People should not waste their lives, "For one who is heedful of the breaths has the hours in his power" (Sells 107), meaning that people who are careful about how they spend their time will live fulfilling and enriched lives of knowledge and understanding.  Time is relative, but it is how you spend the time you are given that really matters.  Moments of virtue and religious study are vital in living a substantial life because "Whoever has no moment has no lifetime and loses the afterlife" (Sells 107).  These moments are not just instants in time, but opportunities to understand and see the world for what it really is.

This idea that in every instant, everything is re-created differently represents the interconnection between the human world and the divine.  Everything in existence is intertwined, as there is a constant flow of the new and the unknown.  The link between self-discovery of the real and the human act of unveiling this knowledge become one in time.  As humans continuously gain this knowledge and then pass on, the cosmos grow with the re-creation of their presence.  In order to gain wisdom, people should be careful of their breathes, and how these breathes are being spent with the companionship of Allah.  Although life is infinite in existence, people should not waste an opportunity to live it.