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Saturday, September 27, 2008

Joseph as Nation and State


An analogy may be drawn between Pakistan and Joseph. In Chapter 12 of the Quran, the story begins quite dramatically with young Joseph discussing a dream with his father. He has seen the sun, moon and stars prostrating before him but it turns out to be the beginning of a long series of travails. He gets separated from his parents, is thrown into a well, sold into slavery, falsely accused of a crime, imprisoned and completely forgotten - except by his grieving father who loses his eyes weeping for him.


This idea was posted recently in The Republic of Rumi Newsletter and has brought some feedback, for instance:
Has Pakistan seen the dream about sun, moon and stars?? Joseph = Pakistan; then Father of Joseph = Iqbal?? If yes then what about his lost eyes (sight)? Including his brothers, meaning all Muslim states?? We have to interpret the "king’s" dream? Who is the king here? U.S.?

4 comments:

  1. Joseph was blessed with God's Grace was he not? The trials were meaningful. An interesting question for us to explore the meaning of Pakistan's trials and tribulations, so we can come together as a nation to understand, accept and find a renewed hope.

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  2. I would like to share one thing here that the dream about Sun, Moon and stars became true at the end of story, when Joseph became "The King" and his father and brothers were prostrating before him, like he saw in his dream, which means that Sun, moon, and stars were his father and brothers.

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  3. One thing i forgot to mention is that father of Joseph got his eyes(sight) back after using a piece of cloth, given by Joseph, onto his eyes.

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  4. Dear Mr. Khurram,

    Thank you very much for such a nice blog post. It clarifies a lot of things and clears the path for the future as well.

    Best Regards,
    Ijaz.

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