al-Muqaddim

The Expediter, who brings forward

Say it: al-Muqaddim. A recording by our own reciter is on its way.

Heard together with: al-Muqaddim / al-Muʾakhkhir

Start with what we know

Then take away everything it needs. What is left is not a bigger version of us. It is the Name.

Episode 1

We schedule, prioritise, rush.

But: We cannot make a seed flower before its season.

Episode 2

Spring phenology: blooming order set by day length and temperature.

Episode 3

Periodical cicadas: Brood XIII (13-year) and Brood XIX (17-year) emerged together in 2024 for the first time since 1803; next in 2245 (Smithsonian).

But: We can predict the date; we cannot move it.

Episode 4

Take away a clock, a calendar, waiting.

Cicadas keep a 17-year appointment they did not set.

Read: No muqaddim in the Qur'an as a Name. Prophetic: 'You are al-Muqaddim and You are al-Muʾakhkhir; there is no god but You' (Bukhari 1120).

From the tradition: Ghazālī: brings near and puts far; precedence can be in place or in rank, and here he means rank.

On screen

Interstellar's crew lose 23 years in an hour because time bends around them. al-Muqaddim and al-Muʾakhkhir are not inside time's bend.

In scripture: Q 7:34; 16:61; Bukhari 1120; Eccl 3:1.
The same thread in Jewish and Christian scripture: Ecclesiastes 3:1 'A season is set for everything'. Moderate.
In the universe: Light delay: sunlight is about 8 minutes old on arrival.
In nature: Migration (BBC Earth compilation).
In people: Waiting for results, births, verdicts.
In science: Biology: biological clocks, circadian and circannual rhythms; prime-number life cycles.

Living it

Don't rush what is not yet due; don't delay what is due.

Its kind

Act: something done: mercy shown, provision given, a prayer answered.

In the Qur'an: none as a name; Prophetic supplication 'anta l-muqaddim wa anta l-muʾakhkhir' (Bukhari/Muslim)

Sources for this page

smithsonianmag.com (2024 cicadas)