Elif Shafak - Meditating the Proper Approach to God

(illustration by Marian Banjes in NY Times)

What was for Elif Shafak at the beginning a pure intellectual interest developed into an existential need: the Sufi universe. I found in one of her novels, The Bastard of Istanbul, a couple of lines in which one of the personages meditates the proper approach to God. You could find here a hint of irony, maybe. Or maybe not.

Allah could not and should not be personified... One had to refrain from attributing human qualities to him - that's to say, Him - which was not easy since every one of his - that's to say, His - ninety-nine names happened to be qualities also pertinent to human beings. He could see it all but had no eyes; He could hear it all but had no ears; He could reach out everywhere but had no hands... Allah could resemble us, but we could not resemble Him. Or was it vice versa? Anyway, one had to learn to think about him - that's to say, Him - without thinking of Him as him.

It happens that today I found in a bookshop an English edition of the Koran.

(Elif Shafak)

(Sufi)