"Read" or "Remember"?

Iqrā’ – ‘Read’ or ‘Remember’? Rethinking the First Revelation of the Qur’ān

"According to traditional interpretations, the verse (iqra bi-smi rabbika) commands the Prophet Muhammad to read the verses of the Qur’ān. But there is another way of understanding these verses, based on early Muslim tradition and sources, which yields a different interpretation and in turn reveals the spiritual secrets of the prophetic mission. This post explores how the first revelation of the Holy Qur’an – Surah al- ‘Alaq – was actually instructing the Prophet Muhammad in the remembrance (dhikr) of God’s Name and how the remembrance of the Divine Names facilitated the spiritual ascension of all the Prophets to the rank of Prophethood (nubuwwah) – including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Mary/Jesus, and Muhammad."

“This is emphasized by a hadith (a tradition) illustrating the Qur’ānic verse, which declares that Adam remained there, flung like an inert body, until God breathed His spirit into him, that is, until He has breathed into him spiritual science, the science of the esoteric things, that “science of NAMES” (Qur’ān 2:29), by means of which beings are promoted to their true being.” (Henry Corbin, Swedenborg and Esoteric Islam, 103-104)