on This Earth

Walking Gently On Earth

The project is entitled “Treading lightly on the earth” which is derived from the Qur’an in Surah al-Furqan: 63. I have chosen this title to remind us that we are a part of nature and our actions have an impact on the world, including ourselves.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

 وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمُ ٱسۡجُدُواْ لِلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ قَالُواْ وَمَا ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنُ أَنَسۡجُدُ لِمَا تَأۡمُرُنَا وَزَادَهُمۡ نُفُورً۬ا ۩ (٦٠) تَبَارَكَ ٱلَّذِى جَعَلَ فِى ٱلسَّمَآءِ بُرُوجً۬ا وَجَعَلَ فِيہَا سِرَٲجً۬ا وَقَمَرً۬ا مُّنِيرً۬ا (٦١) وَهُوَ ٱلَّذِى جَعَلَ ٱلَّيۡلَ وَٱلنَّهَارَ خِلۡفَةً۬ لِّمَنۡ أَرَادَ أَن يَذَّڪَّرَ أَوۡ أَرَادَ شُڪُورً۬ا (٦٢) وَعِبَادُ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلَّذِينَ يَمۡشُونَ عَلَى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ هَوۡنً۬ا وَإِذَا خَاطَبَهُمُ ٱلۡجَـٰهِلُونَ قَالُواْ سَلَـٰمً۬ا (٦٣)

When they (the disbelievers) are told, “Prostrate to The Most Gracious¹ (Ar-Rahman),” they said, “What is the Most Gracious? And should we prostrate to whatever you command us to?” And it only increased their aversion.  Blessed is He who created in the heavens constellations, and placed amongst them a [radiant] lamp and a light-giving moon.  And He it is who causes the night and day to succeed each other, [revealing Himself in His works] for those who desire to reflect or be thankful.  And the slaves/servants of the Most Gracious are those who walk gently [and humbly] on earth and who, when the foolish addressed them, they say, “Peace.”

I have always loved these verses from Surah Al-Furqan in the Qur’an that describes the attributes of God, The Most Gracious.  Often time, as I walk in the hills or the woods, I contemplate on how nature reflects the various names and attributes of God, most of all of Graciousness.  Grace is almost an antiquated word but really captures the essence of The Name of The Most Gracious because it encapsulates

• elegance or beauty of form
• mercy
• a manifestation of favour, especially by a superior
• favour shown in granting a delay or temporary immunity
• the freely given, unmerited favour and love of God

Nature in its glory reflects all of the above and God often describe His attributes in connection to the natural world in the Qur’an.  In this surah, by attributing the definition of graciousness as the creation of the Heavens and in them the stars, the sun, the moon, and of night and day, we are able to associate these natural phenomenon with mercy, love, and beauty.  We are reminded that for thousands of years, humankind have been navigating the world by the constellations, sun, and the moon before we invented the compass.  And that the interconnectedness of these celestial bodies with the seasons and our ability to tell time are part of His mercy to us.

The verses also describes the servants of The Most Gracious, those who embody/epitomise the grace and mercy of God.  They are firstly described as those who walk gently and humbly on the Earth and when the ignorant ones address them, they reply [with words of] peace.  What does it mean to ‘walk gently and humbly on the Earth’² and what is the connection to words of peace? Just as God’s Name, The Most Gracious, embodies the attributes of Grace, so too do the servants of The Most Gracious. There are many interpretation of the term to ‘walk gently and humbly on the Earth’ but permit me to posit my own in this blog.

I first look at the terms used,³ the first being ‘walk’, not run, sail, or ride. The word ‘walk’ signifies being in contact with the earth; there is a sense of connectedness to the ground in a way that riding, sailing or being in a vehicle does not. As a dispraxic who have problems with balance all my life, overcoming the challenge of learning to walk without tripping over myself is helped by being barefoot, or at least wearing barefoot shoes, and therefore in contact with the ground. That connection allows me, similar to babies learning to walk, to have an intimate, situational awareness of the minute gradients of the ground beneath my feet.

Have you ever walked through the woods or grassland where the grounds have been undisturbed and there are no paths?  If you do, you may have noticed how soft and bouncy the ground feel as you walk, especially that of the coniferous woodlands. Contrast that to a well-trodden path in the same woods/grassland.  The ground of the well-trodden path is no where nearly as soft and bouncy as before.  The reason behind this is that the untrodden ground is full of layers and layers of leaves that had decomposed over time to become loose soil or springy grass.  That contributes to the bounciness of the ground.  On the other hand, the ground of the well-trodden path has been compacted over time due to our footsteps.  Below is a video I took to capture what a well-trodden path looks and sound like.

This contrast illustrates how we impact our surroundings through our interactions, in this case, just by walking along the same path over and over again. That impact is what is described by the adverb ‘gently’⁴ in the verse.  I remember as a child how my mum would tell me to stroke the cat “gently” meaning that I shouldn’t hurt the cat by stroking her too hard, that I should calibrate my strokes to take into account my strength and her comfort level.  My grandmother gifted me with a rabbit when I was young, and living in a small apartment, there wasn’t really any good place to keep it except the shoe cabinet.  What I didn’t realise then (and perhaps my parents too) was the cabinet was in the path of an ant colony.  They attacked the rabbit and it died.  I always felt guilty about causing the rabbit’s death because of the impact of my thoughtlessness at understanding how the ants would react.  In this case, the impact was not gentle, at least not to the rabbit and perhaps not to the ants either who felt threatened.  Today, our over-consumption lifestyle in the Global North and the systematic exploitation of resources without consideration of the impact of these actions are causing the imbalance in nature, resulting in the climate catastrophe and biodiversity collapse.  Those impact on the environment definitely do not constitute ‘walking gently.’

Instead, to me ‘walking gently’ is the ability to

• intimately connect to and be conscious of nature no matter where we are, what we are doing
• be conscious of the impact our activity is having on it
• act in minimising the imbalance or harm being caused by our activity

Developing connection to nature

Inherently, everyone has a connection to nature but like an unused muscle, the ability to connect can atrophy.  Conversely, this ability can be sharpened and made instinctive through practice.  With this blog, and the project, I hope to share some of the techniques I have developed to build that connection and consciousness of natural world around us as well as sharing how we can be conscious of the impact our activities are having on it. While the techniques themselves may not suit everyone but the principles behind my techniques could be adapted to different people’s circumstances.  The main principles of my techniques to connect are:

• being still
• observe
• reflect

Stillness is key to being able to observe nature.  When we are moving, we often miss a lot of details that are there and in nature, details are important.  Something minute may really be important to the whole.  For example, I opened one of my compost bins this afternoon and saw a few tiny worms for the first time.  One might ask why a few tiny worms is worthy of mention in relation to details.  Those tiny worms tell me that the soil in my garden bed, where the compost bin is buried, is healthy.  They are a sign, one that I have been looking for.  And for many things in nature, especially animals, movement drives them away but stillness attracts them.  How many a time have I sat still for a moment and find myself in the company of others.  Like the time I was sitting amidst the tall grass on a hill and this mouse scolded me for sitting near/on its space.  Or when I heard some rustling of the leaves but there wasn’t any breeze while sitting out in the garden one day.  I looked up and caught a glimpse of a blue tit pecking at a leaf.

Observation is a skill and it can be acquired.  Usually, we associate observation with the sense of sight but actually we observe with all of our senses.  Most times, the other senses open the door to observe nature in a holistic way.  For example, what would characterise a forest to our senses?  To me, a forest is cool and shaded, with an earthy damp scent, rustling leaves overhead, and perhaps crunchy leaves underfoot.  There might be a flutter of wings or the chatter of monkeys up above or a rustle in the ground where a snake might have darted away.  All of that involves more than just the sense of sight to capture.  Below is a video I took on one of my walks to illustrate this sensory observation. What I couldn’t convey in the video was the overwhelming scent of wild garlic that surrounded me. We therefore need to exercise our senses to develop those observational skills. 

Yet observation alone is not enough to build a connection/relationship.  Observation must be paired with reflection to develop an understanding of nature that is rooted in an intimate conversation/communication with nature and God. This type of reflection goes beyond the mind to speak directly to the heart.  It is about understanding the unity within the diversity and our place within the universe. For me, these reflections are grounded in my Muslim faith and framed by the Qur’an and the tradition of the Prophet (peace be upon him).  Other faith traditions have their own framework to help in these reflections.  But even if people do not have a faith tradition, there are are ethical frameworks related to nature where we treat everything in nature as living beings worthy of respect. For example, Colombia recognised the Amazon River ecosystem as an entity with legal rights.⁵

Subsequent blog posts will use techniques based on these three principles to help us connect with different elements of nature. I hope that you will find the techniques useful in developing your own connection with these elements.

1. The Most Gracious is a translation of the Name “Ar-Rahman”, one of the many beautiful Names of God. ↩︎
2. The title of this project is derived from this description of the servants of the Most Gracious ↩︎
3. In Islamic theology, every word of the Qur’an is God’s speech and therefore is precise to convey the exact meaning. ↩︎
4. The arabic هَوۡنً۬ا also denotes slowness, leisurely approach, and imperceptibility. ↩︎
5. https://iucn.org/news/world-commission-environmental-law/201804/colombian-supreme-court-recognizes-rights-amazon-river-ecosystem#:~:text=The%20Court%20declared%20that%2C%20%E2%80%9Cfor,the%20opinion;%20emphasis%20added). ↩︎