Breath saves us from Death. So inspire yourselves!

“…Indeed I have come to you with a sign from your Lord in that I design for you from clay [that which is] like the form of a bird, then I breathe into it and it becomes a bird by permission of Allah…” (Quran 3:49)

Jesus (peace be upon him) conducts many miracles throughout the Quran. One striking miracle is that of the clay bird into which Jesus blows life using his breath, a demonstration of his prophethood and Allah’s unlimited ability. Yet, while miracles may jar our physical intuitions, they restore our spiritual ones. Thus, this clay bird harkens us to consider our own inward states.

What makes clay different from flesh? For one, it is brittle: if one barely applies pressure, it cracks; if ones drop it, it shatters. Similarly, a man who lacks grounding in meaning — a connection to the transcendent through his heart — cracks like clay in front of the slightest calamity. Hence, perhaps the modern crisis of mental health. Flesh, on the other hand, is resilient. It can take wounds and recover — just like the heart of the believer when he is afflicted. by tribulation.

Secondly, clay lacks color, the character of life. A model is never nearly as beautiful as the real thing. Give a person enough time, and even photos/videos, no matter how high the resolution, can be discerned from reality. The distinction is universally intuitive. Thus, clay can only create a form. It lacks the essence, the locus of real beauty.

Our hearts, the homes of our souls, contain our essence. So when we have dead hearts, we are in a sense hollow human beings. We lack the essence of what it means to be human and the vitality that comes with it. We become bland and brittle figures moving through space waiting to be crushed by the cold causal cascade of a merciless cosmos…

So how can we breath life into ourselves as Jesus did to the bird?

We must first reconnect with what God has breathed into each one us: the ruh, our spirit. Humanity was created from a “single breath” and animated thereby. Saying “Allah” is merely an exhalation of the breath, after all. Thus, dhikr (the remembrance of God) is programmed into our very physiology. Mastering our breathing is the first step. Imam Ghazali: “Every breath is a priceless jewel… for it is the medium by which you draw near to God.”

But any healthy exhalation requires a healthy inhalation. In medicine, we must “inspire” air into our lungs before we breath it back out. So too must we breathe in the Divine Word. (Reading the Quran beautifully requires that one master his breathing). By inspiring ourselves with Quran (both through its recitation and reflection), we infuse the Divine directly into our soul — that divine breath. Consequently, when we exhale, pure beauty is released into the world.

Only then can we begin to sing the song of creation, that is, His Praise — just as the birds sing their song in the sky.