"Had We wished to take a pastime..."

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful...the Best Knower.


Allah says, in the Holy Qur'an, Surah 21:
16 And We created not the heaven and the earth and what is between them for sport.
17 Had We wished to take a pastime, We would have taken it from before Ourselves; by no means would We do (so).
18 Nay, We hurl the Truth against falsehood, so it knocks out its brains, and lo! it vanishes. And woe to you for what you describe!

I was reflecting on this passage the other day, when something occurred to me, "What does that word 'pastime' mean?"

Basically, it means 'anything one does to pass the time'. It is time spent without assuming the responsibilities of progress.

So, I thought about the way that verse is worded:
"Had We wished to take a pastime, We would have taken it from before Ourselves; by no means would We do (so)."

In other words,
"...if there were something that had existed before Us, then we could take that as a pastime; but because We are before everything, and are thus the Makers and the Owners of everything, then We are also RESPONSIBLE for the order and wellbeing of everything. Our pastime is the maintenance of the Order and Purpose of the Heavens and the Earth. And since the Universe is Created with Truth, then Falsehood interferes with the Maintenance of the Universe. Therefore, We who are Responsible for the Maintenance of the Universe must be ever on the look-out for Falsehood, and if discovered, We must hurl the Truth at that Falsehood to preserve the Order and Wellbeing of that which We are Responsible for."

Then it occurred to me that, as individuals, we could consider that there is plenty that was here "before ourselves", and therefore plenty of time for a pass-time; but the closer we get to the Mind of God (by His Permission), with that closeness comes an increased level of responsibility for the order and wellbeing of our environment (which ultimately is the Universe and everything in it).

The Question is: "Do we WANT that Responsibility?"

Just something to ponder.