One way out of the translation difficulty is to take a well-known English poem, ("A Song of Life") and give it a Quranic exegesis. For a holistic understanding (intellectual, emotional and physical) read the combination of the poem and the exegesis slowly and thoughtfully. After contemplation of the Quranic meaning, recite the entire poem out loud (in a group and by memory if possible), paying full attention to the sounds of the words, and their rhythm and rhyme.
The Word of God is a poem carefully and artistically recited from memory by a group of the faithful. This is Quran!
The human being has both a spiritual nature and an animal nature. Material appearances such as violence, immorality, and suffering are not the complete story. In reality faith in Allah, the creator of the heavens and the earth and human beings is the foundation of life itself.
Life does have have meaning. Allah has given us the discernment and the responsibility to make right rather than wrong actions. We are accountable and we will answer to Allah both during our lifetimes and after the death of our physical bodies.
We must follow our God-given consciousness. In our actions we must not follow the pleasure-pain principle which is usually self-centered and hedonistic. We are responsible for our spiritual paths, our families and loved-ones, those without families, sick, oppressed and uprooted peoples, and all the charitable and right-governing institutions on the planet.
We are created by Allah to be moral agents acting in co-operation with other faithful human beings taking into full account all organic and inorganic forms on our planet. We live and act from a creation theology.
Our time span on earth this lifetime is limited. The art of Self-Realization takes much care and time. As we live our lives only partially knowing ourselves, we act from an illusionary self-centered confidence. We do not know who we are! -- Allah's representatives on earth. We keep our heads in the sand practicing the full range of psychological defenses and denial. Self-centeredness and denial is no excuse! We are accountable to Allah for our ignorance and failure to act.
We must try and strive in life. We are accountable! We practice the greater Jihad as we make extra efforts to know ourselves. We practice the lesser Jihad whether by thoughts, words, or deeds as we combat ignorance and immorality in the outer world. Death and suffering are part of our destiny. Fear of these experiences does not stop our efforts.
The past and future are common illusions. Our greater Jihad is to be aware and discard our false selves and identifications. We must experience our true Heart-Centered Selves. Remember the words of the messenger Jesus (PBUH): "Love Allah and love thy neighbor as thyself. Upon these two commandments rest all the Law (Shariah) and the Prophets".
The foundation of following a spiritual life is Intentionality. We are created with free will, just like Socrates, Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad (PBU all of Them). Upon our bodily deaths we must stand naked before Allah. We alone are accountable to Allah. Prophets, priests, humans who have true faith in Allah cannot stand in our place before Allah. Believing and God-fearing human beings are important to us in our learning about Allah and His Plan. They show us that we can indeed be responsible representatives of Allah. It is up to us to carry out that Plan in our daily lives.
Again the spiritual leaders of our planet can help us see our lost situation and assist us to find our ways back to the love of Allah and our neighbor.
Let us have faith in Allah and rid ourselves of all obstacles to that faith. Let us serve our fellow human beings and teach them how to return to the Pure God-given Faith. May Allah grant us the greatest of patience and perseverance! In the words of Surah 103 0f the Quran: