Did We All Meet God?

وَإِذْ أَخَذَ رَبُّكَ مِنۢ بَنِىٓ ءَادَمَ مِن ظُهُورِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ وَأَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمْ أَلَسْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ ۖ قَالُوا۟ بَلَىٰ ۛ شَهِدْنَآ ۛ أَن تَقُولُوا۟ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ إِنَّا كُنَّا عَنْ هَـٰذَا غَـٰفِلِينَ ١٧٢

“˹Remember˺ when your Lord brought forth from the loins of the children of Adam their descendants and had them testify regarding themselves. ˹Allah asked,˺ “Am I not your Lord?” They replied, “Yes, You are! We testify.” ˹He cautioned,˺ “Now you have no right to say on Judgment Day, ‘We were not aware of this.’” — Qur’an 7:172

Before we were born, all of our souls took an oath to bear witness to God. In this primordial state all of our souls were present with God and His majesty. We felt the tranquility of being near to Him.

In our worldly life we are one step removed from God and this beatific vision. Our souls yearn to be reunited with the divine.

There is a deep longing we all feel and a hinting at something greater  in the cosmos…

We can however still see His signs, and witness Him in our current life.

وَلِلَّهِ ٱلْأَسْمَآءُ ٱلْحُسْنَىٰ فَٱدْعُوهُ بِهَا ۖ وَذَرُوا۟ ٱلَّذِينَ يُلْحِدُونَ فِىٓ أَسْمَـٰٓئِهِۦ ۚ سَيُجْزَوْنَ مَا كَانُوا۟ يَعْمَلُونَ ١٨٠

“God has the Most Beautiful Names. So call upon Him by them, and keep away from those who abuse His Names. They will be punished for what they used to do.” — Qur’an 7:180

We know God through his attributes and His names. Each name is a reminder of his essence.

For example God is The Creator “Al-Khaaliq” — all creation is a manifestation of His will and points back to Him.

Likewise God is The Source of Goodness “Al-Barr” — so any goodness we see in the world is a manifestation of God bestowing His goodness. Any goodness we see from ourselves even, we thank God for giving us the abilitiy and inclination to do good.

A human can love God but they can also choose to turn away from God. In our choosing to turn to God we enlighten ourselves with the knowledge and light of God, in contrast to the darkness of heedlessness.