God Is Close
وَنَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ حَبْلِ الْوَرِيدِ
“We are closer to them than ˹their˺ jugular vein.”
Surah Qaf 50:16
It is beautifully conveyed that God is closer to us than our own jugular vein. This verse speaks of a profound closeness of the Divine, a nearness that surpasses all understanding. God’s love and energy pulse as a living force within us, needing only our hearts to recognise it. It is a gentle reminder that the key to connecting to God is not a journey outward, but an awakening within.
The jugular vein is a major vessel that carries life’s flow back to the heart, and God is closer still. It is a mystery no one will ever truly understand, a secret shared between the human soul and God.
Modern science shows that the heart sends more signals to the brain than the brain sends to the heart, echoing that divine intelligence flows inward first before it is understood by the mind.
Neuroscience speaks of ‘interoception’, an inner awareness felt through breath, heartbeat, and subtle sensation. In this knowing, closeness is not found outside us, but awakened from within. This inward awareness is, at its essence, a knowing of the heart.
As Ibn ʿArabi, the great Sufi master of the 13th century, wrote in Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya:
“The heart is His throne; whoever knows his heart knows his Lord.”
He is within every breath, every heartbeat, and every whisper of the soul. The moment you call His name, His presence illuminates your being.
“I am as sure as I live that nothing is so near to me as God. God is nearer to me than I am to myself; my existence depends on the nearness and the presence of God”
Meister Eckhart
Place your hand gently on your jugular vein as you inhale and exhale, becoming aware of what’s happening inside you, the cleansing of blood returning from your head and neck to your heart.
Then, move your hand to your heart and feel how close God is within you. Softly repeat: ‘Ya Allah, Ya Allah, Ya Allah.’
“Doesn’t God say, “I am closer to you than your jugular vein?” I asked. “God is not someplace far up in the sky. He is inside each and every one of us. That is why He never abandons us. How can He abandon Himself?”
The Forty Rules of Love – Elif Shafak
“A Gift to Bring To You
You have no idea how hard I’ve looked
For a gift to bring you.
Nothing seemed right.
What’s the point of bringing gold to
The gold mine, or water to the ocean.
Everything I came up with was like
Taking spices to the Orient.
It’s no good giving my heart and my
soul because you already have these.
So I’ve brought you a mirror.
Look at yourself and remember me.”
Rumi.
