A themed reading
8 passages on love, gathered slowly. Each verse appears in English, then in Arabic, with a short reflection on what it asks of us.
Reveal a random verse“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.”
لِأَنَّهُ هَكَذَا أَحَبَّ اللهُ الْعَالَمَ حَتَّى بَذَلَ ابْنَهُ الْوَحِيدَ.
Reflection
The measure of divine love is total surrender, given so the world might live.
مِعْيَارُ الْمَحَبَّةِ الإِلَهِيَّةِ هُوَ التَّسْلِيمُ الْكَامِلُ، مُعْطًى لِكَيْ يَحْيَا الْعَالَمُ.
يوحنا ٣:١٦
“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.”
أَيُّهَا الأَحِبَّاءُ، لِنُحِبَّ بَعْضُنَا بَعْضًا، لأَنَّ الْمَحَبَّةَ هِيَ مِنَ اللهِ، وَكُلُّ مَنْ يُحِبُّ فَقَدْ وُلِدَ مِنَ اللهِ وَيَعْرِفُ اللهَ.
Reflection
Love is not merely a feeling we produce; it is evidence that God's own life has taken root in us.
الْمَحَبَّةُ لَيْسَتْ شُعُورًا نَصْنَعُهُ، بَلْ دَلِيلٌ عَلَى أَنَّ حَيَاةَ اللهِ قَدْ تَجَذَّرَتْ فِينَا.
١ يوحنا ٤:٧
“Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up.”
الْمَحَبَّةُ تَتَأَنَّى وَتَرْفُقُ. الْمَحَبَّةُ لاَ تَحْسِدُ. الْمَحَبَّةُ لاَ تَتَفَاخَرُ وَلاَ تَنْتَفِخُ.
Reflection
Love is described by what it does and refuses to do — patience and kindness before eloquence.
تُوصَفُ الْمَحَبَّةُ بِمَا تَفْعَلُهُ وَتَأْبَاهُ: الصَّبْرُ وَاللُّطْفُ قَبْلَ الْبَلاَغَةِ.
١ كورنثوس ١٣:٤
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
لَيْسَ لأَحَدٍ حُبٌّ أَعْظَمُ مِنْ هَذَا: أَنْ يَضَعَ أَحَدٌ نَفْسَهُ لأَجْلِ أَحِبَّائِهِ.
Reflection
The measure of love is not what it says but what it is willing to surrender.
مِقْيَاسُ الْمَحَبَّةِ لَيْسَ مَا تَقُولُهُ بَلْ مَا تَسْتَعِدُّ أَنْ تَبْذُلَهُ.
يوحنا ١٥:١٣
“We love him, because he first loved us.”
نَحْنُ نُحِبُّهُ لأَنَّهُ هُوَ أَحَبَّنَا أَوَّلاً.
Reflection
Our love is an echo, never the origin; it answers a love that moved toward us first.
مَحَبَّتُنَا صَدًى وَلَيْسَتْ أَصْلاً؛ إِنَّهَا جَوَابٌ لِمَحَبَّةٍ سَبَقَتْنَا.
١ يوحنا ٤:١٩
“And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.”
وَعَلَى جَمِيعِ هذِهِ الْبَسُوا الْمَحَبَّةَ الَّتِي هِيَ رِبَاطُ الْكَمَالِ.
Reflection
Every other virtue holds together only when love is worn over them like a binding thread.
كُلُّ فَضِيلَةٍ أُخْرَى لاَ تَثْبُتُ إِلاَّ إِذَا لُبِسَتِ الْمَحَبَّةُ فَوْقَهَا كَخَيْطٍ رَابِطٍ.
كولوسي ٣:١٤
“Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it.”
مِيَاهٌ كَثِيرَةٌ لاَ تَسْتَطِيعُ أَنْ تُطْفِئَ الْمَحَبَّةَ، وَالسُّيُولُ لاَ تَغْمُرُهَا.
Reflection
Real love proves itself not in calm seasons but in the floods that fail to extinguish it.
الْمَحَبَّةُ الْحَقِيقِيَّةُ تُثْبِتُ ذَاتَهَا لاَ فِي الْهُدُوءِ بَلْ فِي السُّيُولِ الَّتِي تَعْجَزُ عَنْ إِطْفَائِهَا.
نشيد الأنشاد ٨:٧
“Let all your things be done with charity.”
لِتَصِرْ كُلُّ أُمُورِكُمْ فِي مَحَبَّةٍ.
Reflection
Love is not one task among many; it is the manner in which every task is carried out.
الْمَحَبَّةُ لَيْسَتْ عَمَلاً بَيْنَ الأَعْمَالِ، بَلْ هِيَ الأُسْلُوبُ الَّذِي يُتَمَّمُ بِهِ كُلُّ عَمَلٍ.
١ كورنثوس ١٦:١٤