In Memoriam A. H. H. by Alfred Lord Tennyson

There was a time in my life when I had to struggle to find anyone I knew anyone who had died, but now it is an ever more common occurrence first in my parents' and then in my own generation.  I feel it drawing nearer, loitering as if an indistinguishable voice from another room, or on the wind like the scent of someone who had just gone.

Grief transforms. It enters you like a slow dark shadow in your lungs that burns you from the inside, leaving wounds that become a part of who you are.

The sudden death of Tennyson's closest friend Arthur Henry Hallam in 1833 left him grief-stricken. He spent the next ten years writing 133 poems (cantos) dedicated to Hallam, that he later collected and published as “In Memoriam” in 1850. Not just an elegy, the poem is also a deeply philosophical reflection on religion, science, and the promise of immortality. It was a period when certainty of Religious Faith was crumbling under the weight of Scientific discoveries in nature.  Tennyson Wrote this poem over 17 years, and is more metaphor than allegory, more filter than lens. It offers no solution or lesson, but rather takes the reader along on his journey through a life that can never be the same.

The poem was a pivotal step in post romantic poetry, written in Iambic Tetrameter in an ABBA rhyme pattern, later called "In Memoriam Stanzas." Although one could easily read it in less than an hour, here are some key themes. I have put them in the form of Elizabeth Kübler-Ross's stages of grief:


Denial

V

I sometimes hold it half a sin

To put in words the grief I feel;

For words, like Nature, half reveal

And half conceal the Soul within.

But, for the unquiet heart and brain,

A use in measured language lies;

The sad mechanic exercise,

Like dull narcotics, numbing pain.

In words, like weeds, I'll wrap me o'er,

Like coarsest clothes against the cold:

But that large grief which these enfold

Is given in outline and no more.

VI

One writes, that `Other friends remain,'

That `Loss is common to the race'—

And common is the commonplace,

And vacant chaff well meant for grain.

That loss is common would not make

My own less bitter, rather more:

Too common! Never morning wore

To evening, but some heart did break.

O father, wheresoe'er thou be,

Who pledgest now thy gallant son;

A shot, ere half thy draught be done,

Hath still'd the life that beat from thee.

O mother, praying God will save

Thy sailor,—while thy head is bow'd,

His heavy-shotted hammock-shroud

Drops in his vast and wandering grave.

Ye know no more than I who wrought

At that last hour to please him well;

Who mused on all I had to tell,

And something written, something thought;

Expecting still his advent home;

And ever met him on his way

With wishes, thinking, `here to-day,'

Or `here to-morrow will he come.'

O somewhere, meek, unconscious dove,

That sittest ranging golden hair;

And glad to find thyself so fair,

Poor child, that waitest for thy love!

For now her father's chimney glows

In expectation of a guest;

And thinking `this will please him best,'

She takes a riband or a rose;

For he will see them on to-night;

And with the thought her colour burns;

And, having left the glass, she turns

Once more to set a ringlet right;

And, even when she turn'd, the curse

Had fallen, and her future Lord

Was drown'd in passing thro' the ford,

Or kill'd in falling from his horse.

O what to her shall be the end?

And what to me remains of good?

To her, perpetual maidenhood,

And unto me no second friend.

XXIX

With such compelling cause to grieve

As daily vexes household peace,

And chains regret to his decease,

How dare we keep our Christmas-eve...

XXX

With trembling fingers did we weave

The holly round the Chrismas hearth;

A rainy cloud possess'd the earth,

And sadly fell our Christmas-eve.

At our old pastimes in the hall

We gambol'd, making vain pretence

Of gladness, with an awful sense

Of one mute Shadow watching all.

We paused: the winds were in the beech:

We heard them sweep the winter land;

And in a circle hand-in-hand

Sat silent, looking each at each....

Anger

LIV

Oh yet we trust that somehow good

Will be the final goal of ill,

To pangs of nature, sins of will,

Defects of doubt, and taints of blood;

That nothing walks with aimless feet;

That not one life shall be destroy'd,

Or cast as rubbish to the void,

When God hath made the pile complete;

That not a worm is cloven in vain;

That not a moth with vain desire

Is shrivell'd in a fruitless fire,

Or but subserves another's gain.

Behold, we know not anything;

I can but trust that good shall fall

At last—far off—at last, to all,

And every winter change to spring.

So runs my dream: but what am I?

An infant crying in the night:

An infant crying for the light:

And with no language but a cry.

LV

The wish, that of the living whole

No life may fail beyond the grave,

Derives it not from what we have

The likest God within the soul?

Are God and Nature then at strife,

That Nature lends such evil dreams?

So careful of the type she seems,

So careless of the single life;

That I, considering everywhere

Her secret meaning in her deeds,

And finding that of fifty seeds

She often brings but one to bear,

I falter where I firmly trod,

And falling with my weight of cares

Upon the great world's altar-stairs

That slope thro' darkness up to God,

I stretch lame hands of faith, and grope,

And gather dust and chaff, and call

To what I feel is Lord of all,

And faintly trust the larger hope.

LVI

'So careful of the type?' but no.

From scarped cliff and quarried stone

She cries, `A thousand types are gone:

I care for nothing, all shall go.

'Thou makest thine appeal to me:

I bring to life, I bring to death:

The spirit does but mean the breath:

I know no more.' And he, shall he,

Man, her last work, who seem'd so fair,

Such splendid purpose in his eyes,

Who roll'd the psalm to wintry skies,

Who built him fanes of fruitless prayer,

Who trusted God was love indeed

And love Creation's final law—

Tho' Nature, red in tooth and claw

With ravine, shriek'd against his creed—

Who loved, who suffer'd countless ills,

Who battled for the True, the Just,

Be blown about the desert dust,

Or seal'd within the iron hills?

No more? A monster then, a dream,

A discord. Dragons of the prime,

That tare each other in their slime,

Were mellow music match'd with him.

O life as futile, then, as frail!

O for thy voice to soothe and bless!

What hope of answer, or redress?

Behind the veil, behind the veil.

Bargaining

XXXVI

Tho' truths in manhood darkly join,

Deep-seated in our mystic frame,

We yield all blessing to the name

Of Him that made them current coin;

For Wisdom dealt with mortal powers,

Where truth in closest words shall fail,

When truth embodied in a tale

Shall enter in at lowly doors.

And so the Word had breath, and wrought

With human hands the creed of creeds

In loveliness of perfect deeds,

More strong than all poetic thought;

Which he may read that binds the sheaf,

Or builds the house, or digs the grave,

And those wild eyes that watch the wave

In roarings round the coral reef.

Depression

VII
Dark house, by which once more I stand
Here in the long unlovely street,
Doors, where my heart was used to beat
So quickly, waiting for a hand,

A hand that can be clasp'd no more—
Behold me, for I cannot sleep,
And like a guilty thing I creep
At earliest morning to the door.

He is not here; but far away
The noise of life begins again,
And ghastly thro' the drizzling rain
On the bald street breaks the blank day.

L

Be near me when my light is low,

When the blood creeps, and the nerves prick

And tingle; and the heart is sick,

And all the wheels of Being slow.

Be near me when the sensuous frame

Is rack'd with pangs that conquer trust;

And Time, a maniac scattering dust,

And Life, a Fury slinging flame.

Be near me when my faith is dry,

And men the flies of latter spring,

That lay their eggs, and sting and sing

And weave their petty cells and die.

Be near me when I fade away,

To point the term of human strife,

And on the low dark verge of life

The twilight of eternal day.

Guilt

V

I sometimes hold it half a sin

To put in words the grief I feel;

For words, like Nature, half reveal

And half conceal the Soul within.

But, for the unquiet heart and brain,

A use in measured language lies;

The sad mechanic exercise,

Like dull narcotics, numbing pain.

In words, like weeds, I'll wrap me o'er,

Like coarsest clothes against the cold:

But that large grief which these enfold

Is given in outline and no more.

Acceptance

XXVII

I envy not in any moods

The captive void of noble rage,

The linnet born within the cage,

That never knew the summer woods:

I envy not the beast that takes

His license in the field of time,

Unfetter'd by the sense of crime,

To whom a conscience never wakes;

Nor, what may count itself as blest,

The heart that never plighted troth

But stagnates in the weeds of sloth;

Nor any want-begotten rest.

I hold it true, whate'er befall;

I feel it, when I sorrow most;

'Tis better to have loved and lost

Than never to have loved at all.

The Iconoclasm of Natural Sciences
-We are no longer the center of God's Universe, but a brief lived particle of the natural landscape.

CXX

I trust I have not wasted breath:

I think we are not wholly brain,

Magnetic mockeries; not in vain,

Like Paul with beasts, I fought with Death;

Not only cunning casts in clay:

Let Science prove we are, and then

What matters Science unto men,

At least to me? I would not stay.

Let him, the wiser man who springs

Hereafter, up from childhood shape

His action like the greater ape,

But I was born to other things.

CXXIII

There rolls the deep where grew the tree.

O earth, what changes hast thou seen!

There where the long street roars, hath been

The stillness of the central sea.

The hills are shadows, and they flow

From form to form, and nothing stands;

They melt like mist, the solid lands,

Like clouds they shape themselves and go.

But in my spirit will I dwell,

And dream my dream, and hold it true;

For tho' my lips may breathe adieu,

I cannot think the thing farewell.

The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politic

Published in 2011 studies the lessons of successful Dictators for Businessmen. It may explain why both Trump and Venezuelan Dictator Maduro have so many behaviors in common.

Summary:
The authors propose that the power structure any entity (corporation or government) is defined by three core population groups:

1) The Nominal Selectorate (“The Interchangeables”) — the pool of all potential supporters
2) The Real Selectorate (“The Influentials”) — the supporters who actually choose the leader
3) The Winning Coalition (“The Essentials”) — the key people who keep the leader in power

Leaders remain in power by keeping The Winning Coalition happy. The relative sizes of each of the three groups above dictate how the leader governs.

The authors offer a checklist of 5 simple rules that any reader can follow should they wish to win anything from becoming a boss to gaining military control of Zimbabwe. (Is it any surprise then that it precisely mirrors the Trump administration's behavior:)

Rule 1: Keep the winning coalition as small as possible.
Leaders should rely on as few people as possible to stay in power. Fewer "essentials" mean more control and greater discretion over how money is spent 

Rule 2: Keep the nominal selectorate as large as possible.— to make it easy to replace any troublemakers in the coalition. 

Rule 3: Control the flow of revenue.
It’s always better for a ruler to determine who eats than it is to have a larger pie from which the people can feed themselves. 

Rule 4: Pay key supporters just enough to keep them loyal. Any leader must give the coalition just enough so that it doesn’t shop around for someone to replace him or her, but not a penny more. 

Rule 5: Never take money from supporters to make the people’s lives better. Hungry people will be too worried about surviving to fight, But underpaid supporters can defect.

quotes from

The Dictator's Handbook:
Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics
"...candidates who aren’t willing to cheat are typically beaten by those who are."

"Steal from the poor, give to the rich"

"corruption is a private good of choice- it provides the means to ensure regime loyalty without having to pay good salaries.

"All politicians are alike; how they are constrained differs."

“Paying supporters, not good governance or representing the general will, is the essence of ruling. Buying loyalty is particularly difficult”

“It’s always better for a ruler to determine who eats than it is to have a larger pie from which the people can feed themselves.”

“leaders must reward their coalition of essential backers before they reward the people in general and even before they reward themselves”

“legal approaches to eliminating corruption won’t ever work...”


Both Trump and Maduro:

1. Try to discredit Media by calling it "Fake News"
2. Both kicked out CNN for their coverage
3. Both fired Prosecutors (Comey in US and Ortega in VZ) for not dropping investigations of corruption.
4. Both want all opposition Prosecuted
5. Both say almost word for word the same thing about immigrants:"Who comes over from Colombia/Mexico? People practically w/o education they're not sending their best"

http://foreignpolicy.com/…/a-dictators-handbook-for-the-pr…/

The Quran

The Major Branches of Islam

DISCLAIMER

This page is about the Quran, and not Islam. Islam is a very diverse religion with literally hundreds of denominations and sects, which range from whirling dervish mystics, and limousine liberals, thru community based working class movements and the American black Muslim movement (Nation of Islam), all the way to Ultra Orthodox Wahhabi Saudi Princes, Islamists, Jihadis and Fundamentalists who believe we live in the "End Times". To complicate matters, adherents also include hybrid religions (syncretism) that blend faiths like the Boko Hiram, Baha'i, Sikh and Unitarian Universalists. All of them see the Quran differently.

CONTEXT


Muhammad;
Full name: Abū al-Qāsim Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn Hāshim
Born: April 22, 571 AD, Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Died: June 8, 632 AD, Green Dome, Medina, Saudi Arabia

The era around the life of Muhammad was called the "Migration Period", and was marked by the critical collapses of Empires overrun by migrating invasions of peoples on a global scale. In Europe and Asia both Western Roman (ending 476 CE)  and India's Gupta Empire (ending 550 CE) had fallen to waves of barbarians driven by the Huns, While the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) and Persia (Sassanian Empire) had crippled each other over a century conflict which culminated in the siege of Constantinople (626) and the subsequent collapse of the Persian Empire.

In pre-Islamic Arabia, gods or goddesses were protectors of tribes, and their spirits were associated with locations and objects such as sacred trees, stones, springs and wells. The Kaaba, now a Muslim but formerly pagan shrine in Mecca, once housed 360 idols of tribal patron deities. Nonetheless, monotheistic communities existed in Arabia, and included Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, and Hanifs – native pre-Islamic Arabs who professed a rigid monotheism. According to Muslim tradition, Muhammad himself was a Hanif and one of the descendants of Ishmael, son of the Biblical Patriarch, Abraham.

As political power centers weakened throughout the Europe and Asia, conflict spread to Arabia.  Tribal and religious communities stepped up to fill the void, but resulted in conflicts of their own as they fought with one another over scarce resources brought on by the wartime decline of trade. They frequently resorted to Ghazi (غازي, ġāzī), or raiding to survive. Individuals and smaller communities were under constant threat by larger and more powerful tribes. These were the challenges faced by the Quraysh tribe of Mecca. By the 6th century, they had become a dominant force in western Arabia, and formed the cult association of hums which tied members of many tribes in western Arabia to the Kaaba and reinforced the prestige of the Meccan sanctuary. To maintain order, the Quraysh banned violence during sacred months making it was possible for trade, pilgrimages and fairs to take place in relative safety. Thus, although the association of hums was primarily religious, it also had important economic consequences for Mecca, and the surrounding area.

Orphaned at an early age, Muhammad was poor and passed among relatives until his teens, when he went to live with his paternal uncle Abu Talib, the new leader of the Banu Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe. Abu Talib raised Muhammad in the trade between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Muhammad used his outsider status to his advantage in negotiations, and gained a reputation as an honest and impartial arbiter of disputes. He then married Khadijah the Great, a wealthy older woman who was a skillful merchant in her own right, and to whom he remained in a faithful and monogamous relationship until her death. At 40, while praying for several nights in a mountain cave (called Hira), he was visited by the angel Gabriel (Jibril). Three years later, in 610, Muhammad started preaching these revelations publicly.

Muhammad gained few early followers, but was nevertheless violently opposed by Meccan tribes who saw him and monotheism as a threat to their economic interests. In 619 both his wife, Khadijah the Great, and his tribal patron and protector, Abu Talib, died, thus severing Muhammad's connection to the Quraysh tribe. He could now be killed with impunity by his rivals and opponents. In 622 Muhammad discovered a plot to wipe them all out, so he and his followers were forced to flee from Mecca to Medina (then known as Yathrib). This event, the Hijra, marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar.

Medina was already occupied by numerous Jewish and polytheistic tribes, many had fled from other tribal adversaries of their own, so the arrival of Muhammad and his followers provoked no opposition. Muhammad then negotiated the Constitution of Medina with the various tribal leaders bringing each other under their mutual protection and merging the Meccan immigrants and the Medinan residents into a single community, called the Ummah essentially making it supra-tribal. This rejection of the tribal and familial system in favor of a diverse community was revolutionary, and explains why large communities of Jews, Hindus and Christians still live in Muslim countries from Iran to Indonesia, although persecuted from time to time to a varying degree.

Times were hard, and resources scarce. Threatened by starvation and occasional defections of his Medinan allies, Muhammad had to support the Ummah by resorting to the traditional Arab practice of Ghazi (raiding) the wealthy caravans on their way to Mecca. In December 629, after 8 years of intermittent conflict with Meccan tribes, Muhammad gathered an army of 10,000 Muslim converts and allied pagans, and marched on the city of Mecca. Remarkably, the attack went largely uncontested and Muhammad seized the city with little bloodshed. This event later served as an example to Saladin who took Jerusalem from the Christian crusaders in 1187 with little bloodshed or retribution. In 632, a few months after returning from the Farewell Pilgrimage, he fell ill and died. By the time of his death, Greater Arabia had been accepted into Islam and joined the Ummah.

The visions ("Ayah", or verse, also: a remarkable event), which Muhammad received on several occasions until his death, form the verses of the Quran, and are regarded by Muslims as the "Word of God." Islam (‘submission to God) is based chiefly on the Quran, and represents not only a monotheistic religion, but a final synthesis of all of the Abrahamic Monotheistic religions. To that end, the Quran includes many accounts and passages taken from the Jewish Torah, and the Christian Gospels. Traditionally, the companions of Muhammad were responsible for writing down the recitations (Quran means to recite). After Muhammad's death the first caliph Abu Bakr decided in 632 CE to collect the book in one volume so that it could be preserved, the Quran was compiled written notes and memory. These Qurans had differences that motivated the third Caliph Uthman to establish a standard version in about 650 CE, which is generally considered the archetype of the Quran known today. There are, however, variant readings, with mostly minor differences in meaning.

Other than the Quran, Muhammad's teachings and practises (sunnah), found in the Hadith and sira literature, are also upheld by Muslims to varying degree depending on their reputed authenticity and reputation.  They are also used as sources for a diverse body of Islamic law (Sharia).

Aside from its religious significance, the Quran is a held to be a powerful and moving work of poetry in classic Arabic. The emotional impact of its poetry on Arabic speaking peoples cannot be overestimated. The beauty of Quranic verse is itself seen as a miracle, and sign of its divine provenance.

CONTENT:

The Quran has 114 chapters or "suras." The suras are either Meccan, or Medinan depending on whether the verses were revealed before or after the migration of Muhammad to the city of Medina, or after their return to Mecca. However, a sura classified as Medinan may contain Meccan verses in it and vice versa. 2/3 of the Suras are Meccan. They begin "Oh Mankind," and have generally shorter verses that are addressed to the prophet or "the people" dealing with issues of unification, articles of faith, The end times, and allegorical stories. Meccan suras are sympathetic to Jews and Christians, and anti-polytheist.  1/3 of the Suras are Medinan. They begin "Oh, you who believe." They have longer verses addressing believers, that deal with their struggles (jihad), the rights and obligations under the law, crime and punishment, and are more critical of Jews, Christians and hypocrites.

The  Suras are generally arranged in order of decreasing size, and not by topic or in the order the revelation was received. Each sura except the ninth starts with the Bismillah (بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم), an Arabic phrase meaning "In the name of God".  The total number of verses in the Quran is 6,236 and is shorter than the bible; however, the number varies if the bismillahs are counted as a verse.
       

1	Al-Fatihah (The Opening)	20	Ta Ha  (Ta Ha)	39	Az-Zumar  (TheCompanies)	58	Al-Mujadilah (The Pleading Woman)	77	Al-Mursalat (Those Sent Forth)	96	Al-'Alaq (The Clot)
2	Al-Baqarah (The Cow)	21	Al-Anbiya'  (The Prophets)	40	Al-Mu'min (The Believer)	59	Al-Hashr (The Banishment)	78	An-Naba' (The Announcement)	97	Al-Qadr (The Majesty)
3	Al-'Imran (The Family of Amran)	22	Al-Hajj (The Pilgrimage)	41	Ha Mim  (Ha Mim)	60	Al-Mumtahanah (The Woman who is Examined)	79	An-Nazi'at (Those Who Yearn)	98	Al-Bayyinah (The Clear Evidence)
4	An-Nisa' (The Women)	23	Al-Mu'minun  (The Believers)	42	Ash-Shura (Counsel)	61	As-Saff (The Ranks)	80	Abasa He Frowned)	99	Al-Zilzal  (The Shaking)
5	Al-Ma'idah (The Food)	24	An-Nur  (The Light)	43	Az-Zukhruf (Gold)	62	Al-Jumu'ah (The Congregation)	81	At-Takwir (The Folding Up)	100	Al-'Adiyat (The Assaulters)
6	Al-An'am (The Cattle)	25	Al-Furqan (The Discrimination)	44	Ad-Dukhan  (The Drought)	63	Al-Munafiqun  (The Hypocrites)	82	Al-Infitar (The Cleaving)	101	Al-Qari'ah (The Calamity)
7	Al-A'raf  (The Elevated Places)	26	Ash-Shu'ara'  (The Poets)	45	Al-Jathiyah (The Kneeling)	64	At-Taghabun (The Manifestation of Losses)	83	At-Tatfif (Default in Duty)	102	At-Takathur (The Abundance of Wealth)
8	Al-Anfal (Voluntary Gifts)	27	An-Naml (The Naml)	46	Al-Ahqaf (The Sandhills)	65	At-Talaq (Divorce)	84	Al-Inshiqaq (The Bursting Asunder)	103	Al-'Asr (The Time)
9	Al-Bara'at/ At-Taubah (TheImmunity)	28	Al-Qasas  (The Narrative)	47	Muhammad (Muhammad)	66	At-Tahrim (The Prohibition)	85	Al-Buruj (The Stars)	104	Al-Humazah  (The Slanderer)
10	Yunus  (Jonah)	29	Al-'Ankabut  (The Spider)	48	Al-Fath (The Victory)	67	Al-Mulk (The Kingdom)	86	At-Tariq (The Comer by Night)	105	Al-Fil  (The Elephant)
11	Hud (Hud)	30	Ar-Rum (The Romans)	49	Al-Hujurat  (The Apartments)	68	Al-Qalam  (The Pen)	87	Al-A'la (The Most High)	106	Al-Quraish  (The Quraish)
12	Yusuf (Joseph)	31	Luqman  (Luqman)	50	Qaf (Qaf)	69	Al-Haqqah (The Sure Truth)	88	Al-Ghashiyah (The Overwhelming Event)	107	Al-Ma'un (Acts of Kindness)
13	Ar-Ra'd (The Thunder)	32	As-Sajdah (The Adoration)	51	Ad-Dhariyat (The Scatterers)	70	Al-Ma'arij (The Ways of Ascent)	89	Al-Fajr (The Daybreak)	108	Al-Kauthar (The Abundance of Good)
14	Ibrahim (Abraham)	33	Al-Ahzab (The Allies)	52	At-Tur (The Mountain)	71	Nuh (Noah)	90	Al-Balad (The City)	109	Al-Kafirun (The Disbelievers)
15	Al-Hijr  (The Rock)	34	Al-Saba' (The Saba')	53	An-Najm  (The Star)	72	Al-Jinn (The Jinn)	91	Ash-Shams (The Sun)	110	An-Nasr (The Help)
16	An-Nahl  (The Bee)	35	Al-Fatir (The Originator)	54	Al-Qamar (The Moon)	73	Al-Muzzammil (The One Covering Himself)	92	Al-Lail (The Night)	111	Al-Lahab (The Flame)
17	Bani Isra'il (The Israelites)	36	Ya Sin (Ya Sin)	55	Ar-Rahman (The Beneficent)	74	Al-Muddaththir (The One Wrapping Himself Up)	93	Ad-Duha (The Brightness of the Day)	112	Al-Ikhlas  (The Unity)
18	Al-Kahf (The Cave)	37	As-Saffat (Those Ranging in Ranks)	56	Al-Waqi'ah (The Event)	75	Al-Qiyamah (The Resurrection)	94	Al-Inshirah (The Expansion)	113	Al-Falaq (The Dawn)
19	Maryam (Mary)	38	Sad (Sad)	57	Al-Hadid (Iron)	76	Al-Insan (The Man)	95	At-Tin (The Fig)	114	An-Nas  (The Men)

QUOTES:

Sura 1:1-17: Al-Fatihah (The Opening)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds;
Most Gracious, Most Merciful;
Master of the Day of Judgment.
Thee do we worship, and Thine aid we seek.
Show us the straight way,
The way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace,
 those whose (portion) is not wrath, and who go not astray.

surah 2:42
“And do not mix the truth with falsehood or conceal the truth while you know [it].”

Sura 2:190-194: Al-Baqarah (The Cow)
Fight in God's cause against those who fight you, but do not overstep the limits: God does not love those who overstep the limits. Kill them wherever you encounter them, and drive them out from where they drove you out, for persecution is more serious than killing. Do not fight them at the Sacred Mosque unless they fight you there. If they do fight you, kill them—this is what such disbelievers deserve—but if they stop, then God is most forgiving and merciful. Fight them until there is no more persecution, and worship is devoted to God. If they cease hostilities, there can be no [further] hostility, except towards aggressors. A sacred month for a sacred month: violation of sanctity [calls for] fair retribution. So if anyone commits aggression against you, attack him as he attacked you, but be mindful of God, and know that He is with those who are mindful of Him.

Sura 2:217
They ask thee concerning fighting in the Prohibited Month. Say: "Fighting therein is a grave (offence); but graver is it in the sight of Allah to prevent access to the path of Allah, to deny Him, to prevent access to the Sacred Mosque, and drive out its members." Tumult and oppression are worse than slaughter. Nor will they cease fighting you until they turn you back from your faith if they can. And if any of you Turn back from their faith and die in unbelief, their works will bear no fruit in this life and in the Hereafter; they will be companions of the Fire and will abide therein.

Sura 2:228
Divorced women shall wait concerning themselves for three monthly periods. Nor is it lawful for them to hide what Allah Hath created in their wombs, if they have faith in Allah and the Last Day. And their husbands have the better right to take them back in that period, if they wish for reconciliation. And women shall have rights similar to the rights against them, according to what is equitable; but men have a degree (of advantage) over them. And Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise.

Sura 2:256
Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks.

Sura 2:261-263
The parable of those who spend their wealth in the way of God is that of a grain that sprouts into seven ears, each bearing one hundred grains. God gives manifold increase to whom He wishes. God has boundless knowledge. Those who spend their wealth in the cause of God, and do not follow their charity with reminders of their generosity or injure the feeling of the recipient, shall get their reward from their Lord; they shall have nothing to fear or to regret. Kind words and forgiveness are better than charity followed by injury.

“Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity. It will have [the consequence of] what [good] it has gained, and it will bear [the consequence of] what [evil] it has earned. “Our Lord, do not impose blame upon us if we have forgotten or erred. Our Lord, and lay not upon us a burden like that which You laid upon those before us. Our Lord, and burden us not with that which we have no ability to bear. And pardon us; and forgive us; and have mercy upon us. You are our protector, so give us victory over the disbelieving people.” Ayat 286

Sura 3:133-134 Al-'Imran (The Family of Amran)
Be quick in the race for forgiveness from your Lord, and for a Garden (paradise) whose width is that of the heavens and of the earth, prepared for the righteous - Those who spend (freely), whether in prosperity or in adversity, who restrain (their) anger and pardon (all) men - for God loves those who do good.

Sura 3:54
And the unbelievers schemed [against Jesus]; but God brought their scheming to nought: for God is above all schemers.

Sura 3:157 
Behold! Allah said: "O Jesus! I will take thee and raise thee to Myself and clear thee (of the falsehoods) of those who blaspheme; I will make those who follow thee superior to those who reject faith, to the Day of Resurrection: Then shall ye all return unto me, and I will judge between you of the matters wherein ye dispute.

Sura 4:1-3 An-Nisa' (The Women)
O mankind! reverence your Guardian-Lord, who created you from a single person, created, of like nature, His mate, and from them twain scattered (like seeds) countless men and women;- reverence Allah, through whom ye demand your mutual (rights), and (reverence) the wombs (That bore you): for Allah ever watches over you.To orphans restore their property (When they reach their age), nor substitute (your) worthless things for (their) good ones; and devour not their substance (by mixing it up) with your own. For this is indeed a great sin.  If ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, Marry women of your choice, Two or three or four; but if ye fear that ye shall not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one, or (a captive) that your right hands possess, that will be more suitable, to prevent you from doing injustice.

Sura 4:34 
Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more (strength) than the other, and because they support them from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, and guard in (the husband's) absence what Allah would have them guard. As to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them (first), (Next), refuse to share their beds, (And last) beat them (lightly); but if they return to obedience, seek not against them Means (of annoyance): For Allah is Most High, great (above you all). (Yusuf Ali)

Sura 4:89-90
They but wish that ye should reject Faith, as they do, and thus be on the same footing (as they): But take not friends from their ranks until they flee in the way of Allah (From what is forbidden). But if they turn renegades, seize them and slay them wherever ye find them; and (in any case) take no friends or helpers from their ranks; Except those who reach a people between whom and you there is an alliance, or who come to you, their hearts shrinking from fighting you or fighting their own people; and if Allah had pleased, He would have given them power over you, so that they should have certainly fought you; therefore if they withdraw from you and do not fight you and offer you peace, then Allah has not given you a way against them.

Sura 4:110-112 

And whoever does evil or wrongs his soul, then asks forgiveness of Allah, will find Allah Forgiving, Merciful. And whoever commits a sin, commits it only against himself. And Allah is ever Knowing, Wise. And whoever commits a fault or a sin, then accuses of it one innocent, he indeed takes upon himself the  of a calumny and a manifest sin.

Sura 4:124
If any do deeds of righteousness,- be they male or female - and have faith, they will enter Heaven, and not the least injustice will be done to them.

Sura 5:8 Al-Ma'idah (The Food)
‘Never let your enmity for anyone lead you into the sin of deviating from justice. Always be just: that is closest to being God-fearing.’

Sura 5:32-34 Al-Ma'idah (The Food)

For this reason We prescribed for the Children of Israel that whoever kills a person, unless it be for manslaughter or for mischief in the land, it is as though he had killed all men. And whoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved the lives of all men.

And certainly Our messengers came to them with clear arguments, but even after that many of them commit excesses in the land. The only punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive to make mischief in the land is that they should be murdered, or crucified, or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides, or they should be imprisoned.

This shall be a disgrace for them in this world, and in the Hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement. Except those who repent before you overpower them; 

also know that Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.

Sura 5:48
...If God had so willed, He would have made all of you one community, but he has not done so, in order that he may test you according to what he has given you; so compete in goodness. To God shall you all return, and He will tell you the truth about what you have been disputing.

Sura 5:69

Surely those who believe and those who are Jews and the Sabians and the Christians — whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day and does good — they shall have no fear nor shall they grieve.

Sura 7:31 Al-A'raf (The Elevated Places)
O Children of Adam! Wear your beautiful apparel at every time and place of prayer; eat and drink, but waste not by excess, for Allah does not love those who waste.

Sura 8:60-63 Al-Anfal (Voluntary Gifts)
And prepare against them whatever you are able of power and of steeds of war by which you may terrify the enemy of Allah and your enemy and others besides them whom you do not know [but] whom Allah knows. And whatever you spend in the cause of Allah will be fully repaid to you, and you will not be wronged. And if they incline to peace, then incline to it [also] and rely upon Allah. Indeed, it is He who is the Hearing, the Knowing. But if they intend to deceive you - then sufficient for you is Allah. It is He who supported you with His help and with the believers. And brought together their hearts. If you had spent all that is in the earth, you could not have brought their hearts together; but Allah brought them together. Indeed, He is Exalted in Might and Wise.

Sura 9:1-5 Al-Bara'at/ At-Taubah (The Immunity)
God and His Messenger declare the abrogation of the peace treaty that existed between them and the pagans.  So go about in the land for four months and know that you cannot weaken Allah and that Allah will bring disgrace to the unbelievers. And an announcement from Allah and His Messenger, to the people (assembled) on the day of the Great Pilgrimage,- that Allah and His Messenger dissolve (treaty) obligations with the Pagans. If then, ye repent, it were best for you; but if ye turn away, know ye that ye cannot frustrate Allah. And proclaim a grievous penalty to those who reject Faith. This does not apply to the pagans with whom you have a valid peace treaty and who have not broken it from their side or helped others against you. You (believers) must fulfill the terms of the peace treaty with them. God loves the pious ones. When the sacred months are over, slay the pagans wherever you find them. Capture, besiege, and ambush them. If they repent, perform prayers and pay the religious tax, set them free. God is All-forgiving and All-merciful.

Sura 11:117-123 Hud (Hud)
Allah would never destroy a community for wrong beliefs alone so long as its people behave righteously towards one another. And had Allah so willed it, He could surely have made all mankind one single community: but he did not will it so they believe differently...

Say to those who do not believe: "Act according to your ability and way, We are acting (in our way). Wait, and I, too, will be waiting with you." Allah knows all, sees all.

Sura 17:33 Bani Isra'il (The Israelites)
Nor take life - which God has made sacred - except for just cause. And if anyone is slain wrongfully, we have given his heir authority (to demand qisas or to forgive): but let him nor exceed bounds in the matter of taking life; for he is helped (by the Law).

Sura 18:29 sūrat l-kahf (The Cave)
‘Say: The Truth has come from your Lord. Let him who will, believe it, and let him who will, reject it.’

Sura 20:114 Ta Ha (Ta Ha)
High above all is Allah, the King, the Truth. Do not be in haste with the Qur'an before its revelation to you is completed, but say, "O my Sustainer! Increase my knowledge.

Sura 24:31 An-Nur (The Light)
And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their khimār over their breasts and not display their beauty except to their husband, their fathers, their husband's fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or the slaves whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex; and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments.

Sura 30:30 Ar-Rum (The Romans)

Devote thyself single-mindedly to the Faith, and thus follow the nature designed by Allah, the nature according to which He has fashioned mankind. There is no altering the creation of Allah.

Sura 30:41
Rottenness (decay/corruption) has appeared on land and sea because of what the hands of men have earned, that (Allah) may give them a taste of some of their deeds, in order that they may turn back (from evil).

42:36 Ash-Shura (Counsel)
So whatever thing you have been given - it is but [for] enjoyment of the worldly life. But what is with Allah is better and more lasting for those who have believed and upon their Lord.

Sura 42:40
‘The recompense for an injury is an injury equal thereto; but if a person forgives and makes peace, his reward rests with God; He loves not those who do wrong.’

Sura 42:43 
 And whoever is patient and forgiving, these most surely are actions due to courage.

Sura 58:11 Al-Mujadilah (The Pleading Woman)

Allah will exalt those who believe among you, and those who have been granted knowledge to high ranks.

Sura 78:31-34 sūrat l-naba (The Great News)
Indeed, for the righteous is attainment -
Gardens and grapevines
And splendid companions
And a full cup.

Sura 91:1-10 Ash-Shams (The Sun)
Consider the sun and its radiance, and the moon reflecting the sun.
Consider the day as it reveals the world, and the night that veils it in darkness.
Consider the sky and its wonderful composition, the earth and its expanse.
Consider the human self and He Who perfected it
               And how He imbued it with awareness of what is right and wrong.
The one who helps this self to grow in a clean way attains to happiness.
The one who buries it in darkness is really lost.


NOT IN THE QURAN:

1. Veils, Hijab or Burqas.
The Quran instructs both Muslim men and women to dress in a modest way, but there is disagreement on how these instructions should be interpreted. The verses relating to dress use the terms khimār (head cover) and jilbāb (a dress or cloak) rather than ḥijāb—see Quran 24:31. Several Muslim Countries Such as Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia and Gambia do not require women to cover their heads. Muslim women in non-Muslim countries frequently choose not to wear veils, hijab or burqas.

2. Death to infidels.
The Quran contains passages that could be (and frequently are) interpreted to endorse violence, particularly toward non-believers, see Quran 2:191 and 193, Quran 9:5, and Quran 49:9. Verses which say kill, and then don't kill are called "Abrogation Verses," and suggest to many Islamic Scholars that they are special cases. When taken in the context of surrounding verses, most are revealed to be specific commands tailored to meet the needs of specific circumstances; such as in dealing with traitors and breakers of treaties in time of war with Mecca, and who are actively killing Muhammad's followers or their Allies. Even where violence is prescribed, it obliges restraint, offers forgiveness and protection for non combatants. They at least contradict passages against murder, see Quran 2:90, 5:31, 17:33, and 8:61.

3. 72 virgins
There is no promise of 72 virgins for martyrs, terrorists or suicide bombers anywhere in the Quran. The section many people claim these promises is sura 78:31-34 sūrat l-naba (The Great News). This chapter promises paradise to all Muslim men and doesn't mention martyrs or even the number 72. One of the rewards in heaven is in verse 78:33 where it mentions wakawāʿiba which means "splendid companions" which is confused with atrāban which means "attractive female." The Quran does mention Houris, which are pure genderless companions and servants in the afterlife, but they serve all those who go to heaven.

The Idea of 72 virgins doesn't even come from the Quran, it refers to an aspect of paradise in a Sunni collection by Abu `Isa Muhammad ibn `Isa at-Tirmidhi in his Jami` at-Tirmidhi. It is of questionable authenticity and is often compared to stories of angels on clouds with halos and harps in Christianity.