Green

Green stands against la société technicienne that abandoned all colours and chose to rather take up the shine of the steel, its machines and of efficiency. Or we could say Green is against the colourless prism of Newton that Technicists placed in the centre of Science, Technology and most importantly of Technique, then went on to declare that it is from the shine of colourlessness that all colours came into being. 

Green is the sacred harmony in the law and order of the forest that stands in contrast to the chaos in the law and order enforced by all the Robespierres, Dantons and Marats of the secular state. That is why the law and order of the forest requires no police, army, prison or guillotine.

Green is the colour of lush and growth; it is prosperity; prosperity in history – political, economic, social, cultural and all other perspectives of history; it is the colour of prosperity in the present and that of hope for prosperity in the future.

Even if green is dark, it is mud-haammah, like a rainforest, speaking of abundance and life in the Garden of Paradise. 

Green is life without which trees become dry, lacking water, the very essence of life. It is the colour that rain from the skies manifests itself on earth. It is Eden that was so full of life and no worry, the colour of happiness and success.

Green is the secret of nutrition that passes through the food chain. It bears us food and water in the leaves and fruits we consume, and which our animals consume, and the same animals that we in turn consume.

Green is the only colour that bears fruits. It is the base colour that nature chose to place all its flowers, fruits and birds of all other colours on her green trees. Remove that green and be prepared to lose all the flowers, fruits, insects and birds of all other colours; be prepared to lose life. 

All the colours of the world unite in the green of nature like all the colourful skins of the world unite in the red of blood.

Green is generosity in the shade that trees provide without discrimination. The lesser the green, the lesser the shade. It is the colour of the tropical that so generously lends itself to the temperate at different times of the year.

Green is humility. The greener the tree, the more it bows with weight in humility. It is humility because it is on earth that we find green and not in the sky.

Green is Haqq. It is both truth and real. It is manifest. Green is Haqeeqah–reality–that appearance so often conceals, for reality is something that must be concealed. That is why the man Moses met was called Khadir – he the inner; he the truth manifest, and reality concealed. 

Green is knowledge. That is why we sometimes like to call the pages of books leaves.

Green not only gives glad tidings but also comes to warn. That is why we call poison green and that is why Shakespeare placed green in the eyes that looked with jealousy. It is the colour of mould on bread that warns of going stale.

Green is the productive prime of time; it is the colour of youth and vigour, and also of innocence.

Green is motherhood, that chlorophyll which knows how to harness light and water that feeds the entire tree. Green is the healing and cure that physicians go wandering the woods and mountains in search of to acquire and prepare medicines, potions and balms.

Green also means raw. At that stage, we must be patient for it to ripen. At other times, we must patiently process the cooking. It is nevertheless a sign of nutrition.  

Green means go ahead. It is permission, not prohibition. It is the teacher’s tick, not his cross. It is the student’s success and sometimes excellence, not failure. It is correctness and not error.

Green is the same colour of the Bodhi tree under which Gautama Buddha sat as it was the colour of the Banyan tree under which Valluvar and the Indian sages sat, and the peach tree of the Tao and the colour of the Pistachio tree, that Muslims call the last remaining companion on earth of Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) under which he sat and on which he leaned; it is the colour of the date palm of Arabia and the Zen tree of the Far East. It is the colour of the fig and olive trees of the Holy Land and also that of the tree that offered itself to become the cross of Jesus. It is the colour of the true vine that Jesus said he is and the bush that Moses spoke to. It is the colour of the Cypress of Kashmar that Zoroaster planted and all other trees of religion. Green is faith and the colour of truth that descends from above in the form of prophetic knowledge.

If Green is the colour of prophetic Truth then all that is dyed with it grows and develops gradually. It does not have the demanding speed and efficiency of Technique–and life it dictates–that has now overpowered us and is consuming us. No such thing can consume what is dyed permanently Green, that is, dyed-in-the-wool. It takes its own time to grow – slowly, gradually, unyieldingly and invincibly. It follows the time of destiny, perhaps close to the waning and waxing moon, but more so the week that is beyond all astronomical boundaries. Most of all, it does not follow the clocks of Technique. 

Green, finally I think, in our times, is the colour of camouflage, that which protects the weak from the predatory elite; it deceives the predator who sees with only one eye. It is the colour of Talattuf.