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MOTIONS
AND TRANSFORMATIONS OF PARTICLES IN
THE FORMATION OF THINGS
In
the name of God, the Merciful, the
Compassionate.
Those
who unbelieve say, ‘The Hour will
never come upon us!’ Say, ‘No! by
my Lord, but it is coming upon you
surely-by Him Who knows the
Unseen-from Whom is not hidden even a
particle’s weight in the heavens or
in the earth, or less than that, or
greater, but it is in a Manifest Book.’
(34:3)
Motions
of particles serve great, conscious purposes
The
transformations of particles are the
vibrations and circulations that take place
while the Pen of the Power of God, the
Eternal Inscriber, is writing the signs of
creation in the book of creation. They are
not games of chance, not random, meaningless
motion, as the materialists and naturalists
conceive it. Because, like all creation as a
whole, each particle, at the very start of
its motion, says, In the name of God, with
the tongue appropriate to its disposition.
It sets out with In the name of God and so
is able to bear loads that infinitely exceed
its strength. For example, a seed the size
of a grain of wheat shoulders a load the
size of a huge pine tree. On completion of
its duty, it says, All praise and thanks be
to God. It does so because it has
successfully displayed wise, beautiful art,
meaningful, subtle ornament, which amazes
the beholder, because the work is seen as an
ode in praise of the Exalted Fashioner. Look
carefully at pomegranates and ears of corn,
for example.
The
transformation of particles is made up of
the motion and the meaningful vibrations
caused by the transcription of words by
Divine Power from the ‘Manifest Book’
onto the ‘Tablet of Effacement and
Confirmation’, which is the reality and,
metaphorically, a page of the stream of
time. This transcription takes place
according to the dictation and principles of
the ‘Manifest Record’. The ‘Manifest
Book’, an expression for Divine Power and
Will, is composed of present time and the
material world. It is at the free disposal
of God in the creation of things. As for the
‘Manifest Record’, it is an expression
for God’s Knowledge and Commands, where
everything from the World of the Unseen is
arranged in respect to accidents in the past
and consequences in the generations of the
future.1
1.
The ‘Manifest Record’ and the ‘Manifest
Book’ are repeated in several
different places in the wise Quran.
One group of interpreters have
maintained that the phrases are
identical in meaning. Others have held
that they have different meaning and
connotations. Their explanations of
the true meanings and contents of the
phrases have differed, but (to cut the
matter short) they do agree that both
are phrases to describe Divine
Knowledge. However, through the
enlightenment of the Quran, I have had
this conviction:
The
‘Manifest Record’, which looks
more to the world of the Unseen than
to the visible, material world, is an
expression for one aspect of Divine
Knowledge and Commands. That is, it
looks more to the past and future than
to the present. It is a book of Divine
Destiny which contains the origin, the
roots and the seeds of things rather
than their flourishing forms in their
visible existence.
The
origins, sources and roots, from which
God Almighty shapes things with
perfect order and art, show that they
are arranged according to a book of
the principles contained in Divine
Knowledge. The seeds and fruits, which
contain the indexes and program of
beings that will subsequently come
into existence, constitute a miniature
register of Divine Commands. For
example, a seed is said to be the
program and index according to which a
whole tree may be formed, and
furthermore, it is the miniature
embodiment of the Divine principles
that cause the tree to come into
existence and which determine this
program and index. In short, the ‘Manifest
Record’ is an index and program of
the tree of creation as a whole which
spreads its branches through the past
and future, and the world of the
Unseen. In this sense, it is a book of
Divine Destiny or a register of its
principles. Through the dictation and
demand of these principles, particles
are employed and managed to bring
things into existence.
As
for the ‘Manifest Book’, it looks
more to the visible, material world
than to the world of the Unseen, that
is to say, it looks more to the
present than to the past and future.
It is an expression for Divine Power
and Will, rather than for Divine
Knowledge and Commands or laws and
principles of creation. If the ‘Manifest
Record’ is the book of the Divine
Destiny, then the ‘Manifest Book’
is the book of Divine Power. In other
words, the perfect art and orderliness
in the essence and existence of
everything and in its attributes and
functions, demonstrate that everything
is given existence according to the
laws of an effective will and the
principles of an absolute power. Also,
it is specifically formed and given an
appointed measure and particular
shape. Therefore, this shows that
Divine Power and Will have a
universal, comprehensive register of
laws, a great book, according to which
a particular form and substance is
determined for each entity.
It
is curious that the people of neglect,
misguidance and [corrupt] philosophy,
although they have felt the existence
of God’s ‘Supreme Preserved or
Guarded Tablet’ (Lawhun Mahfuz) and
have seen the manifestations and
reflections of that book of Divine
Wisdom and Will, they, God forbid,
have named it nature, and thus made it
completely meaningless; whereas,
through the dictation of the ‘Manifest
Record’, that is, through the decree
and instruction of Divine Destiny,
Divine Power is employing particles in
creating or manifesting the chain of
beings, each link of which is His
sign, on the metaphorical page of
time, which is called the ‘Tablet of
Effacement and Confirmation’. This
means that particles are set to move
so that beings may be transferred from
the world of the Unseen to the
material, visible world, from (the
realm of) Knowledge to the (realm of)
Power.
The
Tablet of Effacement and Confirmation
is the ‘tablet’ on which beings
are ‘inscribed’ and then removed
or effaced according to their origins
in or the dictates of the Supreme
Preserved Tablet and therefore
displays continuous changes. It is the
Tablet of Effacement and Confirmation
which constitutes the essence of time.
Time, which is a mighty river flowing
through existence, has its essence in
the ‘inscription’ of Divine Power
of beings and in the ‘ink’ It
uses. None save God knows the Unseen.
Particles
act in an orderly fashion within
the
body organism of all living beings
Each
particle, both through its motion and rest,
displays the Divine Light as bright as
sunshine, as does the sun. If every particle
were not acting under God’s authority and
with His permission, and if it were not
undergoing changes within His Knowledge and
Power, then every particle must in itself
have infinite knowledge and limitless power.
It must have eyes with which to see
everything to establish purposeful relations
with all things. Also, it must have
authority over every creature. For we
observe that each particle of elements is
acting, or can act, in an orderly fashion
within the body organism of all living
beings.
The
order within things and the rules of their
formation differ from one to the next. If
the order particular to each is not known,
acting within it will be impossible, or if
we suppose acting is possible, then acting
without error would be impossible. However
we observe a perfect order and harmony in
the body of each animate being. This means
either that those particles have an
all-encompassing knowledge and power, or
someone with infinite knowledge and power is
employing them under his irresistible will
and command.
Each
particle of air can enter the bodies of all
living beings, the fruits of all flowers and
the structures of all leaves. It can act
within them, although the formation of each
is different from any other and each has a
particular order of its own. If a fig may be
likened to a textile mill, for example, a
pomegranate to a sugar factory, and so on,
the programs of these fruits-the structures
of those factories-are different from each
other. A particle of air, in spite of such
structural differences, can enter into all
of them. It takes up its position in each
and acts in a wise and lordly fashion
without error. On completion of its duty, it
departs. A mobile particle of air,
therefore, either must know the forms,
shapes, measures and formations, with which
plants and animals, and fruits and flowers,
are clothed, or must be acting under the
command and will of one who has that
all-encompassing knowledge.
So
too is it the case with an apparently
motionless particle of soil. It has the
capacity to be the means and place of
cultivation for each seed of all flowering
plants and fruit-bearing trees. Indeed, any
seed can find in a handful of soil all the
equipment and mechanisms that are necessary
for germination and growth. Therefore,
either there must be, in that handful of
soil, mechanisms in working order adaptable
to the number of varieties of trees, plants,
flowers and fruits, or else its particles
must have a marvelously comprehensive
knowledge, and miracle-working power, that
creates everything from nothing.
Alternatively, those duties are performed at
the command, and with the permission,
through the power and might, of one
all-knowing and all-powerful.
Suppose
an untrained, inexperienced, blind man of
average ability entered an industrial city
and performed so excellently in each trade
and craft that everyone was left speechless
with amazement. Who, with even the least
grain of awareness, would doubt that the
blind man was not working on his own
initiative but, rather, was being taught and
employed by a master of all trades and
crafts? Or see it another way: the blind
man, helpless because of his disability,
unable even to get up unassisted, lives in a
single little house: into that house go
small fragments of stone, and bits and
pieces of material like bone and cotton, but
out of it come sacks of sugar, rolls of
cloth, boxes of jeweler, finely-made
clothes encrusted with jewels, delicious
foods, and so on. Anyone with a grain of
intelligence must conclude that the blind
man was only the poor doorkeeper of some
extraordinary miracle-working being, and had
as little share in those products as a latch
on the door of that factory of that being.
In
just this way, the motion and functions of
particles of air in plants, trees, flowers,
fruits, each of which is a letter from the
Eternally-Besought, a precious work of the
Lord’s art, a miracle of His Wisdom, tell
us that those particles are acting under the
Command and at the Will of an All-Wise and
Exalted Fashioner, a Generous and Beautiful
Creator. Likewise, particles of soil are the
place and means of cultivation for the seeds
to grow into young plants and then into tall
trees. Each tree is a unique factory and
workshop, a unique printing-press, a unique
treasury, a unique precious object, a unique
declaration that proclaims the Names of the
Exalted Maker. It is also like a unique ode
singing a hymn to His perfections. Those
particles of soil, therefore, tell us that
they are acting under the Command, and
through the Power of a Maker, Who is the
owner of the command, Be! and it is , and to
Whose Command everything is subject. All
this is as certain as two and two equal
four.
Transformations
of particles serve various conscious
purposes and demonstrate
many instances of wisdom
The
materialists, whose use of their reason is
limited to only what they receive through
their five senses, have, in their absurd
philosophies based on insecure foundations,
taken the transformations of particles to be
random, a jumble of coincidence, and yet
also the fundamental basis of all their
principles. In other words, they have
supposed existence to result essentially
from those transformations. Anyone with the
least intelligence will know how irrational
it is to attribute to something itself
devoid of consciousness (let alone meaning
and purpose) the creation of existence which
is overflowing with instances of wisdom and
purpose.
According
to the Quranic viewpoint, the
transformations of particles are based on
various purposes and functions and
demonstrate many instances of wisdom. The
Quran points to these functions and
instances of wisdom in many of its verses,
such as:
There
is not a thing that does not glorify
Him with praise. (36:82)
Examples
of the purposes transformations of
particles serve and instances of wisdom
they demonstrate
The Majestic Creator, through His
Power, makes particles move and
employs them. He takes each spirit
as a pattern and renews and
refreshes the manifestations of His
act of creating in order to clothe
each spirit every year in a fresh
body. He miraculously transcribes
with His Wisdom thousands and
thousands of different books from
each book of creation and
demonstrates a single truth in
ever-differing forms. He also
prepares the ground and makes ways
for the beings, worlds and universes
to succeed each other.
The Majestic Lord of all dominion
has created this world, and
especially the surface of the earth
in a cultivable form. That is to
say, He prepared it in such a way
that it would flourish and produce
ever-fresh crops so that He might
sow and reap the countless miracles
of His Power. Thus, by causing the
motion of particles with wisdom, and
employing them in an orderly fashion
in His field of the earth, He
displays in every hour of every day
of every month and season and age,
through miracles of His Power, a new
form of the universe and makes His
field produce ever-differing crops.
He demonstrates through the motion
of particles gifts from the infinite
treasury of His Mercy and samples of
the miracles of His infinite Power.
God, the Eternal Inscriber, in order
to show the infinite signs at His
disposal and to show limitless works
of His art in a finite arena so that
His Eternal Names may be manifested,
causes the motion of particles with
perfect wisdom, and employs that
motion with perfect order.
Indeed,
in essence this year‘s crops are
like those of last year, but their
meanings are ever-different. Their
relative determinations being
changed, they display numerous
different meanings. That is to say,
although their forms, apparently the
same, different in essence, are
renewed each year, and therefore
seem ephemeral, their beautiful
meanings are preserved and are
constant and permanent.
Since
the leaves, flowers and fruits of a
tree do not have spirit, they are in
reality the same every spring, and
so they are in appearance. But each
spring, they are formed anew,
therefore, a tree repeatedly comes
to leaf and flowers through years
and yields fruit in order to show
the meanings and the functions of
the Divine Names, whose
manifestations are being constantly
renewed.
·
The All-Wise and Majestic Creator,
by causing the motion of particles,
makes the cosmos to flow and beings
to circulate. By doing this, He
prepares, on this earth, things like
provisions and crops, that are
proper for the broad world of the
inner dimensions of things and the
endless worlds of the Hereafter,
like the infinite World of Ideas. He
causes from the infinite treasury of
His Power an endless flow into the
World of the Unseen, and some of it
into the worlds of the Hereafter.
He causes the motion of particles
with perfect wisdom by His Power and
employs them with perfect order so
as to display in the limited field
of the earth and in a short, limited
time, infinite Divine perfections,
and endless manifestations of his
Grace and Majesty, and countless
glorifications of His Sustaining and
Cherishing. He gives existence to
numerous realities concerning the
Unseen, numerous fruits for the
Hereafter, and prepares for the
eternal beings their abodes, earned
through their words and deeds.
Therefore, the One Who causes the
motion of particles is the same
Being Who manifests these great
purposes and instances of wisdom. If
it were otherwise, then each
particle would need to possess a
brain as large as the sun.
The
absurd philosophers suppose the
transformations of particles to be
aimless. They are blind to the
infinite instances of wisdom in
their motion, which are not limited
to the five points above. They
suppose that particles, which
revolve like Mawlawi dervishes
glorifying God and reciting His
Names in two ecstatic movements, one
spinning upon its axis, the other
reeling around in circles, as though
stunned and aimless. It may be
understood from this that their
knowledge is ignorance, and their
philosophy foolishness.
Particles
move in conformity with the universal
order and
the rules of each place they enter
In
every particle there are two truthful
testimonies to the existence and Unity of
the Necessarily Existent Being. Despite
being powerless and insentient, a particle
bears decisive witness to the existence of
the Necessarily Existent Being in that it
carries out important functions as though it
were conscious. Also, by its exterior and
interior dimensions, and by its conformity
with the universal order in general, and the
rules of each place it enters in particular,
the particle testifies to the unity of the
same Being Who is the owner of all things.
Furthermore, it settles in every place as if
it were its homeland-all of which
demonstrate that the One Who owns the
particle must also own all the places it
enters.
Thus,
since the particle carries out extremely
heavy duties incompatible with its size and
weakness, it shows that it is acting at the
command and in the name of One possessing
absolute power. Also, by conforming, as
though knowingly, to the universal order of
the cosmos and entering everywhere without
obstacle, it demonstrates that it acts
through the power and wisdom of a single
Being with absolute knowledge.
A
private soldier has a connection with his
squadron, platoon, company, battalion,
regiment, division, and so on, and he has
orders according to each of those
connections. He knows all the orders flowing
from each of the connections and acts in
conformity with all of them. The soldier, by
performing his duties, is in essence obeying
a single supreme commander, who is in charge
of the whole army. It is because the army
has undergone training and instruction under
military order that the soldier complies
with the rules and regulations of a single,
supreme commander who commands that military
order and controls all those divisions and
sub-divisions.
In
just this way, every particle is positioned
in each of numerous concentric spheres. It
has, with each sphere, a different
beneficial connection and a well-regulated
function which produces beneficial results.
This demonstrates that the Being, in Whose
grasp the whole power of the whole universe
lies, can certainly position that particle
in such a way that it will preserve all
these connections and functions in each of
those spheres without taking away the
beneficial results.
For
example, each of the particles in the eye
has been put in the right position relative
to, for example, blood vessels, to motor and
sensory nerves and so on. Further, there is
a reciprocal, purposeful connection and
function between each particle with the
whole face, then with the whole head, then
with the whole trunk, then with the whole
body. This also shows that only the One Who
creates all the members of the whole body
will be able to position the right particle
in the right place.
Especially
the particles that enter the body as
sustenance make their journey in the food
caravan with an astonishing order and
wisdom. On their way, they pass through
modes and stages in an orderly manner, and,
progressing as if deliberately and without
confusion, they carry on until they are
strained through the ‘filters’ in the
bodies of animate beings. They are then
loaded on to the red blood-corpuscles so
that they can assist the members and cells
that are in need of sustenance. They render
this assistance according to a law of
generosity. It may be clearly understood
from this that the One Who drives these
particles and makes them pass through
thousands of different stages, must, of
necessity, be a Generous Sustainer, a
Com-passionate Creator, in regard to Whose
Power particles and stars are equal.
Furthermore,
particles act in the closest co-operation in
the realization of a work of the highest
excellence, the body of a living being. Each
particle is in a position of both dominance
and subjection to every other individually,
and to the rest collectively. We can
conclude from this that each particle either
knows and creates that wonderful
demonstration of wisdom and art, which is
definitely impossible, or that each is
assigned to its place and motion and
proceeds by Decree of Divine Destiny, by the
Pen of the Power of the All-Wise Fashioner.
We
see that the stones in the structure of the
dome of the Sulaymaniye Mosque, for example,
are in a position of both dominance and
subjection to each other. Thus, if we do not
accept that those stones were placed in such
a position by a skilful architect, then we
shall have to admit that each stone has as
great a skill in the art of building as that
of a great architect, like Sinan. That is,
each stone must have the power to say to the
others, ‘Come, we shall stand shoulder to
shoulder in order not to fall and collapse,
and to build that dome’, and persuade them
to do so.
In
the same way, if the particles in creation,
which are thousands of times more skillfully
fashioned, wonderful and full of wisdom than
the dome of Hagi Sophia (Ayasophia), were not dependent
upon the command of the Master of the
universe, then we would have to allow to
each of them as many attributes of
perfection as those of the Designer of the
universe.
Glory
be to God! Since the unbelievers do not
accept a Necessarily Existent Being, they
are compelled, according to their beliefs,
to accept as many false gods as there are
particles. Thus, an unbeliever, no matter
how illustrious a philosopher or scholar he
may be, is to the utmost degree in the most
profound and absolute ignorance.
Motions
and transformations of particles serve
for animate beings to gain meaning to be
fit for the construction of the other
world
One
of the Divine purposes in making particles
move on in the bodies of animate beings and
causing them to pass through several
transformations, is to enliven and
illuminate them with meaning so that they
should be fit for the construction of the
world of the Hereafter. It is as if the
bodies of human beings and animals, and even
plants, were guest-houses, or barracks or
schools for inanimate particles to enter and
receive training and instruction therein to
be illuminated and refined. By performing
various functions they become worthy to be
particles in the world of permanence, the
real world of the Hereafter, all of whose
elements are ever-living.
Question:
How
can we become aware that there is a Divine
purpose in the motion of particles?
Answer:
We can do so by observing the
purposiveness and orderliness in
creation. Even a most particular
thing displays a universal function:
it demonstrates that God’s Wisdom
would not leave without purpose the
motion of particles which exhibit
the greatest activity in the flow of
the universe and are the means for
intricacies full of purposes. Also,
since Divine Wisdom and Sovereignty
do not leave the smallest creature,
in its duties, without due wage and
recompense and its proper
perfection, the most numerous and
important servants of that Wisdom
and Sovereignty would not be left
without light, without a wage.
The All-Wise Maker, by causing the
motion of the elements and using it,
elevates certain particles to the
degree of minerals as if to their
wage of perfection, and instructs
them in the glorification of Him
peculiar to minerals. Further, He
causes inanimate minerals to acquire
the degree of vegetable life through
further motion and use of particles.
Also, by making vegetables the food
for animals, he confers upon them
the rank of animal life. Then, He
promotes the particles that are in
animals through sustenance to the
degree of human life. Lastly, by
refining the particles that are in a
human body through repeated
filtering, He raises them to the
most delicate and subtle organs of
the body, namely the brain and the
heart. From all this it may be
understood that the motion of
particles is neither random nor
aimless; rather, the particles are
made to hasten to a sort of
perfection worthy of themselves.
Among the particles in animate
beings, some-like those in pips and
seeds-are favored with such a light,
refinement, and quality that they
are like a spirit or a king to the
rest of the particles, to a mighty
tree, for example. Thus, among all
the particles of a mighty tree, for
example, some are promoted to the
higher rank through performing their
functions and passing through many
stages in a tree’s life-cycle.
This demonstrates that through the
command of the All-Wise Maker these
particles acquire a refinement, a
light, and a rank in honor of the
Divine Names that are manifest in
them, according to the sorts of
motion determined by their natural
dispositions.
To
conclude:
The
All-Wise Maker has endowed everything with
an attainable perfection and a level of
existence appropriate for it. It is a
function of His being the Lord of worlds, a
law operative in the realm of inanimate
entities as well as in the realm of plants
and animals, that everything has the
potential to attain its perfection. And He
urges everything to reach that point of
perfection specific to it. Thus it is, for
example, that plain soil can become diamonds
of priceless value. Therein is a
demonstration of the comprehensive law that
God as the Lord (Rabb) sustains, evolves,
and trains all creatures.
The
All-Generous Creator has bestowed upon
animals a particular pleasure as a reward
which He uses in the comprehensive law of
reproduction. He rewards animals, like bees
and nightingales, for example, with a
perfection which He also uses in the
exercise of His Lordship-to each of these He
has granted a level of excellence that is a
source of eager industry and of pleasure.
This reality demonstrates the comprehensive
law of His Generosity.
The
reality of everything originates in the
reflection in it of a Divine Name for
which the thing is a mirror
The
reality of everything originates in the
reflection in it of a Divine Name for which
the thing is a mirror. Whatever beauty
appears in it is owed to the Name which
requires it to be thus. Whether the
individual thing is aware of it or not, in
reality, the beauty apparent in it is there
because it is desired to be so. And that is
a demonstration of the comprehensive law of
Grace and Beautifying.
As
is required by His law of Generosity, the
Generous Creator does not, when the life of
a thing ends, take back the rank and
perfection He has bestowed upon it. Rather,
the Generous Creator makes the fruits, the
real meaning and identity and, if it has
one, the spirit, of that bearer of
perfection, permanent. For example, He makes
permanent the meanings and fruits of the
perfections He has made manifest in this
world through man. He will even return to a
thankful believer his thanks and praise
-embodied as a fruit of Paradise. And in
this, the tip of a mighty law of Mercy is
apparent.
The
Incomparable Creator wastes nothing and
never acts to no purpose; He even utilizes
in His making of the creatures of the
springtime the material remains of those
that, having accomplished their tasks,
perished in the previous autumn. For,
according to the meaning of On the Day when
the earth will be changed into another
earth, (14:48) and the indication of But,
surely, the world of the Hereafter, that is
all animate, (29:64) His Wisdom requires
that the particles of the earth, which are
inanimate and unconscious yet perform
important duties in this world, should be
made use of and included in some of the
constructions of the Hereafter, the stones,
the trees, in short, all things some of
which will certainly be animate and
conscious. For, to abandon the particles
when the world has been destroyed or to cast
them into non-existence would be wasteful.
And in this, the tip of a mighty law of
Wisdom is apparent.
The
many fruits and consequences and meanings of
this world, and the woven pages of the
actions, bodies and spirits of those (the
jinn and human beings) who are charged with
performing Divine commands while in this
world, are sent to the market of the
Hereafter. Certainly, it is a requirement of
justice and wisdom that, after getting their
individual perfection in accordance with the
performance of their duties, the particles
which accompany and serve those meanings,
will be included in the construction of the
Hereafter. That is, they will be included
together with the debris of this world after
many times receiving and serving the light
of life and after being the means for the
glorifications of sentient beings. And in
this, the tip of a mighty law of Justice is
apparent.
Just
as the spirit is dominant over the body, so
too the commands that call things into
existence, written by Divine Destiny and
Decree, are dominant over inanimate matter.
Inanimate matter is able to assume a
disposition and order due to the
non-material writing of the Divine Destiny.
For example, the substance or matter in all
varieties of egg and sperm, and seed and
grain, achieves a variety of kinds and
levels according to the commands that bring
them into existence, all of which are
written differently by Destiny. The
substance or matter is in each case the
same- all are compounded of a certain number
of elements (like hydrogen, nitrogen,
oxygen, carbon)-but it issues into
innumerable different entities on account of
the difference in the non-material commands
of Destiny and so achieves the differences
in kinds and levels. Most certainly,
therefore, if a particle has been repeatedly
in the service of life and the glorifying of
the Lord that is inherent in life, the
wisdom of the meanings it realizes must be
recorded, so to speak, on its non-material
‘forehead’ by the Pen of Divine Destiny
which overlooks nothing. That is a
requirement of All-Encompassing Knowledge:
in it, the tip of a mighty law of
All-Encompassing Knowledge is apparent.
In
sum: The transformations of
particles-like all entities in this
world-occur in a delicate balance
calculated with Knowledge, following the
commands given by Power that brings
things into existence and within the
bounds determined by Destiny
In
sum: Beyond the visible tip of the seven
laws just mentioned, Lordship, Generosity,
Grace, Mercy, Wisdom, Justice and
All-Encompassing Knowledge, and of many
other laws of vast import, the Greatest Name
and the greatest manifestation of that
Greatest Name is intimated. From that
intimation it may be grasped that the
transformations of particles-like all
entities in this world-occur in a delicate
balance calculated with Knowledge, following
the commands given by Power that brings
things into existence and within the bounds
determined by Destiny. The particles are,
quite simply, being got ready for another,
higher existence.2 In that case, we should
see the bodies of animate creatures as a
sort of school or barracks or temporary
lodging-house for the training of those
traveling particles. That is a proposition
that can be put forward with certainty.
Conclusion
All
things say In the Name of God. And so, like
all creatures, all particles and all groups
and assemblages of particles say, In the
Name of God with the tongue of their
individual dispositions. It is with that
formula that they are in motion.
Certainly,
according to the arguments above, all
particles say, In the Name of God, the
Merciful, the Compassionate, with the tongue
of their individual dispositions as they
begin their motion. That is, ‘I am moving
in the Name of God, for His sake, with His
permission, and through His power’. Then,
like all creatures, all particles and groups
of particles say, as they conclude their
motion, All praise be to God, the Lord of
the worlds. Each thus shows itself as the
tip of a miniature pen of Power tracing the
embroideries of the intricately worked
creatures, each of which is like an ode of
praise. Indeed, each of them can be seen as
the point of a gramophone needle turning on
creatures, each of which is like a record on
a mighty, non-material Divine gramophone
with an infinite number of arms; thus the
particles cause the creatures to recite odes
glorifying their Lord and to hymn their
praises of God.
There
they will cry out: ‘All glory be to God!
And there ‘Peace’ will be their
greeting. And their calling will close with
‘All praise belongs to God, the Lord of
the worlds!’
Glory
be to You! We have no knowledge save
what You have taught us. Indeed, You are
the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
O
Lord! Let not our hearts swerve after
You have guided us, and grant us the
gift of Your grace, for surely You are
the Giver of Gifts.
O
God, bestow such blessings on our master
Muhammad as will be pleasing to You and
a fulfillment of his truth, and also on
his family, his Companions, and his
brothers in religion, and grant them
peace. And protect us and protect our
religion. Amen, O Lord of the Worlds!
2.
It may be observed in this agitated,
lowly world that the warmth of life is
kindled and its light diffused most
freely and with extraordinary dynamism;
that a fresh spark of life is rekindled
over a broad expanse in the most
unpromising material, in the most
decayed substances: in this way, heavy,
unpromising matter is made subtle, given
a sheen by the light of life. That
clearly tells us that this agitated,
lowly world is being decomposed, then
refined and made more beautiful through
the activity of particles and the light
of life for the sake of another subtler,
more exalted, pure and ever-living
world. It is as if it were being adorned
for passage to a finer world. If those
whose minds are too narrow to admit the
concept of a bodily resurrection look
with the light of the Qur’an, they
will see an infinitely comprehensive and
mighty Divine law (issuing from God’s
being the Self-Subsistent) which
maintains the universe and in whose vast
compass all particles are re-arranged
(resurrected) like a well-ordered
soldiery. That law is in force and its
prevailing over the whole creation is
clearly visible.
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