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Although
of various kinds and species,
creatures resemble one another in
many ways
Creatures come
into existence easily and, although
of various kinds and species,
resemble one another in many ways.
They are spread out on the earth
with perfect order and display a
perfect proportionateness and
equipment. As this demonstrates on a
broad scale the necessity of an
All-Wise Maker’s existence and His
Unity and the perfection of His
Power, the creation of innumerable,
different well-composed compound
beings out of simple lifeless
elements also testifies, to the
number of those beings, to the
necessity of that All-Wise Maker’s
existence and points to His Unity,
and those beings show as a whole the
perfection of His Power and His
Unity in a most brilliant way.
Also, there is an
infinite degree of differentiation
and compounding within infinite
profusion. For example, while seeds
and roots exist under earth in
extremely confused position, they
are amazingly distinguished in
growth, and like the particles of
food entering the body in confusion
being separated and shared out among
organs and tissues with perfect
measure and wisdom, the particles
going into trees in confusion are
distinguished and distributed among
leaves, flowers and fruits. This
shows the necessity of the existence
of that absolutely Wise, Knowing and
Powerful One and His Unity and the
perfection of His Power. Also, it
demonstrates the grandeur and
perfection of His Lordship that,
making the world of particles into a
boundless, vast field, He sows and
harvests it every moment with
perfect wisdom and obtains fresh
crops of different worlds from it,
and causes those unconscious,
powerless and ignorant particles to
perform innumerable, systematic
functions just as if they were
extremely learned, conscious and
capable.
Thus a large
window is opened onto knowledge of
God through these four ways, and
they display the All-Wise Maker to
the mind on a large scale.
The
Testimony of all the Prophets
The testimony of
all the Prophets, upon them be
peace, who are those with luminous
spirit among mankind, based on their
manifest and evident miracles, the
testimony of all the saints, who are
those distinguished with their
illumined hearts, relying on their
wonder-making and spiritual
discoveries, and the testimony of
all the purified scholars, who with
their enlightened minds rely on
their researches and quests for
truth, to the necessary existence
and Unity of One, the Creator of All
Things, and the perfection of His
Power, form a truly vast and
enlightening window, through which
the position of His Lordship shows
itself continually.
The
worship performed by beings in the
universe
The worship
performed by all beings in the
universe evidently demonstrates an
Absolutely-Worshipped One. Those who
penetrate the world of spirits and
the inner dimension of things and
meet with the angels and spirit
beings, testify that all spirit
beings and angels worship an
Eternally-Worshipped One in perfect
obedience, and all living beings are
observed to be performing duties in
perfect order in a manner resembling
worship, and all inanimate things
evidently render services with
perfect submission in a like manner.
As all this shows the necessary
existence and Unity of a True Object
of Worship, so too the true
knowledge of all saints, which bears
the weight of consensus, and the
fruitful thanks of all the thankful,
and the blessed recitations of all
those who recite God’s Names, and
the praises, which cause the
increase of Divine bounties, of all
those who praise God, and the
pronouncements and descriptions of
Divine Unity, based on decisive
proofs, of all those who believe in
it, and the true love of all lovers
of God, and the true will and
desires of all those who seek Him,
and the earnest searching and
inclinations of all those who turn
to Him, all demonstrate the
necessary existence and Unity of
that Eternally-Worshipped One, the
One Who is Recognized, Mentioned,
Praised, One Beloved, Desired and
Sought, and the perfection of His
Lordship.
Also, the
acceptable worship and supplications
of perfected people, and the
spiritual radiance, visions and
illuminations resulting from them,
again demonstrate the necessary
existence and Unity of that
Everlasting and Eternally-Worshipped
One and the perfection of His
Lordship.
Thus these three
aspects open up a broad,
light-giving window onto Divine
Unity.
The
mutual helping and solidarity of
beings in the universe
And He sends
down water from the heaven and
brings forth with it crops and
fruits as provision for you, and
He has made subject to you the
ships so that they sail through
the sea by His command, and He has
made the rivers subject to you;
and He has made subject to you the
sun and the moon, both pursuing
their courses, and He has made
subject to you the night and the
day; and He gives you of all that
you ask Him. If you were to count
God’s bounties, you could not
enumerate them.
(14:32-4)
The mutual
helping and solidarity of beings in
the universe and the fact that they
respond to one another’s call for
assistance show that all creatures
are trained by a single Instructor,
are administered by a single
Director, are at the disposal of a
single Disposer, and are the
servants of a single Master. For
through a universal law of mutual
helping, the sun cooks the things
necessary for the lives of living
beings on the earth by the command
of the Lord, and the moon acts as a
calendar, and light, air, water and
sustenance hasten to the assistance
of animate beings, and plants hasten
to the assistance of animals, and
animals and plants together hasten
to the assistance of human beings,
and even the members of the body
hasten to the assistance of one
another, and the particles of
provision hasten to the assistance
of the cells of the body. This most
wise and generous mutual assistance
among those unconscious beings, and
their responding to one another’s
needs and their supporting one
another under a law of munificence
and grace, a law of compassion and
care and a principle of mercy,
demonstrate, clearly and evidently,
that they are the servants,
officers, and creatures of a unique
One of Unity, a peerless,
Eternally-Besought-of-All, an
Absolutely Powerful, Absolutely
Knowledgeable, Absolutely
Compassionate, Absolutely
Munificent, Necessarily-Existent
One.
Beware,
only in the remembrance of God do
hearts find rest.
(13:28)
Only through
recognizing their One Creator can
all spirits and hearts be delivered
from the distress and confusion
arising from misguidance, and the
spiritual pains arising from that
distress. They can be saved by
attributing all beings to a Maker of
Unity and find rest in remembrance
of One God. For, as is proved in the
Twenty-Second Word, if all those
innumerable creatures are not
attributed to a single being, it
becomes necessary to ascribe a
single thing to numberless causes,
and then to explain the existence of
a single thing becomes as difficult
as all creatures. For if ascribed to
God, innumerable things are
attributed to a Single Being, and if
they are not ascribed to Him, then
it becomes necessary to attribute
every single thing to numberless
causes. Then a single fruit becomes
as difficult as the universe. For,
just as if a single soldier is put
under the command of a hundred
different officers, a hundred
difficulties will arise, and if the
commandment of a hundred soldiers is
given to a single officer, they will
be as easy to command as a single
soldier, so too the coincidence of
numerous different causes in the
creation of a single thing is
difficult to the hundredth degree.
If, by contrast, the creation of
numerous things is given to a single
being, then it becomes easy to the
hundredth degree. Therefore it is
only belief in the Unity of the
Creator and Knowledge of God which
will deliver man from the endless
distresses arising from the
curiosity and desire to find the
truth inherent in his (man’s)
nature.
There are endless
difficulties and pains in the way of
unbelief and associating partners
with God, so that that way is
manifestly impossible and contains
no truth. By contrast, in conformity
with the ease of the creation of
beings and their multiplicity and
the subtle art they have, there is
infinite ease in giving their
existence and administration to One
God only. That way is certainly
necessary and the truth itself.
Glorify
the Name of your Lord, the Most
High, Who has created and made
well-proportioned and orderly; and
Who has determined (the shape,
life-span and nature of all
things) and guided (them each
towards its own way).
(87:1-3)
All things, and
especially living ones, have a form
and well- measured proportions
according to the functions they are
to perform in the world, as though
they emerged from a mould of wisdom.
Each has been given distinct,
definite, certain shape with curves
and twists according to the benefits
and uses expected of them. The
changes, outward and inward, they
undergo throughout their lives are
again according to certain measures
and purposes determined for their
lives. All this shows clearly that
those innumerable creatures, whose
shapes and proportions have been
planned in the sphere of determining
of an All-Powerful One of Majesty,
an All-Wise One of Perfection, and
who have been given forms and bodies
in the workshop of Divine Power,
point to the necessity of His
existence and bear witness in
endless tongues to His Unity and the
perfection of His Power .
Look at your own
body and its members and ponder over
the uses and benefits of the curves
and twists in the shape of each, and
see the perfection of the power
embedded in perfect wisdom!
There
is nothing that does not glorify Him
with praise.
(17:44)
The testimony of
disposition or nature is not
rejected.
All things
mention and glorify their Creator
each in its own tongue. The
glorifications that all creatures do
either vocally or in the tongue of
their lives and dispositions show
the existence of a single Holy One.
The testimony of
disposition or nature is not
rejected. As for the proof produced
by practical life, especially when
it issues from many aspects of that
life, it cannot provoke doubt. See!
how each of the well-ordered forms
of those creatures which testify
through their innate dispositions
and bear witness in innumerable ways
in the language of their lives and
manners, and which all turn to a
single center like concentric
circles, is an expressive tongue.
Their well-proportioned structures
and organizations are each a tongue
of testimony, and their
well-organized lives are tongues of
glorification. As is persuasively
argued in the Twenty-fourth Word,
their glorifications and exaltations
expressed in all these tongues are
testimony to a single Most Holy
Being and demonstrate His necessary
existence, as certainly as light
shows the sun, and point to the
perfection of His Divinity.
Say:
in whose hand is the dominion of
all things?
(23:88) There is nothing but
its treasuries are with us.
(15:21) There is not a
moving creature but He has grasp
of its forelock. (11:56) Surely
my Lord records and preserves all
things. (11:27)
The verses above
state that:
In
all circumstances and
aspects of its life and
existence, everything needs
a single Creator of Majesty.
We look at creatures in the
universe and see that an
absolute force is manifested
within absolute weakness,
and there are the
impressions and inscriptions
of an absolute power in
absolute impotence. For
example, the awakening of
the life-force in the seeds
and roots of plants is
strikingly extraordinary.
Then,
there are manifestations of
an absolute wealth within
absolute poverty and
sterility, like the poverty
of earth and trees in winter
and their glittering
profusion in spring.Again,
the sparks of an absolute
life are observed in
absolutely lifeless matter,
for instance in the
transformation of mineral
elements into living
entities.
Or
again, the manifestations of
an all-encompassing
consciousness in absolute
ignorance, as in the manner
that everything, from
particles to stars, acts as
if consciously conforming
with the order of the
universe and the principles
of life and the demands of
wisdom.
Thus,
this power within impotence,
and strength within
weakness, and wealth within
poverty, and flowing life
and consciousness within
solidity and ignorance,
necessarily and evidently
open up windows on every
side onto the necessary
existence and Unity of One
Absolutely Powerful,
Absolutely Strong,
Absolutely Rich, Absolutely
Knowing and Living and
Self-Subsistent. In their
totality they point to a
luminous highway on a large
scale.
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