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WHY DOES THE
QURAN NOT MENTION EXPLICITLY
THE WONDERS OF CIVILIZATION,
WHICH ARE SO IMPORTANT IN MAN’S
EYES? WHY DOES IT,
INSTEAD, CONTENT ITSELF WITH
ALLUSIONS OR
INDICATIONS OR REFERENCES?
The Quran
does so because the wonders of
civilization do not have more
right than that to be included
among the topics of the Quran.
For the basic duty of the Quran
is to teach about the
perfections, essential qualities
and acts of Divine Lordship and
the duties and the status and
affairs pertaining to the sphere
of servanthood. That being so,
the wonders of human
civilization have no greater
right than to be mentioned in
the Quran either with a
slight indication or implicit
reference or allusion.
For example,
if a man-made aircraft were to
appeal to the Quran, saying,
‘Give me the right to speak
and a place in your verses’
then certainly the aircrafts of
the sphere of Lordship- the
planets, the earth, the
moon-would reply on behalf of
the Quran: ‘You may take a
place here in proportion to your
size!’ Were the submarines to
ask for a place among the verses
of the Quran, the submarines
belonging to that sphere-the
heavenly bodies ‘swimming’
in the vast ‘ocean’ of the
atmosphere and the ether would
say: ‘Your place beside us is
too small to be visible!’ If
the shining, star-like electric
lights were to demand the right
to speak and ask to be included
among the verses, the electric
lights of that sphere-the
lightning, the shooting stars,
and the stars which adorn the
face of the sky-would say: ‘You
may have a right to be mentioned
and spoken about in the Quran
in proportion to your light!’
If the wonders of human
civilization were to demand a
right to a place among the
verses of the Quran with
respect to the fineness of art
they contain, then a single fly
would answer them: ‘Shut up,
please! You do not have as much
right as a wing of mine. For if
all the fine arts and delicate
instruments produced by man were
banded together, they could not
be as wonderful and exquisite as
the fine art and delicate
members concentrated in my tiny
body.’ The verse,
Surely
those upon whom you call,
apart from God, shall
never create (even) a fly,
though they banded
together to do it.
(22:73)
will silence
you!’
If those
wonders were to appeal to the
sphere of servanthood and demand
a right to have a place there,
they would receive a reply like
the following:
You have
very little relationship
with us, so you may not
enter our sphere. For our
program is this: The world
is a guest-house. Man is a
guest with many duties who
will stay there for a short
time only, and he is charged
with preparing all the
necessities for eternal
life. He will give priority
to the most urgent and
important of his duties.
Whereas you mostly seem to
be designed in heedlessness
and worldly-mindedness as if
the world were an eternal
abode. Therefore, you have
very little share in
servanthood to and worship
of God, which is founded
upon love of truth and
otherworldliness. However,
if there are among you
respected craftsmen,
scientists and inspired
inventors, who, purely for
the benefit of God’s
servants, serve the general
interest and public ease and
attainment of social life,
which is a valuable sort of
worship, the allusions and
indications of the Quran
are surely sufficient for
those sensitive people, who
of course form a minority
among their colleagues, in
order to encourage them and
honor their accomplishments.
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