|
THE QURAN’S
APPROACH TO “NATURAL”
PHENOMENA
In the Name of
God, the Merciful the
Compassionate.
When We
said unto the angels, ‘Prostrate
yourselves before Adam,’
they fell prostrate, all save
Iblis. (2:34)
God commands
you to sacrifice a cow.
(2:67)
Yet after all
this your hearts were hardened
and become like rocks or even
harder. (2:74)
In the wise Quran
there are many apparently
insignificant events behind each
of which is hidden a universal
principle, and which are presented
as the tip of a general law.
For example,
the verse,
(He)
taught Adam the names of
all of them [the things].
(2:31)
mentions that
Adam was taught ‘the names’ as
a miracle of his to demonstrate
his superiority over the angels in
being favored with God’s vicegerency
on the Earth-improving the Earth
and using things in accordance
with the rules God has laid. This
is, in appearance, a small and
particular event but it
constitutes a tip of a universal
principle which is as follows:
On account of
his comprehensive nature, man was
taught (or given the potential to
obtain) lots of information, and
many sciences concerning all
aspects of the universe, and
extensive knowledge about the
Creator’s Attributes and acts,
which gave him superiority over
not only the angels but also the
heavens and earth and mountains in
bearing the Supreme Trust, and
made him the ruler of the earth in
the name of God.
Likewise, the
prostration of the angels before
Adam by contrast with Satan’s
rejection is a small, particular
event in the Unseen. However, it
is the tip of a most
comprehensive, universally
observed principle, and suggests a
most extensive truth which is as
follows:
By mentioning
the angels’ obedience and
submission before the person of
Adam and Satan’s haughty
refusal, the Quran makes
understood that most of the
material beings in the universe
and their spiritual
representatives are subjugated to
man and are ever-ready to satisfy
all the needs and desires of all
of his faculties. In addition, the
Quran warns man against the
evil beings and their immaterial
representatives and the devilish
inhabitants of the earth, who
corrupt his potential for
perfection and seduce him into
wrong paths, and it reminds him
what terrible enemies and great
obstacles in the path of his
progress toward perfection they
are. Thus, while narrating a
particular matter pertaining to a
single individual-Adam, upon him
be peace -the Quran of
Miraculous Expression holds an
elevated discourse with the whole
creation and all mankind.
Another
example:
The land of
Egypt is a part of the Sahara
Desert. Yet it is a fertile,
arable land owing to the bounteous
gifts of the blessed Nile. Such a
blessed, paradise-like land being
found adjacent to the hellish
Sahara made farming and
agriculture most sought after by
its people and so established it
in their nature that while
agriculture was sanctified, the
cow and the bull, the means to
agriculture, were elevated to the
level of objects of worship. In
fact, the people of Egypt of that
time, the time when the Prophet
Moses, upon him be peace, was
raised as a Prophet, considered
the cow and bull to be so sacred
as indeed to worship them. As it
is understood from their making a
calf to worship years after the
Exodus, the children of Israel of
that time, who grew up in Egypt,
were influenced by that tradition.
So, the wise
Quran explains through the
sacrifice of a cow that through
his Messengership, Moses, upon him
be peace, eradicated the concept
of cow-worship which had become an
inherent part of that nation’s
character. Thus, through this
apparently insignificant event, it
points to a universal principle
with an elevated miraculousness;
it expounds it also as a most
essential lesson of wisdom for
everyone at all times.
Know, by
analogy with that, certain minor
incidents which the wise Quran
mentions in the form of historical
events, are the tips of universal
principles.
Conciseness
is one of the foundations of the
Quran’s miraculousness,
which uses
ordinary-seeming events to teach
universal truths and train
hearts and minds.
Yet after all
this your hearts were hardened and
became like rocks, or even harder:
for indeed there are rocks from
which rivers gush, and indeed
there are some from which, when
they are cleft, water issues; and
indeed there are some which fall
down for awe of God. God is not
unaware of what you do. (2:74)
The Quran
present profound, universal truths
to ordinary people in simple and
familiar terms
Conciseness is
one of the foundations of the Quran’s
miraculousness, and bountiful
enlightenment and beauty of
explanation are a part of the
light of its guidance. These
qualities require that universal
truths and profound and general
principles should be presented to
those ordinary people who make up
the majority of those addressed by
the Quran, in simple and
familiar terms, and that, because
of the simplicity of their minds,
only the tips and simple forms of
great truths should be shown.
Also, all the events in the
universe, each of which is a
Divine operation whose
extraordinary character is veiled
by habituation to it and
familiarity, should be pointed out
briefly. Thus, it is because of
this subtle reality that the wise
Quran means by the verse above:
O Children of
Israel and sons of Adam! What
has happened to you that your
hearts have become harder and
more lifeless than rocks? For do
you not see that those very hard
lifeless, large rocks formed in
vast strata under the earth are
so obedient and submissive
before the Divine commands and
so permeable and opened up to
the acts of His Lordship that as
easily as the Divine operations
occur in the formation of trees
in the air, so too under the
earth, and with the same ease
and order and perfect wisdom,
and without any resistance,
water is carried through to
them, like blood circulating in
veins, in well-arranged water
channels and veins through hard,
deaf rocks?6 Also, just as
the branches of trees and plants
spread easily in the air, so
too, the delicate veins of roots
spread with the same ease,
without encountering any
resistance in the rocks under
the earth.
Using
simple-seeming phenomena, the Quran
teaches comprehensive truths
The Quran
points to this fact and teaches a
comprehensive truth through that
verse, and so by allusion it says
to the hard-hearted:
O
Children of Israel and O
sons of Adam! Despite your
weakness and impotence, what
sort of hearts do you have
that in their hardness they
resist the commands of the
Divine Being? Whereas the
huge strata of hard rocks
carry out their subtle tasks
perfectly in darkness in
utmost submission to His
commands. They show no
disobedience. Indeed, those
rocks act as a source for
the water and other means of
life for all the living
creatures on the earth in
such a way, and as means for
their division and
distribution with such
wisdom and justice, that
they are as malleable as wax
or even air in the hand of
Power of the All-Wise One of
Majesty; without resistance,
they prostrate before the
vastness of His Power. For
almost the same
well-arranged occurrences
and wise and gracious Divine
operations as those which we
observe on the face of the
earth take place beneath its
surface. Moreover, the
Divine wisdom and favor are
manifest there in a way more
wonderful and more strange
than they are on the surface
of the earth. Look! How
soft, like wax, are those
most hard and unfeeling huge
rocks towards God’s
commands in the creation and
operation of the universe,
and how unresisting and
flexible to the pleasant
waters, delicate roots, and
silk-like veins, which act
under the command of God.
Like a lover, the rock
smashes its heart at the
touch of those delicate,
beautiful things, and
becomes soft earth in their
path.
Also, through
the sentence and indeed there
are some which fall down for awe
of God, the Quran shows the
tip of a tremendous truth which is
as follows:
As in the
event when the Prophet
Moses, upon him be peace,
asked for a vision of God,
and the mountain at the foot
of which he was standing
crumbled at the Divine
manifestation and its rocks
scattered through the
awesome manifestations of
Divine Majesty in the form
of earthquakes and other
similar geological events,
the rocks fall from the high
summits of mountains, which
are mostly like huge
monoliths formed of
thickened fluid, and are
shattered. Some of these
crumble and become earth for
plantation. Others remain as
rocks, and are scattered
down to the valleys and
plains. They serve for many
purposes in the works of the
earth’s inhabitants, as in
their houses, and in utter
submission to the Divine
Power and Wisdom for certain
hidden purposes and
benefits, they stand ready
to be used in accordance
with the principles of the
Divine Wisdom. It is neither
in vain nor accidental nor
at random that, out of awe
of God, they leave their
positions at the summits and
choose the lower places in
humility and become the
means of those significant
benefits: the evidence that
all these take place by the
wise operation of an
All-Wise and All-Powerful
One, and that there is a
wise order invisible to the
superficial eye in such
seemingly chaotic events,
are the purposes and
benefits attached to the
rocks, and the perfect order
and fine artistry in the ‘garments’
adorned and embossed with
the jewels of fruits and
flowers with which the ‘body’
of the mountains down which
they roll are clothed.
Thus, you have
seen how valuable these three
parts of the verse are from the
viewpoint of wisdom. See the Quran’s
fine manner of expression and
miraculous eloquence, how it shows
through the three well-known and
observed events in the three parts
of a verse, the tips of the
comprehensive and significant
truths mentioned above. Also, by
reminding in the same three parts
of three further events which are
each a means of taking a lesson,
it offers a fine guidance and
restrains in a way that cannot be
resisted.
The Quran
trains hearts and minds by means
of ordinary-seeming events
For example,
its the second part of the verse,
it says:
and
indeed there are some from
which, when they are cleft,
water issues;
By referring in
this sentence to the rock which
was cleft with ‘complete
eagerness’ with the striking of
Moses’ staff, upon him be peace,
and poured forth twelve streams
from twelve sources, it means:
O
Children of Israel! While
large rocks become tears out
of either awe or joy, how is
it that you are so unjust as
to be obstinate in the face
of all Moses’ miracles,
and not weeping, with eyes
so dried and hearts so hard?
In the third
part, it says:
and
indeed there are some which
fall down for awe of God.
By recalling in
this part the well-known event of
the huge mountain crumbling and
the rocks rolling down all round
out of awe at the manifestation of
Divine Majesty, which took place
in Mount Sinai at the supplication
of Moses for the vision of God, it
gives the following lesson:
O People
of Moses! How is it you do
not fear God while the
mountains formed of rocks
crumble in awe of Him?
Although you witness that He
held Mount Sinai above you
in order to receive from you
a solemn promise to be loyal
to Him, and that on Moses’
prayer for the Divine
vision, the mountain
crumbled, how is it you are
so bold as not to tremble
out of fear of God, and you
keep your hearts so hard and
unfeeling?
In the first
part, it says:
for
indeed there are rocks from
which rivers gush;
The Quran
uses “natural” phenomena to
teach God’s universal rules and
acts
By recalling
though these words rivers like the
Nile, the Tigris, and Euphrates,
which gush out of mountains, it
points out how wonderfully and
miraculously rocks are susceptible
and subjugated to the Divine
commands of creation, and it means
to awakened, attentive hearts:
It is not
possible that the mountains
could be the actual source
of such mighty rivers. For
supposing the mountains
comprised water from top to
bottom and were each a
conical reservoir, they
could last only a few months
in providing for the swift
and abundant flow of those
big rivers. Also the rain,
which only penetrates about
a meter into the earth,
cannot be sufficient income
for that high expenditure.
This means that no ordinary
reason or natural cause or
chance can explain the
sources and flow of these
rivers. The All-Majestic
Creator makes them flow
forth in truly wonderful
fashion from an unseen ‘treasury’.
Thus, in
reference to this truth, it is
narrated in a hadith: ‘Every
minute a drop falls from Paradise
into each of those three rivers.
That is why they flow abundantly’.
In another hadith [recorded by
Muslim and Ibn Hanbal] it is said:
‘The source of these three
rivers is in Paradise’.1 What is
meant by these narrations is that
since physical causes are not
enough for their abundant flow,
their sources must be in an unseen
world; they must be originating in
a hidden treasury of Mercy, so
that the balance between incoming
and outgoing water is maintained.
Thus, by
drawing attention to this
meaning, the wise Quran
gives the following
instruction: O Children of
Israel and sons of Adam!
Through your hardness of
heart and lack of feeling,
you disobey the commandments
of such a One of Majesty,
and through heedlessness you
close your eyes to the light
of knowledge of such an
Everlasting Sun, that by
making gush forth from the
mouths of ordinary, solid
rocks mighty rivers like the
Nile, which makes the land
of Egypt like a paradise, He
produces for the heart of
the universe and the mind of
the earth miracles of His
Power and witnesses to His
Oneness as strong and
abundant as the gushing
forth and flow of those
mighty rivers, and makes
them flow to the hearts and
minds of jinn and men.
Further, while it shows the
All-Majestic Creator as the
sunlight shows the sun, that
He makes some hard,
unfeeling rocks the objects
of the miracles of His Power
in such wonderful fashion,2
how is it that you are blind
to the light of His
knowledge and do not see the
truth?
So, see how
eloquently these three truths have
been expressed; take notice of the
guidance of that eloquence! I
wonder what hardness of heart and
lack of feeling can resist the ‘heat’
of the guidance of this eloquence
and not melt?
If you have
understood it from the beginning
to this end, see one guiding gleam
of the wise Quran’s
miraculousness, and offer thanks
to God!
Glory be to
You, we have no knowledge save
what You have taught us.
Surely, You are the
All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
O God!
Enable us to understand the
mysteries of the Qur’an as
you like and approve, and
grant us success in the
service of it. Amen, through
Your Mercy, O Merciful of the
Merciful!
O God!
Bestow blessings and peace
upon the one to whom the wise
Qur’an was sent, and upon
all his family and Companions.
1. Like one of
the main branches of the Nile
rising in the Mountains of the
Moon, the main branch of the
Tigris rises in a cave in the
district of Mukus in the province
of Van. Likewise, one of the main
streams of the Euphrates has its
source at the foothills of a
mountain in the region of Diyadin.
It is scientifically established
that the origins of mountains are
rocks solidified from liquid
matter. One of the glorifications
of the Prophet, upon him be peace
and blessings-Glory be to the One
Who spread out the earth on
solidified liquid-decisively
testifies that the original
formation of the earth is as
follows: some liquid matter
solidified at Divine command and
became rock. By Divine leave, the
rock became earth. That is, the
liquid matter was too soft to
settle on, and the rock was too
hard to benefit from. Therefore,
the All-Wise and Compassionate One
spread the earth over the rock and
made it the place of habitation
for living beings.
2. It is only
fitting that the Qur’an should
explain the three important tasks
which the Majestic Creator
entrusted to the rock strata, the
foundation of the magnificent,
moving palace we call the earth.
The first task:
Just as the earth acts, by the
Power of the Lord, as a ‘mother’
to plants and raises them, so also
by the Divine Power, the rocks act
as a ‘nurse’ to earth and ‘raise’
it.
The second
task: They serve the orderly
circulation of water in the body
of the earth, like the circulation
of blood.
The third task:
They act as ‘treasurer’ to the
appearance and continuation with
well-ordered balance of springs
and rivers, sources and streams.
Truly, the rocks ‘write’ and
sprinkle over the face of the
earth the evidences of Divine
Unity which they make flow with
all their strength in ‘mouthfuls’
in the form of the water which
serves life.
|
|
