Part 14

would really stand transfixed! It is vast indeed what the ignorant and visionless person has missed of wonders and enlightenment and lessons which may be obtained without the trouble of journeying and roaming. This is the purport of the following Qur’anic verse:

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“And in the earth are portents for those whose faith is sure. And also in yourselves, Can you then not see?” (50:

Here He is urging His servants to ponder over their existence, to find in it a guidance to the Creator and Originator. It is the urgency of such a call that makes me expatiate and dwell so long on this issue. I do this with the conviction that it pays to do so, since it expands intellectual capacity, provides precious knowledge, and increases a believer’s faith. Many a guardian stands in protection of the heart! many a servant! and many a slave! but it goes ahead in its work unheeding of others. Impressive indeed is what Allah has created for the sake of man, what He has put at his beck and call! Great indeed is man’s responsibility! Great indeed are the felicity and luxury or misery and torture that will be his recompense! He will either be seated on the throne of royalty, firmly established in the favour of a Mighty King, in view of his Lord’s face, hearing His speech; or thrown in the great jail, among layers of blazing fire, receiving painful torture. If man, the king, realized what is awaiting him, he would not greedily seek royalty in this world, and strive to win the majesty that never fades or wears away. But he is under many veils of ignorance. It is all for an end that Allah will see to its fulfilment.

Do you know how the brain operates ? Corpus callosum

* The brain consists of 13 billion nerve cells (neurons), and of 100 billion supporting cells, known as glial cells. These latter are a strong barrier to protect neurons from being harmed by any substance. Tumours mainly grow at the expense of glial cells, as if neurons are immune from cancer. The brain is nourished only by glucose, in contrast with the heart, which is nourished by glucose or lactic acid. It appears that the brain prefers the luxury of glucose, having priority over all the other body organs. If the body has a shortage of nutrients, it is the brain, the noble organ, that is privileged with nutrients rather than any other organ.

* Every day, the brain requires 115 grams of glucose, a certain amount of phosphate, 10-15% of the oxygen consumed by the body, and at least 1000 litres of blood. If any of these nutrients is lacking, the brain will fail to perform its vital role well.

* The brain cells are some of the noblest parts of the body, since they represent the body’s governing system, which faithfully does the thinking and knowing task for the body. The rest of the body is the public that submits to the ruler with loyalty and obedience. It is on this account that the brain has three membranes, in addition to the bony plating that securely preserves the head as a locked box. The cerebral liquid spreads between the membranes to play the part of shock absorber. This careful sealing has been mimicked by the space scientists who designed the space capsule - they provided it for protection with layers and liquid in the same way as that described above.

* The spinal cord has a diameter of about 1 cm, and it is 54cm long, with 31 pairs of nerves that branch from it.

* There are, in the human body, about 800,000 nerve cells in the front horn of the spinal cord. Polio occurs if two thirds or more of these are destroyed. The front horns of the spinal cord are responsible for muscle movement, while the posterior centres are responsible for transmitting all kinds of sensation (pain, heat, cold, pressure, touch, deep sensation, etc.)

* The approximate number of the brain cells is 13 billion. Some nerve cells in the various parts of the body are connected to about 18,000 other cells, which enables them to flash to the brain with an astounding speed detailed reports about each cell in the body.

nourish the human head and the neck. So glory be } to Him Who created man from nothing, and He can resurrect him as He created him.

Superior longitudinal sinus Frontal cerebral vein

Mastoid vein Internal Maxillary vein

Superior vein cE oe Internal Jugular vein

The arteries of life

* Blood going to the brain returns to the heart in 8 seconds, while the blood going to the feet returns in 18 seconds.

* At the normal heart rate of pulsation, a red blood cell makes 1500 cycles during a whole day (a carrier which carries 1500 times each day without getting tired)!!

* There are in each cubic millimeter of blood 5 million red cells, about 25 million red blood cells in the whole blood, an amount that would

cover an area of 3450 square metres. If the red blood cells were put in a line, one next to the other (the average diameter of a red cell is 7 microns), they would make a line that circles the earth 6-7 times. The capacity of the bone marrow to produce red blood cells can increase 5-6 times, and a red blood cell has an average life span of 120 days. Its life span can decrease to 20 days without the appearance of anemia. A red blood cell covers in its oxygen-carrying trip a distance of 1150 km along the body’s vessels. Each cell has the complex hemoglobin, which consists of 574 amino acids, in addition to fat, carbohydrates, enzymes and vitamins, etc. In the case of a lack of oxygen, the number of red blood cells rises to 7-8 million/cubic mm, especially when we climb heights, and in the embryo, since in this case the lungs cannot function, which is why it is said that a human embryo sits on Mount Everest!!

Basilic vein _ Cephalic vein Median Basilary vein __ Median Cephalic vein Radial vein Ijlnar vein. Median vein_

Inquiries concerning the human being

Imam Ibn Al-Qayyem, may Allah have mercy on him, says:

* Who made the palate have two outlets: one for voice and breathing connected to the lungs; and the other, the oesophagus, for food and drink, leading into the stomach? Who separated them with a barrier that prevents each from reaching the other? If food were to reach the lungs, it would be fatal to the organism!

* Who deemed the lungs to be ventilators to the heart, cooling it, never failing or becoming exhausted, since the heart would perish should its heat be unventilated?

Who arranged for the food waste to be disposed of through outlets, and had them controlled with sphincters that close and open at will, so that they do not ruina human’s life, and prevent people from socialising?

* Who caused the stomach to have extremely robust nerves, since it is destined to break down and process foods? If it were soft flesh it would itself be broken down and decomposed. It has a texture like a sturdy nerve, so that it endures the degradation and digesting of food, without itself being broken down by the extreme heat from beneath.

* Who made the liver soft and malleable, since it is destined to receive soft and mild food and metabolise it, and these activities are soft in contrast with the stomach’s tasks?

* Who had the soft and fragile brain fortified by hard compartments of bone, to protect it and shelter it, so that it does not get ruined and infected?

* Who had the fluid blood run in vessels in the same way as water runs in pipes, so that it is controlled and not spilled and wasted?

* Who made the nails at the tips of fingers and toes to protect them and support them while they perform various tasks and crafts?

* Who made the passage inside the ear as straight as a nail, so that sound slides along it without obstruction until it gets to the internal ear where the sharpness of draught has softened, lest it ruin the delicate parts there? Who built into this passage the mechanism to prevent

insects from penetrating to the inner ear and to catch them before they do so, and to stop other harmful matter, motes and dust, from penetration; not to mention other advantages?

* Who provided the thighs and buttocks with more flesh than the rest of the body, so as to protect the bones from having pain after long periods sitting on the ground, which is true of a person who grows thin and has little flesh? Such a person has pain because there is no protective flesh between his bones and the ground.

* Who made the eye’s liquid salty to guard it from melting; the ear’s liquid bitter to guard it from flies, insects, and mosquitoes; and the mouth’s liquid neutral to let it perceive the taste of things and not submerge other tastes with its own?

* Who chose for the location of the anus the most hidden part of the body, in the same way as an experienced builder chooses for the toilet the most unnoticed part of the house? The outlet in the human body is concealed from the eye, not visible from behind or protruding in front. It is rather concealed in an obscure place of the body, where the two thighs squeeze it and hide it with their mass of flesh. When one squats to pass stool, the outlet is exposed close to the ground.

* Who made the human incisors sharp to cut food and chop it, and made the molars wide enough to crush it and grind it?

* Who willed that the hair and nails in humans are insensitive to pain, since they become long and need to be cut or clipped. If they were sensitive they would give pain, and it would be hard to cut them when desired? One would have had to face one of two disastrous alternatives: to let them grow so long that they became a real annoyance and too large to endure, or to suffer the pain of cutting them.

The Imam then adds:

The wisdom of creation does not have to be understood in every respect, nor even in part, by all mankind. Indeed, what they know is a small fraction compared to what they do not know. The knowledge of all creatures, relative to the aspects of wisdom embodied in the hidden secrets of creation and the control of creation, may be compared to the sipping of a bird relative to the volume of the sea. For the one who has understanding and is perceptive, it suffices to extrapolate what he does not know from what he knows, and to realize that there is wisdom in what he does not know that is equal to, or even more, and more subtle wisdom, than what is known to him. The foolish, imbecilic deniers are like a person who knows nothing of the sophistication and accuracy of professions and sciences like masonry, geometry, or medicine; or even crafts like spinning, tailoring or carpentry; yet he aims with his illjudgement to criticise the masters of such professions, sciences and crafts about their devices, industry or the management of their careers. Whenever he tries some intricate point and fails to fathom it, and when he realizes that it was above his head, he simply says: “There is no point in this! Why should this be so?” That is with the professionals, who are human beings like the ignorant critic, who can, with patience, emulate them or even surpass them. How would it be, then, when such ill-judged criticism concerns the Lord’s doings, whose wisdom has overwhelmed intellects, Who has no equal in His wisdom, in the same way as He has no equal in His creation: He has no rival in any way. A person who fancies that he can evaluate the Lord’s wisdom with the criteria his mind encompasses, or sets his minds to be a scale of His wisdom, only conceding what comes within _ his comprehension, and denying what is beyond it; sucha person is indeed the most miserably deluded of humans.