Part 25

Let it be known, then, that thinking is the search by the heart to acquire from the knowledge already attained, knowledge that is not yet acquired. This is the reality about thought, because if there is no objective to be sought by thinking, then thinking will be impossible; thinking without a focal destination is not possible; and the means to it is the facts that are already acquired. If those means are employed to acquire that which is already known there will be no thought. Realizing this, we may go on to say that a thinking person proceeds from premises and assumptions he already knows to the concept he seeks to unveil. Once that is attained and acquired, he remembers on the basis of that, and perceives what to seek and what to shun; what to hold as dear and what to avoid. Remembrance, then, is the eventual fruit and outcome of thinking. Once a person has remembered, that remembrance enhances thinking, and so he can make inferences that he was unable to make before. This reciprocal relationship goes on, from thinking to remembrance and from remembrance to thinking, as long as reflection lasts: knowledge and the will have no limit to stop at, and a person can progress indefinitely drawing on knowledge and will. If you realize that the Lord’s signs operate as eye-openers and reminders, enlightening one to overcome the heart’s blindness and to awaken it from its forgetfulness, it will then be clear that the opposite of knowledge is either the heart’s blindness, and the remedy for this is enlightenment, or its forgetfulness, and the remedy for this is remembrance. The idea here is to

awaken the heart from its forgetfulness by invoking some of Allah’s signs. To try to follow that up toits end, we would have to devote all our life to it, and even then we would not be able to exhaust even the details of one of His signs comprehensively. But if the whole is not feasible, it should not follow that the matter should be dropped completely. The noblest employment of time and effort is the reflection on the signs of Allah and the wonders of His creation, to goon from there to linking the heart and will to Him rather than to any of His creations.

Ask, then, the denier, the annihilist: What do you say of a water-wheel spinning over a river, a water-wheel of perfect parts, exquisitely manufactured, most delicately and sophisticately made, in a way that an observer can see no loophole in matter or making, efficiently irrigating a spectacular orchard that contains all kinds of plants and fruits; the orchard being well cared for, pruned, weeded, and well served in every way; so that nothing is left missing or ignored, no fruit is left to rot; and then its product is estimated by the harvester and the money gained is distributed to the various parties concerned according to their needs and requirements, each getting what is right for them, and all the above is done every time — would you say that all this might happen by coincidence without an agent who has will and resolution? Would you say that the wheel and the orchard are there by coincidence, with all that goes on there without an actor who has will and resolution? What would your mind say of that? How would it solve the riddle? What would it lead you to? Of such a person we say it is of the wisdom of the Proud, the Wise that He created blind hearts that have no vision, so that they do not perceive those compelling signs except the way they are sensed by the senseless animals; He created eyes that do not see; the sun, the moon and the stars are moving by His will, but they do not see them; so

why should one blame them if they deny their existence and fail to believe in them? They would say of the daylight ‘it is indeed night, but the sighted are deluded.’ It is just as a poet put it:

Suppose that I say of the morning it is night, will the sane be blind to the broad day light?

Reflect, again, upon the Power that holds the heavens and the earth, He who preserves them from falling apart, from crumbling or from some of their bodies going astray; Who is that Holder? Who oversees all that? Who is their Keeper? If some parts of that great wheel mentioned above are broken or some parts of the orchard fail to produce who will maintain them? Who among all the creation has the power to put things back on track? If the Keeper of the heavens and the earth and the sun holds back some of His sustenance, and lets the night last forever, who can cause the sun to rise again and can bring the day back? If He holds the sun in the horizon and keeps it there without moving, who can bring it to move so that the night should come? If the sky and the earth should fall down who but He can keep them in their place?

Volcanoes appear as conical mountains, Lava and extremely hot gases may erupt from the maniie an inner layer of Ihe earth, through faults and fractures that it erupts exis! between layers. Once the lava teaches the surface of the earth it erupts upwards. Earthquakes are also a result of the movement of blocks. If violent, earthquakes are also a result of the movement of block. If violent. earthquakes can destroy entire cities, Shaking may, however, be just

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“He Who created all the pairs, and appointed for you ships and cattle whereupon you ride.

“That you may mount their backs, and may remember your Lord’s favour when you mount thereon, and may say: Glorified be He Who has subdued these unto us, and we were not capable of subduing them.”

The creation of animals Ibn Al-Qayyem says:

One class of the signs of the Almighty is the creation of animals, with all their qualities, species, appearances, uses and services, colours, and other unseen wonders. Some creep on their belly, some walk on two feet, some on four; some have their defence in their feet, the claws; some in the beaks, like the eagle, the Egyptian eagle, and the crow; some in their teeth; some have horns by which they ward off those who seek to subdue them; some, the lion for instance, have enough power to defend themselves without arms, their power being their weapon; some use defecation for defence, as does a certain species of bird which if an enemy approaches it with the intent of subduing it, it defecates on it and destroys it in this way’. I propose here to present a brief selection of depictions. There will be some overlap and no particular order. It is, however, one of the most important chapters of this book, since it will discuss some of the most vital issues raised by the Qur’an. The Qur’an reiterates many of the signs, stresses them time and again, exhorting humans to reflect on them with insistence. This is in fact one of the most

The species of animals are so numerous that their number

exceeds a million, insects being the majority. Here are some details:

Insects are approximately 800, 000 species

Fishes are 30, 000 species

Reptiles are 6000 species

There are in addition, the bacteria (a unicellular creature), and viruses (another unicellular creature), the smallest organisms; it would take a quarter of a million viruses, for instance, to cover a dot like this. So glory be to Him who created the whale and the virus, arranging for each to obtain its food.

basic of the Qur’anic themes. Let us review just a few of the general statements in the Qur’an concerning this:

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“Say: Behold what is in the heavens and the earth!”

“Lo! In the creation of the heavens and the earth and the difference of night and day are tokens of His sovereignty for men of understanding.” (3: 190)

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“will they not regard the camels how they are created? And the heaven, how it is raised? And the hills, how they are set up? And the earth, how it is spread?” (88:

The subduing of animals

Consider the impressive wisdom invested in the Lord’s bestowing on animals hearing and vision to enable them to go about their interests and, eventually, to give their services to man, If they were blind or deaf they would not be of use to man. On the other hand, He denied them the intellect that man has, despite their big bodies; this is of course how they can be domesticated by man, who guides them and directs them wherever he likes. If they had intellects, with their extra size, they would for sure have disobeyed man, and would have defied his control. As it

is, they have been given such understanding and perception as would serve to realize their needs, and eventually the needs of the species they are destined to be controlled by; on the other hand, they have been made to lack the intellect and understanding that gives man superiority over them; and this also underscores the priority and prestige of man. Observe how man leads them and subdues them despite their bulk, while he would not have been able to control them without that subduing. Let us refer now to some verses of the Qur’an in that connection:

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“And (He) appointed ships and cattle whereupon you ride. That you mount upon their backs, and may remember your Lord’s favour when you mount thereon, and may say: Glorified be He Who has subdued these unto us, and we were not capable of subduing them.” (43: 1213)

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“Have they not seen how We have created for them of Our handiwork the cattle, so that they are their owners, and have subdued them unto them, so that some of them they have for riding, some for food?” (36: 71-72)

You see how the camel, with its great bulk, is led by the little boy, humble and meek. If the camel were to attack the boy it would crush it like an egg and tear its