Part 6

Another group, though, denies this last proposition

and holds that the intellectual function is in the head. The truth, however, seems to be that the intellectual function starts at the heart, then finds its elaboration and fruition in the head. One may refer to the Qur’an to support this view, as the following verse illustrates:

“Have they, then, never journeyed about the earth, letting their hearts gain wisdom?” (22: 46); and in another verse we read:

“In this, behold, there is indeed a reminder for everyone whose heart is wide-awake.” (50:37)

It should be added here that the heart described in the verses is not that muscular organ which animals possess as well as humans; it is rather one particular function of it: reflection and contemplation. Another group, though, would not accept this representation — they assert that all the senses are linked to the brain. They deny that there are nerves or vessels that connect the heart and the eye, the ear and the nose. They add that such a claim defies the concrete reality of creatures. The truth, we believe, lies between the two groups: that the heart provides energy to the senses, a non-physical energy that does not require any particular paths and nerves to be its carrier. What is required for this energy to be transmitted is that the senses and organs accept it and are receptive to it, and the heart supplies that energy without any need for paths and nerves. This view avoids the confusion that has arisen in this area and the many arguments and counterarguments. But Allah knows best, and I take refuge in Him to lead us to the truth. What I have been trying to do is to draw attention to just a few aspects of the wisdom embodied in the creation of man. But the full truth is manifold, more than one might imagine or think.’ The little that we have presented here, however, is enough to awaken the mind to the great truth that lies beyond.

* Had Ibn al-Qayyem, the great scholar, had access to the modern equipment now available to medicine, such as the magnetic-based imaging (MRI) and the x-ray, along with the many sciences now focused on expanding our knowledge of physiology and the diagnosis of diseases, he would have written so cogently that any physician or intellectual would have been impressed.

The total blood contains 25 million red cells for carrying oxygen, and 25 billion white cells to resist bacteria and that are part of the immune system of the body. They are in five shapes. There are besides a million platelets to preserve the blood from bleeding and to produce coagulation in any bleeding vein. The main site for producing these cells is in the bone marrow which pours in the blood at the rate of 2.5 million red cells per second, 5 million platelets, and 120 thousand white cells. It is worth noting that the red cells transport 600 litres of oxygen to the body’s cells every 24 hours. If the body receives a cut, the production of white blood cells is increased ten times, as every white blood cell produces anti-bacteria toxin, and can devour 40 bacteria.

Principul Veins and Arteries Figure “12”

Pulmonary Anery Comenon Cortid Kewry Axillary Velo Subctavian Vein Subelavian Artery ‘Common Hepatic Anery Cepiatic Vea Superioe Vena Cava Rail Vein Splenic Ancry Pideaiomy. Via felsic Yo rectal Artery Cahstal Velo Radial Veen fern Veo Cora Reesl Anery Poet vein Radial Anecy inae Artery superar Common Tlie Artery Internad Mise Artery

External ac Adinyy FRO! Amery Great Saphenous Vein ymeeat Vig

By just turning his attention to his food, the way it is taken in, the way it is held inside, and the way it is excreted, a human being will find many lessons and wonders. He can see how he has been provided with a tool to pick up the food, a gate to pass it inside, an instrument to cut it into small pieces, a grind stone to grind it and assisted with water to make a paste of it, a passage to lead it inside, very close to that of breathing, where the food passes inside and the breath passes outside, each without taking the wrong way. Then the food finds ways and paths that pass it to the stomach, which is a storage and collecting station, with two sphincters, one for passing food in and another for passing it out. The upper sphincter is wider than the lower, since the upper receives all that reaches it, while the lower is the exit for what is harmful. The lower sphincter is normally closed, so that the food may stay in the place designed for it; but once digestion is completed, that sphincter is opened (which is the reason it is called the door-keeper, while the upper is called the mouth of the stomach). Before the food reaches the stomach it is thick, but inside the stomach it is diluted and thinned. The stomach is surrounded from inside and outside with a heat that perhaps exceeds that of fire, by which the food is cooked, in the same way as the food is cooked in a pot with the water surrounding it, until solid things like stones or similar objects are dissolved, until all is semi-liquid.

Once it is liquefied, the healthy part of the food, or chime, floats to the top, and the residue sinks to the bottom. There are vessels from the stomach to all parts of the body to communicate certain facts about each organ, its nature and structure, which control its receptiveness and acceptance. The stomach sends the softest parts of chime to the softest organs. It provides sight to the sight-

organ, hearing to the hearing-organ, smell to the smellingorgan, and so on to each sense organ according to its need. This is the softest product of food. And then it sends to the brain what is adapted to it in softness and balance, while the rest is sent to the other parts of the body through the various paths, each getting what it needs for nourishment and maintenance: the bones, the hair, the finger-nails, etc. How the food passes into the stomach through ways and paths, and leaves it through ways and paths, all that is a phenomenon of great wisdom and exceeding bounty. After it undergoes the digestive processes in the stomach, the food is transformed into blood, and into black and yellow bile. The Lord in His sublime judgement has willed that each of these humours should have a collecting station to pour into, and collect there, so that nothing but the most refined elements of the food should reach the noblest organs: therefore the gall bladder absorbs the yellow bile, the spleen the black bile, and the liver absorbs the purest part, the blood, which it passes on to all parts of the body via a single vessel that later divides into many branches. And so each single hair, neuron, bone, and_ vessel gets what ensures its survival.

The stomach and intestine

* The stomach has 35 million secreting glands, and the intestine has 3600 villi for absorption in each square centimetre.

* It is established by science that a gastric cell has a life span of 48 hours, and the gastric cells are continually replaced by new ones, a process that has nothing that resembles it, except for the renewal of blood. The small intestine is 8 metres long, and_ has a surface area of 40 square metres for maximum capacity of absorption, which is performed by the billions of villi on its inside lining. All kinds of nutrient material are absorbed, water, salts, vitamins, and even some harmful materials.

* The gastric cells that secrete hydrochloric acid are estimated to be one billion cells. Induced with histamine, they have a secreting capacity of 16 millilitres in 12 hours.

The liver is considered the body’s largest gland, weighing about 1500 grams and consisting of 300 billion cells, which may be completely renewed in a period of four months, faster than the embryo’s cells which are known for their fast renewal. The liver’s functions are amazingly numerous, ranging from storing glycogen, fats and vitamins to detaining toxic substances and converting them to safe substances, or converting waste substances like ammonia from the protein waste to uric acid, a nontoxic substance. The liver is also the main centre for supplying the blood with glucose and blood proteins, enabling the blood to clot by producing fibrinogen. It also produces pigments, and forms cholesterol in its seven

Falsi form Ligament _

~ Pancreas, inside of tube

Figure “14” os Pancreatic duct

Each kidney weighs 150 grams. It contains one million blood-filtcring units, known as nephrons. Over a period of 24 hours, 1800 litres of blood pass through the kidney, 180 litres of which are filtered, the greater part of which is reabsorbed, and approximately 1.5 litres of which are excreted in the form of urine. The tubules that receive urine from the nephrons have a collective length of 50 kilometres. The blood is thus wonderfully purified of all its waste matter. It is as if we see the workmen of the municipal council cleaning the streets not once per day, but rather 36 times or more. The functions of the kidneys, however, are not confined to filtering; they have a warning system that alerts the bone marrow to regulate the secretion of red cells. They also have, in collaboration

with the liver, an organizing system of blood pressure. Each kidney is topped with another gland, weighing seven grams, called the adrenal gland, whose cortex secretes scores of hormones that regulate glucose, salts and water in the body, and control the sex impulse. The core of this gland secretes adrenaline, a hormone that regulates blood pressure.

Who Took So Much Care of You?

Look then at yourself again, and think: Who took such great care of you - since you were a foetus in the belly of your mother, in a place where no hand could extend help to you, and no eye could reach you? You had then no way of seeking food or fending for yourself. Who caused the mother’s blood to supply you with the nutrients that you needed, as a plant is nourished by nutrition-rich water, and how was that blood turned into milk? He sustained you in the narrowest of places, least capable of providing or gratifying your needs; He supplied you until your creation was consummated and brought to its perfect destination. When your skin was judged to be strong enough to be exposed to air, your eyes strong enough to meet the light outside, and your bones were sturdy enough to withstand the touch of hands and life on earth, your mother had the labour that ushered you out into the world of ordeals, with all its attendant hardships. It was then that your mother’s womb ejected you in a way as if it had never embraced you, as if it had never held you from the day it accepted you as a drop until the day of ejection. It once used to enjoy having you in its fold, and now it screams in pain, and complains to the Lord about the burden that is you. So Who allowed you in it in the first place? Who made it enfold you and protect you until you grew to the right stage? And then He opened that gate and expanded it, for you to exit in the twinkling of an eye? You were not suffocated with its narrowness, and you were not