Whoever places his (or her) trust in God, He is sufficient for him (or her). (65:3)
O SAID! Happiness lies in trusting God, so trust Him so that you may find peace and rest in this world and a great reward in the next.
Those who trust God and those who do not are like two people carrying heavy loads who board a ship. One puts his load down and sits on it, his mind at peace. The other one does not, and when told to put it down, responds: “I am strong enough to carry it.” They explain to him:
This ship is stronger and better able to carry it. As the journey proceeds, your load will grow heavier, so put it down and be relieved of your burden. If the ship’s owner sees you, he will either think that you are mad and order your off, or that you are mocking his ship and ridiculing him. With that, he will put you in the brig. You will be a laughing stock to everyone. And when you can no longer carry your load, you will have to pretend to be strong (ostentation or false show) or display arrogance or conceit (weakness and impotence).
Finally, the man agrees with them, places his load on the deck, and sits on it. Relieved, he says: “May God reward you, for you have guided me to that upon which my ease, salvation, and honor rest.”
KNOW, O FRIEND, that Qur’anic verses often end by mentioning the Divine Beautiful Names or with phrases implying them, ordering reflection and contemplation or calling to one’s reason. Sometimes they conclude with a general expression containing a purpose of the Qur’an—as if rays from the light of elevated wisdom or sprinkles from the pure water of Divine guidance. That is, with its miraculous expressions, the Qur’an expounds the Maker’s works and acts and then concludes with the relevant Divine Names, affirmation of the Resurrection or Divine Unity, or another pillar of belief.
For example:
He created for you all that there is on Earth; then He turned to the sky, fashioning it into seven heavens. He is the Knower of all things. (2:29)
Have We not made Earth a cradle, and the mountains as pegs? And We have created you in pairs. We have made your sleep for repose. We have made night a cloak, and We have made the day (a means or time of earning) livelihood. We have made above you seven strong (firmaments), and We have made a lamp therein blazing with splendor. We have sent down from the condensed clouds pouring water, so that We may bring forth grain and plants, and gardens thick with foliage. Surely the Day of Judgment is a fixed time. (78:6-17)
The Qur’an spreads before our eyes His art’s textiles and then concludes with the Divine Names or with a reference to reasoning:
Say: “Who is it that provides for you from the sky and Earth, possesses hearing and sight, brings forth the living from the dead and the dead from the living, and directs all affairs?” They will surely say: “God.” Then say: “Will you not then improve your ways in fear of Him? Such then is God, your True Lord.” (10:31-32)
In the creation of the heavens and Earth, and in the alternation of night and day, and in the ships sailing through the ocean for the benefit of humanity, and in the water which God sends down from the sky and with which He revives Earth after its death, and dispersing over it all kinds of beasts, and in the ordinance of the winds and clouds subjugated between Earth and sky are signs for people who reason. (2:164)
It explains God’s acts and then concludes with His Names or Attributes:
Thus Your Lord will choose you and teach you the interpretation of things and events, including dreams. And He will perfect His grace upon you and upon the family of Jacob as He perfected it to your forefathers Abraham and Isaac before you. Assuredly, your Lord is All-Knowing, All-Wise. (12:6)
Say: “O God, Owner of sovereignty! You bestow sovereignty on whom You will, and take it from whom You will; You exalt whom You will and abase whom You will. In Your hand lies all good. Surely, You are Powerful over all things.” (3:26)
The Qur’an mentions creatures and then employs the order and harmony, proportions and fruits of their existence as mirrors to reflect the Names manifested on them as if they were words, and as if the Names were their meanings or water of life, seeds or essences:
Surely We created people from an extract of wet earth; then We placed him (or her) as a drop (of seed) in a safe lodging. Then We created the drop into a suspended clot, the clot into a shapeless lump, the lump into bones. Then We clothed the bones with flesh, and then built it as another creation. So blessed be God, the Best of creators! (23:12-14)
Assuredly Your Lord is God, Who has created the heavens and Earth in 6 days, then was established on the Throne, covering the night with the day, which is in haste to follow it, and has made the sun and the moon and the stars subservient by His command. Beware, His is creation and commandment. Blessed be God, the Lord of the Worlds. (7:54)
The Qur’an mentions particular, changeable events and things and then concludes with universal, luminous, established Names or phrases urging reflection or learning:
He taught Adam the names, and then presented them to the angels: “Tell Me the names of these, if you are truthful.” “Glory be to You” they replied; “We have no knowledge save what You have taught us. Surely You are the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.” (2:31-32)
And for you there is a lesson in the cattle (too). We give you to drink of that which is in their bellies, between bowels and blood, pure milk, palatable for those who drink. And of the fruits of the date palm and grapes from which you derive strong drink and (also) good nourishment. Surely in this is a sign for a people who use their intelligence. And
Your Lord inspired the bee: “Build your homes in the mountains and in the trees, and in what they build. Then feed on every kind of fruit, and follow the paths of your Lord made smooth (for you).” There comes forth out of their bellies a fluid of many hues, wherein is healing for humanity. Indeed in this is a sign for a people who reflect. (16:66-69)
The Qur’an mentions vast things or things found in multiplicity, places on them the signs of Divine Unity, and concludes them with a general rule:
His Supreme Seat embraces the heavens and Earth, and it tires Him not to uphold them both. He is the High, the Tremendous. (2:255)
God has created the heavens and Earth, and sends down from the sky rain, with which He brings forth fruits to be your sustenance. He makes the ships be of service to you, that they may run upon the sea at His command, and has made the rivers be of service to you. He makes the sun and the moon, both constant in their courses, to be of service to you; and has made of service to you the night and the day. And He gives you of all that you ask Him; and if you were to reckon the favors of God, you would never be able to count them. Surely humanity is a wrongdoer, ungrateful. (14:32-34)
It mentions apparent causes for creating things and then draws attention to the real Agent Who creates them and their fruits, thus pointing out that lifeless causes cannot know those fruits and purposeful results. Even if the causes seem to be near to the effects, there is a very great distance between them. That is where the Divine Names show forth in their splendor. Even the largest cause cannot create the smallest effect, just as the horizon, which seems to touch the mountains, in reality is separated from them by a vast distance—the distance in which the stars reside:
Let humanity reflect on the food it eats: How We pour water in showers, then split the ground in clefts, and cause the grain to grow on it, and grapes and fresh herbage, and olive trees and palm trees, and enclosed gardens dense with lofty trees, and fruits and pasture, as provision (from God) for you and your cattle. (80:24-32)
The phrase provision (from God) and mentioning plants and trees, each an exquisite work of art with many uses, show that apparent causes cannot create anything.
Have you not seen how God drives clouds lightly forward, gathers them together, piles them in masses, and causes rain to come from their midst? He causes mountain-like clouds charged with hail to descend from heaven, and makes their hail fall (or not fall) on whom He wills. The brightness of His lightning all but takes away your sight. God alternates night and day, and in this is a teaching for people of insight. He created every creature of water; some go upon their bellies, others on two feet, and still others on four feet. God creates what He pleases. Surely God is All-Powerful over all things. (24:43-45)
The Qur’an mentions God’s extraordinary feats to prepare our minds to accept His wonderful acts in the Hereafter, or mentions His future acts in the Hereafter to point to their likes in this world:
Has humanity not seen that We created it from a drop of seed? Yet, lo! humanity is an open opponent, has coined for Us a similitude, and has forgotten the fact of its creation, saying: “Who will revive these bones when they have rotted away?” Say: “He will revive them Who built them at the first, for He is All-Knowing of all creation, Who has made for you fire from the green tree, and behold! you kindle from it.” Is not He Who created the heavens and Earth able to create the like of them? Most certainly He is, for He is the All-Knowing Creator. (36:77-81)
When the sun is folded up ... (81:1)
When the heaven is cleft asunder ... (82:1)
When the heaven is split asunder ... (84:1)
The resurrection [of countless animal and plant species] during spring displays numerous analogies for the Resurrection. For example, you see the likes of: When the pages (records of our deeds) are laid open (81:10) in the germination and growth of seeds the records of the deeds of their “mothers” and their life-histories.
The Qur’an mentions particular purposes or events, and then confirms and corroborates them with the Names as if they were universal rules:
God has heard the words of her who disputed with you concerning her husband and made her complaint to God. God has heard the arguments of both of you. Surely God is All-Hearing, All-Seeing. (58:1)
Glory be to Him Who carried His servant by night from the Sacred Mosque (Masjid al-Haram) to the Farthest Mosque (Masjid al-Aqsa’) whose surroundings We have blessed, that We might show him some of Our signs. Surely He is All-Hearing, All-Seeing. (17:1)
Praise be to God, the Creator of the heavens and Earth, Who appoints the angels (as) messengers having wings two, three, or four. He multiplies in creation however He pleases. Surely God is All-Powerful over all things. (35:1)
The Qur’an mentions the acts of ungrateful people with the doom threatened for those acts. Afterwards, it consoles them with the Names pointing to mercy:
Say: “If there were other gods besides Him, as they say, they would certainly have sought out a way to the Owner of the Supreme Throne.” Glorified is He, and High Exalted above all that they say. The seven heavens and Earth, and all who dwell in them glorify Him. There is not a thing that does not glorify Him with praise, yet you cannot understand their glorification. Surely He is All-Clement, All-Forgiving. (17:42-44)
Said Nursi