Second Light Second Ray

Details: Published: Monday, 30 November -0001 00:00

The Twenty-fifth Word

Treatise on the Qur’an’s miraculousness

SECOND RAY: This relates to the Qur’an’s miraculous qualities displayed by means of the conclusive parts of its verses and its unique style of using God’s Beautiful Names to conclude many of its verses.

NOTE: This ray contains many verses that serve as examples for this ray as well as for other previously discussed matters. Since it would therefore be too lengthy to explain them, I will discuss them briefly.

The verses of the Qur’an generally conclude either with certain Divine Beautiful Names or phrases which summarize them or comprehensive, general principles concerning the Qur’an’s main aims. These conclusive parts sometimes corroborate the verses, or incite the mind to reflection. Given this, these parts contain traces from the Qur’an’s elevated wisdom, drops from the water of life of Divine guidance, or sparks from the lightning of the Qur’an’s miraculousness.

I will discuss briefly only ten of the numerous traces, and mention only one of the many examples of each trace’s several aspects. I will append a brief statement of the meaning of one of the many truths contained in each example. Most traces are found together in most of the verses and form a real design of miraculousness. Most of the verses to be given as examples are also examples for most of the traces. With respect to verses mentioned in previous Words, I will make a short reference to the meanings of those cited here.

FIRST QUALITY OF ELOQUENCE: With its miraculous expression, the Qur’an spreads out the All-Majestic Maker’s acts and works before eyes. It then concludes either with the Divine Name or Names originating those acts and works or with proof of an essential aim of the Qur’an (e.g., Divine Unity or Resurrection). Examples:

He has created for you all that is in the earth. Then He turned to the heaven, and formed it into seven heavens. He is the All Knowing of everything (2:29)

The verse relates, in a manner leading to a particular result or important goal, the most comprehensive works, all of which testify to Divine Knowledge and Power together with their purposes and organizations, and concludes with the Name “the All-Knowing.”

Have We not made the earth a cradle, and the mountains masts? And We have created you in pairs ... Surely the Day of Judgment and Distinction is a time appointed (76:6-8, 17).

The verse mentions Almighty God’s mighty acts and tremendous works and concludes with the Day of Resurrection (the Day of Judgment).

SECOND POINT OF ELOQUENCE: The Qur’an lays out the works of Divine Art before eyes without specifying the Divine Name originating each work, and concludes by either mentioning the Names together or referring them and their meanings to the intellect. For example:

Say: “Who provides for you from the heaven and the earth; or who owns all hearing and sight; and who brings forth the living from the dead and the dead from the living; who rules and directs all affairs?” They will say: “God.” Then say: “Will you not then keep your duty to Him in reverence for Him? That is God, your Lord, the Ultimate Truth.” (10:31-32)

At the beginning, it asks: “Who, having prepared the heaven and the earth as two sources of your provision, sends rain from there and brings forth grains from here? Who but He subjugates the heaven and the earth as two stores of your provision? That being so, praise and thanksgiving are due to Him exclusively.”

In the second part it means: “Who owns your eyes and ears, which are your most precious bodily parts? From which shop or factory did you buy them? Only your Lord can give you these subtle faculties of hearing and sight. It is He Who creates and nurtures you, and gave you them. Therefore, there is no Lord but He, and only He deserves worship.”

In the third part it signifies: “Who is it that revives the dead earth and innumerable dead species? Who but the Truth, the Creator of the whole universe, can do that? As He gives life to the earth, He will also resurrect you and send you to a Supreme Tribunal.”

In the fourth part it explains: “Who but God can administer and maintain this vast universe with perfect order like a city or a palace? Since only He can do that, the Power easily governing the universe and its various spheres is so perfect and infinite that It needs no partners and helpers. The One Who governs the universe does not leave smaller creatures to other hands. Therefore you must admit God willingly or unwillingly.”

The first and fourth parts suggest God, while the second suggests the Lord and the third suggests the Truth. Understand from this the miraculousness of That is God, your Lord, the Ultimate Truth. After presenting the mighty acts of Almighty God, and the important works of His Power, the Qur’an mentions the Names God, the Lord and the Truth, and thereby points out the origin of those acts and works: God, the Lord, the Ultimate Truth.

An example of how the Qur’an urges the human intellect to reflect on His works and recognize Him is presented below:

Surely in the creation of the heavens and the earth, the alternation of night and day, the ships sailing on the sea for humanity’s benefit, the water which God sends down from the heaven and thereby reviving the earth after its death, and dispersing all kinds of living creatures therein, (in His) directing and disposal of the winds, and the clouds subjugated between the heaven and the earth, are signs for people who reason and understand. (2:164)

The verse enumerates the works of Divine Art or acting which indicate the perfection of Almighty God’s Power and the grandeur of His Lordship and testify to His Oneness. They do so by drawing the attention to the manifestation of the Sovereignty of Divinity in the creation of the heavens and the earth; and the manifestation of Lordship in alternation of night and day; and the manifestation of Mercy in subduing the sea and the ship, which are of great use for human social life; and the manifestation of Power’s grandeur in sending rain and thereby reviving the earth and its innumerable creatures, making it like an exquisite place of resurrection and gathering; and the manifestation of Power and Compassion in creating innumerable animals from simple soil; and the manifestation of Mercy and Wisdom in charging and using the winds to pollinate plants and to allow animate beings to breathe; and the manifestation of Lordship in accumulating and dispersing the clouds (means of mercy), and suspending them between the heavens and the earth.

After enumerating such works and manifestations of Divine acting without mentioning the Names originating them, the verse concludes

...are signs for people who reason and understand and urges the intellect to reflect fully on the truths they contain.

THIRD QUALITY OF ELOQUENCE: Sometimes the Qur’an describes Almighty God’s acts in detail and concludes with a summary. It uses detailed description to give conviction, and then impresses them on the mind by summarizing them.

From Sura Yusuf:

So will your Lord choose you, and teach you about the inner meaning of all happenings (including the interpretation of dreams), and complete His favor upon you and upon the family of Jacob, as He completed it formerly on your forefathers Abraham and Isaac. Surely our Lord is All-Knowing, All-Wise. (12:6)

This verse points to the Divine blessings on Prophet Joseph, his father and forefathers, and says: “He has distinguished you (Joseph) with Prophethood and, by connecting the chain of Prophets to yours, made your lineage the most honored and prominent. He has made your house a place of education and guidance in which knowledge of God and Divine wisdom are taught, and combined in you, through that knowledge and wisdom, felicitous spiritual sovereignty of the world with eternal happiness in the Hereafter. He will also equip you with that knowledge and wisdom and make you a dignified ruler, a noble Prophet, and a wise guide.”

By concluding with Surely your Lord is All-Knowing, All-Wise, the verse summarizes all those blessings and means: “His Lordship and Wisdom require that He will manifest His Names the All-Knowing and the All-Wise through you and make you a knowledgeable and wise one, as He did your father and forefathers.”

From Sura Al-i ‘Imran:

Say: “O God, Master of all dominion! You give dominion to whom You will, and take away the dominion from whom You will. You exalt whom You will and You abase whom You will. In Your hand is all good. Surely You have full power over everything. You make the night pass into the day and you make the day pass into the night. You bring forth the living out of the dead and the dead, and You bring the dead out of the living; and You provide whomever You will without measure.” (3:26-27)

These verses point out God’s execution of His Laws in humanity’s social life and the universe. They emphasize that honor and degradation, as well as wealth and poverty, depend directly on Almighty God’s Will and Choice. Nothing, not even the most insignificant happenings in the realm of multiplicity, is beyond the domain of Divine Will, and so there is no place for chance.

After pointing out this essential principle, the verse affirms that our provision, which is most essential in this worldly life, originates directly from the Real Provider’s treasury of Mercy, and means: “Your provision depends on the earth’s vitality, the revival of which is possible through the coming of spring. Only the One Who has subdued the sun and the moon, and alternates night and day, can bring spring. If this is so, then only the One Who fills the earth’s surface with fruits can provide someone with an apple and become one’s real provider.”

By concluding with and You provide whomever You will without measure, the verses summarize all acts previously described in detail and affirm that the One Who provides you without measure does all those things.

FOURTH POINT OF ELOQUENCE: Sometimes the Qur’an mentions God’s creation and creatures in a certain series. By showing that their existence and life have a purposeful order and balance, it seems to give them a certain radiance and brightness. Then it points to the Divine Name or Names originating that order, which, like mirrors, reflect Him. It is as if each mentioned creature were a word and the Names were those words’ meanings, or each creature were a fruit and the Names were their seeds or substantial parts. For example:

From Suratu’l-Mu’minun:

We created humanity from an extraction of clay. Then We made it into a fertilized ovum in a safe lodging; then We created of the fertilized ovum a clot clinging (to the womb wall), and (afterwards in sequence) We created of the clinging clot a chew of lump, and We created of a chew of lump bones, and We clothed the bones in flesh. Then We caused it to grow into another creation. So Blessed and Supreme is God, Who is of the highest and most blessed degree of creating. (23:12-14)

The Qur’an mentions the extraordinary and wonderful, well-ordered, well-proportioned stages of humanity’s creation in such a manner that, as if in a mirror, So Blessed and Supreme is God, Who is of the highest and most blessed degree of creating is seen in it, with the result that whoever reads or listens to it cannot help but utter that same phrase of blessing. A scribe employed by God’s Messenger to record the Revelations uttered this phrase before the Messenger recited it, so that he wondered whether he too was receiving Revelation. But in reality, it was the verses’ perfect order, coherence, and clarity that led to that phrase even before its recitation.

From Suratu’l-A‘raf:

Your Lord is God, Who has created the heavens and the earth in six days—then set Himself upon the Supreme Throne, covering the day with the night, each pursuing the other urgently, with the sun, the moon, and the stars subservient, by His command. Truly, His are the creation and the command. Blessed and Supreme is God, the Lord of the worlds. (7:54)

Here the Qur’an shows the grandeur of God’s Power and His Lordship’s sovereignty in such a way that He is an All-Powerful One of Majesty, Who, “seated” on the Throne of Lordship, makes the sun, moon, and stars absolutely obey His commands and by causing night and day continuously to follow each other like white and black ribbons or lines, inscribes His Lordship’s sign on the pages of the universe. Therefore, whoever reads or hears this verse feels eagerness to utter Blessed and Supreme is God, the Lord of the worlds. Thus this phrase summarizes the preceding lines in the con text, and is the substance or seed or fruit of the truths contained in them.

FIFTH QUALITY OF ELOQUENCE: The Qur’an sometimes mentions certain physical or material things or substances of various qualities and subject to change and disintegration. Then, in order to transform them into stable and unchanging realities, it connects and concludes them with certain universal and permanent Divine Names, or concludes with a summary urging reflection and taking a lesson.

From Suratu’l-Baqara:

And He taught Adam the names, all of them; then He presented them unto the angels and said: “Now tell me the names of these, if you speak truly.” They said: “All-Glorified are You, we have no knowledge save what You have taught us. Surely You are the All Knowing, the All-Wise.” (2:31-32)

The verses first mention that Adam’s superiority over angels is due to the knowledge he received as a Divine gift, and then relates the angels’ defeat before Adam with regard to knowledge. The Qur’an concludes its description of these two events with two universal Names: the All-Knowing, All-Wise. Thus the angels acknowledge: “Since You are the All-Knowing and All Wise, You instructed Adam in the Names and made him superior to us through that knowledge. You are the All-Wise, and therefore give us according to our capacities and give him superiority because of his capacity.”

From Suratu’n-Nahl:

There is a lesson for you in cattle. We give you to drink of what is in their bellies, between filth and blood, pure milk, sweet to drinkers. You take from the fruits of the date-palms and vines a strong drink and a fair provision. Surely in that is a sign for a people who reason and understand. Your Lord inspired the bee, saying: “Take for yourself dwelling-place in the mountains, houses, and trees, and of what they are building. Then eat of every kind of fruit and follow the ways of your Lord, easy to go upon.” Then comes out of their bellies a fluid of diverse hues wherein is healing for people. Surely in that is a sign for a people who reflect. (16:66-69)

After demonstrating that for humanity, Almighty God has made some animals (sheep, goats, cows, and camels) sources of pure and delicious milk; some of His vegetable creatures such as date palms and vines tables of sweet, pleasant, and delicious bounties; and some of His Power’s miracles like the bee a producer of honey that contains healing, to urge humanity to compare similar gifts with these and so reflect and take lessons, the verses conclude with In that is a sign for a people who reflect.

SIXTH POINT OF ELOQUENCE: Sometimes a verse lays out many results and decrees of Divine Lordship and unites them with a bond of unity or inserts a universal principle.

From Suratu’l-Baqara:

God, there is no deity but He, the All-Living, the Self-Subsistent. Slumber overtakes Him not, nor sleep. To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. Who is there that will inter cede with Him save with His permission? He knows what is before them (in time and space) and what is behind them (in time and space), and they comprehend nothing of His Knowledge save such as He wills. His Seat embraces the heavens and the earth, and the preserving of them does not weary Him. He is the All-Exalted, the Supreme. (2:255)

Together with proving Divine Unity in ten ways, this verse, called the Verse of the (Supreme) Seat, rejects and refutes associating partners with God with the question: Who is there that will intercede with Him save with His permission? Further, since God’s Greatest Name is manifested in this verse, the meanings it contains concerning Divine truths are of the highest degree. It also shows an all-encompassing control and act of Lordship in Its highest degree. Moreover, after mentioning God’s all-encompassing preserving or upholding in the greatest degree—His simultaneous control of the heavens and the earth, as a bond of unity or an aspect of oneness, it summarizes the origins of all these acts and manifestations in He is the All-Exalted, the Supreme.

From Sura Ibrahim:

God is He Who has created the heavens and the earth and sends down from heaven water wherewith He brings forth fruits for your provision. He has subjected to you the ships to run upon the sea at His command, and He has subjected to you the rivers; and He has subjected to you the sun and moon constant in their courses, and He subjected to you the night and day; and He has granted you from all that you ask Him. Were you to attempt to count the bounties of God, you can never number them... (14:32-34)

These verses show how Almighty God has created this universe like a palace and how, sending the water of life from heaven to the earth, He has made the heavens and the earth like two servants for us. They also state that He has subjected ships to us so that all may benefit from fruits and grains grown elsewhere and may make their livelihood through bartering their produce. In other words, He created the sea, the winds, and trees in such a way and with such qualities that the wind serves as a whip, the ship as a horse, and the sea as a desert.

In addition to enabling us to have global relations through ships, He has made mighty rivers a natural means of transportation. To bring about seasons and present His bounties produced therein to us, the True Giver of Bounties has made the sun and moon run in their courses and created them like two obedient servants or wheels to steer that vast revolving machine. He has appointed the night as a cloak, a cover for our rest and sleep, and the day as a means for making our livelihood.

After enumerating these favors to show how broad is their circle and how uncountable are the favors in themselves, the verses end in this summary: He has granted you from all that you ask Him. Were you to attempt to count the bounties of God, you can never number them. In other words, God gives to us whatever we ask for in the tongue of capacity and natural neediness. His favors are beyond counting. If the table of bounties presented to us is the heavens and the earth, with the sun, the moon, the night and the day being some of the bounties on it, then of course it is impossible to count them.

SEVENTH MANIFESTATION OF ELOQUENCE: To show that apparent causes have no creative part in bringing about the associated effect or result, the Qur’an sometimes presents the purposes for something’s existence and the results it yields. This shows that unconscious and lifeless causes are only apparent veils, and that very wise purposes and significant results can be willed and pursued only by an All-Knowing and All-Wise One.

By mentioning the purposes and results, the Qur’an shows the great distance between the cause and result, regardless of what our eyes tell us. No cause, no matter how great, can produce the smallest result. Thus the Divine Names appear as stars in the distance between causes and effects or results [and connect them together]. Like a line of mountain peaks seeming to meet the sky on the horizon, despite the vast space between them in which the stars rise and set, the distance between causes and results is so great that it can only be seen through belief and the Qur’an’s light.

From Sura ‘Abasa:

Let human consider his food: We pour down rain abundantly, then We split the earth in clefts and therein make the grains grow, as well as grapes and fresh herbage, and olives and date-palms, and gardens dense with foliage, and (diverse other) fruits and herbage, as provision for you and your livestock. (80:24-32)

The verses first mention Divine Power’s miracles in a purposeful order and, connecting the apparent causes with their results, draw the attention to the purpose behind them through as provision for you and your livestock. This purpose proves that there is a free Agent pursuing it along with the series of all those causes and results, and that causes are only a veil before Him. Indeed, with the phrase as provision for you and your livestock the verses declare that material or natural causes have no creative part in bringing about the results and mean: “The water necessary for you and your cattle comes from heaven. Since it cannot have mercy on you and your cattle and thereby provide for you, it does not come by itself; rather, it is sent down. Then the earth splits in clefts for vegetation to grow in and provide you with food. As the unfeeling, unconscious earth cannot consider your provision or have mercy on you, it does not split by itself; rather, someone opens that “door” to you and hands you your provision. Since pastures and trees do not think about your provision or producing fruits and grains for you out of mercy, they are only threads, ropes, or cables that an All-Wise, All-Merciful One stretches out from behind a veil to extend His bounties to living beings.” Thus several Divine Names like the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate, the All-Providing, the All-Giver of Bounties, and the All-Munificent manifest themselves in these verses, even though they are not mentioned.

From Suratu’n-Nur:

Do you not see that God gently drives the clouds, then gathers them together in piles (completing the formation of a circuit between them). Then you see rain issuing out of their midst. He sends down hail out of snow-laden mountains (of clouds) from heaven, and smites with it whom He wills, and averts it from whom He wills. The flash of its lightning almost takes away the sight. God turns about the night and the day. Surely in that is a lesson for people of insight. God has created every living creature from water. Among them are such as move on their bellies, and such as move on two legs, and such as move on four. God creates whatever He wills. Surely God has full power over everything. (24:43-45)

These verses explain the curious Divine disposals in sending rain from accumulated clouds, which are among the Divine Lordship’s most important miracles and the most curious veils over the Divine treasuries of Mercy. While the cloud’s atoms are scattered in the atmosphere, they come together to form a cloud at God’s command, just like a dispersed army assembling at the call of a trumpet. Then, like small troops coming from different directions to form an army, God joins the clouds together to enable the completion of an electric circuit between them. He causes those piled-up clouds, which resemble the moving mountains at the Resurrection and are charged with rain or snow or hail, to pour down the water of life to all living beings on the earth.

Rain does not fall by itself, but is sent to meet certain purposes and according to need. While the atmosphere is clear and no clouds can be seen, the mountain-like forms of clouds, gathered like a striking assembly, assemble because the One Who knows all living beings and their needs gathers them together to send rain therefrom. These events suggest several Divine Names: the All-Powerful, the All-Knowing, the All-Disposer of Things, the All Arranging, the All-Upbringing, the All-Helping, and the All-Giver of Life.

EIGHTH QUALITY OF ELOQUENCE: To convince our hearts of God Almighty’s wonderful acts in the Hereafter, and to prepare our intellects to confirm them, the Qur’an sometimes mentions His amazing actions in the world. In other places, it describes His miraculous acts pertaining to the future and the Hereafter in such a manner that we are convinced of them due to something with which we are familiar in our own lives.

From Sura Ya Sin:

Does human not consider that We created him of a drop of (seminal) fluid? Yet he turns into a manifest, fierce adversary. And he has coined for Us a comparison, having forgotten his own origin and creation, saying, “Who will give life to these bones when they have rotted away?” Say: “He Who produced them in the first instance will revive them. He has full knowledge of all creation. He Who has made for you fire from the green tree and see, you kindle fire with it.” Is not He Who has created the heavens and the earth able to create the like of them (whose bones have rotted away under the ground)? Surely He is; He is the Supreme Creator, the All-Knowing. When He wills a thing to be, He but says to it “Be!” and it is. So All-Glorified is He in Whose hand is absolute dominion of all things, and to Him you are being brought back. (36:77-83)

In the verses above, the Qur’an proves the Resurrection in seven or eight ways. First, it presents humanity’s first creation and means: “You see you are created through the stages of a sperm-drop, something suspended on the wall of your mother’s womb, something like a lump of chewed flesh, the bones and the clothing of bones in muscular tissue. As you can see this, how can you deny the other creation (the Resurrection), which is even easier than the first one?”

By reminding people of His great favors to them through He has made for you fire from the green tree, Almighty God means: “The One Who bestows such favors does not leave you to yourselves, so that you enter the grave and lie there, not to be raised again.” Also, He suggests: “You see how dead or dried trees are revived and turn green, so how can you deem it unlikely that wood-like bones will be revived? Further, is He Who has created the heavens and the earth unable to create humanity, the fruit of the heavens and the earth? Does One Who governs a huge tree attach no importance to its fruit and leave it to others? Do you think He will leave humanity, the result of the Tree of Creation, to it own devices or to others, and thereby allow that Tree of Creation, all parts of which have been kneaded with wisdom, to go to waste?”

Again He means: “The One Who will revive you on the Day of Judgment is such that the whole universe is like an obedient soldier before Him. It submits with perfect obedience to His command of “Be!” and it is. For Him, creating spring and a flower are equal. It is as easy for His Power to create all animals as a fly. It is absolutely improper and irrational to see Him as impotent and challenge His Power by asking: ‘Who will revive the bones?’”

Through So All-Glorified is He, in Whose hand is the absolute dominion of all things, the Qur’an signifies: “He controls everything and has the keys to everything. He alternates night and day, and winter and summer, as easily as turning the pages of a book. He is such an All-Powerful One of Majesty that, like closing one house and opening another, He closes this world and opens the next. Given this fact and its proofs, you will be returned to Him. He will resurrect everyone and gather them in the Place of Mustering, where He will call you to account for what you did while in the world.” Such verses prepare one’s mind and heart to accept the Resurrection, because they show how it resembles many events in our lives.

The Qur’an sometimes mentions God’s acts in the other world in such a manner that it suggests their like in the world and leaves no room to deny the Resurrection.

From suras at-Takwir, al-Infitar, and al-Inshiqaq, beginning with the following respective verses:

When the sun is folded up. (81:1) When the heaven is cleft open. (82:1) When the heaven is split asunder. (84:1)

In these suras, the Qur’an describes the tremendous events of the world’s destruction and the Resurrection in such a way that since we see their like especially during spring and autumn, we easily affirm those revolutions, which cause dread to the heart and cannot be comprehended by the mind. As it would be too lengthy even to summarize the meaning of those suras, I will point out only one verse as an example:

When the scrolls (of deeds) are laid open (81:10) states that on the Day of Judgment, everyone will be confronted with a role of pages containing the record of their deeds. This is hard for us to comprehend. However, every year we witness similar events during the general revival in spring, as well as many other events that are similar to those the sura mentions concerning the world’s destruction and the Resurrection.

Every fruit-bearing tree or flowering plant has deeds, actions, and duties. Its type of worship shows the Divine Names manifested in it. All of its deeds (its life-cycle from germination to blossoming and yielding fruits) are recorded in its seeds to be exhibited in a subsequent spring on the earth. As it clearly displays the deeds of its source or origin in the tongue of its form and shape, its branches, twigs, leaves, blossoms, and fruits lay open the pages of those deeds. Thus the One Who does this work before our eyes as manifestations of His Names the All-Wise, the All-Preserving, the All-Arranging, the All Upbringing, and the All-Subtle, is He Who says: When the scrolls (of deeds) are laid open. Compare other points with this and understand.

However, for further help, also consider the explanation of: When the sun is folded up (81:1). Besides the brilliant metaphor in folded up (meaning “rolled” or “wrapped up”), the verse alludes to several related events: First, by drawing back the veils of non-existence, ether, and the heaven respectively, Almighty God brought a brilliant lamp (the sun) out of His Mercy’s treasury to illuminate and be displayed to the world. After the world is destroyed, He will rewrap it in its veils and remove it.

Second, the sun is an official of God charged with spreading its goods of light and folding light and darkness alternately round the world’s head. Each evening it gathers up and conceals its goods. Sometimes it does little business because a cloud veils it; sometimes it withdraws from doing business because the moon draws a veil over its face and closes its account book for a short, fixed time. At some future time, this official will resign from its post. Even if there is no cause for its dismissal, due to the two black spots growing on its face, as they have begun to do, the sun will obey the Divine command to draw back the light it sends to the earth and wrap it around its own head. God will order it: “You no longer have any duty toward the earth. Now, go to Hell and burn those who, by worshipping you, insulted an obedient official with disloyalty as if you had claimed divinity.” Through its black-spotted face, the sun exhibits the meaning of: When the sun is folded up.

NINTH POINT OF ELOQUENCE: Sometimes the wise Qur’an mentions a particular purpose and, to urge our minds to think in universal terms, con firms and establishes that purpose through Divine Names, which are the origin of certain universal rules.

From Suratu’l-Mujadila:

God has indeed heard the words of the woman who pleads with you concerning her husband and refers her complaint to God. God hears your conversation. Surely God is All-Hearing, All-Seeing. (58:1)

The Qur’an says: “Almighty God is All-Hearing. He hears through His Name the Ultimate Truth a wife arguing with you and complaining about her husband, a most particular matter. A woman is most compassionate among human beings, and a mine of care and tenderness leading to self-sacrifice. So, as a requirement of His being the All-Compassionate, Almighty God hears her complaint and considers it a matter of great importance through His Name the Ultimate Truth.” By concluding a universal principle from a particular event, the verse suggests that One Who hears and sees a particular, minor incident must hear and see all things. One Who claims Lordship over the universe must be aware of the troubles of any creature who has been wronged and hear its cries. One Who cannot do so cannot be Lord. Thus God is All-Hearing, All Seeing establishes these two mighty truths.

From Suratu’l-Isra’:

All-Glorified is He Who took His servant for a journey by night from the Sacred Mosque (al-Masjidu’l-Haram) to the Farthest Mosque (al-Masjidu’l-Aqsa’), whose neighborhood We have blessed, that We might show him of Our signs. Surely He is the Hearing, the Seeing. (17:1)

This verse relates the first stage of the noblest Messenger’s Ascension, upon him be peace and blessings. “He” in Surely He is refers to either the Prophet or Almighty God. If it refers to the Prophet, it means: “This journey is a comprehensive one, a universal ascension. During it, as far as the Lote tree of the utmost boundary (where the Realm of the Created ends) and at a distance between two bow strings, or less, he heard and saw God’s signs and amazing works of art that were displayed before his eyes and ears in the Divine Names’ universal degrees of manifestations.” Thus the verse presents the journey from al-Masjidu’l-Haram in Mecca to al-Masjidu’l-Aqsa’ in Jerusalem as the key to a universal journey.

If He refers to Almighty God, its means: “To admit His servant to His Presence at the end of a journey and to entrust him with a duty, He took him from al-Masjidu’l-Haram to al-Masjidu’l-Aqsa’. He caused him to meet the Prophets, who were gathered there. After showing that he is the heir to the principles of all Prophets’ religions, He caused him to travel through the realms of His dominion in all their inner and outer dimensions, to the distance between two bow strings, or less.”

The Prophet is a servant and made a particular journey. But together with him was a trust pertaining to the universe and a light that would change the universe’s color. There was also a key with him to open the door to eternal happiness. Therefore, Almighty God describes Himself with the attributes of hearing and seeing all things to demonstrate the global purposes for the trust, the light, and the key.

From Suratu’l-Fatir:

All praise and thanks are for God, the Originator of the heavens and the earth, Who appoints angels as messengers having wings, two, three, or four (or more). He increases in creation what He wills. Surely God has full power over everything. (35:1)

This verse means: “By adorning the heavens and the earth and demonstrating His Perfection’s works, their All-Majestic Originator causes their innumerable spectators to extol and praise Him infinitely. He decorated them with uncountable bounties so that the heavens and the earth praise and exalt endlessly their All-Merciful Originator in the tongue of all bounties and those who receive them.”

The verse also shows that the All-Originating One of Majesty, Who has equipped humans, animals and birds (the inhabitants of the earth’s regions) with the necessary limbs, faculties, and wings to travel throughout the world, and Who has equipped angels (the heavens’ inhabitants) with wings to fly and travel throughout the heavenly palaces of stars and lofty lands of constellations, must be powerful over all things. The One Who has given wings to fly from one fruit to another, and to a sparrow to fly from one tree to another, is He Who gives the wings with which to fly from Venus to Jupiter and from Jupiter to Saturn.

Furthermore, unlike the earth’s inhabitants, angels are not restricted to particularity or confined by a specific limited space. Through two, three, or four. He increases in creation what He wills, the verse suggests that angels may be present on four or more stars at the same time. Thus by stating that God has equipped angels with wings (a particular event), the Qur’an points to the origin of a universal, tremendous power and establishes it with the summary: God has full power over everything.

TENTH POINT OF ELOQUENCE: Sometimes the Qur’an mentions humanity’s rebellious acts and restrains its members with severe threats.

But so as not to cast people into despair, it concludes with certain Divine Names pointing to His Mercy and consoles them.

From Suratu’sh-Shura:

Say: “If there were, as they assert, deities besides Him, they would certainly seek a way against the Master of the Supreme Throne.” All-Glorified is He, and absolutely exalted, immeasurably high above what they say. The seven heavens and the earth and all that is therein glorify Him. There is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise, but you do not comprehend their glorification. Surely He is All-Clement, All-Forgiving. (42:4)

The verses mean: “Say: ‘If there were deities with Him in His Sovereignty, they would have sought a share in His absolute rule over creation. This would have caused disorder in the universe. However, every creature, universal or particular, big or small, from the seven levels of the heavens to microscopic organisms, glorifies the All-Majestic One signified by the All-Beautiful Names in the tongue of the inscriptions of the Divine Names manifested on them. They declare Him free of any partners. Just as the heavens declare Him to be All-Holy and testify to His Unity through their light-diffusing words of suns and stars, as well as through the wisdom and order they display, the atmosphere glorifies and sanctifies Him and testify to His Unity through the words of clouds, thunder, lighting, and rain.” Similarly, just as the earth glorifies its All-Majestic Creator and declares Him to be One through its living words of plants and animate creatures, each tree glorifies Him and testifies to His Oneness through its words of leaves, blossoms, and fruits. Likewise, even the smallest and most particular creature glorifies the All-Majestic One, many of Whose Names it displays through their inscriptions that it bears, and testifies to His Unity. The verses state that humanity is the issue and result of the universe, its delicate fruit that has been honored with ruling the earth in God’s name. However, while the universe glorifies its All-Majestic Creator with one voice, testifies to His Oneness, and worships in perfect obedience, unbelievers and those who associate partners with God commit an ugly act that deserves punishment. So that such people will not give in to utter despair and in order to show the wisdom in why, despite such an infinitely ugly rebellion and crime, the All-Overwhelming One of Majesty gives them respite without destroying the world on them, the verses conclude with He is All-Clement, All-Forgiving, and thus leave a door open for repentance and the hope of being forgiven.

Understand from these foregoing signs of miraculousness that the conclusive parts of the verses contain many aspects of guidance and gleams of miraculousness. Even the greatest geniuses of eloquence have admired and been astonished by the Qur’an’s eloquent styles and, concluding that it cannot have a human origin, have believed with absolute certainty that it is a Revelation revealed (53:4). Together with the points and qualities already mentioned, verses contain many further qualities such that even the “blind” can see the impress of miraculousness in their totality.

Bediuzzaman Said Nursi