THE WORD OF GOD
THE WORD OF GOD
From The Scriptures
THE Quran is the book of God. It has been preserved in its entirety since its revelation to the Prophet of Islam between 610 and 632 A.D. It is a book that brings glad tidings to mankind, along with divine admonition, and stresses the importance of man’s discovery of the Truth on a spiritual and intellectual level.
Translated from Arabic and commentary
by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Have you not seen that God sends down water from the sky, guides it to form springs in the earth, and then, with it, brings forth vegetation of various colours, which later withers, turns yellow before your eyes, and then He makes it crumble away? There is truly a reminder in this for those who possess understanding. Anyone whose heart God has opened up to Islam possesses a light from his Lord. But woe betide those whose hearts have been hardened against the remembrance of God! Such people are in obvious error. 39: 21-22
The wonderful system of rains on the earth, the resulting growth of greenery and the subsequent preparations for harvesting, have countless meaningful lessons in them. But, these lessons are available only to those who devote themselves to deep thought.
On one hand, God has created the external world in a way that everything in it has become a sign of great realities, and, on the other, He has endowed man with the ability to read these signs and understand them. Those who keep their natural capabilities alive and, by utilising them, give deep consideration to the things of the world, will have their minds filled with the deep realisation (ma‘rifah) of God. Whereas those who do not keep these capabilities alive, will be unable to learn anything, even though surrounded by countless lessons. They will not be able to see, even after seeing, and will not be able to hear, even after hearing.
God has sent down the best Message: a Scripture that is consimilar and oft-repeated: that causes the skins of those in awe of their Lord to creep. Then their skins and their hearts soften at the mention of THE Quran is the book of God. It has been preserved in its entirety since its revelation to the Prophet of Islam between 610 and 632 A.D. It is a book that brings glad tidings to mankind, along with divine admonition, and stresses the importance of man’s discovery of the Truth on a spiritual and intellectual level. Translated from Arabic and commentary by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Spirit of Islam Issue 25 January 2015 45 God: such is God’s guidance. He bestows it upon whoever He will; but no one can guide those whom God leaves to stray. 39: 23
God has blessed man with a guidebook in the form of the Quran. It has two special qualities. One of its qualities is that it is marked by utmost consistency. In other words, it is a book which has no contradictions. One part does not clash with another. If the Quran’s statements had not corresponded exactly with reality, there would have been differences between and inconsistencies in its various parts.
The second quality of the Quran is its use of repetition; that is, its topics are often repeated in different styles. This quality in the Quran shows that it is a book of advice and guidance. An adviser always wishes that his words should establish themselves firmly in the mind of the hearer. For this purpose, he expresses the same statements in different ways. This wisdom is found in the Quran in its best form.
It is the nature of man that when he hears some terrible news, or he undergoes some hair-raising experience, his inner being is humbled and his heart is softened by the news. When a serious man reads the Quran, he undergoes such spiritual experiences.
What about the one who will have only his bare face to protect him from his terrible punishment on the Day of Resurrection? The evildoers will be told, ‘Taste what you have earned.’ Those before them also denied the truth, and the punishment fell on them from where they did not expect. God gave them a taste of humiliation in the life of this world, but the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if they only knew it. 39: 24-26
Man always tries to save his face from injuries, but the punishment of Doomsday will so encompass man that it will not be possible for him to save any part of his body. In fact he will stand before the ineluctable punishment, as if using his face as a shield against it.
In the eyes of God, the greatest crime a man can commit is not to admit to the Truth when it reveals itself to him. Such people can never escape the scourge of God.
We have set forth to men all kinds of parables in this Quran so that they may take heed: a Quran in Arabic, free from any ambiguity— so that people may be mindful. God sets forth a parable: there are two men—one belonging to many masters, all disagreeing with one 46 Spirit of Islam Issue 25 January 2015 another, and the other belonging entirely to one master: are those two equal in comparison? Praise be to God! But most of them have no knowledge. You will die and they too will die, and, then on the Day of Resurrection you shall place your dispute before your Sustainer.39: 27-31
The Quran’s statements are in a language intelligible to man and within the sphere of his knowledge, so that nobody should have any difficulty in understanding them.
Here, in symbolic language, it has been explained that the principle of the Unity of God as compared to polytheism is more rational and consistent with nature. Indeed, the functioning of the external universe is indicative of the fact that a single Will is operative in it. Had there been many intentions operative therein, the system of the universe could not have run so harmoniously. Moreover, man’s nature is also such that it prefers unity in loyalty. It is entirely against man’s nature to subscribe to different kinds of loyalties, as a result of which he is unable to do justice to any of them.
All arguments and possibilities indicate that there is only one God, who is the Creator of man and who is worthy of being worshipped by him. In the present world, this fact is proclaimed through men like us. On the Day of Judgement, this will be declared by the Creator of the Universe Himself. At that time, denial of this fact will be impossible. o
