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 AD 610 and 632. It is a book that brings glad tidings to humankind, 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
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful Alif Lam Mim. This Book has beyond all doubt been revealed by the Lord of the universe. Do they say, ‘He has invented it himself.’? No indeed! It is the truth from your Lord to warn a people to whom, before you, no warner came, so that hopefully they may be rightly guided. (32: 1-3)
On the face of it, this is an ordinary statement consisting of just a few words. But this is a very serious and portentous claim, which in the entire history of religion, nobody has had the courage to profess, except those chosen few to whom the Book of God was in actuality revealed. Other than the appointed person, anyone who mustered the audacity to utter these words, was either a trifler or a madman.
The Quran is a proof in itself. Its miraculous style, its claims that have not been proved wrong even after centuries have elapsed,—all these and similar considerations prove that it is a book sent by God. And since it is a book of God, it is absolutely necessary that everybody should pay heed to its warnings and gives serious thought to them.
It was God who created the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is in between in six Days, and then He established Himself on the throne. You have no patron nor any intercessor besides Him. So will you not pay heed? He directs all affairs from heaven to earth. Then all will again ascend to Him on a Day whose length is a thousand years by the way you measure. Such is the Knower of the unseen and the visible, the Powerful, the Merciful, who gave everything its perfect form. He originated the creation of man from clay, then He made his progeny from an extract of a humble fluid. Then He moulded him; He breathed His Spirit into him; He gave you hearing, sight, and hearts. How seldom you are grateful! (32: 4-9)
The gradual creation of the universe, in six days meaning six stages, along with the system full of wisdom governing it, is indicative of the fact that the Creator has some special purpose behind this creation. Moreover, numerous processes are incessantly going on in the universe. This further proves that its Creator is running it in a well-planned manner. The human being is a wonderful living organism, but if his body is analyzed, it will be found that it is composed of earth elements. Then this creation does not end there, but continues eternally through the process of procreation and regeneration.
If the individual gives deep and serious consideration to these facts, his mind will be free of feelings of awe for anything except the Majesty of God. He will become a grateful subject of God. But there are very few who give deep consideration to anything. That is why there are very few people who offer praises to God and are grateful to Him.
They say, ‘When we are lost in the earth, how can we then be recreated?’ Indeed, they deny they will ever meet their Lord. Say, ‘The Angel of Death who has been given charge of you will gather in your souls. Then you will [all] be returned to your Lord.’ If only you could see the evil-doers hanging their heads in shame before their Lord, ‘Our Lord, we have seen and we have heard, so send us back again and we will act rightly. For we do indeed now believe.’ Yet had We so willed, We could indeed have imposed Our guidance upon every human being: but My word shall come true: ‘I will fill Hell with jinns and men all together.’ We shall say to them, ‘Taste this—for you forgot you would ever meet this Day. We too will forget you—taste the chastisement of Eternity for your [evil] deeds!’ (32: 10-14)
Man’s creation for the first time is enough to convince humankind of the possibility of creation for the second time. But when a man does not believe in his accountability before God, he ridicules the possibility of a second creation, and he talks flippantly of it.
But, this amounts to taking liberties throughout the period of freedom given for the purpose of putting man to test. And when this period expires and a man dies and is made to stand before Almighty God for the purpose of giving an account of himself, he will find himself speechless. At that time, the arrogant will say that they now accept the reality and will request that they be sent back into the world, so that they may perform righteous deeds. But this admission at that stage will be useless. Had God desired that people should accept reality in this way, He could have compelled them to accept it in the present world itself.
Before God, that acceptance carries weight which is made without the reality being visible. Acceptance after seeing the reality has no value. The people who truly believe in Our messages are those who fall to the ground in prostration when they are reminded of them, and glorify their Lord with praise and are not arrogant. They forsake their beds, calling upon their Lord in fear and in hope, and spend out of what We have provided them with. No soul knows what joy is kept hidden in store for them as a reward for their labours. (32: 15-17)
For an individual to avail of guidance, his willingness to accept the Truth is the most important factor. Only those who, by temperament, are ready to accept the Truth whenever it presents itself before them— whether it be revealed through a person of lesser importance, whether such acceptance be a tacit admission of one’s own error, or whether such acceptance leads to upsetting the existing system of one’s life— are capable of availing of guidance. Only those who have such a capacity will find the Truth. Those who want to accept the Truth, but at the same time want their ‘greatness’ to remain intact, will never find it.
A man who sacrifices his greatness for the sake of Truth actually finds the greatest thing, namely, the greatness of God. God enters his life in such a way that he sleeps thinking about Him and wakes up with memories of God. His hopes and fears are all linked with God. He surrenders all his possessions to God to the point of not keeping back anything for himself. Such people will forever relish the bounties of the eternal Gardens of Paradise.