Reflections

Reflections

This transformation indicates that there is a kind of satisfaction within that natural function and activity. If the inanimate being partakes of universal life, that satisfaction belongs to it. If not, it belongs to the angel or human being who serves as its overseer and representative.

On the basis of this mystery, one may even say that when delicate and subtle water receives the command to freeze, it obeys that command so completely that it bursts iron and breaks it into pieces.

In other words, when water enclosed within a sealed iron vessel receives from its Lord, through freezing cold, the command to expand, it breaks the iron vessel with intense eagerness. It splits the iron and itself becomes ice.

When you consider everything from this perspective, you see that from the revolutions and journeys of suns to the spinning movements of atoms, all activity and events in the universe occur in accordance with the decrees of Allah. They take place through the awāmir-i takwīniyyah proceeding from His power and requiring His will, authority, and knowledge.

Moreover, every atom, every creature, and every living being resembles a soldier who has various relations and duties within different divisions of an army.

For example, an atom in your eye is connected with the cells of the eye, the optic nerves, and the blood vessels. Through these connections, it performs a specific function and, by means of that function, produces benefits for your body. By analogy, you may consider all things in the same way.

Thus we may conclude that everything bears witness to the necessary existence of the Qadīr-i Azalī in two respects:

The first respect: By carrying out tasks far beyond their own power, all things testify to the existence of that All-Powerful One.

The second respect: By acting in accordance with the principles through which order is established in the universe and the laws through which the arrangement of existence is preserved, all things confirm the existence of the Alīm-i Qadīr.

For example, an inanimate being such as an atom, or a tiny creature such as a bee, possesses no knowledge of the subtle principles and requirements upon which the order and balance of the universe depend.

How could an inanimate atom or a tiny creature like a bee comprehend those profound principles and requirements of the universe, which lie within the power of the Dhāt-i Dhul-Jalāl, Who opens, closes, and preserves the layers of the heavens like the pages of a book?

Only if, in your foolishness, you were to imagine that an atom itself possessed the knowledge required to comprehend and act in accordance with all those principles could you attempt to deny the testimony it bears to the existence of Allah.