The Cattle (Al-An‘am)

Commentary

The system inherent in the governance of heaven and earth is so perfect in its coordination and its unitary nature—despite the magnitude of the task—that it proclaims aloud the fact that its Creator and Organiser can be none other than the one and only God. Witness how unimaginably great is this universe in its vastness, wisdom and meaningfulness. The flawlessly regulated revolution of the earth in space around the bright sphere of the Sun and, hence the coming into existence of light and darkness and day and night are events beyond human comprehension. Now, why should there be any question of God—who has organised the universe to perfection—having any shortcoming which would necessitate His having a partner to give Him assistance? The fact is that the wonderful system by which everything in the world is regulated is in itself proof that its Lord (God) is one and one alone, and this same system also demonstrates that God is so great that He does not need any assistant either in His creation or in His control of what He has created. The age of the present world is limited. Here life cannot be devoid of grief. Here unpleasantness goes along with pleasantness. Evil cannot be separated from goodness nor goodness from evil. In such circumstances, man is unable to understand how the eternal world of the Hereafter, which will be free from grief (35:34) can come into existence. If the world of the Hereafter is to be created with some matter other than that of this world, that is something beyond man’s ken; but if the other world of the Hereafter is to be created from the matter of this world, it has to be conceded that this world in itself lacks the capacity to bring into existence a world of total perfection. The very existence of the raiser of this issue is in itself an answer to this question. The body of a human being is wholly made of earth elements but it has unique properties, none of which is found in the earth. Man hears; he speaks; and he thinks; he performs wonderful acts, though the earth with which he is made is not capable of performing these acts. From earthen elements a non-earthly creature has wondrously emerged. This is a matter confirmed by everyday experience. In view of this, how strange it is that man should harbour doubts about the advent of the Hereafter. If a living and active man comes into existence from earth; if fragrant flowers and luscious fruits emerge from earth, then why cannot a more perfect world emerge from our present world?