The Cattle (Al-An‘am)

Commentary

(a) God has created this world in such a way that it provides practical examples of those facts to which the attention of human beings is called. If a man does not close his eyes and does not screen off his mind with false veils, he will find in the whole universe practical demonstrations of the Quran’s challenge to man’s thinking processes. Branches emerge from a tree trunk and leaves sprout from the branches, but there is a difference in their respective joints. In other words, the Creator knows that the branches have to remain attached to the trunk, while the leaves have to detach themselves and fall down. If this were not so, the leaves would fail to separate from the branches and the entire system of bringing new life to the tree every year would be upset. Similarly, when a seed is sown, the earth in which it is placed already possesses all the ingredients from which it derives nourishment and finally grows into a full-fledged tree. Then, how is it possible that God who is aware of the conditions of such things as a leaf and a seed could be unaware of the human condition? (a) Our earth is a unique phenomenon in the whole universe. The system prevailing here has been made congenial to the conditions of God’s creatures—human beings. A major part of the interior of the earth consists of fire but it does not burst open. The sun is at exactly the right distance mathematically, and does not move closer or farther away. A man always needs air and water; so air has been spread over the earth in gaseous form and water has been stored under the surface of the earth in liquid form. There are countless similar arrangements that are constantly main- tained in the right proportions on the earth. If there were even a slight variation in these, it would be impossible for a human being to live here. Sleep is a wonderful thing. Man roams about here and there; he sees and speaks; but when he sleeps all his senses become suspended, just as if life had oozed out of them. When he has had his full sleep and wakes up, he becomes as active as before. This is, so to say, an example of life and death. This event demonstrates how a man will die and how he will be resurrected, i.e. be brought back to life. These events prove that all men are in the power of God and soon that Day will come when God will take fateful decisions about them in the exercise of His powers.