The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) البقرة 163–164
163
وَإِلَـهُكُمْ إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ لاَّ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ الرَّحْمَنُ الرَّحِيمُ
Your God is one God. There is no deity save Him. He is the Compassionate, the Merciful.
164
إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلاَفِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ وَالْفُلْكِ الَّتِي تَجْرِي فِي الْبَحْرِ بِمَا يَنفَعُ النَّاسَ وَمَا أَنزَلَ اللّهُ مِنَ السَّمَاء مِن مَّاء فَأَحْيَا بِهِ الأرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا وَبَثَّ فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ دَآبَّةٍ وَتَصْرِيفِ الرِّيَاحِ وَالسَّحَابِ الْمُسَخِّرِ بَيْنَ السَّمَاء وَالأَرْضِ لآيَاتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ
In the creation of the heavens and the earth; in the alternation of night and day; in the ships that sail the ocean bearing cargoes beneficial to man; in the water which God sends down from the sky and with which He revives the earth after its death, scattering over it all kinds of animals; in the courses of the winds, and in the clouds pressed into service between earth and sky, there are indeed signs for people who use their reason.
No class discussions published for this verse group yet.
(a) Mankind has only one God: He is the only worthy focus of man’s attention. Our very existence on earth, and all the benefits we derive from the world around us, are manifestations of His unbounded grace and mercy. In return, we should become God’s devoted servants, living for Him, dying for Him, and setting all our hopes on winning His eternal favour. Man owes everything to his Creator. If he becomes conscious of this, his Lord will mean everything to him, as a mother means everything to her infant. (a) The vast universe spread out before us serves as a magnificent introduction to God. The existence of a limitless world in the form of the earth and the heavens is a proof that there must be a Creator behind it. Despite apparently different and contrasting elements, all things work together in absolute harmony, showing that their Creator and Sustainer is the one and only God. Then the fact that every single thing benefits the rest of the universe, in some manner or the other, shows that all things have been designed according to a definite and absolutely conscious plan. Apparently lifeless objects are invested with life through a natural process: this shows that death is only a temporary phase in this universe. Here death is always followed by new life. Every variety of animate creature flourishes in this world in huge numbers. All are being sustained by varied forms of the same food and drink, indicating the unfathomable power of God. The atmosphere totally encompassing the earth shows that man’s life is entirely in his Creator’s hands. Everything in this universe has been tamed to cater to man’s needs. This is indicative of the fact that man’s Creator is a highly compassionate being. Even before an individual has been born into the world, all his requirements have already been taken care of. The presence of all these signs in the universe are reflections of the Creator in His creation. The universe displays God’s very existence and His oneness on a vast scale; it is an amalgam of every aspect of perfection, so that no one with any vision or even a grain of intelligence can fail to discover Him in it. But these signs, spread all over the universe, serve as proofs of God’s existence and His role as sustainer of the entire universe, only to one who sincerely reflects on these signs. For, to be able to arrive at the truth, one has to be sincere in one’s search for it, and one has to rise above worldly considerations before drawing one’s conclusions. This can be achieved only by total absorption, not in externals, but in the search for the inner reality that lies beneath the outward surface of things.