Surah Ali 'Imran, Ayah 194

The Proofs of Tawhid for People of Understanding, their Characteristics, Speech, and Supplications

Allah said,

إِنَّ فِى خَلْقِ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ

(Verily, in the creation of the heavens and the Earth,) 3:190, referring to the sky in its height and spaciousness, the earth in its expanse and density, the tremendous features they have of rotating planets, seas, mountains, deserts, trees, plants, fruits, animals, metals and various beneficial colors, scents, tastes and elements.

وَاخْتِلَـفِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ

(And in the alternation of night and day), as one follows and takes from the length of the other. For instance, at times one of them becomes longer than the other, shorter than the other at times and equal to the other at other times, and the same is repeated again and again, and all this occurs by the decision of the Almighty, Most Wise. This is why Allah said,

That human intentions and plans keep failing everywhere all the time is a matter of common experience. These cannot be called the prime movers and operators of this universal system. Therefore, the outcome of the deliberation into the creation of the heavens and the earth and into what has been created in them is, as wisdom dictates, living to know, obey and remember Allah. Anyone unmindful of it does not deserve to be classed as wise. Therefore, the Holy Qur'an has given the following sign of the wise:

الَّذِينَ يَذْكُرُ‌ونَ اللَّـهَ قِيَامًا وَقُعُودًا وَعَلَىٰ جُنُوبِهِمْ

That is, the wise are those who remember Allah - standing and sitting and (lying) on their sides (191).

Those who think deeply, seeking a more profound reality, find it unthinkable that a meaningful universe should have a meaningless end. They discover, that the message conveyed by the preacher is the announcement, in human language, of the same reality, which is being silently proclaimed by the whole universe. The greatest issue is that when the truth is unveiled, and the ‘sun’ of justice makes its appearance, they should not be left deprived and destitute. So when the truth appears, they rush towards it, remembering God. By breaking all personal bonds and ridding their thoughts of worldly considerations, they become one with the preacher of truth; so that in the next world, when the ‘darkness’ and the ‘light’ of the universe are separated, the Lord of the universe will make them inhabit the light, and will not abandon them to fumble eternally in the dark. The true measure of wisdom and unwisdom is wholly different from the one devised by human beings on their own. Here a wise man is one who lives in the remembrance of God, who can discover the divine meaningfulness at work in the creation plan of the universe. On the contrary, the unwise man is one who keeps his mind engaged in other more material things, who lives in this world as if he is totally unaware of the creation plan of the Lord of the Universe.