To Disbelieve in God’s Sign is to Disbelieve in God Himself

Umar’s falling down on coming face to face with divine proof was just like stones crashing down from a height. Landslides are symbolic of fear of God, but Umar’s “landslide” was fear of God in purely physical terms. God does not want man to be stubborn and arrogant when confronted with truth; He wants His servants to fall before Him in total submission and acceptance. Stones that slide down mountains show man what his reaction to truth should be—one of instant capitulation. Forgetting his power of refusal, he should act as if he has no power— like stones—and collapse, voluntarily, before God. That was how Umar reacted when faced with truth. He collapsed, like stones crashing down a mountain. The difference was that his capitulation was voluntary, while landslides occur involuntarily. So lacking in reservation was Umar’s action that it fell not one whit short of what God expected of him; it was a perfect replica of the demonstration in nature of the form that submission should take in man. At that time it was just one verse of the Quran, just a few recited words, which had this effect upon Umar. He could have rejected these words. If he had treated the matter as one of personal pride, and challenged the applicability of this verse, then he would have found many supporters among the people of Arabia. He could have excused himself on the pretext that he had not meant to deny the Prophet’s death; he had only sought to keep it secret until the problem of succession had been solved. But for Umar this was not a matter of personal prestige, to be salvaged by denial or pretence; it was a matter of God coming before him in the form of truth, and he fell down in submission to it as if God Himself was standing before him. There are always two types of people in the world: those whose spirits are ignited by the glory of God, and those who are animated instead by the greatness of others besides God, be the object of their veneration their own selves or any other. The first are monotheists, the second polytheists. It is the first group—those who nourish their souls on the greatness of God—who will enter heaven. The others— those who have fed their souls on the greatness of others besides God—will themselves be fuel for the fire of hell. Paradise is the kingdom of God: it can only be entered by those who live with Him, by Him, and for Him in the world. How can those who have taken others as their lords expect to be admitted to His kingdom?