Difficulty in putting sublime concepts into simple words

Difficulty in putting sublime concepts into simple words

1986 1 January 23 Difficulty in putting sublime concepts into simple words (51) A journalist once asked Paul Dirac (1902-1984), the British scientist who first predicted the existence of anti-particles, if he could explain for the readers of a popular journal how he arrived at the idea of anti-matter. He thought for a moment and simply said “No”. (The Muslim, Islamabad, November 23, 1984)

Discovering God

1986 1 January 23 Discovering God (326) There is a verse of the Quran which says that “they have not justly estimated the might of God. But on the Day of Resurrection, He will hold the entire earth in His grasp and hold up the heavens in His right hand. Glory be to Him! Exalted be He above the partners they set up with Him” (39:67).

A tradition related to this verse has come down to us – with slight variation in wording – through various channels. Imam Ahmad’s version is on the authority of Abdullah ibn Umer. One day the Prophet recited this verse of Surah Al Zumer. He was moving his hand, backwards and forwards. “God will reveal His might,” he said. “He will say: ‘I am the All-Powerful, the Most High, the Sovereign Lord, the Mighty and Gracious One. Where are the kings of the earth?’” Then Abdullah ibn Umer went on: “The Prophet was trembling so much that we thought he might fall down, along with the pulpit he was standing on.”

This is what happens to a person who truly discovers God. The Prophet of God was not looking at his Lord face to face. But the picture that he had formed in his mind of God on High was such a vivid one that, as he explained the Lord’s might, it looked as if he would fall to the ground in awe and bewilderment.

Such is the nature of realization of God. To come to know God is to come to know the Lord of the Worlds, the Greatest and Most Powerful One. To discover such a being is no simple matter. It is a discovery which shatters one’s whole being, and creates a tumult within one’s soul. To come to know God is to see Him, though he has not yet come out into the open; it is to fall dumbfounded before Him, though as yet He has not revealed Himself from behind the veil of the universe.