EQUALITY

THE WORD OF GOD From The Scriptures T HE Quran is the book of God. It has been preserved in its entirety since its revelation to the Prophet of Islam between 610 and 632 A.D. It is a book that brings glad tidings to mankind, along with divine admonition, and stresses the importance of man’s discovery of the Truth on a spiritual and intellectual level. Translated from Arabic and commentary by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan Have you not seen how your Lord lengthens the shadows? Had He pleased, He could have made them constant; then We placed the sun as an indicator for them, then We withdrew it to Us, a gradual withdrawal. It is He who made the night a mantle for you, and sleep for repose; and made the day a time for rising. It is He who sends the winds as heralds of His mercy and We send down pure water from the sky, so that We may bring life to a dead land; and slake the thirst of Our creation; cattle and men, in great numbers. (THE QURAN 25: 45-49) The phenomenon which in the present age is known as the axial rotation of the earth has been set down here in layman’s language. The earth rotates on its axis once in twenty-four hours, due to which day and night follow upon each other. This is a wonderful miracle of Almighty God’s power. Had there been no axial rotation of the earth, half of it would have been continuously under the blazing sun, while the other half would have been continuously enveloped by night. Thus it would have been extremely difficult to live on the earth. There are many lessons in this system of the earth. Just as the light of day necessarily follows the darkness of night; in the same way untruth will be followed by Truth. Similarly, waking up in the morning after sleeping at night is symbolic of resurrection in the life after death. Likewise, there is a lesson hidden in the system of the rains. Just as the dead earth is revived thanks to the rains, so also does God’s guidance instil faith and fear of God in a heart which otherwise would have become as lifeless as an arid land.