Spirit of Islam, Jan 2020

SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE (1772-1834) was a well-known English literary critic, theologian, philosopher and poet. One of his poems is titled ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’. In this poem, Coleridge describes a sailor who, on account of some sin, gets stuck in the sea. He has no fresh water to drink. His ship is surrounded on all sides by sea water, but because the water is salty, he cannot drink it. In anguish he cries out, ‘Water, water everywhere. Nor any drop to drink.’ The condition of this fictitious sailor is potentially the same of every human being in this world. Man cannot live without water. But a huge proportion of the world’s water is exceedingly salty—being contained in the seas and oceans—and hence is not potable. Now, consider how nature has provided a solution to this issue. Heated by the sun, seawater evaporates. The vapour rises up in the atmosphere, leaving behind the salt that the water had contained. It is only the sweet component of the water that evaporates. This water, which is desalinated through this natural process, falls on the earth in the form of water—sweet water that human beings can drink and which they cannot live without. If we reflect on just this one amazing phenomenon of desalination—an astounding sign of God—we can be wonder struck at God’s miracles, which are scattered all across the universe! o SIGNS OF GOD SCATTERED IN THE UNIVERSE Wonders of Nature Reflect on any of the countless amazing phenomena in nature and you will be wonder struck at God’s miracles.