Living The Quran
From Issue: 653 [Read full issue]
Knowledge Unlimited
Al Anam (Cattle) - Chapter 6: Verse 59
"With Him are the keys to what lies beyond the reach of human perception: none knows them but He. He knows all that the land and sea contain; not a leaf falls but He knows it; and neither is there a grain in the earth's deep darkness, nor anything fresh or dry but is recorded in a clear book."
It is important to define what we describe in English as lying "beyond the reach of human perception" and the keys to it as being known only to God. This expression is given in the Arabic text in one word, ghayb, which is an essential element of the Islamic concept of faith, existence and life. The term is derived in Arabic from a root which denotes "absence, disappearance, hiding, shielding from people's senses and understanding."
To believe in God is to believe in what lies beyond the reach of human perception. It is not possible for human beings to comprehend the nature of God. Similarly, the life to come also lies beyond the reach of human perception. Believing in the angels is also part of believing in the imperceptible, because we only know about angels what God has chosen to tell us. It addition, we have to believe in God's will and its operation. That is also part of ghayb.
Not everything unknown to man is ghayb, and not all forces of the universe are unknown. There are certain laws that operate in the universe without fail. God has given man the power to know this much of the laws of the universe and to manipulate these forces in accordance with these laws. He will then be able to accomplish his mission and make use of the potentials of the earth and promote life.
This short verse causes our human imagination to come to life trying to explore the horizons of what we know and what lies beyond our knowledge. We try to imagine the limitless nature of God's knowledge as it encompasses the whole universe and goes far beyond what we know of that universe. Our minds may try to discover what has so far been unknown to us in the land or at sea, realizing that everything in them is perfectly known to God.
Compiled From:
"In The Shade of The Quran" - Sayyid Qutb, Vol. 5, pp. 174-188