A164
Surah: 002 - Ayah: 164
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2:164
The signs of the power and creation of His wisdom- filled universe, upon which God commands us to reflect (2:164; 3:191) present the concept of such a circle, which has no end. That is, the heaven and the heavenly bodies are circular, not only in their shape, but also in their movement: The earth itself is a globe and its daily and annual rotation is circular. Further, the exchange of day and night, the coming and going of months, seasons and years and the spheres of water and air and their movement and rotation are all in a circle. In short, there is nothing in the external world which does not move in its specific circle. The Noble Qur'an confirms this universal law in verses (21:33; 36:40). Thus, the circles of the entire universe unanimously and harmoniously testify that the creation is perpetually in a circle. It has neither a beginning, nor an end. This circle unites the world of creation and the world of command in such a way that there is no temporal priority and posteriority between the two. For, both of them are called the kingdom of God and His kingdom is eternal.
The wise Qur’an, in numerous of its noble verses, invites us to reflect upon everything of the universe and the existents and says that there are signs of God for the wise people in everything (2:164). You might have noticed that even in the animal kingdom there are many patterns of sleep which differ entirely from one another, such as the sleep of the rabbit, which is infamous because of the dominance of sleep. In extremely cold areas there are certain small and big animals who remain asleep or half dead for months in the holes of the earth or the cavities of hollow trees. On the other hand, the amazing thing is that the horse and the ox, despite strenuous work, do not feel the very need of sleep. You might have also seen birds which roost on trees. Do you think that the sleep of negligence overtakes them? No. Not at all. Had it been so, then the branch of the tree would have been released from the grip of their claws, and they would have fallen down on the ground in the darkness of the night. The most amazing thing is that the bat which flies the whole night for the sake of prey, remains hanging upside down from a ceiling or a branch of a tree during the daytime. Tell me, does it sleep in this state, or does it not? It is difficult to believe that it sleeps.
Q447 Many ta’wili secrets of the noble Qur’an have been discovered by the luminous guidance of God, the holy Prophet and the ulu’l-amr. For instance, if the throne on the water means the ark of salvation, that is, the ahl-i bayt then please tell us whether those similitudes of the ark mentioned in the Qur’an are also related to the ark of salvation in a wisdom-filled way or not? If they are related, please give us an example.
A447
- The ta’wil of all those similitudes of the ark mentioned in the holy Qur’an are related to the ark of salvation.
- See verse (2:164) where it is mentioned: “And the ships (in which there is a sign of God) sail across the sea with that which profits humankind.” One has to reflect here about which ark is the great sign of God, the external or the internal ark? Or which benefit is more necessary for humankind, the material or the spiritual? This shows that the reality of the spiritual or internal ark is hidden in the similitude of every physical or external ark.
This verse has been referred 4 times.