Nuances of Knowledge and Reflection

8/7/2019 Nuances of Knowledge and Reflection

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THE QURAN:Beautiful Nuances of Knowledge and Reflection

Greetings to you all,

The following are a very short selection ofverses from the Quran with some scientificconnotations to them, and/or emphasise the importance of striving for knowledge. This is

not an attempt to argue or claim that the Quran contains scientific miracles, because the

Quran never was, and never will be, a book of science. Rather, it is a book of guidance.

One of the recurring themes ofthe Quran is that it continuously confronts the readers

intelligence or intellect, encouraging it to take the time to ponder, think and reflect, about

peoplesvery existence, about the heavens and the earth, and even about the Quran itself.

As such, these verses should hopefully allow us to reflect on the information at least from a

scientific, knowledge-driven, and intellectual point of view. Hopefully, readers will have

the chance to explore aspects of the Quran which, unfortunately, are sometimes neglected.


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The translation of the verses is by Professor Muhammad Abdel Haleem (2010), and his book,

Quran: A New Translation, is part of the Oxford Worlds Classics Series. I feel that its one

of the best translations out there, because it is written in plain, clear English, and does

justice to the original Arabic text more often than not. Ive tried to stay true to the themes

of science, knowledge and reflection:Do you [Prophet] not see that God drives the clouds, then gathers them together and piles

them up until you see rain pour from their midst?... [The Light, 24:43].

Have you [Prophet] not considered how God sends water down from the sky and the next

morning the earth becomes green? God is truly most subtle, all aware. [The Pilgrimage,

22:63].

Do you not see how your Lord lengthens the shade? If He had willed, He could have made

it stand stillWe made the sun its indicatorbut We gradually draw it towards Us, little by

little. [The Differentiator, 25:45-46].

There truly are signs in the creation of the heavens and earth, and in the alternation of

night and day, for those with understanding... [The Family of Imran, 3:190-191].

The creation of the heavens and earth is greater by far than the creation of mankind,

though most people do not know it. [Forgiver, 40:57].

One of His signs is that He created you from dust andlo and behold!you became

human and scattered far and wide. Another of His signs is that He created spouses from

among yourselves for you to live with in tranquillity: He ordained love and kindnessbetween you. There truly are signs in this for those who reflect. Another of His signs is the

creation of the heavens and the earth, and the diversity of your languages and colours.

There truly are signs in this for those who know. Among His signs are your sleep, by night

and by day, and your seeking His bounty. There truly are signs in this for those who can

hear. Among His signs, too, are that He shows you the lightning that terrifies and inspires

hope; that He sends water down from the sky to restore the earth to life after death. There

truly are signs in this for those who use their reason. [The Byzantines, 30:20-24].

He gives you this example, drawn from your own lives: do you make your slaves full

partners with an equal share in what We have given you? Do you fear them as you fear eachother? This is how We make Our messages clear to those who use their reason. [The

Byzantines, 30:28].

Was he (man) not just a drop of spilt-out sperm, which became a clinging form, which God

shaped in due proportion, fashioning from it the two sexes, male and female? [The

Resurrection, 75:37-39].

We created manWe know what his soul whispers to him: We are closer to him than his

jugular vein. [Qaf, 50:16].


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People, [remember,]... that We created you from dust, then a drop of fluid, then a clinging

form, then a lump of flesh, both shaped and unshaped: We mean to make [Our power] clear

to you. Whatever We choose We cause to remain in the womb for an appointed time, then

We bring you forth as infants and then you grow and reach maturity. Some die young and

some are left to live on to such an age that they forget all they once knew. You sometimessee the earth lifeless, yet when We send down water it stirs and swells and produces every

kind of joyous growth... [The Pilgrimage, 22:5-6].

We made the sky a well-secured canopyyet from its wonders they turn away. [The

Prophets, 21:33].

We did not create the heavens and the earth and everything between them playfully.

[The Prophets, 21:16].

[Prophet], do you not see that God created the heavens and the earth for a purpose? He

could remove all of you and replace you with a new creation if He wished to: that is notdifficult for God. [Abraham, 14:19-20].

We built the heavens with Our power and made them vast. [Scattering (Winds), 51:47].

Note: the Arabic equivalent of and (We) made them vast, is also understood as and (We)

indeedextend their vastness or, as in another translation, We are Able to extend the

vastness of space.

It is He who made the sun a shining radiance and the moon a light, determining phases for

it so that you might know the number of years and how to calculate time. God did not

create all these without a true purpose; He explains His signs to those who understand.[Jonah, 10:5].

The night, the day, the sun, the moon, are only a few of His signs. Do not bow down in

worship to the sun or the moon, but bow down to God who created them, if it is truly Him

that you worship. [(Verses) Made Clear, 41:37].

A Scripture whose verses are made distinct as a Quran in Arabic for people who

understand. [(Verses) Made Clear, 41:3].

...These are the verses of the Scripture that makes things clearWe have sent it down asan Arabic Quran so that you [people] may understand. [Joseph, 12:1-2].

He makes the dawn break; He makes the night for rest; and He made the sun and the moon

to a precise measure. That is the design of the Almighty, the All Knowing. It is He who

made the stars, so that you can be guided by them in the dark, on land or sea: We have

made the signs clear for those who have knowledge. [Livestock, 6:96-97].

God is the Light of the heavens and the earth. His Light is like this: there is a niche, and in

it a lamp, the lamp inside a glass, a glass like a glittering star, fuelled from a blessed olive

tree from neither east nor west, whose oil almost gives light when no fire touches itlight


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upon lightGod guides whoever He will to His Light; God draws such comparisons for

people; God has full knowledge of everything. [The Light, 24:35].

On earth there are signs for those with sure faithand in yourselves too, do you not see?

in the sky is your sustenance and all that you are promised. By the Lord of the

heavens and earth! All this is as real as your speaking. [Scattering (Winds), 51:20-23].

Those who take protectors other than God can be compared to spiders building themselves

housesthe spiders is the frailest of all houses if only they could understand. [The Spider,

29:41].

You people, here is an illustration, so listen carefully: those you call beside God could not,

even if they combined all their forces, create a fly, and if a fly took something away from

them, they would not be able to retrieve it. How feeble are the petitioners and how feeble

are those they petition! [The Pilgrimage, 22:73].

It is God who raised up the heavens with no visible supports and then established Himself

on the throne; He has subjected the sun and the moon each to pursue its course for an

appointed time; He regulates all things, and makes the revelations clear so that you may be

certain of meeting your Lord; it is He who spread out the earth, placed firm mountains and

rivers on it, and made two of every kind of fruit; He draws the veil of night over the day.

There truly are signs in this for people who reflect. [Thunder, 13:2-3].

God has control of the heavens and the earth; He creates whatever He willHe grants

female offspring to whoever He will, male to whoever He will, or both male and female, and

He makes whoever He will barren: He is all knowing and all powerful. [Consultation, 42:49-50].

There are, in the land, neighbouring plots, gardens of vineyards, cornfields, palm trees in

clusters or otherwise, all watered with the same water, yet We make some of them taste

better than others: there truly are signs in this for people who reason. [Thunder, 13:4].

Are those who have disbelieved not aware that the heavens and the earth used to be

joined together and that We ripped them apart, that We made every living thing from

water? Will they not believe? [The Prophets, 21:30].

There is a sign for them in the lifeless earth: We give it life and We produce grain from it

for them to eat; We have put gardens of date palms and grapes in the earth, and We have

made springs of water gush out of it so that they could eat its fruit. It was not their own

hands that made all this. How can they not give thanks? [Ya Sin, 36:33-35].

The night is also a sign for them: We strip the daylight from it, and lo and behold! they

are in darkness. The sun, too, runs its determined course laid down for it by the Almighty,

the All Knowing. We have determined phases for the moon until finally it becomes like an

old date-stalk. The sun cannot overtake the moon, nor can the night outrun the day: each

floats in [its own] orbit. [Ya Sin, 37-40].


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Say [Prophet], Just think, if God were to cast perpetual night over you until the Day of

Resurrection, what god other than He would bring you light? Do you not listen? Say, Just

think, if God were to cast perpetual day over you until the Day of Resurrection, what god

other than He could give you night in which to rest? Do you not see? In His mercy He has

given you night and day, so that you may rest and seek His bounty and be grateful. [TheStories, 28:69-73].

I swear by the positions of the stars a mighty oath, if you only knew that this is truly a

noble Quran. [That Which is Coming, 56:75-77].

And your Lord inspired the bee, saying, Build yourselves houses in the mountains and trees

and what people construct. Then feed on all kinds of fruit and follow the ways made easy

for you by your Lord. From their bellies comes a drink of different colours in which there

is healing for people. There truly is a sign in this for those who reflect. [The Bee, 16:68-69].

We have set constellations up in the sky and made it beautiful for all to see. [Al-Hijr, 15:16].

Do they not see the sky above themhow We have built and adorned it, with no rifts in it?

[Qaf, 50:6].

...He creates you in your mothers wombs, in one stage after another, in threefold depths

of darkness. Such is God, your Lord... [The Throngs, 39:6]. Note: These three layers of

darkness are interpreted by scholars and medical professionals as the darkness of the

mothers abdomen, the darkness of the womb or uterus, and the darkness of the placenta,

which provides nutrients and oxygen from the mother to the fetus.

If Wehad sent this Qurn down to a mountain, you [Prophet] would have seen it humbled

and split apart in its awe of GodWe offer people such illustrations so that they may

reflect. [The Gathering (of Forces), 59:21].

...It is those of His servants who have knowledge who stand in true awe of God. God is

almighty, most forgiving. [The Creator, 35:28].

God has sent down the most beautiful of all teachings: a Scripture that is consistent and

draws comparisons; that causes the skins of those in awe of their Lord to quiver. Then their

skins and their hearts soften at the mention of God: such is Gods guidance... [The Throngs,39:23].

It is God who brought you out of your mothers wombs knowing nothing, and gave you

hearing and sight and minds, so that you might be thankful... [The Bee, 16:78].

On that note, thank you for taking the time to read!

With very best wishes.

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Nuances of Knowledge and Reflection