31) Luqman - TAFSIR FI ZILAL AL-QURAN

Luqmān | A SAGE’S ADMONITION
Yet man sees the earth as huge indeed: no man can traverse it all, even though he
spends his life in continuous travel. Thus, the sūrah returns us to earth so we
contemplate it with open minds, and without the effects of familiarity that cloud our
vision: “and has placed firm mountains on earth, lest it sway with you.” (Verse 10)
Geologists say that mountains are undulations of the face of the earth resulting
from underground pockets of coolness where gases get frozen and reduce in size.
Thus the surface of the earth shrinks and becomes wrinkled allowing elevations and
falls to take place in proportion to underground reductions in size. This may or may
not be true, but God’s book clearly states that these mountains stabilize the earth so
that it does not sway. Thus, the rise of a mountain in one place balances shrinkage in
another. However, God’s word remains supreme. He is indeed the One who always
states the truth.
God “has scattered through it all manner of living creatures.” (Verse 10) This is one of
the great wonders of existence. Up to the present day, no one can claim to have
fathomed the secret of the presence of life on earth. This applies to life in its simplest,
one-cell form. How then can we fathom the greater secret that causes life to become
more varied and complex, giving rise to countless species, types and kinds of
creatures? Yet most people choose to pass by such great wonders with their eyes and
minds closed, just as they pass by something very ordinary that does not deserve a
second look. These very people stand amazed as they look at a man-made machine
which is very simple when compared to a single living cell and its accurately
regulated behaviour. We need not compare such machines to more sophisticated
living creatures, let alone to the human body which contains hundreds of chemical
laboratories, storehouses, distribution centres, wireless stations that receive and
transmit messages, as well as hundreds of other complicated functions, the secrets of
which are known only to God.
“We send down water from the skies to cause every kind of goodly plant to grow on earth
in pairs.” (Verse 10) Sending rain down from the sky is yet another universal wonder
which we take for granted, oblivious to what is involved. The water that runs in
rivers, fills up lakes, or bursts out in springs comes from the sky according to a
carefully planned system that, in turn, is linked to the regulation of the heavens and
the earth, their relative distances, natures and formations. The growing of plants
after rain has fallen is another wonder that remains infinitely amazing. It reflects
several miracles, including those of the springing up of life, its diversity, and the
hereditary genes within a small seed allowing replication of all types of flora. To
study the colour diversity in one flower of a single plant leads an open heart to
reflection on life and its profound secrets, and hence to genuine belief in God, the
Originator of life.
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