Surah 1-2 - YasSarNal QuR'aN

Al-Baqarah (The Cow) | THE MESSAGE SPELT OUTof the senses or all the devices that may extend their function. It raises humanconsciousness to a level where a wider and fuller world can be perceived. Such a stephas far-reaching effects on man’s understanding of his own existence and theexistence of everything else around him. It provides him with a totally newawareness of the realities of the interacting energies and forces that are at play in thiscomplex world, and of the way he conceives of them. It also affects his behaviour andlife on earth in general.There is a vast difference between the thinking that is trapped within the parochialmaterialist world of the senses, and that which is based on the awareness of aninfinite world of existence and which can, through the soul and the instinctive mind,deeply and intensely feel its energies and the forces governing it. Time and spaceextend far beyond what can be determined or comprehended within the short spanof life. Man will come to recognize the great and ultimate truth that underpins thewhole cosmos and sustains all existence, seen as well as unseen. It is the Divine Beingthat the human eye cannot see, nor the mind perceive.This belief has the vital role of preserving man’s finite mental and intellectualpowers and saving them from being wasted, abused or misdirected. These facultieshave been bestowed on man to enable him to properly discharge his obligations asGod’s vicegerent on earth. In the present life, the domain for man’s activities ofprocreation, construction, innovation and excellence is limited. His intellectual powerneeds to be strengthened and complemented by spiritual power which stems directlyfrom God and is thereby linked to the whole of existence.Any attempt to comprehend the world from another perspective is futile andfoolish, because it resorts to the wrong tools and defies the fundamental truth thatthe finite cannot fathom the infinite. Man’s limited sensory and intellectualcapabilities do not enable him to understand the absolute meaning of things.This inherent human deficiency, however, in no way prevents man from believingin the imperceptible and accepting that it is the prerogative of the Divine. Manshould leave these matters to God, the Omniscient, and should turn to Him formeaning, information, understanding and explanation. Recognition of this fact is thegreatest prize the human mind can win, and is the first and foremost mark of theGod-fearing believer.The concept of the imperceptible is a decisive factor in distinguishing man fromanimals. Materialist thinking, ancient as well as modern, has tended to drag manback to an irrational existence, with no room for the spiritual, where everything isdetermined by sensory means alone. What is peddled as ‘progressive thought’ is nomore than dismal regression. God has protected believers against such an error bydescribing them as those who believe in the imperceptible. For that alone they should29