Proofs of Divine Knowledge

 

 

The following piece, which is originally in Arabic, is an excerpt from my regular recitation. It expounds three of the thirty-three ranks of “God is the All-Great” (Allahu akbar). It serves to open up a way to discern and observe the manifestations of Divine Knowledge, Will, and Power in the universe and to acquire belief in them at the degree of certainty based on vision or observation. It also leads to the affirmation of the Existence and Unity of the Necessarily Existent One at the degree of certainty which is based on knowledge through these three Attributes.

In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate.

Say: “All praise and gratitude are for God, Who has neither taken to Himself a child, nor has a partner in the sovereignty (the dominion and ownership of the whole creation), nor (being exalted above all want or insufficiency) has He a guardian against neediness and weakness. And exalt Him in His immeasurable greatness (17:111).”

God is the All-Great, greater than all things in power and knowledge, for He knows all things with an all-encompassing Knowledge, indispensable to His Essence.147 Nothing can be hidden from or escape It due to Its omnipresence and all-inclusiveness, and due to the fact that Existence demands universality and the light of Knowledge encompasses the entire realm of existence.

Whatever is observed in the whole of creation, such as precise, measured orderliness ad balanced arrangement, an orderly measure and appropriate balance, all-inclusive and purposeful wisdom, all-embracing and particular favors, well-ordering decrees and fruitful determining, the appointed final ends and fixed, regular provisions, skillful precision and faultlessness, and pleasing, ornate care and attention (that is given to all things), as well as the absolutely perfect order, harmony, arrangement, precision, balance, and measure, as well as distinction with absolute ease—all these testify to the all-encompassing Knowledge of the Knower of the Unseen and of all things. Should He Who creates not know? He is the All-Subtle, the All-Aware (67:14). If the beauty of the art in one’s work indicates one’s consciousness to the extent of the infinitesimal light of a firefly on a pitch-dark night, humanity’s creation indicates its Creator’s Knowledge to the extent of the sun’s splendor at noon.

Just as Mercy shows Itself as clearly as the sun through the wonders of provision and proves decisively the existence of an All-Merciful and Compassionate One behind the veil of the Unseen, so too, through the instances of wisdom and fruits of order and balance in things, Knowledge, Which is mentioned in hundreds of Qur’anic verses and Which, in one respect, is the chief of the seven sacred Attributes of the Divine Being, manifests Itself like the light of the sun, making known with certainty the Existence of One Knowledgeable of all things. The comparison between the ordered and measured arts of humans that indicate their consciousness and knowledge and their fine creation, indicating the Knowledge and Wisdom of their Creator, is like the comparison between the tiny glow of the firefly on a dark night and the encompassing light of the sun at noon.

 

Said Nursi

147  To God applies the most sublime description: Knowledge is indispensable to the Divine Being like its encompassing light being indispensable to the sun.