Sixth Matter

 

 

It is an established fact that the most distinguishing feature of the revealed Qur’an is that it is a miracle. Its miraculousness or inimitability primarily lies in the matchless degree of its eloquence. Eloquence is founded upon certain elements of style, including in particular metaphors, allegories, and other figures of speech. One who does not look at the Qur’an through the binoculars of these elements cannot see its merits. For God, Who has made all knowledge flow in the Qur’an through the channels of the style of the Arabic language, considers the levels of emotions, sensations, and understanding of human beings. This being so, interpreters of the Qur’an must pay full respect to the Qur’an and, therefore, should not attempt to interpret it based on things that do not bear the stamp of eloquence. For it has been established as one of the clearest and brightest truths that just as the meanings or content of the Qur’an is true throughout, it also has perfectly eloquent styles and wording, which are the form or embodiment of meaning. For this reason, whoever does not base their thoughts on this source when interpreting will become among “the frauds who deceive in weighing and measuring” with respect to paying the Qur’an its due. I will mention a few significant examples:

The first: We have made mountains as masts (78: 7). (God knows best.) The figurative style in the verse gives the impression that the earth is a ship sailing in the ocean of space.43 It has been made stable by the mountains, which are its masts, and is thus balanced in the air. So, the mountains are the masts of that ship.

Secondly, the tremors in the belly of the earth are controlled through the mountains. The mountains are like the pores of the earth. When there is unrest in the belly, the earth breathes in and out through the mountains and its anger stops. This means that the calmness and silence of the earth are maintained through the mountains.

Thirdly, the pillar of the improvement of the earth is humanity, and the pillar of human life is the preservation of air, water, and soil, which are the sources of life. It is the mountains which secure this. For in addition to being reservoirs where the water is kept, the mountains also serve to filter air and preserve its freshness. As they balance heat and cold by absorbing harmful gases mixed with air, they enable its purification. In addition, they are the sources of soil, and also preserve the soil from the onslaughts of seas and marshes.

Fourthly, this simile for the earth gives the idea that if a person flies above in the balloon of imagination and looks down on the ranges of mountains, they can imagine the soil to be the tents of nomads and the mountains to be their poles. If from the point where you have ascended you look through the binoculars of wisdom and science down at the earth, the cradle of humanity, and the sky, the raised dome, and imagine the sky, limited by the horizon formed along the ranges of mountains, to be the dome of a tent set up on the earth and fastened with the masts of mountains, no one will find fault with you.

In the section “A Reminder” to be included in the Eighth Matter, some other examples will be given.

 

Said Nursi

43 Since the space is full of ether, a pervasive gas like fluid, Said Nursi uses the term, “the ocean of space.” (Trans.)