Allah The Exalted — Page 81
All a h the Exalted 8 four days, and it cannot reduce the size of its orbit to that of the moon. Nor has the moon the power to extend its orbit to that of the sun. If the whole world were to agree to alter the orbits of these two luminous bodies, it would not be possible for it to do so. Nor could the sun and the moon make any alteration in them of their own power. Thus the Being Who has confined these celestial bodies to their respective orbits and Who determines their course, is God. In the same way, there is a great differ- ence between the body of a man and the body of an elephant. If all the physicians were to combine to bring about a change in man's capacities and in his bulk so as to make him the equal of the elephant, it would not be possible for them to do so. If they desired to confine the elephant to the bulk of man, this would be equally im- possible. Here also there is a limitation, as there is in the case of the sun and the moon, and that limitation indi- cates a Limiter, that is to say, it points to a Being Who bestowed that bulk upon the elephant and determined a different one for man. If one were to reflect one would find a hidden control of God Almighty over all these physical matters in a won- derful way. One observes the wonderful limitations imposed by Him. Beginning with the bulk of the insects which can be observed only under a microscope, up to the bulk of the great leviathans which can swallow a large vessel like a mouthful, one observes a wonderful spectacle of limitation. No animal can transcend the lim- its of its body. In the same way, the stars that are observed in heaven cannot go beyond their limits. This limitation shows that behind the scenes there is One Who lays down these limits. This is the meaning of the verse: