Islam - Its Meaning for Modern Man — Page 166
166 acquiring knowledge of its properties and the laws governing them. These gifts and bounties are for the benefit of man as such; that is to say, of the whole of mankind without discrimination. They are not intended for, or confined to, any particular section. Considerations of space forbid even a brief reference to the multitude of directions in which man is capable of expanding his beneficent uses of everything that God has provided in the universe for his benefit. The assurance that the whole universe is subjected to man’s service and the certainty that everything in it is governed by laws, the knowledge of which can be progressively acquired by man, throws wide open to man all avenues of knowledge, which he is not only encouraged, but is repeatedly urged and exhorted, to explore unceasingly. The only limitation is imposed by another of God’s laws: that so long as man continues to make beneficent use of God’s bounties, God will continue to multiply them unto man without limit, but, on the other hand, if he misuses or abuses them, he will be called to account in respect of them, and these very bounties may become the instruments of his ruin and destruction (14:8). Further, as has been seen, God has always provided guidance through revelation so that mankind