Islam - Its Meaning for Modern Man — Page 145
145 endurance. It fulfiled to a pre-eminent degree the needs and yearnings of the human body, intellect and soul. It changed the course of human history. It flung wide open the gates of knowledge and progress in all directions. Its impact continues to be felt today through many and diverse channels. The Quran has been described as a Light and as a clear Book, whereby “does Allah guide those who seek His pleasure along the paths of peace, and leads them out of every kind of darkness into the light by His will, and guides them along the right path” (5:16 ⎯ 17). On the other hand, the Quran itself discourages the tendency to seek regulation of everything by Divine command, pointing out that such regulation would become restrictive and burdensome (5:102). One of many characteristics of the Quran which mark it as the Word of God is that to arrive at the comprehension of its deeper meaning and significance the seeker must, in addition to a certain degree of knowledge of the language and the principles of interpretation, cultivate purity of thought and action. The greater the purity of a person’s life the deeper and wider will be his comprehension of the meaning of the Quran (56:80). This has always been strikingly demonstrated. The Quran contains Divine assurance that the guidance embodied therein will be guarded under