Ahmadiyyat or The True Islam — Page 41
41 desires to cook food lights a fire in the certain belief that fire would generate heat. If the generation of heat had not been the fixed property of fire, and the extinguishing of fire had not been the fixed property of water, if fire had sometimes generated heat and at other times had caused cold, if water had some times extinguished fire and at other times had set it alight, nobody could have derived any benefit from them, and men would have lost heart in despair and would soon have perished. God has also been described as ‘Al i m , that is to say, He has knowledge of secret as well as of manifest things. He is aware of the secrets of a man’s heart and knows all hidden things. He is acquainted with the hidden secrets of man’s nature of which the latter is not even himself aware. Things buried under the earth and those placed on mountain tops are equally within His knowledge. He knows that which is past and that which is to come. He is Sam i ‘ , that is, He hears everything; the slightest whisper does not escape Him and the sound of a crawling ant, and of the blood coursing through a man’s veins reaches Him. He is H ayy , that is, He is Himself alive and be- stows life on others. He is Kh a liq , the Creator. He is Qayy u m , that is, He supports the existence of others. He is S amad , that is, nothing can exist without His support and assistance.