The Essence of Islam – Volume I — Page 68
68. Essence of Islam-1 non-existence and its fullest development is through this grace. Nothing is outside of it. All souls and bodies were manifested and are manifested through it and all were developed and are developed through it. This grace is the very life of the universe. Were it to be withdrawn for an instant the universe would come to an end; and had it not been for this grace, there would have been no creation. In the Holy Qur'ān this grace is named Rububiyyat and by virtue of it God is called Rabb-ul-'Alamin, as is said at another place: وَهُوَرَتْ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ 35. God is the Rabb of everything. (Part Number: 8). Nothing in the universe is devoid of His Rububiyyat. So the attribute of Rabb-ul-'Alamīn is mentioned first of all in Surah Fatihah and it is declared: 36 الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَلَمِينَ . as of all the attributes of grace, this has natural priority, both because it comes into manifestation before the other attributes of grace and because it is the most general in its scope, inasmuch as it comprehends everything whether animate or inanimate. . The second type of grace is general grace and the difference between this grace and the one previously mentioned is that the first one comprehends the whole of the universe and the second one is a special Divine bounty which is bestowed upon animates. In other words, the special attention of the Divine towards living things 35 al-An'ām, 6:165 [Publisher] 36 All praise belongs to Allāh, Lord of all the worlds. '-al-Fātiḥah, 1:2 [Publisher]