Favours of the Gracious God — Page 88
88 formed English Christian has written in his book that the religion of Christianity possesses the superiority over Islam that it has Father as one of the names of God Almighty; and this name is very beautiful and at - tractive 1 ; but it does not appear in the Qur’an. I am surprised, however, that this critic, at the moment of writing, has not given thought to the extent to which lexicons have revealed the dignity and greatness of this word; because every word takes its true dignity and hon - our from the lexicon, and no man is entitled, by his own will, to attach any status to a word which the lexicon does not ascribe. It is for this reason that even the Word of God does not overstep the bounds of the lexicon. All people possessing views based on personal intellect as well as those conveying traditional views agree that, when expressing the dignity and grandeur of any word, one must first recourse to the lexicon and determine the extent to which the language, to which the word 1 It ought to be remembered that the word abun —or b a p or fa - ther—certainly does not imply and embody the connotation of love. The act, by imitation of which a man, or another animal, comes to be known as a father, is not accompanied with such sentiments. Rather, love comes gradually, after seeing and expe - riencing companionship. However, for lordship, love is an inher - ently essential attribute from the very beginning. (Author)