The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 460
Seal of the Prophets - Volume II 460 a significant purpose behind miracles is to exhibit such signs related to the truthfulness of the Being and attributes of God the Exalted and His Messengers, by which good-natured people may find a definite route towards the truth and then be facilitated in progressing on that path, and so that they may receive the radiance of light in a world of darkness. For this reason, it is necessary that in one way or another, miracles should possess an aspect, which may be classified as being beyond the power and knowledge of man. Hence, on the one hand where the fundamental purpose of faith demands that at least in the beginning, a state of clear observation should not exist, and the veil of secrecy should remain, on the other hand, in order to bring about living faith, on certain occasions, it is also necessary to remove the veils of concealment to some extent and display a glimpse of hidden verities. The manifestation of the central point of these two independent states is another name for a ‘miracle,’ which due to its reality, has been referred to by the word ‘Āyat,’ i. e. , sign or symbol, in the Qur’ānic idiom. In actuality, the Being of God is so hidden (and rightly so on account of His status), that in order to believe in Him, recognize Him and attain nearness to Him, mere logical and rational conclusions cannot create such certainty in the heart of a human being as is necessary in becoming the foundation for living faith. That is to say, such faith, whereby the Being of God no longer remains to be a mere philosophical notion and is clearly felt and witnessed in the likeness of material things, though very different in nature; and a person becomes able to develop a personal relationship with God, which is the greatest purpose of man’s life. Therefore, it was necessary for such means to be made available by God, which could give birth to such faith in the heart of man and one aspect of these very means are signs, miracles and extraordinary happenings, which are manifested in every era through the Prophets and saints of God, and the examples of which are found among every community and nation. At this instance, someone may entertain the doubt in his heart that how is it possible for something to manifest itself in contradiction to the general and known law of nature? In response, when the fact of the matter is that such incidents tend to occur and the testimony of a large number of sensible and reliable people have proven its authenticity, and such testimony exists in every era and within every nation, no sensible individual can doubt the truth behind occurrences of this nature. In addition to this, at least