Perseverance — Page 83
Part II – My Life as a Muslim 83 manifestation. As an example, life is real, whereas death is merely the non-existence of life. The absence of the positive is the negative. Light is positive, and darkness is only the non-existence of light. [It is written] in the Holy Qur’ ā n, chapter Al-N u r (24:36): “Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. ” When anything turns its face from God, darkness descends upon it. Darkness only means the non-existence of light. So as far as the real essence is concerned, darkness is the attribute of creatures and not the Creator. When the creature rejects His Light, the darkness appears as regards the darkness of the natural phenomena of the world. God has created light – wherever light is not known, there is darkness. But the Qur’ ā n, in its wisdom, states that the absence of light also serves some good purposes at times. The light is withheld to give relief to creatures. It helps in recuperation – to restore one’s powers. Sleep is like death where the body and mind rest after continuous work becomes due for a time. In other words, a negative is created for the bodily relief of animals. Sleep is only a negative phase formed in animals recuperating, and even appears in the case of inanimate things. The rule works. If you give your eyes rest, you recuperate your strength. For human beings this rest is necessary for a higher cause. Man passes through three stages of darkness before he is born. The Holy Qur’ ā n states in Surah Al-Zumar : “He creates you in the wombs of your mothers, creation after creation, through three stages of darkness…” [39:7]. This shows that darkness is necessary for creation. Three periods of darkness overcome the child before it is complete and fit to enter the world. [Note: Just before the child is born, the mother is subjected to great pain – the pain of childbirth. ] According to the