Early Writings — Page 70
70 THE we must definitively accept that time had a beginning. For if time had no beginning then we would have observed the entire surface of the earth full of human beings, without a single corner vacant. However, scholars have estimated by observation that the human species can multiply enough from one man and woman to cover the land area of the earth in seven thousand years. If more than seven thousand years elapse, another earth would be required. Every individual can ponder over the extent to which the people of their respective nations are spread throughout the world. For example, eight hundred years ago there was a man named Maghūl, whose children are known as the Mughals. Now just count how many Mughals there are in the world. Similarly, there was a man named Bawa Nanak Sahib who lived just three hundred years ago and his progeny has multiplied to the thousands. This argument establishes that the world has a beginning and an end. The begin- ning is proven by the fact that when we look back at the ages, we are able to estimate the duration of time. The end is proven by the fact that the world is a finite space which cannot accommodate within itself infinite birth. Therefore, we have no choice but to accept that one day this world will come to an end. As such, any- thing that has a beginning and an end must be a created entity, it cannot be eternal. So when the world is a created thing, it must have a creator and that Creator is God. If someone were to suggest that certain families do not have very many children and remain limited in number, the answer to this would be that such cases are an anomaly. Otherwise, observa- tion would show that when someone purchases even a single goat, it multiplies to become an entire herd. It is also a general princi- ple in this world that natural death usually occurs around the age