The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam — Page 214
PREFACE FOOTNOTE 213 arrangements, so that both of them, combined, should point towards the existence of one and the same Creator. This would be so because identity of arrangement supports the Oneness of God. The reason is that, had there been many creators, there would have been much dis- cord in the system of the world. Thus, it is extraordinarily straightfor- ward and clear that angels are as necessary to the larger universe as are man's spiritual faculties and feelings for the development of man who is a universe in miniature. Here, an objection may be presented that if angels, in fact, are pres- ent, why are they not visible, and why we do not feel any assistance from them in our affairs? We clearly see that everything acts out of the natural powers gifted to it. For example, the creation of a child within the womb or the bearing of fruit by the trees, and the production of many different kinds of gems in the mines: they are simply the result of a natural process determined for them for ages. The process of evo- lution supports the animals, plants, and minerals to reach their perfec- tion. This is maintained by sages of ancient times and is also corrobo- rated by experience. For, sometimes we can bring the processes of the animal, plant, and mineral kingdoms under our own control; that is, we can regulate them to bring about desired results. Take, for example, the case of abortion before full term and the case of miscarriage in women. Both can be diagnosed by a talented physician as a weakness of the womb. Then, in the beginning of pregnancy, the physician prescribes, for instance, a mild laxative, and having cleared the system of impurities, prescribes tonics, as, for instance, jāwarish- e-lu'lu [pearl stomachic tonic] and dawaul-misk [musk cardiac and nervine tonic], etc. , and prescribes abstinence in sexual relations. Then, the treatment proves manifestly beneficial and miscarriage is averted. Similarly, when a competent gardener finds a fruit-bearing tree which is now yielding less fruit, he then concentrates on the source, and then, according to its various causes, he sometimes clips its branches; some- times, digging a pit around it, irrigates it with the requisite amount of water; and sometimes supplies manure and ground bones to its roots.