The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam — Page 231
230 Ā'ĪNA-E-KAMĀLĀT-E-ISLĀM―DĀFI‘UL-WASĀWIS delayed execution of the intention. For example, we can just as well intend a thing to happen after, say, ten years, as we can intend it to hap- pen at once. For example, the railway, the telegraph, and hundreds of other new inventions which are being made today, were undoubtedly within the intention and knowledge of God from the beginning, but for thousands of years they remained undiscovered. The intention existed from the very beginning, but it remained a secret, and mani- fested itself at its proper time. When the time for its fulfilment arrived, God Almighty made a people devote their thoughts and energies to these things and helped them, making them successful in their plans. AUTHOR'S MARGIN NOTE Why did God Almighty create the heavens and the earth in six Days? In this connection, there is another objec- tion put forward by some ignorant Āryas. They say that Allah the Exalted says in the Holy Quran: إِنَّ رَبَّكُمُ اللهُ الَّذِى خَلَقَ السَّمَوتِ وَالْأَرْضَ فِي سِتَّةِ أَيَّامٍ ثُمَّ اسْتَوَى عَلَى الْعَرْشِ Meaning that: God, who is your Lord, made the heavens and earth in six days and then settled Himself on His Throne. It is asked: 'Why these six days? Granted that most of God's works are of an evolutionary character. Allah's attribute of creation manifests itself as a process of evolution in the world of minerals, vegetables, and animals by gradually bringing everything to its complete develop- ment but this specification of six days is incomprehensible. of The answer is that the mention of six days alludes to the stages creation; that is, that everything that has come into being as a creation, having a body and physical character-whether it is composite or sin- gle, whether it is the universe comprising the earth, the heavens and all that is in them, or whether it is a microcosm of the universe meaning thereby man―reaches its final and complete development after passing 1. Surah Yunus, 10:4 [Publisher]