The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam — Page 535
534 Ā'ĪNA-E-KAMĀLĀT-E-ISLĀM―DĀFI‘UL-WASĀWIS a single frame of a great building, one made of bricks of the same col- our, material, size, and strength, each plastered over with mud to add strength to their strength. It resembles a group of travellers on camelback who follow one another, and the equal strength and speed of their camels make them appear as a single entity to onlookers. An example of it, by the name of dukhān [smoke] can be found in the Holy Quran; it represents the chain of scattered thoughts caused by severe hunger, while retaining a single name. Further it has been said: يَوْمَ تَأْتِي السَّمَاءُ بِدُ خَانٍ مُّبِينٍ : This mystery can only be comprehended by pious and wise people, and the intellect of dullards cannot come close to it. It is a common habit among people-be they Arabs or non-Ar- abs that when they notice a close similarity between disparate things or people, they consider them as part of a single entity. For example, there are various medicines, which when put together, when mixed and ground in unison, exhibit the same taste and enact the same effect. Thus, there is no harm if one says that it is a single entity while it has been created through the erstwhile mixture. You know it quite well that when many people gather and begin to live in a certain place, a social system arises, and they become inter- linked through mutual ties of kinship and kindred-ties which become so well established as could never become undone or weakened; the residents collectively decide to settle in that place permanently, and show no intention of moving anywhere else. In this case, if one so wishes, one can call this group of people living in a particular place, a city. Although it is not a single entity, one can treat it as a single entity, and this is neither objectionable nor blameworthy. And if, by chance, 1. Watch thou for the day when the sky will bring forth a visible smoke (Surah ad-Dukhan, 44:11). [Publisher]