SPIRIT OF ISLAM JULY 2O18

44 Spirit of Islam Issue 67 July 2018 THE WORD OF GOD From The Scriptures The Quran is the book of God. It has been preserved in its entirety since its revelation to the Prophet of Islam between 610 and 632 AD. It is a book that brings glad tidings to humankind, along with divine admonition, and stresses the importance of man’s discovery of the Truth on a spiritual and intellectual level. Translated from Arabic and commentary by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan It is God who provides livestock for you, some for riding and some for your food: you have other benefits in them too. You can reach any destination you wish on them: they carry you by land, as ships carry you on the sea. He shows you His signs; which then of the signs of God will you deny? (40: 79-81) Man needs many things for the upkeep of his existence and the development of human civilization, such as food, mounts, different types of industries, means of transportation etc. All these things exist in plenty in the present world. God has created the physical world in such a way that it is subservient and capable of being used by man for meeting his requirements. All these things are, so to say, signs from God. Though this declaration is in indirect language, it is in man’s interest to understand it, because when God resorts to direct communication, it will mark the end of the period allowed for the performance of good or bad deeds and not the beginning. Have they not travelled in the land to see the fate of those who went before them? They were more numerous and mightier and left greater traces of their power on the earth; yet all that they accomplished was of no avail to them. (40: 82) When messengers came to them with clear signs, they revelled in whatever knowledge they had, and so they were engulfed by the very punishment they mocked: but when they saw Our punishment, they said, ‘We believe in God—the One God—and we reject the partners we used to associate with Him,’ but believing after seeing Our punishment