Introduction
O man! You should be aware that there are certain phrases which
are commonly used and imply unbelief. The believers also use them, but without
realizing their implications. We shall explain three of the most important of
them.
The First: “Causes create
this.”
The Second: “It forms
itself; it comes into existence and later ceases to exist.”
The Third: “It is
natural; nature necessitates and creates it.”
Indeed, since beings
exist and this cannot be denied, and since each being comes into existence in a
wise and artistic fashion, and since each is not outside time but is being
continuously renewed, then, O falsifier of the
truth, you are bound to
say either that the causes in the world create beings, for example, this
animal; that is to say, it comes into existence through the coming together of
causes, or that it forms itself, or that its coming into existence is a requirement
and necessary effect of nature, or that it is created through the power of One
All-Powerful and All-Glorious. Since reason can find no way apart from these
four, if the first three are definitely proved to be impossible, invalid and
absurd, the way of divine unity, which is the fourth way, will necessarily and
self-evidently and without doubt or suspicion, be proved true.
THE FIRST WAY
This to imagine that the formation and existence of things,
creatures, occurs through the coming together of causes in the universe. We
shall mention only three of its numerous impossibilities.
First Impossibility
Imagine there is a pharmacy in which are found hundreds of jars
and phials filled with quite different substances. A living potion and a living
remedy are required from those medicaments. So we go to the pharmacy and see
that they are to be found there in abundance, yet in great variety. We examine
each of the potions and see that the ingredients have been taken in varying but
precise amounts from each of the jars and phials, one ounce from this, three
from that, seven from the next, and so on. If one ounce too much or too little
had been taken, the potion would not have been living and would not have
displayed its special quality. Next, we study the living remedy. Again, the
ingredients have been taken from the jars in a particular measure so that if
even the most minute amount too much or too little had been taken, the remedy
would have lost its special property.
Now, although the jars
number more than fifty, the ingredients have been taken from each according to
measures and amounts that are all different. Is it in any way possible or
probable that the phials and jars should have been knocked over by a strange
coincidence or sudden gust of wind and that only the precise, though different,
amounts that had been taken from each of them should have been spilt, and then
arranged themselves and come together to form the remedy? Is there anything
more superstitious, impossible and absurd than this? If an ass could speak, it
would say: “I cannot accept this idea!”, and would gallop off!
Similarly, each living
being may be likened to the living potion in the comparison, and each plant to
a living remedy. For they are composed of
matter that has been taken in most precise measure from truly numerous and truly various substances. If these are attributed to causes and the elements and it is claimed, “Causes created these,” it is unreasonable, impossible and absurd a hundred times over, just as it was to claim that the potion in the pharmacy came into existence through the phials being knocked over; by accident.
I n S h o r t : The
vital substances in this vast pharmacy of the universe, which are measured on
the scales of divine determining and decree of the All-Wise and Pre-Eternal
One, can only come into existence through a boundless wisdom, infinite knowledge
and all-encompassing will. The unfortunate person who declares that they are
the work of blind, deaf and innumerable elements and causes and natures, which
stream like floods; and the foolish, delirious person who claims that that
wondrous remedy poured itself out when the phials were knocked over and formed
itself, are certainly unreasonable and nonsensical. Indeed, such denial and
unbelief is a senseless absurdity.
Second Impossibility
If everything is not attributed to the All-Powerful and
All-Glorious One, who is the Single One of Unity, and is attributed to causes,
it necessitates that many of the elements and causes present in the universe
intervene in the being of every animate creature. Whereas that different and
mutually opposing and conflicting causes should come together of their own
accord in complete order, with the finest balance and in perfect concord in the
being of a tiny creature, like a fly, is such an obvious impossibility that
anyone with even an iota of consciousness would say: “This is impossible; it
could not be!”
The tiny body of a fly is
connected with most of the elements and causes in the universe; indeed, it is a
summary of them. If it is not attributed to the Pre-Eternal and All-Powerful
One, it is necessary for those material causes to be themselves present in the
immediate vicinity of the fly; rather, for them all to enter into its tiny
body; and even for them to enter each of the cells of its eyes, which are
minute samples of its body. For if a cause is of a material nature, it is
necessary for it to be present in the immediate vicinity of, and inside, its
effect. And this necessitates accepting that the constituents and elements of
the universe are physically present inside that minute cell, a place too small
even for the tip of its antenna, and that they work there in harmony like a
master.
A way such as this, then,
shames even the most foolish of the Sophists.
Possibility
It is an established rule that, “If a being has unity, it can
only have issued from a single being, from one hand.” Particularly if it
displays a comprehensive life within a perfect order and sensitive balance, it
demonstrates self-evidently that it did not issue from numerous hands, which
are the cause of conflict and confusion, but that it issued from a single hand
that is All-Powerful and All-Wise. Therefore, to attribute such a well-ordered
and well-balanced being which has unity to the jumbled hands of innumerable,
lifeless, ignorant, aggressive, unconscious, chaotic, blind and deaf natural
causes, the blindness and deafness of which increase with their coming together
and intermingling among the ways of numberless possibilities, is as
unreasonable as accepting innumerable impossibilities all at once. If we leave
this impossibility aside and assume that material causes have effects, these
effects can only occur through direct contact and touch. However, the contact
of natural causes is with the exteriors of living beings. And yet we see that
the interiors of such beings, where the hands of material causes can neither
reach nor touch, are ten times more delicate, well-ordered and perfect as
regards art than their exteriors. Therefore, although tiny animate creatures,
on which the hands and organs of material causes can in no way be situated,
indeed they cannot touch the creatures’ exteriors all at once even, are more
strange and wonderful as regards their art and creation than the largest
creatures, to attribute them to those lifeless, unknowing, crude, distant,
vast, conflicting, deaf and blind causes can result only from a deafness and
blindness compounded to the number of animate beings.
THE SECOND WAY
This is expressed by the phrase “It forms itself.” It too
involves many impossibilities and is absurd and impossible in many aspects. We
shall explain three examples of these impossibilities.
First Impossibility
O you obstinate denier! Your egotism has made you so stupid that
somehow you decide to accept a hundred impossibilities all at once. For you
yourself are a being and not some simple substance that is inanimate and
unchanging. You resemble an extremely well-ordered machine that is constantly
being renewed and a wonderful palace that is undergoing continuous change.
Particles are working unceasingly in your body. Your body has a connection and
mutual relations with the universe, in particular with regard to sustenance and
the perpetuation of the species, and the particles
that work within it are careful not to spoil that relationship nor to break the
connection. In this cautious manner they set about their work, as though taking
the whole universe into account. Seeing your relationships within it, they take
up their positions accordingly. And you benefit with your external and inner
senses in accordance with the wonderful positions that they take.
If you do not accept that
the particles in your body are tiny officials in motion in accordance with the
law of the Pre-Eternal and All-Powerful One, or that they are an army, or the
nibs of the pen of divine determining with each particle as the nib of a pen,
or that they are points inscribed by the pen of power with each particle being
a point, then in every particle working in your eye there would have to be an
eye such as could see every limb and part of your body as well as the entire
universe, with which you are connected. In addition to this, you would have to
ascribe to each particle an intelligence equivalent to that of a hundred
geniuses, sufficient to know and recognize all your past and your future, and
your forbears and descendants, the origins of all the elements of your being,
and the sources of all your sustenance.
To attribute the
knowledge and intelligence of a thousand Plato’s to a single particle of one
such as you who does not possess even a particle’s worth of intelligence in
matters of this kind is a crazy superstition a thousand times over!
Second Impossibility
Your being resembles a thousand-domed wondrous palace in which
the stones stand together in suspension and without support. Indeed, your being
is a thousand times more wonderful than such a palace, for the palace of your
being is being renewed continuously in perfect order. Leaving aside your truly
wonderful spirit, heart and other subtle faculties, each member of your body
resembles a single-domed part of the palace. Like the stones of a dome, the
particles stand together in perfect balance and order demonstrating the eye and
the tongue, for example, each to be a wondrous building, extraordinary work of
art, and miracle of power.
If these particles were
not officials dependent on the command of the master architect of the universe,
then each would have to be both absolutely dominant over all the other particles
in the body and absolutely subordinate to each of them; and both equal to each
and, with regard to its dominant position, opposed; and both the origin and
source of most of the attributes that pertain only to the Necessarily Existent
One, and extremely restricted; and both in absolute form, and in the form of a
perfectly ordered individual artefact that could only, through the mystery of unity, be the work of the Single One of Unity.
Anyone with even a
particle of intelligence would understand what an obvious impossibility this
is; to attribute such an artefact to those particles.
Third Impossibility
If your being is not ‘written’ by the pen of the Pre-Eternal and
All-Powerful One, who is the Single One of Unity, and is instead ‘printed’ by
nature and causes, there would have to be printing-blocks in nature not only to
the number of cells in your body, but to the number of their thousands of
combinations, which are arranged in concentric circles. For if this book, for
example, which we hold in our hand is written, a single pen may write it
relying on the knowledge of its writer. If, on the other hand, it is not
written and is not attributed to its writer’s pen, and if it is said that it exists
of its own accord or it is ascribed to nature, then, as a printed book, it
would be necessary for there to be a different iron pen for each letter so that
it could be printed. In a printing-press there have to be pieces of type to the
number of letters in the alphabet so the letters in the book come into
existence by means of them; pens to the number of those letters being necessary
in place of a single pen.
As may be seen, sometimes
a whole page is written in a single large letter from among those letters with
a small pen in fine script, in which case a thousand pens would be necessary
for one letter. Rather, if it took the form of your body, with all its
components one within the other in concentric circles, there would have to be
printing-blocks in each circle, for each component, to the number of the
combinations that they form.
Now, see, if you claim
this, which involves a hundred impossibilities, to be possible, then again if
they are not attributed to a single pen, for those well-ordered, artistic
pieces of type, faultless printing-blocks and iron pens to be made, further
pens, printing-blocks and letters to the same number as themselves would be
necessary. And they too would have to have been made; and they too would have
to have been well-ordered and artistically fashioned. And so on. It would carry
on in succession ad infinitum.
There, you too
understand! This way of thinking is such that it involves impossibilites and
superstitions to the number of particles in your body. O denier of God! See this,
and quit the way of misguidance!
THE THIRD WAY
“Nature necessitates it; nature makes it.” This statement
contains many impossibilities. We shall mention three of them by way of
examples.
First Impossibility
If the art and creativity, which are discerning and wise, to be
seen in beings and particularly in animate beings are not attributed to the pen
of divine determining and power of the Pre-Eternal Sun, and instead are
attributed to nature and force, which are blind, deaf and unthinking, it
becomes necessary that nature either should have present in everything machines
and printing-presses for their creation, or should include in everything power
and wisdom enough to create and administer the universe. The reason for this is
as follows:
The sun’s manifestations
and reflections appear in all small fragments of glass and droplets on the face
of the earth. If those miniature, reflected imaginary suns are not ascribed to
the sun in the sky, it is necessary to accept the external existence of an
actual sun in every tiny fragment of glass smaller than a match-head, which
possesses the sun’s qualities and which, though small in size, bears profound
meaning; and therefore to accept actual suns to the number of pieces of glass.
In exactly the same way,
if beings and animate creatures are not attributed directly to the
manifestation of the Pre-Eternal Sun’s names, it becomes necessary to accept
that in each being, and especially animate beings, there lies a nature, a force,
or quite simply a god that will sustain an infinite power and will, and
knowledge and wisdom. Such an idea is the most absurd and superstitious of all
the impossibilities in the universe. It demonstrates that a man who attributes
the art of the Creator of the universe to imaginary, insignificant, unconscious
nature is without a doubt less conscious of the truth than an animal.
Second Impossibility
If beings, which are most well-ordered and well-measured, wise
and artistically fashioned, are not ascribed to One who is infinitely powerful
and wise and instead are attributed to nature, there has to be present in every
bit of soil as many factories and printing-presses as there are in Europe so
that each bit of soil can be the means for the growth and formation of
innumerable flowers and fruits, of which it is the place of origin and
workshop. The seeds of flowers are sown in turn in a bowl of soil, which
performs the duty of a flower-pot for them. An ability is apparent in the bowl
of soil that will give shapes and forms which differ greatly from one another
to all the flowers sown in it. If that ability is not attributed to the
All-Glorious and All-Powerful One, such a situation could not occur without
there being in the bowlful of soil immaterial, different and natural machines
for each flower.
his is because the matter of which seeds, like sperm and eggs for example, consists is the same. That is, they consist of an orderless, formless, paste-like mixture of oxygen, hydrogen, carbon and nitrogen. Together with this, since air, water, heat and light also are each simple, unconscious and flow against everything in floods, the fact that the all-different forms of those flowers emerge from the soil in a most well-ordered and artistic fashion self-evidently and necessarily requires that there are present in the soil in the bowl immaterial, miniature printing-presses and factories to the number of presses and factories in Europe so that they could weave this great number of living fabrics and thousands of various embroidered textiles.
So you can see how far
the unbelieving thought of the Naturalists has deviated from the realm of
reason. And although brainless pretenders who imagine nature to be creator
claim to be men of science and reason, see just how distant from reason and
science is their thought, so that they have taken a superstition that is in no
way possible, that is impossible, as a way for themselves. See this and laugh
at them!
I f y o u a s
k : If such extraordinary
impossibilities and insurmountable difficulties occur when beings are
attributed to nature, how are those difficulties removed when they are
attributed to the Single and Eternally Besought One? And how is the difficult
impossibility transformed into that easy necessity?
T h e A n s w e r : We saw in the First Impossibility that the manifestation of the
sun’s reflection displays its radiance and effect through miniature imaginary
suns with complete ease and lack of trouble in everything from the minutest
inanimate particle to the surface of the vastest ocean. If each particle’s
relationship with the sun is severed, it becomes necessary to accept that the
external existence of an actual sun could subsist, with a difficulty at the
level of impossibility, in each of those minute particles.
Similarly, if each being
is ascribed directly to the Single Eternally Besought One, everything necessary
for each being can be conveyed to it through a connection and manifestation
with an ease and facility that is at the level of necessity. If the connection
is severed and each being reverts from its position as an official to being
without duties, and is left to nature and its own devices, it becomes necessary
to suppose that, with a hundred thousand difficulties and obstacles that reach
the degree of impossibility, blind nature possesses within it the power and
wisdom to create and administer the universe so that it might bring into
existence the wonderful machine of the being of an animate creature like a fly,
which is a tiny index of the universe. This is impossible not just once but
thousands of times over. read the rest
