Chapter VIII: Excellence of the Quran
GOD'S ATTRIBUTES: God says: There is nothing to be compared to Him. He is seeing, hearing. He says that He is pure, Almighty, Guardian, Merciful, Compassinate, and Glorious.
Think of the meaning and significance of these names, Behind them, there are inner meaning, and none but the God gifted people can understand them. Hinting at this Hazrat Ali said : The Prophet did not inform me of any secret thing which was not disclosed to men. The real thing is that God has given some people to understand them and they remain desirous of understing them. Hazrat Ibn Masud said : He who desires to acquire the knowledge of the previous and future peoples, should seek it in the Quran.
HIS ACTIONS: God says : He created the heaven and earth and other things. One who recites the Quran should learn from it His attributes and His glory. He who can recognise real truth sees it in everything as all things come from Him and return to Him and everything is founded on truth for Him and for His help He who'does not see it in every visible thing cannot recognise Him.
He who can know Him knows that everything besides Him is void and everything except He with be meeting will destruction.
If he sees his being due to the existence of God, he will see that he has come from God and with His power. If he walks in the path of servitude, he will exist and if he walks freely he will not exist.
This is the root of spiritual insight. He should therefore ponder over these verses : Don't you look at what you saw? Don't you look at what you throw semen ? Don't you look at the water you drink ? Don't you look at the fire you enkindle ? So think in these lines at the water, fire crops and semen. Ponder over the elements with which a man is created. It is only a drop of semen. Look at its different compositions-bones, flesh, veins, head, hands, feet liver, heart etc. Then all honourable attributes have been placed in it-power of hearing, power of seeing, wisdom, power of smell.
Then it has been given attributes like anger, sexual passion, pride
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etc. God says: Dees man not consider that I have created him from a drop of semen and he is then an open adversary ?
CONDITION OF THE PROPHETS: Think how the Prophets were given wonderful qualities for which they were oppressed.
Some of them were murdered and attributed falsehood. Think of the condition of the liars like the A'd, Samud, etc. Think how the rejecters of truth were punished and take advice from their fate.
There is no such new or old think which is not in the Quran. God says : If the sea were ink to describe the attributes of my Lord,it would become dry before it described the attributes of my Lord.
For this reason, Hazrat AH said : If I wish, I can load seventy camels with Tafsir of the chapter Fateha. The substance of what has been said is that care should be taken to understand and interpret the Quran.