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ʾa-lam tara ʾanna llāha ʾanzala mina s-samāʾi māʾan fa-tuṣbiḥu l-ʾarḍu mukhḍarratan ʾinna llāha laṭīfun khabīrun
Have you not regarded that Allah sends down water from the sky, whereupon the earth turns green? Indeed Allah is all-attentive, all-aware.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Al-Hajj – Verses 63 – 64
63. “Have you not seen that Allah has sent down water from the heaven then the earth becomes green? Verily Allah is All-Subtle, All-Aware.”
64. “To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth, and verily Allah, certainly He is the Self-Sufficient, the Praised.”
The study over the world of existence can be an effective background for the faith in Allah. The words in the former verses were about the infinite Power of Allah (s.w.t.) and His legitimacy. The verses under discussion state some different signs of this vast Power and the absolute rightfulness. At first, it says:
The land which lacked any sign of life and had a frowning, dark, and ugly face, became alive again by the descent of the life-giving drops of rain and the signs of life appeared in it, and the smile of living was seen in its face. Yes, the Lord, Who creates such life and living so simply, is All-Subtle, All-Aware. So, the verse says:
The Arabic term /latif/ is derived from the word /lutf/ which means a very gentle and narrow thing; and it is because of this very gentleness that the special favours of Allah are sometimes called in Arabic /lutf/. The Qur’anic word /xabir/ means: ‘he who is aware of the accurate things’. This attribute of Allah, Who is All-Subtle, requires that He cherishes the worthless small seeds of the plants buried in the depth of the soil, and, in spite of the law of gravity, brings them out from inside of the dark land with the utmost beauty and delicacy, and puts them in the expose of sunlight and the blows of breeze, and finally they are turned into some fruitful plants or tall trees.
If He did not send the drops of rain and they did not make the land around the seed soft, mild and wet, those plants could never grow. But, by this rain, He caused the dry and rough land to become soft and prepared for the growth of the beautiful plants. In the meanwhile, He is aware of the whole necessities of this weak seed from the beginning of its movement under the dust until when it comes out and grows up and becomes, for example, as a tall tree.
Allah, requiring to His grace, sends down the rain, and requiring His awareness, He measures it so that if its amount goes beyond the limit it will flows as a flood and causes some ruins, and if its amount is less than the normal limit there will come draught and famine. This is the meaning of /latif/ (All-Subtle) and /xabir/ (All-Aware). There has been narrated a tradition from Imam Ali-ibn-Musar-Rida (as) which has been considered as a scientific miracle.
He said:
“When we say Allah is All-Subtle, it is for the sake that He has created some subtle creatures, and it is for the sake that He is aware of the things which are tender, smooth and concealed.
Do you not see the signs of His creation in the tender and rough plants, or in the creatures, small animals, little insects, and some things which are smaller than them? There are some living things that can never be seen by the eyes, and they are so little that their males and females, or their state being fresh or old can not be recognized.
When we observe such things and we contemplate about what are found in the oceans, inside the trees, deserts and farms, and that there are some living creatures which our eyes can not see, nor can we touch them by our hands, we understand that their Creator is All-Subtle.” 4
The abovementioned authentic tradition, which concerns the microbes and some atomic animals and has been stated some centuries before the birth of Pastor, the famous scientist, makes the interpretation of /latif/ (All-Subtle) clear. Upon the commentary of this word, there is also another probability that says the purpose of /latif/ is that the Pure Essence of Allah is such that it can never be felt by the feeling of anyone. Thus, He is /latif/ (All-Subtle) because no one is aware of His Essence. He is All-Aware since He is Omniscient and is informed of everything.
In the next verse, the other sign that the Qur’an introduces for Infinite Power and rightfulness of the Pure Essence of Allah is that it says:
He is the creator of all, and He is the owner of all, too; that is also why He is Almighty over every thing. It is for this reason that He is the Only Self-Sufficient in the whole world of existence, and He is worthy of any kind of Praise and Glorification. The connection of these two attributes, ‘the Self-Sufficient’ and ‘the Praised’, with together is a very accurate connection. Its explanation is that, firstly: there are many persons who are self-sufficient but they are some niggardly exploiters who have been encompassed with negligence and pride.
For this reason this attribution of Allah may sometimes recall those qualities, while His being Self-Sufficient is mingled with His Grace, clemency, and graciousness toward the servants, which make Him deserving of Praise and Glorification. Secondly, other self-sufficient ones have this quality in apparent, and if they have any clemency and graciousness, in fact, they are not theirs, because it is Allah Who has given them these whole blessings and potentialities. The One Who is Self-Sufficient and is eligible for any Praise and Glorification is His Pure Essence.
Thirdly: when the ordinary self-sufficient persons happens to do something, at last they gain some benefits from their action, while the only One Who bestows things on His servants abundantly and gains no benefit is His Pure Essence, and for the same reason He is the most eligible of all to be praised and glorified.
Footnotes