Tenth Point of Eloquence: The wondrousness of the Qur'an's balancing between hope and fear.

• Tenth Point of Eloquence: It sometimes happens that a verse mentions man’s rebellious acts, then restrains him with severe threats. Then, so that the severity of the threats should not cast him into despair and hopelessness, it concludes with some Divine Names which point to His mercy and console him. For example:

Say: if there had been [other] gods with Him -as they say- behold they would certainly have sought out a way to the Lord of the Throne! * Glory be to Him! He is high above all that they say! - Exalted and Great [beyond measure] * The sevens heavens and the earth, and all beings therein declare His glory; there is not a thing but celebrates His praise; and yet you understand not how they declare His glory! Indeed, He is Oft-Forbearing, Most Forgiving!1

This verse says: “Say: if, like you say, Allah had had partners in his sovereignty, there would surely have been some signs of disorder, caused by the hand that stretched up to the throne of His dominicality and interfered. However, through the tongues of the manifestations and inscriptions of the Divine Names which they manifest, all creatures, universal or particular, great or small, from the seven levels of the heavens to microscopic organisms, glorify the All-Glorious One signified by those Names, declaring Him to be free of partners or like.

Yes, just as the heavens declare Him to be All-Holy through the light-scattering words of the suns and stars, and through the wisdom they display and their order, and testify to His unity, so the atmosphere glorifies and sanctifies Him through the voice of the clouds and words of the thunder, lightning, and rain, and testifies to His unity. The earth too glorifies and declares to be One the All-Glorious Creator through its living words known as animals, plants, and other beings; and so does it glorify Him and testify to His unity through the words of its trees and their leaves, blossoms, and fruits. Similarly, despite their tiny size and insignificance, the smallest creatures and most particular beings glorify the All-Glorious One signified by the numerous universal Names they display, and testify to His unity through the inscriptions they bear.

Thus, since man is the summary and result of the universe, and Allah’s vicegerent on earth, and its delicate fruit, this verse points out how ugly and deserving of punishment is his unbelief and associating partners with Allah. For it is counter and contrary to the whole universe, which altogether glorifies unanimously, with one tongue, its All-Glorious Creator and testifies in its own way to His unity, and performs the duty of worship with which it is charged, carrying it out in perfect submission. But in order not to cast man into despair, and to show the wisdom in the All-Glorious Subduer’s permitting such an infinitely ugly rebellion and not destroying the universe around mankind, it says:

Indeed, He is Oft-Forbearing, Most Forgiving!

It shows with this summary the wisdom in His postponing it, and leaves a door open for hope.

Thus, you may understand from these ten indications of miraculousness that in the summaries at the conclusions of verses are numerous sprinklings of guidance and flashes of miraculousness. The greatest geniuses among the scholars of rhetoric have bitten their fingers in absolute wonder and admiration at these unique styles, and declared: “THIS IS NOT THE WORD OF MAN,” and have believed with absolute certainty that

It is no less than revelation inspired.2

This means that together with the above-mentioned indications, numerous further facets not included in our discussion are contained in other verses in the arrangement of which such an impress of miraculousness is apparent that even the blind may see it...

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1. Qur’an, 17:42-4.
2.Qur’an, 53:4.

Please click on the following link to continue reading;

The Third Beam of the Second Light: The superiority of the Qur'an in terms of its speaker, the addressee, purpose and form.

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