Article appeared Friday, April 27th, 2018 in The News Today, Bangladesh

The Revelation (522) yousuf mahbubul Islam, PhD

How does a work of art or painting acknowledge the artist or painter? It is living proof or it
provides practical evidence of the quality and skills of the artist or the painter. However, who
would have the abilities to analyze and certify to the truth of the qualities and skills of the artist?
Of the people who have an opportunity to observe the artwork there may be three types. Those
who see the painting – but do not give it a second thought or do not care to analyze it. A second
category may be those who simply say, O, what a beautiful painting! A third category would be
those who care to study the artwork and appreciate and acknowledge the value and quality of
the artist and his/her skills.

For the sake of understanding the differences, can a parallel or analogy be drawn between the
artist and his artwork and God and His creation? By analogy, if we study any part of creation
does it reflect Qualities, Attributes and Skills of God? For example, if we study the phenomenon
of regular day in and day out, i.e., Day and Night, and relate it to our daily life pattern, does it
say something about God? In the Al-Qur’an we find the following questions.
“Say, “Have you considered: if Allah were to make the night perpetual over you until the
Day of Judgment what god is there other than Allah who can bring you light? Will you not
then hear (what He has given you)?”” [28.71]

“Say, “Have you considered: if Allah should make the day perpetual over you until the
Day of Judgment what god is there other than Allah who can give you a night in which
you may rest? Will you not then see?”” [28.72]

“It is out of His Mercy that He has made for you the Night and the Day that you may rest
therein and (by day) that you may seek from His Bounty and that perhaps you will be
grateful.” [28.73]

How would we go about our daily routines if there were no daylight? How many types of regular
activities are attached/regulated by the day/night cycle? At a deeper level, when scientists study
the day/night phenomenon {1, 2, 3}, they discover other aspects such as precision engineering
and benefits for the well being of humans and other life forms – benefits that only a Most Wise
and Merciful God could have conceived, designed and created! As Verses 28.71 – 28.73 point
out, should we study our life and our resources; acknowledge and be grateful? If we ignore to
acknowledge God’s blessings, what kind of character would we prove to God?

To aid the understanding of those motivated to find out more about God, the Holy Scriptures
carry stories of prophets, who were human beings just like us, but reflected on His Blessings,
were grateful and adored Him. According to Biblical Scriptures {4}, King Solomon had asked
God for wisdom to enable him to be a fair judge over the people that He had appointed him as
king. Solomon therefore not only understood that it was God who appointed him as king, he was
aware of the need to please God in the delivery of his responsibilities – which he could not carry
out without His Help. The Verses from the Al-Qur’an below share an example of how God
supported and guided both King David and his son Solomon in delivery of justice with wisdom.

21.78 “And remember David and Solomon when they gave judgment in the matter
of the field into which the sheep of certain people had strayed by night: We
(=Royal I) did witness their judgment.”
In his explanatory note 2732 {5}, translator Abdullah Yusuf Ali gives details of how Solomon
surpassed his father in wisdom.
“The sheep, on account of the negligence of the shepherd, got into a cultivated field (or
vineyard) by night and ate up the young plants or their tender shoots, causing damage,
to the extent of perhaps a whole year's crop. David was king, and in his seat of judgment
he considered the matter so serious that he awarded the sheep, in compensation for his
damage, to the owner of the field... His son Solomon, a mere boy of eleven, thought of a
better decision, where the penalty would better fit the offence. The loss was the loss of
the fruits or produce of the field of the vineyard: the corpus of the property was not lost.
Solomon’s suggestion was that the owner of the field or vineyard should not take the
sheep altogether but only detain them long enough to recoup his actual damage, from
selling the milk, wool and possibly the young of the sheep, and then return the sheep to
the shepherd. David's merit was that he accepted the suggestion, even though it came
from a little boy: Solomon's merit was that he distinguished between corpus and income,
and though a boy, was not ashamed to put his case before his father. But in the whole
incident it was Allah Who inspired the true realization of justice. He was present and
witnessed the whole affair, just as He is present all the time.

21.79 “To Solomon We inspired the (right) understanding of the matter: to each
(of them) We (=Royal I) gave Judgment and Knowledge; it was Our power that
made the hills and the birds celebrate Our praises with David: it was We Who did
(these things).”
As they were grateful and publicly announced their gratitude, God gave them many other
blessings and powers.
“We gave knowledge to David and Solomon: and they both said: "Praise be to Allah
Who has favored us above many of His servants who believe!" And Solomon was
David's heir. He said: "O people! We have been taught the speech of Birds and on us
has been bestowed (a little) of all things: this is indeed Grace manifest (from Allah)."”
[27.15 – 27.16]

21.80 “It was We Who taught him the making of coats of mail for your benefit to
guard you from each other’s violence: will you then be grateful?”

21.81 “(It was Our power that made) the violent (unruly) wind flow (tamely) for
Solomon to his order to the land which We had blessed: for We do know all
things.”

21.82 “And of the evil ones were some who dived for him and did other work
besides; and it was We Who protected them.”
As the wise Solomon acknowledged all powers were from God and was grateful for each new
blessing, God granted him powers and support that no other king on earth has had. In our own
personal life, if we recognize and acknowledge the blessings of God, is He likely to deprive us of
anything that He has given us?
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{Notes}:
{1} http://theconversation.com/a-dark-night-is-good-for-your-health-39161
{2} https://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/skytellers/day_night/
{3} https://sciencing.com/causes-day-night-cycle-earth-15684.html
{4} https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/b/r1/lp-e/nwtsty/E/2017/14/1#h=4:0-5:0&study=discover
{5} https://archive.org/stream/TheHolyQuranEnglishTranslationoftheMeaningandCommentary/