not be inferior in respect of marvels and miraculous art than the vast Qur’an gilding the face of the heavens; indeed, in some ways it would be superior.

In exactly the same way, from the point of view of the originality and eloquence in their creation, in relation to the power of the universe’s Creator, the rose is not inferior to the star Venus, the ant is not inferior to the elephant, and a microbe is more wondrous as regards its creation than a rhinoceros, and with its marvellous inborn faculties the bee is superior to the date-palm. This means that the One Who creates the bee can create all animals. The One Who raises a single soul to life can raise to life all men at the resurrection of the dead and gather them together in the arena of the Great Gathering, and will gather them together. Nothing at all is difficult for Him, for before our eyes every spring He creates a hundred thousand samples of the resurrection with the greatest ease and speed.

Very briefly, the meaning of the final Arabic sentence is this: since the people of misguidance do not know the unshakeable truths of the above ‘Steps,’ and since creatures come into existence extremely easily and extremely quickly, they imagine their formation and creation through a Maker’s infinite power to be self-formation and that they come into existence of themselves. They have thus opened for themselves the door of in every way impossible and precluded superstitions, which no mind, and not even delusion, could accept. For example, in that case, every single particle of every animate creature would have to be ascribed an infinite power, knowledge, and eye that sees everything, and power sufficient to execute every art and skill. Thus, by not accepting a single God, they are bound by their ways to accept gods to the number of particles, and thus deserve to enter among the lowest of the low of Hell.

As for the people of guidance, the powerful truths and irrefutable proofs of the above ‘Steps’ afford to their sound hearts and straight minds the firmest conviction and most powerful belief and assent at the level of ‘the vision of certainty,’ so that they believe without doubt or misgiving and with peace of mind that in relation to Divine power there is no difference between stars and particles, or the smallest and the largest, for all these wondrous things occur before our very eyes. And every marvel of art confirms the assertion