Fifth droplet


Look at that most illustrious being and see how he disseminates the truth with the light of which the night of mankind changes into daytime, and its winter into spring. Also, it is as if the universe changed form so that its vexed, distressful face became cheerful and smiling.

If we do not look at the universe in the light [of the truth] that man brought, then the universe seems as if full of sorrow, with its living creatures like strangers and enemies to one another and inanimate objects like frightening corpses. We see animals and human beings like orphans weeping at the pains of death and separation. The world in all its movements, and the changes and alterations it undergoes, and with all its decorations and adornments, seems like a plaything of chance, devoid of any meaning. Also, the helplessness of man becomes a continuous trouble for him and his poverty makes him unable to do anything. His reason or intellect continually upsets him with the sorrows of the past and anxieties of the future. As a result, man is reduced to being the lowest and most wretched of animals.

Now look at the universe with the light of the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, and observe it through the telescope of his religion. Look how the universe then appears! See how its appearance has suddenly changed! No longer a house of mourning, it has become a mosque where all beings praise and thank the Creator and reflect [on His works]. The creatures that formerly seemed like strangers and enemies to one another, have become friends and brothers. The inanimate objects, which you saw before as terrifying corpses, have all become like amiable living beings fulfilling certain important functions and, in the tongue of those functions or tasks, articulating their Creator's signs. The living beings whom you saw before like orphans weeping with pain and complaints, now appear as reciting the Creator's Names through their lives and thanking him for their discharge from their duties—that is, for their death. All the movements, changes and alterations taking place in the universe are no longer a meaningless plaything of chance. Rather they are messages from the rulership or mastership of the Creator, "pages" on which He writes His signs of creation and rules of the universe, and mirrors where His Names are reflected. In sum, the universe is a book of Divine Wisdom.

Now look at the past, that great tomb in darkness, and see how it has been illuminated with the suns of Prophets and stars of saints. Then look at the future, the darkest of nights, and see how it has been illuminated with the light of the Qur'an and appeared as gardens of Paradise.