4. We call the Qur'an _the word of God_, chiefly because it contains messages of high spiritual value delivered by _an illiterate man_ like Muhammad. It is neither a history like some of the books of the Old Testament, nor a biography like the four Gospels of the Bible. It is only a collection of sermons, commands, and instructions delivered and issued from time to time as occasions required. It contains, indeed, references to stories of older Prophets and previous events well known to the people of Arabia. But they are less by way of narration than by way of illustration. They are parables more or less ([Arabic: tilka l-ʾamṯālu naḍribuhā li-n-nās])[42]. Commentators like Zamakh-shari ([Arabic: tafsīr-e-kashshāf]) and Imam Razi ([Arabic: tafsīr-e-kabīr]) whose learning and authority cannot be questioned, have clearly proved that there is nothing in the Qur'an which is improbable or cannot be rationally explained to be quite in accordance with the laws of Nature [Arabic: qanun-u qadat]. If you read Sir Syed Ahmad's Commentary [Arabic: tafsir ahmadi] or his Essays [Arabic: khutbāt] you will find rational explanations of the ideas of Paradise and Hell, the Day of Judgment,[43] etc. I need not dwell on them here. I would however draw your attention to what is called the rule of "Parsimony in Thought" which is in vogue among men of Science. It is that if and when you can explain anything by what is well-known and understood by every one, you should not believe in the existence of "supermen" or assume the occurrence of supernatural events. When, for example, we can explain any action of Muhammad as an ordinary action of a reasonable man, we should not assume or believe that he performed a miracle. If we can explain the defeat and discomfiture of Abraham's Army by natural causes, such as an epidemic, we ought not to assume the occurrence of any supernatural event[44]. 5. The Qur'an does not favour any particular system of Philosophy. It leaves Muslims free to adopt any system of thought that commends itself to them, provided that it is not inconsistent with the ([Arabic: tawhīd]) idea of the one eternal and absolute God. Thus the Qur'an confines itself to the sphere of religion--the sphere where man is brought face to face with his God. (a) _What, then, is the object or aim of the Qur'an?_ To reveal a man unto himself. [Arabic: mun arafa nafsa hu arafa rabba hu] (He who has understood himself has understood his God.) (b) _Why should a man be revealed unto himself?_ In order that he might know his true relation with the rest of the world so that he might shape his conduct accordingly _i.e._, be true to himself, true to others, and true to his God in thoughts, words, and deeds. (c) _How does the Qur'an reveal a man unto himself?_ By showing him:-- (1) God in History[45] ([Arabic: huwa l-ʾawwalu wa-l-ʾāḫir] He is the First and the Last.) (2) God in Nature[46] ([Arabic: wa-ẓ-ẓāhir] He is the Manifest.)