So we say that the knowledge of things known as perfection and holiness
are found in many verses of the Quran, the most clear and definite of
them being the following, “There is nothing like Him, and it is He who
heareth and seeth;”[64] and, “Shall God, therefore, Who createth, be
as he who createth not.”[65] The second verse is an argument for the
verse “there is nothing like Him.” For it is one of the characteristics
of the dispositions of all the people to think that the Creator must
either be unlike the things which He has created, or having qualities
which may be different from these which He has given to the created;
otherwise he who is himself created cannot be a Creator. When we
have admitted that the created cannot be the creator then it becomes
incumbent upon us to say that the qualities of the created should
either be not found in the Creator, or found in Him in some different
way than they are in the created. We say, “in some different way,”
because we have proved the divine qualities to be those which are
found in the noblest of God’s creatures, man, as knowledge, life,
power, volition and so on. This is the meaning of the Tradition of
the Prophet, “God created Adam after His own image.” So it has been
established that the Law has denied the similarity between the Creator
and the created with fitting arguments. The denial of similarity is
of two kinds, first, that there may not be found in the Creator many
qualities of the created; and secondly; there may be found in him the
qualities of the created in so perfect and excellent a form as could
not be imagined. Of these two kinds it should be seen which one the Law
has explained, and about which it is reticent. We would also try to
find out the cause for this reticence.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account