Allāh—the Most High—said:

إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلَافِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ وَالْفُلْكِ الَّتِي تَجْرِي فِي الْبَحْرِ بِمَا يَنفَعُ النَّاسَ وَمَا أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مِن مَّاءٍ فَأَحْيَا بِهِ الْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا وَبَثَّ فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ دَابَّةٍ وَتَصْرِيفِ الرِّيَاحِ وَالسَّحَابِ الْمُسَخَّرِ بَيْنَ السَّمَاءِ وَالْأَرْضِ لَآيَاتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ

“Verily! In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day, and the ships which sail through the sea with that which is of use to mankind, and the water (rain) which Allāh sends down from the sky and makes the earth alive therewith after its death, and the moving (living) creatures of all kinds that He has scattered therein, and in the veering of winds and clouds which are held between the sky and the earth, are indeed āyāt (proofs, evidences, signs, etc.) for people of understanding.”
(Al-Baqarah, 2:164)

Imām ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Nāṣir al-Saʿdī explains:

Allāh—the Most High—informs us in this verse that there are signs within these expansive, magnanimous, great creations; they may be used to evidence the existence of their Creator, the Oneness of the Inventor of all things, His right to be worshipped, the greatness of His mercy and dominion, and the rest of His attributes of perfection. The matters mentioned in this verse also act as a reminder of resurrection and subsequent punishment or reward for those who have been given true understanding of the reality of their existence, who use their intelligence in the appropriate manner for which it was created. For the amount of benefit a person derives from Allāh’s signs—his acknowledgment, contemplation and understanding of them—is proportional to the innate intellectual abilities granted to him by Allāh coupled with his dedication to thinking and pondering upon these signs.

Signs in His Creation of the Heavens

The creation of the heavens—in all its elevation, comprehensivity, precise perfection, and exacting design—and all the celestial bodies that Allāh has chosen to create within it like the sun, the moon, the stars and their systematic, astonishingly precise orbits in relation to one another, all proffer great benefit from Allāh to His servants.

Signs in His Creation of the Earth

In the creation of the earth, being made spread out as a bed that facilitates all created beings within it, finding stability, deriving benefit from its contents, and taking lessons from it. This is also among the signs that indicate Allāh’s oneness in creation and disposing of all affairs, while also indicating the great ability with which He created the earth, His magnificent wisdom with which he made its processes possess exact precision, excellence, and perfect order, His knowledge and mercy with which He instilled within it various benefits for His creation, satisfying their needs and varying requirements for life. While all of this may also be used as a sign that He is perfect in every way. While also indicating that He alone has the right to be worshipped just as He alone is the Creator, the only One who disposes and controls the affairs of His servants.

Signs in His Alternation of Night and Day and the Magnanimity of His Dominion

In the alternation of the day and night—that is, in the perpetual following of one after the other—the inherent differences between them in temperature between hot and balmy, cool and chilly and degrees between these two extremes, and the variation in their respective lengths between long, short and moderate, and the resulting seasons that come about as an off-shoot of this variation is that which facilitates great benefit for the Children of Ādam allowing them to subsist and thrive. Just as it proffers exceptional advantages to their livestock, their plants and crops, and all that grows on earth. These processes occur only with great precision and exacting control, which allows these processes to be subjugated and influenced based on these (environmental) factors, the details and complexities of which baffle the greatest intellectuals—the most masterful proficient men are unable to fully comprehend them. This may be used to evidence the great ability of the One who controls these processes, His encompassing knowledge, comprehensive wisdom, His far-reaching, indiscriminate mercy, the wide umbrella of His courteousness, His greatness, majesty and the magnanimity of His dominion. It is incumbent upon the servant who truly acknowledges this to also acknowledge and know his Lord, then to direct his worship to Him alone while ascribing no partner to Him [just as He has no partners in the creation and forming of the created things from which he derives benefit].

Signs in His Teaching Mankind How to Utilise the World

As for the ships that sail through the sea, their creation (design and build) was all gifted to Allāh’s servants as an inspiration from Him. He also granted them the ability to build these ships by easing the attainment of their materials and the other means of production. Then, He subjugated the seas and the wind currents in all their splendour to these vessels, facilitating the transport of passengers, wealth, and goods. This transport is of great benefit to mankind, allowing them to organise and order their manner of living with precision and exactitude. So, who—besides Him—originally inspired them to create and design it, and then granted them the ability to execute its production? He also created for them various tools that would facilitate them building it. Then, who subjugated the water flowing beneath their feet, allowing these huge [weighty] vessels to sail upon it by His will? Who subjugated the wind currents, allowing their ships to take advantage of it and sail? Then, who created fire and the burning of fossil fuels that allow the propelling of these ships, as well as vehicles capable of transporting heavy cargo on land and through the air? Could these matters have all occurred coincidentally and by chance? Or did the weak, feeble, powerless creation produce it and its means all completely independently? Those who were pushed out of their mother’s wombs in a state of complete ignorance, unable to do anything for themselves, until and unless Allāh chooses to bless them with knowledge and ability? Or do you allege—and speak only the truth—that the One Lord is the one who has subjugated all these things and controlled them; the Great, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise, the Omnipotent, the One from whom nothing escapes nor is anything an impossibility. Rather, all things must yield before His Lordship, submit to His greatness, and humble themselves before His omnipotence, power and might. The extent of the abilities of the weak, powerless servant is that he is granted a mere portion among many of the means that would facilitate the creation in these great matters. It indicates Allāh’s mercy upon His servants, stipulating that they invoke only Him in worship whilst ascribing no partners or equals to Him, persistently returning to Him in repentance and seeking His forgiveness.

Signs in His Sending Down Sustenance

“And the water (rain) which Allāh sends down from the sky” that is, the rain that descends from the clouds in the sky “and makes the earth alive therewith after its death” by means of which, a variety of nourishing food staples are harvested, trees and vegetation of all sorts sprout forth, all of which the servant is independently unable to live without. Is this not a clear indication of the great ability of the One who has sent it down to earth to cause growth therein? Does it not illustrate clearly His mercy and courteousness to His servants, while also demonstrating the dire need of the creation for Him in all circumstances? Does it not necessitate one enacting all religious deeds for His sake alone, returning to Him in repentance, and worshipping Him continuously both with one’s heart [through directing fear of punishment, hope for reward, love and other emotional forms of worship to Him alone] and actions [like ṣalāh, fasting, Ḥajj and the like].

Signs in His Giving Live to the Dead

This verse also proves Allāh’s ability to grant life to the dead, as the Most High said:

وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ أَنَّكَ تَرَى الْأَرْضَ خَاشِعَةً فَإِذَا أَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْهَا الْمَاءَ اهْتَزَّتْ وَرَبَتْ ۚ إِنَّ الَّذِي أَحْيَاهَا لَمُحْيِي الْمَوْتَىٰ ۚ إِنَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

“And among His signs (in this), that you see the earth barren, but when We send down water (rain) to it, it is stirred to life and growth (of vegetations). Verily, He Who gives it life, surely, (He) is Able to give life to the dead (on the Day of Resurrection). Indeed! He is Able to do all things.”
(Fuṣṣilat, 41:39)

Just as Allāh has used—in several other verses—His ability to give life to the earth after its death as a premise that proves His ability to also resurrect those who have died on the Day of Judgement. In other places, He reminds us of His creation of all living beings from nothing in the first place, using it as an evidence that would stipulate His ability to bring them back to life.¹ In other places, the resurrection is evidenced by Him reminding His servants of His perfect, complete knowledge and ability, His creation of the heavens and the earth,² and His facilitating the burning of fire from green trees³ to evidence the plausibility of this matter.

Signs in His Disbursement of Creatures Throughout the Earth

His saying “and the moving (living) creatures of all kinds that He has scattered therein”: that is, He dispersed in every corner of the earth animals of varying species and subspecies. Among them are those pliable to being subjugated by the Children of Ādam such that they are able to make use of them, benefitting from their strengths and abilities. All the while, Allāh is the One who has taken responsibility for the supplying of their provision, managing their nourishment. And no moving, living creature is there on earth but its provision is due from Allah and He knows its dwelling place and its deposit (in the uterus, grave, etc.).⁴

Signs in His Directing the Winds

“And in the veering of winds” there are several clear proofs of Allāh’s oneness and His specificity of complete perfection. As these winds differ in temperature and direction: at times they are chilling and cool, while at others they are temperate and humid. At times they blow from the north or south, at others they reach us from the east or west and from directions between the poles. At times, they raise the clouds and at others they are the cause of the layering of clouds, heaping one atop another. At times, the flow of wind is abundant and plentiful, and at other times its flow is fragmented and broken, its harm alleviated. Sometimes Allāh chooses to send it with mercy, granting the people coolness from the heat of the day. Other times, He chooses to send it as a form of punishment. Who—besides the Almighty, the All-Wise—controls the veering of these wind currents in such a way, resulting in countless benefits for Allāh’s servants? Only the One who shows mercy and courteousness to His believing servants does so, for which He is deserving of their love, commemoration, gratitude, and praise.

Signs in His Formation and Disbursement of the Clouds

In the “clouds which are held between the sky and the earth” there is a clear indication of His gentleness and courteousness. For these clouds carry massive volumes of water to whichever land Allāh wills. This water has been made a means towards the providing of life to arid land, providing crops and harvest for the denizens of that land. These clouds are moved to both high elevations and lowlands, raining down on the creation of Allāh at the time of their greatest need, while any harm attributable to the rainfall is alleviated for them. It descends from the heavens as a mercy, representative of His courteousness to His servants, moving it from one place to another with care, attention, and affection.

So how great is His dominion! How replete is it with goodness! How courteous His blessings! Is it not then representative of a conduct that is most contemptible, reprehensible, and oppressive, that His servants would deign to derive enjoyment and bliss from His provisions, nourishing and subsisting themselves on the effects of His kindness, such that they utilise the strength they derive from it to engage in that which angers Him, showing open disobedience to Him?! Despite this, consistent with His complete forbearance, capacity to pardon and inclination towards conciliation, He persists in showing goodness to these servants, perpetually imbibing them with His blessings one after another. His goodness descends upon them continually, while at all times only evil ascends to Him from them.

Conclusion

The reality is that the more the intellectual deeply contemplates the creation around him, thoroughly immersing his mind and thoughts in the astonishing, fascinating form of this existence; he must conclude that it could only have been created in truth and for a purpose that is also true. For this creation represents the manifestation of veritable pages of plainly evident signs that point to its Creator, books wrought with evidences and clear proofs that indicate everything Allāh has informed us of Himself and His oneness—a recognition of the Last Day as related by His Messengers, and that this creation is closely controlled, its affairs neatly disposed. It has no will to subjugate or control itself, disobeying the control exerted by its Creator, the One who controls everything within it. Thus, the realisation is reached that this entire existence—both celestial and earthly—are all subject to Him in dire need, unable to help themselves in any way. For Allāh is the Self-Sufficient Master, whom all creatures need, while He does not need anything. For He is Rich and free of ever wanting or needing anything from His creation. There is nothing worshipped in truth except for Him, just as there is no Lordship except that it belongs to Him.

Source: Al-Majmūʿah 1:36-39
Translated by: Riyāḍ al-Kanadī