In His Name!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.
Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings.
My Dear Self‑Sacrificing, Loyal, Conscientious Brothers, Hoja Sabri and Hâfız Ali!
Your important question concerning the verse at the end of Sura Luqman about “the five hidden things” deserves a serious reply, but unfortunately neither my present state of mind nor my physical condition permit it. I shall allude only very concisely to one or two points your question touches on. Your question indicates that atheists who have deviated from the true path of religion have made objections and criticisms concerning the time of rain falling and nature of the embryos in the womb from among “the five hidden things.”
They have said: “Instruments in the observatory can discover when rain is to fall, so someone other than Allah the Most High knows. Also the sex of embryos can be learnt by means of X‑rays. This means it is possible to learn “the five hidden things.”
The Answer: The time rain falls is tied not to any law, but directly to divine will. One instance of wisdom in its appearance from the treasury of mercy being dependent on a particular divine wish is as follows:
The most important things in the universe and the most valuable are existence, life, light, and mercy. These look directly, without intermediary or veil, to divine power and a particular divine wish. With other creatures, apparent causes are veils to the disposal of divine power, and regular laws and principles screen the divine will and wish to an extent. However, no such veils have been placed on existence, life, light, and mercy, for the purpose they serve is not in force in those things.
Since the most important truths in existence are mercy and life, and rain is the source of life and means of mercy, indeed is pure mercy, of a certainty intermediaries will not veil it, nor will laws and monotony screen the wishes that are Allah the Most High’s alone. In this way everyone in every situation will all the time be obliged to offer thanks and worship and supplications and prayers. If rain had been included under a law, everyone would have relied on the law and the door of thanks and supplication would have been closed. It is clear that there are numerous benefits in the sun’s rising, but since it is tied to a regular law, supplications are not offered for its rising and thanks are not given. And since because of the law it is a part of human knowledge that it will rise again tomorrow, it is not counted among the matters of the Unseen.
But the particular occurences of rain do not follow any law, so men are all the time obliged to take refuge at the divine court with prayers and supplications. Human knowledge has been unable to specify the times of precipitation, men therefore consider it a special bounty proceeding from the treasury of mercy alone, and truly offer thanks.
In consequence the verse includes the time rain falls among “the five hidden things.”
Deducing the preliminaries of rain with instruments in observatories and specifying the times of precipitation is not knowing the Unseen, but knowing by studying some of its preliminaries when it has emerged from the World of the Unseen and drawn close to the Manifest World. When the most hidden events of the Unseen occur, or when they are close to occurring, they may be perceived through a sort of premonition. But that is not knowing the Unseen, but knowing that something exists or is close to existence. In fact, I sometimes perceive the rain twenty‑four hours before it arrives due to a sensitivity in my nerves. That is to say, the rain has preliminaries, forerunners; they make themselves felt through a sort of dampness, making it known that rain is to follow. Just like a law, this situation is a means of reaching matters that have left the World of the Unseen but not yet entered the Manifest World.
But to know when rain will fall that has not yet set foot in the Manifest World, nor left through a particular divine wish the treasury of mercy, is peculiar to the One All‑Knowing of the Unseen.
The Second Matter
Learning by means of X‑rays whether a child in the womb is male or female is not contrary to the meaning of the verse, And He Who knows what is in the wombs, which refers to the Unseen. For what is intended by the verse are the preliminaries of the child’s particular capacity and the appointed course of its life, which it will acquire in the future, and even the wondrous stamp of the Eternally Besought One on its face – the child being known in this way is particular to the One All‑Knowing of the Unseen. Even if a hundred thousand X‑ray-like minds of men were to combine, they still could not discover its true features, each of which is a mark distinguishing the child from all the other members of the human race. So how could they discover the non-physical features of its abilities, which are a hundred times more wondrous than its physical features.
We said at the beginning that existence, life, and mercy are the most important truths in the universe and that the most important station is theirs. Therefore, one reason for the comprehensive truth of life looking with all its fine points and subtleties to the divine will and wish and mercy, which are particular to Allah the Most High, is this: Since life with all its faculties and facets is the source and means of thanks and worship, laws and monotony – which are a veil to Allah’s will, and apparent intermediaries – which screen His mercy, have not been placed on it.
Allah the Most High has two manifestations in the physical and non‑physical features of unborn children.
One shows divine unity, oneness, and eternal besoughtedness, for the child testifies to divine unity by being similar to other human beings in respect of its basic members and human faculties. With this tongue it shouts out: “Whoever gave me these features and members is the Maker of all human beings, for they resemble me in regard to basic members, and He is the Maker too of all living beings.”
This tongue of the child in the womb does not pertain to the Unseen; it may be known since it follows a law and general rule and the species. It is a branch and tongue of the Manifest World that has entered the World of the Unseen.
The Second Aspect: With the tongue of the features of its particular capacity and its individual features, it proclaims its Maker’s choice, will and wish and particular mercy and that He is under no restriction. But this tongue comes from the deepest Unseen; none other than Pre‑Eternal Knowledge can see it before it comes into existence, nor comprehend it. These features cannot be known while in the womb even if one or other of the child’s thousand members is seen!
In Short: The features of the embryo’s innate capacity and its physical features offer both evidence for divine unity and proofs of divine will and choice.
If Allah the Most High grants success, a number of further points shall be written about “the five hidden things.” But for now I have no more time and my condition does not permit it, so I conclude here.
The Enduring One, He is the Enduring One!Said Nursi