Principles of Islam
46. Signs of God
~ 138 ~
he said, “He instructs in religion.” Looked at
together, these statements show that God’s greatest
blessing to a person is an open mind and a sound,
receptive intellect that sees truth for what it is. Such
a mind is free of complexes: it is able to form
opinions in a free and unprejudiced spirit. A sound
mind does not take long to absorb any truth, or take
in any lesson contained in the world at large. The
universe is like spiritual sustenance for such a
mind, which develops and thrives by deriving
nourishment from what it sees, feels and hears in
the world around it.
Signs of God are spread all over the universe. In
some places it is rocks and inanimate matter that
provide a pointer to some profound reality, in
others it is “flies” – menial objects – that sound out
a message for man. Sometimes God enables one of
His servants to call his fellow men to truth in plain,
spoken language. In all such instances it is one who
has opened his mind to truth who will find it. If one
is not receptive to instruction one will gain nothing
from all the signs that are scattered throughout the
world. An open mind derives instruction even from
a “fly”, while not even divine revelation and