The Qur’an An Abiding Wonder
Qur’an: The Voice of God
~ 112 ~
Those who are denied, or who have denied
themselves God’s enlightenment, will be roughly
tossed on the seas of life and are likely to founder
on hidden reefs without ever having been able to
bring their affairs to a satisfactory conclusion.
The Qur’an fills that vacuum in human nature
which, in all periods of history, has set man at
variance with himself. Rousseau said that man was
born free, but that everywhere he found ‘him tied
up in chains.’ I would say, on the contrary, that man
has been born a slave, but seeks, in unnatural ways,
to make himself a master. Outwardly, man appears
to be self-sufficient, but in his innermost self, he is a
complex web of needs. In order merely to survive,
man needs air, water and the produce of the land.
In the same way, in order to sustain the life of the
spirit, he stands in need of external support. Man
instinctively requires a prop on which he can lean in
times of difficulty; he needs one, close to himself, to
whom he can bow his head in reverence; one to
whom he can address his needs when he is in
trouble; one before whom he can prostrate himself
in gratitude when happiness comes his way. A man
drowning in the ocean needs to have a lifeline
