Woman Between Islam and Western Society
1. A Survey
~ 49 ~
would be reduced to the size of a mouse and a
mouse would be little bigger than an ant.
The unparalleled balance that exists on earth is
aptly illustrated by the strange example of the
insects which, unlike human beings, do not possess
lungs, but breathe through tubes. When insects
grow large the tubes cannot grow in ratio to the
increasing size of the body of the insect. Hence
there never has been an insect more than a few
inches long with a slightly longer wing spread.
Because of the mechanism of their structure and
their method of breathing, there never could be an
insect of great size. This limit in their growth held
all insects in check and prevented them from
dominating the world. If this physical check had not
been provided, man could not exist. Imagine a man
meeting a hornet as big as a lion or a spider equally
large.
18
Of course, the notion of order in the world has
periodically been called into question. A certain
western writer has suggested that the gravitational
pull of the earth is far greater than is absolutely
essential, hence the difficulty one experiences in
