WHEN THE INK IS INSUFFICIENT

“Say (O Muhammed): If sea were ink for writing the words of my Lord, surely the sea would be exhausted before the words of my Lord would be finished, even if we brought (another sea) like it for its aid” (18: 109) – Chapter of the cave

The vastness of knowledge of the almighty is mentioned in the above verse. The wisdom of Allah is something that we can never comprehend with our limited understanding of the living world. It is clearly explained in the verse that the wisdom of Allah is so profound that, if the sea were to be used as the ink to write down the words of Almighty, it would make the sea exhausted and would take much more than two seas to completely write down what Allah knows. In the verse, the prophet (peace be upon Him) is reminded by Allah that His knowledge about the earth and heavens and what lies even beyond them is limitless. And to put it down in words with the help of the sea as the ink, whose depth and extend is yet a mystery for mankind, would never be possible.

The earth itself is a wonder planet about which man is in the process of learning more about. Even then a complete understanding of it has not yet been established. If so, what about the trillion other nebulae and galaxies that are more than a thousand miles from our tiny planet?

The creation of the web of the spider is a wonder to scientists. The strands are so finely created that the architecture of it is an awe to man. It has been found that each strand is made up of thousand similar strands and each of the thread comes out from different holes of the spider’s body. A creature so tiny at its core as compared to thousands of other organisms that fill the spaces of the earth has this dazzling operation of life!

These are just the frivolous of examples that can be quoted in this context. These examples in itself has given man much to reflect upon the preciseness of Allah’s creations.

The literature used in the verse is striking, especially for those who finds beauty and meaning in literary works. Undoubtedly, people of that category would be able to understand the beauty and truth of the verse in a complete sense. Allah makes it clear that, no matter how much man unveils in terms of scientific knowledge and other natural phenomena's, only the Almighty has complete knowledge of everything. It is with His guidance alone that man can proceed to greater levels of achievement and discoveries.