Maulana Wahiduddin Khan I The Sunday Guardian I 26th May 2013 I Page 12

Man is an imperfect being in the midst of a perfect world. The stars and the planets, wind and water, trees and animals, are all just as they should be. They do not deviate from the path prescribed for them in nature.

Man, on the other hand, deviates from his natural path. The actions that he performs, the person that he develops into, are a contradiction of nature. He follows a path far removed from what has been laid down for him.

While this paradox poses some questions for man, it also provides the answer to them. It shows that man's problems in this world all stem from the fact that he has deviated from the path of nature; only by re-adopting that path can he find a solution to them. We can see that the path which other objects in the universe follow is one of harmony and perfection. If man were to follow the same path, then human society would surely acquire the same ideal qualities.

The very fact that our imperfect human world lies in the midst of a much larger, perfect natural world, shows us what our aim in life should be. We must first try to understand the world around us, and then strive to base our lives on the principles that function in the rest of the universe.

One thing emerges with absolute clarity from an observation of the universe: everything is inextricably bound together in one specific law of nature. Nothing ever strays from the path that has been laid down for it. Man is required to act in the same manner. His character should be moulded according to the natural and specific laws of nature.

There is but one proper code of ethics for both man and the universe. The rest of the universe is observing that code. The only way that man can succeed is by following suit.