It is a very strange tragedy that, in the entire history of humanity, no one except for a few chosen people have been able to discover God’s Majesty. That is why in all that time, what has least been found is the high realization of God. High realization of God is equivalent to appreciating the majesty of God. When man failed to discover the majesty and greatness of God, it was inevitable that he would never achieve a high level of realization.
Man by his internal nature wanted a God who is Greatest of the Great and Who is the only one who has no partner. As a matter of human psychology, man wants a God of unbounded greatness. Since man, in past history, has not been able to discover such a God of limitless glory, he has not been able to establish an elevated relationship with God. He has believed in God in a formal way by observing rituals but he has not found a God who becomes all in all for him, whom he loves the most, and whom he fears the most.
What is the reason for this happening? It was because, in ancient times, man would see that there were many things which appeared great. For instance, the sun, the moon, the oceans and the mountains, etc. Moreover, in ancient times, there were many great emperors who made the claim of being the greatest Lord. (The Quran, 79:24) In the same way, there were living or dead saints who appeared great to man. So man placed them on high pedestals. In ancient times, there were many such things which appeared great to man. It is this deceptive greatness which has been thus deplored in the Quran: “My Lord, they have led so many men astray!” (14:36).
In ancient times there were many such different objects of greatness which dominated man’s mind. This being so, in spite of believing in God, people could not discover the greatest and the noblest being in the form of God. Man demonstrated his belief in God ritualistically, but he had never attained any high level of realization of God. That is why we find that the believers in God failed to make God their sole concern. They were unable to establish that superior connection with God’s being which may be described as emotional attachment. In this matter there is no exception in Muslim history.
This is why for the last thousand years, Muslim writers have written a large number of books without—according to my knowledge—having produced any worthwhile book on the subject of the high level of realization of God and the majesty of God. This story has been brought to an end for the first time by modern science. What modern science did for the first time was to place all human or non-human greatness in a non-divine perspective. In this way modern science has already travelled the initial half of the journey of maarifah. Now it is possible that man, by his reflection and deep thinking, may complete the final half of the journey and may discover and realize God in the highest form.
Source: Discovering God
