Discovering God

To come to know God is to know the Lord of the Worlds, the Greatest and the Most Powerful One. It is a discovery that shatters one’s whole being and creates a tumult within one’s soul.

There is a verse in the Quran which says, “No just estimate have they made of God, such as is due to Him. But on the Day of Resurrection, the whole earth will lie within His grasp, while Heaven will be folded up in His right hand—Glory be to Him! Exalted is He above all that they associate with Him.” (39:67)

A tradition related to this verse has come down to us through various channels with slight variations in wording. Imam Ahmad’s version is on the authority of Abdullah ibn Umer. One day the Prophet recited this verse of the chapter, Az-Zumar. He was moving his hand, backwards and forwards. “God will reveal His might,” he said. “He will say: ‘I am the All-Powerful, the Highest, the Sovereign Lord, the Mighty and Gracious One. Where are the kings of the earth?’” Then Abdullah ibn Umer went on: “The Prophet was trembling so much that we thought he might fall, along with the pulpit he was standing on.” (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith no. 5414; Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith no. 4534)

This is what happens to a person who indeed discovers God. The Prophet of God was not looking at his Lord face to face. However, the picture he had formed in his mind of God on High was so vivid that it looked as if he would fall on the ground in awe and bewilderment as he explained the Lord’s might.

Such is the nature of the realization of God. To come to know God is to know the Lord of the Worlds, the Greatest and the Most Powerful One. To discover such a being is no simple matter. It is a discovery that shatters one’s whole being and creates a tumult within one’s soul. To come to know God is to see Him, though he has not yet come out into the open; it is to fall dumbfounded before Him, though He has not revealed Himself from behind the veil of the universe.