The Natural World Leads to God

The universe is a great library of maarifah or God-realization. Everything in the universe speaks of God-realization. This manifests itself in the form of the law of nature throughout the universe. If a person ponders over creation, he will find that every aspect of the universe is giving the lessons of God-realization.

The sun symbolically displays that maarifah or God-realization is that which enlightens the existence of man from the inner self to the outer self. The flowing river tells man to achieve God-realization in such a way that it flows as a spring in the soul. The lush green branches of a tree when swayed by wind convey the message to man to achieve God-realization in such a way that it becomes a thrilling experience for him. The chirping of birds tells man that discovering the wonders of God should happen in such a way that praises of God flow from his tongue. The greatness of the mountains silently expresses the discovering of God in all His greatness and so on.

The same is true of the entire universe. Everything in the universe sends out the message of God-realization in natural terms as if the entire universe is a great library of God-realization. In the same way that a scholar enters the library and derives knowledge from books, a true human being receives the intellectual food of God-realization from the divine library of the universe.

The library of the universe is an unlimited treasure of maarifah. Every particle of the universe has the status of an encyclopedia of maarifah. Here the leaf of a tree enshrines a library of God-realization within it. This has been expressed thus by a Persian poet:

Barg Darakhtan-e-sabz, dar nazar-e-hoshiar, har waraqe daftare ast marifat-e-kardgar. (The leaves of the green tree, to a wise man, serve as a great resource of the realization of the Creator.)