The Meaningful
Universe Cannot Have
a Meaningless End

Those who think deeply realize that it is unthinkable that a meaningful universe should have a meaningless end. This leads one to seek one’s purpose in life.

Chapter 3 of the Quran states: “There are signs in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and day for people of understanding; who remember God while standing, sitting and [lying] on their sides, and who ponder over the creation of the heavens and the earth, saying, ‘Lord, You have not created all this without purpose. Glory be to You! Save us from the torment of the Fire. Lord, those whom You condemn to enter the Fire You have surely brought to disgrace. Wrongdoers will have no supports.’” (3:190-192)

The universe with its whole existence is a silent declaration of God’s presence. When a person removes the manmade veils from his eyes and opens his ears, he starts seeing and hearing this silent proclamation all around him. It then appears improbable to him that, in a universe where the stars and the planets have continued to exist for millions of years, a person may cease to exist within fifty or a hundred years, taking with him to his grave all his desires and aspirations. In a world which abounds in the beauties of nature, with the fragrance of flowers, where countless meaningful blessings like air, water and the sun have been provided, should a person’s end be nothing but only sorrow and suffering? He also finds it unthinkable that, in a world of limitless possibilities where, just by sowing seeds in the ground, a whole forest of trees comes into existence, one should fail to receive the fruits of virtuous actions; that in a world where the sun shines daily after the dark night, centuries would go by without being illuminated by the lustre of fairness and justice; that in a world where earthquakes and tempests lie dormant, people should continue to perpetrate tyranny and oppression without ever being checked.

Those who think deeply, seeking a more profound reality, find it unthinkable that a meaningful universe should have a meaningless end. They discover that the message conveyed by the preacher is the announcement, in human language, of the same reality, which is being silently proclaimed by the whole universe.