Page 70 - Eternity Has Already Begun

ETERNITY HAS ALREADY BEGUN

Relativity in the Qur'an

The conclusion to which we are led by the findings of modern
science is that time is not an absolute fact as supposed by materi-
alists, but only a relative perception. The important fact on this
matter, undiscovered until the 20th century by science, was impart-
ed to mankind in the Qur'an 14 centuries ago. There are various ref-
erences in the Qur'an to the relativity of time.
It is possible to see the scientifically-proven fact that time is a
psychological perception dependent on events, setting, and condi-
tions in many verses of the Qur'an. For instance, the entire life of a
person is a very short time as we are informed in the Qur'an:
On the Day He calls you, you will respond by praising Him and
think that you have only tarried a very short time. (Surat al-Isra': 52)
On the day We gather them together – when it will seem if they
had tarried no more than an hour of a single day – they will rec-
ognize one another…(Surah Yunus: 45)
Some verses reveal that time passes faster than people imagine.
He will say, 'How many years did you tarry on the earth?' They
will say, 'We tarried there for a day or part of a day. Ask those able
to count!' He will say, 'You only tarried there for a little while if
you did but know! (Surat al-Muminun: 112-114)
In some other verses it is stated that time may flow at different
paces in different settings:
They ask you to hasten the punishment. Allah will not break His
promise. A day with your Lord is equivalent to a thousand years
in the way you count.. (Surat al-Hajj: 47)
The angels and the Spirit ascend to Him in a day whose length is
fifty thousand years. (Surat al-Ma'arij: 4)
He directs the whole affair from heaven to earth. Then it will
again ascend to Him on a day whose length is a thousand years by
the way you measure. (Surat as-Sajda: 5)
These verses are all manifest expressions of the relativity of time.

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