Page 90 - Eternity Has Already Begun

ETERNITY HAS ALREADY BEGUN

the manufacturing stages of a single wire in the clock, the moment its
hour and minute hand were placed in it, the time this clock was sold
to a shop and a customer purchased it, then the moment the clock
went out of order and was given to a rag-and-bone man, the moment
your grand-grandfather purchased it from him and the time this
clock was inherited first by your grand father and then your father,
and then you, the way you placed the clock in your living room and
watched it with admiration, briefly, every second in the history of the
clock still remain in the Sight of Allah. In absolute terms, this clock is
working right at this moment, it has stopped again right now, it is be-
ing placed by you in your living room and it is purchased by your
grandfather at this moment. All these happenings are present in the
memory of Allah. Furthermore, not only what the clock went
through in the past but also its every future-related moment — sure-
ly this is the "future" for you — is known by Allah and is preserved
in His Sight. The way this clock will be placed in your son's home in
forty years' time and the collapse of the clock in three hundred years'
time is also included in the Mother of the Book.
In the verse "He knows what is in front of them and what is be-
hind them. But their knowledge does not encompass Him." (Surah
Ta Ha: 110) it is referred to this knowledge of Allah. (Surely Allah
knows the truth). That is because Allah knows every being moment
by moment. He knows their previous states as well as
their latter states, that is, in the words of the
Qur'an, "what is in front of them and what is be-
hind them", at all stages. In another verse, Allah
once again reminds us of the fact that every-
thing is within His Knowledge;

Allah—Him from Whom nothing is hidden,
either on earth or in heaven. (Surah Al
'Imran: 5)