Page 19 - For Men of Understanding

Before the gnat larva fully completes its develop-
ment, it changes its skin two more times.
The method used for feeding the larvae is
rather astonishing. The larvae make small
whirlpools in the water with their two fan-shaped
Egg raft
appendages made up of feathers, and thus make
bacteria and other micro-organisms flow towards
Newly hatched larva their mouths. The respiration of the larvae, which
repose upside down in water, takes place through
an aerial tube similar to the "snorkel" used by
divers. A viscous solution secreted by their bodies
prevents water from leaking into the openings
through which they breathe. Briefly, this living
being survives through the inter-relationship and
interplay of many delicate balances. If it did not
have an aerial tube, it could not survive; if it did
not have a viscous secretion, its respiratory tube
would fill with water. The formation of these two
systems at two different times would cause the
animal to die at this stage. This proves that the
gnat has all its systems intact, that is, it was creat-
ed.
The larvae change their skin once more. The
Snorkel last change of skin is rather different from the oth-
ers. In this stage, larvae pass onto the final stage
of their maturation, the "pupal stage". The shell
they are placed in becomes quite tight. This shows
that it is time for the larvae to emerge from this
shell. Such a different creature comes out of the
shell that it is indeed hard to believe that these two
are different developmental phases of the same
being. As seen, this transformation process is far
too complicated and delicate to have been
designed either by the larva or by the female
gnat...

During this last stage of transformation, the
animal faces the danger of being choked, as its
respiratory openings, reaching above the water
through an aerial tube, would be closed. However,

The Four Animals Emphasised in the Qur'an 17