Page 35 - The Basic Concepts in the Qur’an

“He has the power to send down calamities upon you, from above and below, or to
cover you with confusion in party strife, giving you a taste of mutual vengeance - each
from the other.” See how We explain the signs by various (symbols); so that they may
understand.
(Al-Anaam, 65)

It is He Who has produced you from a single person: here is a place of sojourn and a
place of departure: We have made plain Our signs for people who understand.
(Al-Anaam, 98)

...Thus Allah makes clear his signs to you: so that you may understand.
(Al-Noor, 61)

And from the fruit of the date-palm and the vine, you derive wholesome drink and
food: behold, in this also is a sign for those who are wise.
(An-Nahl, 67)

He has made subject to you the Night and the Day; the sun and the moon; and the
stars are in subjection by His Command: turly, in this are signs for men who are wise.
(An-Nahl, 12)

He propounds to you a comparison from your own (experience). Do you have
partners among those whom your right hands possess, to share as equals in the wealth
We have bestowed on you? Do you fear them as you fear each other? Thus we
explain the Signs in detail to a people who understand.
(Al-Room, 28)

Moses said (to the Pharaoh): “He is the Lord of the east and the west, and all between
that lies! if you only had sense!”
(Al-Shuara, 28)

And among His signs, He shows you the lightning, by way both of fear and of hope,
and He sends down rain from the sky and with it gives life to the earth after it is dead:
truly in that are signs for those who are wise.
(Al-Room, 24)
There are also different levels of wisdom. The extent by which one purifies his heart of
worldly desires and selfishness determines the level of wisdom. The attachment one feels for
this life and following vain desires are also major factors in determining the level of wisdom.
Man will either obey Allah, or his vain desires. When he obeys Allah, he is saved from the
limitations of his desires and attains wisdom. The reverse is also true; worshipping desires
means reprogramming all of one’s thoughts and behaviour to accord with the unlimited wishes
of the soul.
In case desires have control over one’s soul, the heart also becomes sealed. It becomes
blunted towards divine enlightenment. Thus the heart loses its properties of “understanding”
(At-Tawba, 87), “knowing” (At-Tawba, 93), and becomes dull and loses its sensitivity. The heart
loses its light.
In the process, the individual can never realize that he has lost his understanding, since he
has also lost the criteria by which to judge between right and wrong.Although one acquiring
wisdom is always aware of this positive change in himself, the same does not hold true for the
opposite. This is just like the case of a man who falls into a faint or slips into a coma; in both
cases he would never know what state he had been in until he recovered.
In the Qur’an, the state of those who are devoid of wisdom is also explained: