Page 82 - Beauties for Life in the Qur'an

80 BEAUTIES FOR LIFE IN THE QUR'AN

Through some signs in the Qur'an, Allah praises aesthetics,
beauty, and fineness, and encourages His servants to enjoy
them. In the Qur'an, He stated that His "beautiful (gifts), which
He has produced for His servants, and the things, clean and
pure (that He has provided) for sustenance" are "in the life of
this world, for those who believe, (and) purely for them on
the Day of Judgment." (Surat al-A'raf: 32)
As the verse maintains, all beautiful and delicate things in-
world are for believers who can appreciate them. In the here-
after, on the other hand, many other things that are
incomparably better will belong only to them.
Every single beauty is a work of art that belongs only to Allah,
the Creator of everything. This is why all beauty impresses be-
lievers, and why all believers give thanks to Allah and are
drawn ever closer to Him by every favor. Some details related to
Prophet Sulayman (as)'s life convey several signs about this
issue. In the following verse, Prophet Sulayman (as) explains
why he enjoys wealth, power, and magnificence:
And he said: "Truly do I love the love of good, with a view to the
glory of my Lord"... (Surah Sâd: 32)
As the verse makes clear, possessions, magnificence, and
wealth, all of which might lead unbelievers astray, are only
means for believers to thank Allah and earn His good pleasure.
The works of art made for the Prophet Sulayman (as) show his
excellent taste in the arts. The Temple of Solomon, of which only
a wall remains today in Jerusalem, was a glorious palace that is
mentioned in the Old and New Testaments, the Qur'an, and
many historical documents and scrolls. As the Qur'an narrates,
when the Queen of Saba entered it, she mistook its floor for a
pool, not realizing that it was paved with glass. This was truly
an unusual technique for that time. When she encountered the