16 : 17
Is He who has created all these marvels similar to him who has created
nothing? Will you not respond to admonition, regardless?
(After having enumerated in a crisp and clear tone the countless
benefactions of Allah bestowed upon mankind, - the rain which oozes out of the
clouds and pours down on earth, bringing the dead earth back to life;
replenishing rivers and oases; causing plants to grow, the crops to yield, the
flowers to bloom, the fruits to ripen; for men to quench their thirst and
cleanse their bodies; for animals to find their food; for the dust to settle;
for the seasons to change and the cycle of time to revolve, - the question
asked of the idolaters of Mecca, - indeed, of idolaters all over the world
who, in their utter ignorance, replace the real with the unreal, the genuine
with the fake, the true with the false and the potent with the impotent, is
that, how could they even begin to consider an idol carved in stone by their
own hands and placed on a pedestal raised by their mistaken loyalties to be
equal to an Omnipotent and Omnipresent Lord, Who is capable of creating and
running a show laid out on such a huge canvass? How could man, whose
knowledge, whose domain and whose faculties are so utterly limited ever
venture to limit the Infinite?)