References
1. - We must note that by world-awareness or cosmology in the present discourse, especially when used in contrast to understanding God and humanity, we mean the study of all beings in existence except God and humans. Thus, from this perspective, cosmology is more specific in meaning than worldview. Naturally, due to the close rapport between God, humanity, and the world, sometimes cosmology is interwoven with theological and anthropological issues such that accurately distinguishing between them would be difficult.
2. - One of the positive points of cosmogony—i.e. scientific cosmology—is its unique precision and fastidiousness which is applied throughout various experiments and calculations. On the other hand, due to its reliance on physical perceptions, it is unable to explain metaphysical phenomena. Therefore, it is befitting that these sciences remain reticent regarding these phenomena and refrain from attempts to deny or refute them.
3. - Some scholars believe that all sciences, technology, and knowledge have been expressed in the Holy Qur’an, but we have yet to find the necessary tools to extract them. Naturally, proving this theory would be extremely difficult and as long as it is not proven, it shall remain a hypothesis.
4. - For instance, a truth may be “shahādat” for our intellect and be “ghayb” regarding our senses.
5. - Sūrah Baqarah 2:2-3.
6. - Sūrah Tawbah 9:94.
7. - Sūrah Tawbah 9:78.
8. - Islamic thinkers have uniquely depicted the various aspects of existence. According to philosophers, after the essence of God is the world of pure intelligents [‘ālam-e ‘uqūl], and inferior to that is the world of ideas [‘ālam-e mithāl]. Finally, there is the natural world which is the lowliest world regarding its existential status. In addition, Sufis divide the main worlds into five planes: realm of the divinity [lāhūt], realm of omnipotence [jabarūt], angelic realm [malakūt], the realm of sovereignty [mūlk], and the realm of humanity [nāsūt]. The three first planes are invisible and the other two are manifest.
9. - Sūrah Ḥāqqah 69:38-39.
10. - Sūrah Ḥijr 15:21.
11. - Sūrah Rūm 30:8.
12. - Sūrah Āl ‘Imrān 3:191. The Qur’an introduces justness in the world in various manners. Sometimes it talks of the creation of the heavens and earth based on justice (such as Sūrah An‘ām 6:73; Sūrah Ibrāhīm 14:19; Sūrah Ḥijr 15:85; etc.). At other times it emphasizes that, the creation of the world is not in vain (such as Sūrah Ṣād 38:27). In addition, in some verses it states that God has not created the world for sport (Sūrah Anbiyā’ 21:16):
﴿و ما خلقنا السّماواتِ و الأَرضَ و ما بينَهُما لاعبين﴾
“And we have not created the heavens and earth and all that is in between for sport.”
We must note that in the Qur’an, the term “heavens and earth” especially when accompanied by the term “ما بينهما” (all in between) is generally an allusion to the entire natural world.
13. - Sūrah Yāsīn 36:38.
14. - Sūrah Rūm 30:8;﴿أَجَلٍ مُّسَمّىٰ﴾ means appointed end. [trans.]
15. - Sūrah Sajdah 32:7.
16. - That is,“ به جهان خرم از آنم كه جهان خرم از اوست ” .
17. - Sūrah Isrā’ 17:44.
18. - Ibid.
19. - This verse is from Sa‘dī. The second hemistich is a poetic interpretation of﴿ ... لا تفقهونَ تسبيحَهُم ﴾ .
20. - Due to this fact, it has been stated of some illuminated mystics that in some of their transcendental spiritual and mystical states, they have heard the entrancing exaltation
of various creations. It is also said of the prophet of Islam (ṣ) that one of his miracles was that he could hear the praise and glorification of grains of sand.
21. - In divine philosophy and theosophy, the relationship of God and the world is rendered in unique manners. Philosophers mostly explain it in the form of a causal relationship, whereas mystics mostly emphasize theophany [tajallī] and manifestation [ẓuhūr], and regard the universe a manifestation and symbol of divine names and attributes.
22. - Sūrah Ḥadīd 57:4.
23. - Islamic philosophers term this accompaniment, “sustainment simultaneity” [ma‘iyat-e qayyūmī]; that is, the togetherness of a sustainer entity and beings whose preservation depend on that entity.
24. - Nahj ul-Balāghah, sermon 1.
25. - ‘Allāmah Majlisī, Baḥār al-Anwār, vol. 9, p. 189.
26. - For instance, in Hinduism, God’s transcendency is emphasized to such degree that His existence is totally severed from the world. In contemporary Christianity, even though the principle of Jesus (‘a) as the incarnation of God depicts a close relationship between God and the World, God’s purity and transcendence is thoroughly impaired.
27. - Sūrah A‘rāf 7:54.
28. - Sometimes, in the Qur’an, the word ﴿سماء﴾ [samā’] is used with another meaning disparate from material skies; it seems rather that it means the metaphysical planes. For examples, see: Sūrah Mā’idah 5:112, 5:114.
29. - Sūrah Ḥajj 22:47; and Sūrah Ma‘ārij 70:4.
30. - Sūrah Fuṣṣilat 41:12.
31. - Ibid 41:9.
32. - Ibid 41:10.
33. - Sūrah Ṭalāq 65:12. Some scholars believe that the literal meaning of the number “seven” is not intended in this verse. They believe it signifies the copiousness of its noun (heavens). However, this belief is not compatible with the semblance of such verses, especially verses that employ the number seven without a noun:
﴿و بنينا فوقكم سبعاً شداداً﴾
“And We have built above you seven robust [heavens].” Sūrah Naba’ 78:12.
34. - Sūrah Fuṣṣilat 41:11-12.
35. - Sūrah Mulk 67:3. Also, see: Sūrah Nūḥ 71:15.
36. - Sūrah Ṣāffāt 37:6. Also, see: Sūrah Fuṣṣilat 41:12.
37. - The term “Seven Terras” is used in a small number of Hadith. This may be an indication of the large pieces of land on the earth. This is because the word terra or earth [arḍ] is also used to mean pieces of land.
38. - These verses are interesting examples of the synthesis of cosmology, theology, and anthropology in the Qur’an.
39. - Sūrah Baqarah 2:22.
40. - Sūrah Mulk 67:15.
41. - Sūrah Ghāfir 40:64.
42. - Sūrah Zukhruf 43:10; and Sūrah Naba’ 78:6.
43. - Sūrah A‘rāf 7:10.
44. - Sūrah Fuṣṣilat 41:39.
45. - Sūrah A‘rāf 7:54.
46. - Sūrah Ṣāffāt 37:6.
47. - Sūrah An‘ām 6:97.
48. - Sūrah Yāsīn 36:40. This verse shows that at the time that the Ptolemaic system was prevalent in scientific circles, the Qur’an rejected this theory. This is because this verse states that celestial bodies drift in space; whereas, according to the Ptolemaic system, the skies cannot be lacerated and mended and that heavenly bodies move with the skies not within them.
49. - Sūrah Ra‘d 13:3; Sūrah Anbiyā’ 21:31; and Sūrah Naba’ 78:7.
50. - Sūrah Naḥl 16:81.
51. - Sūrah Naml 27:88. This may be an indication of the axial spin or the orbital revolution of the earth.
52. - Sūrah Mu’minūn 23:18.
53. - Sūrah Zumar 39:21.
54. - Sūrah ‘Abas 80:25-32; and Sūrah A‘rāf 7:57.
55. - Sūrah Jāthīyah 45:12.
56. - Sūrah Naḥl 16:14.
57. - Sūrah A‘rāf 7:57; Sūrah Rūm 30:48; and Sūrah Fāṭir 35:9.
58. - Sūrah Ra‘d 13:3; Sūrah Qāf 50:7; Sūrah Shu‘arā’ 26:7; and Sūrah Ḥijr 15:19.
59. - Sūrah ‘Abas 80:25-32.
60. - Sūrah An‘ām 6:99.
61. - Sūrah Naḥl 16:79; and Sūrah Mulk 67:19.
62. - Sūrah Naḥl 16:5-8.
63. - Sūrah Naḥl 16:66.
64. - Sūrah Naḥl 16:68-69.
65. - In differentiation between humans and angels, Imam ‘Alī (‘a) has stated:
لَم يَسْكُنوا الأصلابَ وَ لَم يَغتَنِموا الأرحامَ وَ لَم يُخْلَقوا مِنْ ماءٍ معينٍ
“Angels do not reside in loins [of fathers] and are not born of wombs [of mothers] and have not been created from ignoble water.”
66. - Muslim philosophers regard angels as incorporeal entities, some of whom possess absolute intellectual incorporeality while others enjoy transitive incorporeality and therefore can hold various material qualities such as shape.
67. - Sūrah Anbiyā’ 21:26-27.
68. - Sūrah Taḥrīm 66:6.
69. - Sūrah Ḥajj 22:75. Additionally, see: Sūrah Fāṭir 35:1.
70. - It must be noted that some of these affairs are specifically stated in Qur’anic verses while others are inferred from various signs and indications in the Qur’an.
71. - Sūrah Naḥl 16:2, 16:102; and Sūrah ‘Abas 80:16.
72. - Sūrah Nāzi‘āt 79:5; and Sūrah Ma‘ārij 70:4.
73. - Sūrah Ghāfir 40:7; Sūrah Anbiyā’ 21:28.
74. - Sūrah Āli ‘Imrān 3:124-125.
75. - Sūrah Baqarah 2:141; and Sūrah Āli ‘Imrān 3:87.
76. - Sūrah Yūnus 10:21; Sūrah Zukhruf 43:80; and Sūrah Infiṭār 82:11.
77. - Sūrah An‘ām 6:61; Sūrah Nisā’ 4:97.
78. - Sūrah Naḥl 16:28, 16:32. Barzakh literally means the barrier between two things. It is an intermediate state between death and resurrection. The Hebrew equivalent to Barzakh is Sheol. In Catholic doctrine a close equivalent is purgatory. [trans.]
79. - Sūrah Zumar 39:73; and Sūrah Anbīyā’ 21:103.
80. - Sūrah Muddaththir 74:31.
81. - Sūrah Anbīyā’ 21:19-20.
82. - Sūrah Ṣāffāt 37:164.
83. - Sūrah Takwīr 81:21.
84. - Sūrah Sajdah 32:11; and Sūrah An‘ām 6:61.
85. - Sūrah Raḥmān 55:15.
86. - It has been surmised that fire signifies a type of energy that cannot be evaluated using contemporary instruments and that can transmute into matter by concentration. Through this speculation, the fact that the jinn have been seen on occasion can be rationalized.
87. - In the story of the conjuration of the throne of the Queen of Sheba [saba’], the Qur’an attests to the fact that one of the jinn, an afreet [ifrīt], in the service of Solomon (‘a) declared that he could present her throne, before Solomon (‘a) could rise from his seat. (See: Sūrah Naml 27:38-39)
88. - Sūrah Ḥijr 15:27.
89. - Sūrah Jinn 72:14-15.
90. - Sūrah An‘ām 6:130.
91. - Sūrah Ḍārīāt 51:56.
92. - Sūrah Naml 27:17, 27:39; and Sūrah Saba’ 34:14.
93. - Sūrah Saba’ 34:41; and Sūrah An‘ām 6:100, 6:128.
94. - Sūrah An‘ām 6:112.
95. - In the Qur’an, Shaytān is used both with the definite article “ال”, indicating it as a proper noun and without the definite article, denoting it as a qualifier.
96. - Sūrah Kahf 18:50.
97. - Sūrah Ḥijr 15:28-31.
98. - Sūrah A‘rāf 7:12; and Sūrah Ḥijr 15:33.
99. - Sūrah Ḥijr 15:34.
100. - Sūrah Ḥijr 15:35.
101. - Sūrah A‘rāf 7:14; and Sūrah Ḥijr 15:36.
102. - Sūrah Ḥijr 15:37-38. It is self-evident that Satan’s amnesty and means for temptation is a part of God’s tradition of trialing humans. The existential philosophy of Satan is indicated in Sūrah Saba’:
﴿وَ ما كانَ لَهُ عَلَيهِم مِن سلطانٍ إِلّا لَنَعلَمَ مَن يُؤمِنُ بالأَخِرَةِ مِمَّن هُوَ مِنها فِي شَکٍّ﴾
“And he [Satan] had no sovereignty over them save that We might differentiate those who believe in the Hereafter from those who doubt it.” (Sūrah Saba’ 34:21)
103. - Sūrah A‘rāf 7:20-22.
104. - Sūrah Ḥijr 15:39.
105. - Sūrah Ibrāhīm 14:22.
106. - Sūrah Baqarah 2:268.
107. - Sūrah An‘ām 6:68.
108. - Sūrah Nūr 24:21.
109. - This means, at your service. [trans.]
110. - Sūrah Ibrāhīm 14:22.