Translation
Ask: “Who gives you sustenance from the universe and the earth? Who controls your ability to hear or to see? Who brings forth the living from the dead (consider a seedling coming out of a seed) and brings forth the dead from the living (consider how a person dies at the end of life)? Who controls and regulates the affairs (of life and natural world)?” Their reply will be: “It is God.” Ask: “Will you not then be mindful and act responsibly?” Such is your God, your true Sustainer! Outside of truth, there are only conjecture and manufactured falsehood. How is it then you do not pay attention? This is how God proves reality against those who persistently deny and reject faith. 469
Ask: “Is there anyone from those of your deities and godheads who can bring out the first creations and then guide their evolution?” Say: “It is God Who causes the first creations and then He guides their evolutions. How come you continue to deny? Ask: Does any of your deities guide to the truth? Say: “It is God who guides to the truth. Is not the One who guides you to the truth more worthy to be followed than one who cannot find his own ways unless guided?” What is really the matter with you? How do you assess reality? 470
Most of them follow nothing except creating conjectures and manufacturing falsehood. Such falsehood cannot withstand truth. God certainly knows what they do.
Interpretation
469 The natural world, provisions for our life, the cycle of life among all creation, including ourselves, our sensory capabilities, regulations of our lives and our affairs—these all point to a Creator Who is the Source of our existence and our transformation throughout life. Creation of life in the first place and its continuous evolutions within and across species, its reproductive capabilities, the presence of intelligence and consciousness, individual births and deaths—all that we can witness in our own lifetime provides a window of opportunity to understand God, to confirm our faith in God, and to reflect and explore His grand scheme in the universe. Denial of such truth leads to all sorts of conjectures, falsehood, and godheads, leading humanity down a path of denial of God and failing to understand and appreciate the purposefulness of our life.
470 God is the source of all truth. The invention of godheads, the denial of God, and failing to accept and follow God’s guidance lead to falsehoods and conjectures that confuse and misguide people. Such denials and deliberate attempts to ignore God’s guidance leads to a life and an existence that create arrogance, give false notions of control and unfettered freedom to abuse, and misuse life and natural resources. This is amply evident in our generation in the rapid degradation of air and water quality, the alarming rate of species that are becoming extinct that our own lives depend on, widespread corruption and injustice in the world, and the gross negligence of human rights around the world today in the form of widespread poverty, gross forms of income inequality, and the rise of terrorism by individual operators, fringe groups, and nation states.
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REFLECTION
God is in the details, and as we examine our lives, our societies, and the world at large, we need to assess what are the ailments of our generation. Proper diagnosis is as important as the remedies that we can come up with.
ACTION
Through these verses God calls us to reason, to reflect, and to mend our understanding and our stance on what life is, what God’s guidance is, and what truth we need to follow. Ignorance, willful denial, and deliberate misconduct in the face of overwhelming evidence regarding God; our responsibilities to this planet, its peoples, and its resources; and our reality of life here and our life after death are things that demand immediate attention for our generation.