His rahma then becomes the creational act - khalaqa-l- insan...

His rahma then becomes the creational act - khalaqa-l- insan - making wider ripples through the `evidence'. Bayan is the clear evidence which emanates from what is most subtle, penetrating the gross physical manifestations towards which rnan orients his perception. This is the knowledge of witnessing. Every­thing that is seen bears witness to the cause of its creation and to its being subject to the decree of the Beneficent.

The knowledge of the Qur'an is the knowledge of tawhid (divine unity), In this instance, rahma may also mean the tawhid of the Wahid, the One. Access to Him is through the knowledge of His decree, which is the Book. Creation took place according to the decree. The bayan is an outcome of the nature of that creation. Man seeks evidence for everything. He is always seeking knowledge. He seeks to know the cause, effect and proof of things. Nothing is haphazard, everything- leaves its trace.

Man is the trace of the Creator; he is His evidence. Everything in His existence is an ayatu-llah (sign of Allah). If man knows himself, then he has known the meaning of guardianship or lordship, rububiyya. Man arafa nafsahu fa-qad arafa rabbahu. "He who knows himself has known his Lord" (hadith) 5 The sun and the moon follow a reckoning. 6 And the herbs and the trees adore (Him).

The physical vehicle of man depends upon the mixture of minerals, proteins and all other elements subtly interconnected with the entire cosmic balance. Life cannot exist without the sun. When the sun begins to disappear, life will begin to cease in its different forms, and after a short period of time will end totally. The sun is self-effulgent while the moon is a faithful reflector, though it too has its influence over life. As Reality is self-evident, so is Allah self-evident.

Reality's reflector is the Prophet, salla-llahu `alayhi wa alihi wa sallam, Both the sun and the moon have a beginning and an end, like the two sides of a coin. The cosmic journey had its start and will have its end. But beginning and ending have one nature - the coin is one coin. The subject is one subject but there are two aspects to it, facing each other. This is the condition of the journey in this universe; it is also the condition of the self-generating light and its reflection.

"And the herbs and the trees adore (Him)." Najm means herbs or grasses, and also means a star. Najama is to appear, to become clear, evident. `Ilmu-n-nujim is the science of astrology, of predicting the future.