(3:5) Natural scientists are better acquainted than others...

(3:5) Natural scientists are better acquainted than others with the subtle and precise mysteries that are implanted in every particle of creation; they are aware from their studies and researches of the various calculations that are built into things both living and lifeless, in cells and globules; of the various forms of action and reaction, outward and inward, that take place in them; and of the effects of various materials and substances.

Thus, they witness the signs of God's astounding wisdom and infinite knowledge in nature or, as the Qur’an puts it: "...on the horizons." (41:53) More than others, they are exposed to the manifestation of God's attributes and perfection's, including His unbounded knowledge, and if they do not reject the call of their conscience, they will also discern the existence of the Creator more clearly. A certain thinker once said, Our world resembles a great idea more than it does a great machine.

As a theory or a scientific definition, it can be said that the world is the product of a great idea, the manifestation of a thought and an idea superior to our own. Scientific thought seems to be moving in the direction of this theory. God's knowledge is not restricted to things past or to present events and objects; His knowledge of the future is exactly like His knowledge of the present. God's knowledge is, so to speak, "immediate" in the complete sense of the word.

It is not in the first instance necessary that there should be an object of knowledge to Which His knowledge should attach itself. All things stand revealed before Him, for at the very same time that His sacred essence is utterly other than all creatures and phenomena, it is also not separate from them: all things past and future are in His unmediated presence.

The Commander of the Faithful ‘Ali, upon whom be peace, says: “ He knows all things, but not through means and instruments, the absence of which would entail the cessation of His knowledge. There is not some added entity called 'knowledge' interposed between Him and the objects of His knowledge; there is nothing but His essence alone .”[^1] Here, ‘Ali, peace be upon him, is referring to the theological principle that God's awareness of things is direct and immediate.

In His knowledge of phenomena, God has no need of the mental forms that are the basis of acquired knowledge. Were He to acquire His knowledge by means of those forms, need would arise in Him, whereas He is utterly free of need.