The air that surrounds us has a considerable weight and...

The air that surrounds us has a considerable weight and exerts a constant pressure on the body; everyone bears a pressure of 16,000 kilograms of air. But we do not feel any discomfort because the pressure of the air is neutralized by the inward pressure of the body. This established scientific fact was unknown until the time of Galileo and Pascal, and even now our senses cannot perceive it.

The attributes assigned to natural factors by scientists on the basis of sensory experiments and rational deductions cannot be directly perceived. For example, radio waves are present everywhere and yet nowhere. There is no locus that is free of the attractive force of some material body, but this in no way detracts from its existence or lessens its substance.

Concepts such as justice, beauty, love, hatred, enmity, wisdom, that make up our mental universe, do not have a visible and clear-cut existence or the slightest physical aspect; nonetheless, we regard them as realities. Man does not know the essence of electricity, of radio waves, or energy, of electrons and neutrons; he perceives their existence only through their results and effects. ***** Life very clearly exists; we cannot possibly deny it.

But how can we measure it, and by what means can we measure the speed of thought and imagination? From all this it is quite clear that to deny whatever lies beyond our vision and hearing is contrary to logic and the conventional principles of reason. Why do the deniers of God fail to apply the common principles of science to the particular question of the existence of a power ruling over nature?

A certain materialist of Egypt went to Mecca in order to engage in debate, and there he met Imam as-Sadiq, upon whom be peace. The Imam said, "Begin your questioning." The Egyptian said nothing.

The Imam: "Do you accept that the earth has an above and a below?" The Egyptian: "Yes." The Imam: "So how do you know what is below the earth?" The Egyptian: "I do not know, but I think there is nothing below the earth." The Imam: "Imagining is a sign of impotence when confronted with what you cannot be certain of.

Now tell me, have you ever been up in the skies?" The Egyptian: "No." The Imam: "How strange it is that you have not been to the West or to the East, that you have not descended below the earth or flown up to the heavens, or passed beyond them to know what lies there, but nonetheless you deny what exists there. Would any wise man deny the reality of what he is ignorant of?