When the rain pours down and water penetrates the depths of the soil...

When the rain pours down and water penetrates the depths of the soil, the air that is concentrated there is pushed downward, causing a ferment within the soil. When the roots of plants grow within the soil they appropriate part of the soil and their volume increases several times over, so that the earth itself swells and expands considerably through the growth of the plants it contains. The Commander of the Faithful, `Ali b.

Abi Talib, peace be upon him, said: “I am astonished by the one who denies resurrection in the hereafter although he cannot fail to see it in this world.” ( Ghurar al-Hikam, p. 493) The Imam expresses in these words his amazement at those negligent ones who are indifferent to phenomena that are fraught with…