Qur'an verses about nature

Ala-Maududi

(3:189) To Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth; and Allah is All-Powerful. indeed been successful.

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

Ala-Maududi

(3:190) Surely in the creation of the heavens and the earth,^[134] and in the alternation of night and day, there are signs for men of understanding.

134. This section constitutes the conclusion of the present surah. It is related not so much to the verses which immediately precede it as to the entire surah. In order to grasp its significance one should particularly bear in mind our introductory remarks to this surah. (See pp. 229 ff. above.)

Ala-Maududi

(6:38) There is no animal that crawls on the earth, no bird that flies with its two wings, but are communities like you. We have neglected nothing in the Book (of decree). Then to their Lord will they all be mustered.

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

Ala-Maududi

(6:96) It is He Who causes the dawn to split forth, and has ordained the night for repose, and the sun and the moon for reckoning time. All this is determined by Allah the Almighty, the All-Knowing.

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

Ala-Maududi

(6:99) And it is He Who has sent down water from the heavens, and thereby We have brought vegetation of every kind, and out of this We have brought forth green foliage and then from it close-packed ears of corn, and out of the palm-tree from the sheath of it – thick clustered dates, hanging down with heaviness, and gardens of vines, and the olive tree, and the pomegranate – all resembling one another and yet so different. Behold their fruit when they bear fruit and ripen! Surely, in all this there are signs for those who believe.

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

Ala-Maududi

(13:3) He it is Who has stretched out the earth and has placed in it firm mountains and has caused the rivers to flow. He has made every fruit in pairs, two and two, and He it is Who causes the night to cover the day.^[8] Surely there are signs in these for those who reflect.

8. After citing some heavenly signs in support of the doctrines of Tauhid and the Hereafter, a few signs are being cited from the earth for the same purpose. Briefly the following are the arguments for Tauhid, Resurrection and Accountability.

(1) Tauhid: The fact that the earth is closely connected with the heavenly bodies (which help create life on it), and the fact that the mountains and the rivers are so interrelated with that life are clear proofs that all these things have not been created by separate and different gods nor are being governed, by gods with independent powers and authorities. Had it been so, there could not have been so much harmony, congruity, accord and unity of purpose among them; nor could these relationships have continued for such a long time. For it is quite obvious that if there had not been One All-Powerful and All-Wise Allah, it could not have been possible and practicable for different gods to sit together and evolve out such a harmonious system of the universe without any discord or conflict between its myriads of bodies.

(2) Resurrection: This wonderful planet, the earth, is itself a great proof that its Creator is All-Powerful and can, therefore, raise the dead whenever He will. For it is floating in space round the sun and it has high mountains fixed in it and has large rivers flowing on its surface: it produces countless fruit-bearing trees and it brings about the cycles of the day and the night with precise regularity. All these things bear witness to the boundless power of its Creator. It would, therefore, be sheer folly to doubt that such All-Powerful Creator is incapable of raising mankind to life after death.

(3) Accountability: The earth, with all its wonderful and purposeful signs, is a clear evidence of the fact that its Creator is All-Wise. Therefore it cannot even be imagined that He has created man, His noblest creation, without any purpose. Just as His wisdom is apparent from the structure of the earth, its mountains, its rivers, the pairs of its trees and fruits, its night and day, so it is quite obvious that it has not been made the habitation of man without any purpose, nor will it be brought to naught without the fulfillment of that purpose. Clearly mankind shall be accountable to its Creator for the fulfillment of that divine purpose.

Ala-Maududi

(13:13) The thunder celebrates His praise and holiness,^[20] and the angels, too, celebrate His praise for awe of Him.^[21] He hurls thunderbolts, striking with them whom He wills while they are engaged in disputation concerning Allah. He is Mighty in His contriving.^[22]

20. The thunder is a proclamation of Tauhid for those who have ears to hear the real meaning of its loud noise which follows the flash of lightning, though it is merely a kind of noise for those who hear it like animals. For it proclaims that Allah Who raises clouds from the oceans and carries them wherever He wills, and makes the lightning flash from the clouds and then turns them into rain so as to supply water to the dwellers of the earth, is perfect and worthy of all praise, is All-Wise and All-Powerful and is flawless in every respect and has do partner whatsoever.

21. The mention of the fact that the angels are filled with awe of their Lord, and they proclaim His praise has a special significance here. This is to refute the shirk of the ignorant people who have always worshiped the angels as gods and deities and believed them to be partners with God in His Godhead. It has been stated that they are not partners with Allah but His most obedient servants; so much so that they praise Him and are filled with awe of Him.

22. He has countless plans and measures which are so effective and sudden that He can smite anyone with any one of them from any side He wills. So much so that the intended victim is absolutely unaware of it. This is a proof that those people, who say absurd things about such All- Powerful Being, are absolutely void of sense.

Ala-Maududi

(13:14) To Him alone should all prayer be addressed,^[23] for those to whom they do address their prayers beside Him are altogether powerless to respond to them. The example of praying to any other than Allah is that of a man who stretches out his hands to water, asking it to reach his mouth, although water has no power to reach his mouth. The prayers of the unbelievers are a sheer waste.

23. “For Him is the supplication of truth,” for Allah alone has the power and the authority to give help and remove difficulties.

Ala-Maududi

(15:19) As for the earth, We have stretched it out and have cast on it firm mountains, and have caused to grow in it everything well-measured.^[13]

13. The growth of every kind of plant in a limited extent is another sign of the wisdom and power of Allah. For the generative power of every vegetable plant is so great that if free growth had been allowed to even one kind of plant, it would have covered the whole surface of the earth. But it is by the design of the All-Wise and All-Powerful Creator that every kind of vegetable is produced in a balanced measure. There is another aspect of the vegetable life. Each and every kind of it is allowed to grow only to a fixed size, height, and thickness, which is a proof of the fact that the Creator himself prescribed the structure, the shape, the size, the height, the leaves and branches, and the number of each and every plant, and no plant is allowed to go beyond any of these fixed limits.

Ala-Maududi

(16:11) and by virtue of which He causes crops and olives and date-palms and grapes and all kinds of fruit to grow for you. Surely in this there is a great Sign for those who reflect.

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

Ala-Maududi

(16:12) He has subjected for you the night and the day and the sun and the moon and the stars have also been made subservient by His command. Surely there are Signs in this for those who use their reason.

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

Ala-Maududi

(16:69) then suck the juice of every kind of fruit and keep treading the ways of your Lord^[57] which have been made easy.” There comes forth from their bellies a drink varied in colours, wherein there is healing for men.^[58] Verily there is a sign in this for those who reflect.^[59]

57. “Follow the ways of your Lord” means work in accordance with the methods which have been taught to thee by Allah’s wahi for the smooth running of hive life. It is Allah’s wahi (instinctive inspiration) that has taught the bees how to build their wonderful factory with separate combs to rear brood, combs to turn nectar into honey, combs to store food, in short, separate combs to fulfill every aspect of hive life. It is wahi that has taught the bees how to organize themselves into a cooperative society for collective effort to run the factory with the queen and thousands of workers to perform a variety of specific tasks. All these things have been made so smooth for them by wahi that the bees never feel the necessity of ever thinking about it. They have been running smoothly their factory with their collective effort for thousands of years with perfect accuracy.

58. Though honey is a wholesome food with a sweet taste and has medicinal power as well, its latter quality has been mentioned only because the former is too obvious. It is used as a medicine to cure several diseases because it contains the juice and glucose of flowers and fruits in the best form. Besides this, it is also used in preparing and preserving other medicines because it does not rot. It also preserves other things from decay. That is why it has been used for centuries as a substitute for alcohol. And if the beehive is built at a place, which abounds in certain medicinal herbs, its honey does not remain mere honey, but becomes also the essence of that herb. It is expected that if bees are used methodically for extracting essence from herbs, that essence will prove to be much better than the one obtained in the laboratories.

59. This passage (Surah Al-Kahf, Ayat 48-69) contains proofs of Tauhid and life after death. These were necessitated, for the disbelievers and the mushriks were bitterly opposed to the Prophet (peace be upon him) mainly because of these two doctrines. The acceptance of the first doctrine demolished the whole system of life based on shirk or atheism because to acknowledge Allah to be the sole Provider, the Helper and the Protector left no room for the worship of any god or goddess. The proof of Tauhid is based on the observance of the structure of the cattle, the bees, the date palms and vineyards and their usefulness to mankind. Naturally the question arises: Who has designed these in the manner and for the purpose they have been created? The only obvious answer is that it is the All-Wise and All-Beneficent Allah Who has designed all these things for the benefit of mankind to produce such varieties of food that are so wholesome and so tasty. The Prophet, therefore, rightly demanded: When you yourselves admit, and you cannot but admit, that it is Allah alone Who has provided milk, honey, dates, grapes and the like, He and none but He is worthy of your worship, praise, gratitude and allegiance. Why do you then insist on making offerings to your self made gods and goddesses?

The second doctrine to which the disbelievers took strong objection was that there is surely the life after death. They were against this doctrine for its acceptance changed the whole moral system and they were not prepared to change their immoral ways. Their objection was based on the presumption that it was impossible to bring to life anyone after death.

They have been asked to observe that the barren land, which once had been covered with vegetable life, was again covered with it after rainfall and they have been watching such repetition of life year after year. That Allah, Who could so easily bring to life the dead vegetable, could do the same and bring to life all the dead without any difficulty at all.

Ala-Maududi

(21:30) Did the unbelievers (who do not accept the teaching of the Prophet) not realize that the heavens and the earth were one solid mass, then We tore them apart,^[28] and We made every living being out of water?^[29] Will they, then, not believe (that We created all this)?

28. From the wording of the text, it appears that at first the whole universe was a single mass of matter; then it was split into different parts and the earth and the other heavenly bodies were formed. For more details, please see (Surah HaMim As-Sajdah, ayat 10-11) note 13-15.

29. From the wording of the text, it appears that Allah made water the cause and origin of life. See also (Surah An-Nur, Ayat 45).

Ala-Maududi

(21:32) and We made the sky a secure canopy;^[33] and yet they turn away from these Signs.^[34]

33. For explanation, see (Surah Al-Hijr, ayat 16) note 8, (Surah Al-Hijr, ayat 17-18) note 10-12.

34. That is, those signs which are in the sky.

Ala-Maududi

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

Ala-Maududi

(30:30) (O Prophet and his followers),^[42] turn your face singlemindedly^[43] to the true Faith^[44] and adhere to the true nature on which Allah has created human beings.^[45] The mould fashioned by Allah cannot be altered.^[46] That is the True, Straight Faith,^[47] although most people do not know.

42. This “so” implies that when the reality has become clear to you, and you have come to know that none but Allah is the Creator and Master and Sovereign of this universe and of man himself, then inevitably your conduct should be such as indicated in this verse.

43. “Set your face…truth”: Do not turn your face to any other direction after you have adopted this way of life. Then you should think like a Muslim and your likes and dislikes should be of a Muslim. Your values and standards should be the ones set by Islam and your character and conduct should bear the stamp of Islam, and the affairs of your individual and collective life should be ordered according to the way taught by Islam.

44. “This faith”: The faith that the Quran presents, in which none but Allah is worthy of worship and obedience, in which none can be held as an associate of Allah in His Divinity, in His attributes and His powers and rights, in which man by his own free will chooses to order his life in accordance with the guidance and law of Allah.

45. That is, all human beings have been created on the nature that none but One Allah is their Creator and Lord and Deity. You should be steadfast on this nature. If you adopt the attitude of independence, you will be following a way opposed to your nature, and if you serve and worship another besides Allah, then you will be working against your nature.”

This subject has been explained by the Prophet (peace be upon him) in a number of Ahadith. According to Bukhari and Muslim, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Every child who is born, is born on the human nature; it is his parents who make him a Jew or a Christian or a Magian, etc. afterwards. Its example is that of an animal which gives birth to complete and sound young ones, none is born with torn and cut off ears, but the mushriks tear their ears afterwards on account of their superstitions of ignorance.”

According to another Hadith reported in Musnad Ahmad and Nasai, the Muslims in a war killed the children of the enemy. When the Prophet (peace be upon him) came to know of it, he became very angry, and said: “What has happened to the people that they have transgressed the limits and killed even the children?” A man said, “Were they not the children of the Mushriks?” The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied: “Even the best of your people are the children of the mushriks!” Then he said: “Every living being is born on the nature: then when he becomes able to speak, his parents turn him into a Jew or a Christian.”

In another Hadith which has been reported by lmam Ahmad on the authority of Ayad bin Himar-ul-Mujashii, it has been related that one day the Prophet (peace be upon him) said during an address: “My Lord says: I had created all My servants on true faith; then the satans came and led them astray from their faith, and made unlawful what I had made lawful for them, and commanded them to associate with Me those for whom I have sent down no authority.”

46. That is, God has made man His servant and created him only for his own service. This natural disposition of man cannot be altered, however hard one may try. Neither can man effect a change in his position of a servant, nor can anything other than God become his God in the real sense. Man may make for himself as many gods as he may please, but the fact remains that he is the servant of none but One God alone. Man by his own folly and ignorance may regard anyone as holder of divine attributes and powers and take any one as the maker and un-maker of his destiny, but the fact of the matter is that neither does anyone other than Allah possess divine attributes nor His authority, nor has anyone else the power to make or mar the destiny of man.

Another translation of this verse can be: “Do not affect any alteration in the nature made by Allah.” That is, it is not right to corrupt and spoil the nature on which Allah has created man.

47. “Right religion”: To remain steadfast on one’s true Nature.

Ala-Maududi

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

Ala-Maududi

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

Ala-Maududi

(31:20) Have you not seen that Allah has subjected to your service all that is in the heavens^[35] and on the earth and has abundantly bestowed upon you all His bounties, both visible and invisible?^[36] Yet some persons dispute regarding Allah^[37] without having any knowledge or guidance or any illuminating Book.^[38]

35. “Apparent favors” imply those favors which are perceived by man in one way or the other, or are known to him. And the “hidden favors” are those which are neither perceived by him nor are known to him. There are countless things in man’s own body and in the world outside him, which are working in his interest, but man is utterly unaware of the means which his Creator has provided for his protection and safety, for his development and provision of sustenance to him, and for his well-being and happiness. Research of man in the different branches of science is revealing many such favors of God as were hidden from him before. And the favors and blessings which have so far been revealed are insignificant as against those which are still hidden from man.

36. “Who disputes about Allah”: Who wrangle and dispute about questions such as these: Does Allah exist or not? Is He One God alone, or are there other gods also? What are His attributes and what is their nature? What is the nature of His relationship with His creations etc.?

37. That is, they neither have any means of knowledge by which they might themselves have observed or experienced the reality directly, nor do they have the guidance of a guide available to them, who might have guided them after observing the reality, nor do they possess a divine Book, which might be the basis of their belief.

38. That is, it is not at all necessary that the forefathers of every person and every family and nation should have been on the right path. The mere argument that a particular way of life had been bequeathed by the elders cannot be a proof of its being right also. No sane person can commit the folly that he should blindly go on following the way of his forefathers even if they were not rightly guided, and should never bother to find out where the way is leading him.

Ala-Maududi

(32:7) He Who excelled in the creation of all that He created.^[13] He originated the creation of man from clay,

13. That is, “In this limitless universe, He has created countless numbers of things, but none of them is ugly and ill-shaped: everything has its own special beauty: everything is proportionate and symmetrical in its own way. Whatever He has made for a particular purpose, He has given it the most appropriate form and invested it with the most suitable qualities for it. No better and more appropriate structure could be conceived, for example, for the eye and the ear which have been made for seeing and hearing. The air has precisely the same qualities which it should have for the purpose for which it has been made, and the water precisely the same qualities for the purpose for which it has been made. No one can point out any defect or flaw in the design of anything made by God; nor can anyone offer an alteration or modification in it.”

Ala-Maududi

(35:9) It is Allah Who sends forth winds which then set the clouds in motion, which We drive to some dead land giving a fresh life to earth after it had become dead. Such will be the resurrection of the dead.^[19]

19. That is, these ignorant people think that the Hereafter is impossible. That is why they are living under the delusion that they may do whatever they like in the world, the time will never come when they will have to appear before their God and render an account of their deeds. But this is no more than a delusion. On the Day of Resurrection, the dead men of all ages will suddenly rise back to life at one call of Allah just as the dead earth comes back to life at one shower of the rain and the roots, lying dead for ages, become green and start sprouting up from the layers of the earth.

Ala-Maududi

(35:27) Do you not see that Allah sent down water from the sky with which We brought forth fruits of diverse hues? In the mountains there are white and red, of diverse hues, and pitchy black;

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

Ala-Maududi

(35:28) and human beings too, and beasts, and cattle diverse are their hues.^[48]From among His servants, it is only those who know that fear Allah.^[49] Verily Allah is Most Mighty, Most Forgiving.^[50]

48. This is meant to impress that in the universe created by Allah nowhere is there homogeneity and uniformity; there is variety everywhere. From the same earth and by the same water different kinds of trees are appearing. Even the two pieces of the fruit of the same tree are not uniform in color and size and taste. In the same mountain one will see a variety of colors and a great difference in the material composition of its different parts. Even among human beings and animals one will not see two offspring of the same parents exactly alike. If a person seeks uniformity of the temperaments and dispositions and mentalities in this universe and is bewildered at the differences which have been alluded to in (Surah Fatir, ayat 19-22) above, it will be his own perception and understanding to blame. This same variety and difference, in fact, point to the reality that this universe has been created by a Wise Being with great wisdom; its Maker is a Unique Creator and a Matchless Fashioner, Who does not have the same model of everything before Him, but has a variety of countless and limitless designs of everything. Then if one ponders over the differences in human temperaments and minds, in particular, one will see that it is not a mere accident, but in fact the masterpiece of the wisdom of creation. If all human beings had been created with the uniform temperaments and desires and feelings and inclinations and ways of thinking, and no room had been left for any difference, it would have been absolutely useless to bring about a new creation like man in the world. When the Creator decided to bring into existence a responsible creation, a creation having power and authority, the necessary inevitable demand of the nature of the decision was that room for all sorts of differences should be provided in its nature and structure. This is the main proof of the fact that the creation of man is not the result of an accident, but the result of a wonderful and wise plan and design. And obviously, wherever there is a wise plan and design, there must necessarily be a Wise Being working behind it, for the existence of wisdom without a Wise Being would be un-imaginable.

49. That is, the more a person is unaware of the attributes of Allah, the more he will be fearless of Him. Contrary to this, the more a person is aware and conscious of Allah’s powers, His knowledge, His wisdom, His vengeance and His omnipotence and His other attributes, the more he will fear His disobedience. Thus, in fact, knowledge in this verse does not imply knowledge of academic subjects like philosophy and science and history and mathematics, etc. but the knowledge of divine attributes, no matter whether one is literate or illiterate. The one who is fearless of God is illiterate merely as regards to this knowledge even if he has all the knowledge of the world. And the one who knows the attributes of God and fears Him in his heart, is learned even if he is illiterate. In the same connection, one should also know that in this verse the ulama does not imply the scholars in the technical sense, who are termed as religious scholars because of their knowledge of the Quran and Hadith and Fiqh and philosophy. They will prove true to this verse only when they possess fear of God in their hearts. The same thing has been said by Abdullah bin Masud, thus: Knowledge is not due to much narration of Hadith but due to much fear of Allah. And also by Hassan Basri, thus: The scholar is he who fears Allah though he has not seen Him, and turns to what is approved by Him and keeps away from what makes Him angry.

50. That is, He is All-Mighty, and therefore, can seize the disobedient as and when He likes: no one can escape His grasp. But He is All-Forgiving also and is, therefore, giving respite to the wrongdoers.

Ala-Maududi

(40:64) Allah it is Who made the earth a dwelling place for you^[89] and made the sky a canopy,^[90] Who shaped you � and shaped you exceedingly well � and gave you good things as sustenance.^[91] That is Allah, your Lord; blessed be Allah, the Lord of the Universe.

89. For explanation, see (Surah An-Naml, Ayat 61) note 74 on it.

90. That is, you have not been exposed to outer space so that heavenly calamities should rain on you and annihilate you completely, but We have built over the earth a fully fortified celestial system (which appears like a dome to the eye), which does not allow any destructive element to reach you; so much so that even the destructive cosmic rays cannot reach you and that is how you are living peacefully on the earth.

91. That is, We had provided for you such a safe and peaceful place of rest even before your creation. Then We created you and gave you a fine body with most appropriate limbs and physical and mental powers of a high caliber. You did not create this erect stature, these hands and feet, these eyes and nose and ears, this talking tongue and this brain, which is a treasure-house of great capabilities, nor were these created by your mother and father, nor a prophet, or a saint, or a god had the power to create them. Their Maker and Creator was the All-Wise, All-Merciful, All-Mighty Sovereign, Who created Man with this wonderful body to function in the world, when He decided to bring him into being. Then as soon as you were created, you found by His beneficence a vast table laid out with pure provisions containing items of pure food which is not poisonous but health-giving, which is not bitter and tasteless but tasty, which is not rotten and stale and stinking but good smelling, which is not lifeless dregs but rich in vitamins and useful organic substances, so essential for the proper development and nourishment of yew body. Who has provided in such abundance this water, and corn, vegetables, fruits, milk, honey, meat and condiments, which not only add relish to your food but also provide you vitality and pleasures of life? And who has made the arrangements that these measureless granaries of food should go on coming out from the earth endlessly and their supply should never fail? Just consider this: What would have become of life if there had been no arrangement of food and man had been brought into existence suddenly? Is this not a clear proof that Your Creator is not merely a Creator but is an All-Wise Creator and All-Merciful Lord? For further explanation, see (Surah Houd, Ayat 6); (Surah An-Naml, Ayat 60-66) and the E.Ns thereof:

Ala-Maududi

(41:39) And of His Signs is that you see the earth withered, then We send down water upon it, and lo! it quivers and swells. Surely He Who gives life to the dead earth will also give life to the dead.^[47] Surely He has power over everything.

47. For explanation, see (Surah An-Nahl, Ayat 65); (Surah Al-Hijr, Ayat 5-7); (Surah Ar-Room, Ayat 19) and (Surah Al-Fatir, ayat 9) note 19.

Ala-Maududi

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

Ala-Maududi

(50:7) and We have spread out the earth, and have set upon it firm mountains, and have caused it to bring out plants of all beauteous kinds?^[9]

9. For explanation, see (Surah An-Nahl, ayat 15-16) note 12-14; (Surah An-Naml, ayat 60-61) note 73-74; and (Surah Az-Zukhruf, ayat 10) note 7.

Ala-Maududi

(50:8) All these are to serve as eye openers and as a lesson to every being who is prone to turn (to the Truth).

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

Ala-Maududi

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

Ala-Maududi

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

Ala-Maududi

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

Ala-Maududi

(95:4) surely We created man in the best mould;^[3]

3. This is the truth for which the oath has been sworn by the lands of the fig and the olive (i.e. Syria and Palestine) and Mt. Sinai and Makkah, the city of peace. Man’s having been created in the most excellent of molds means that he has been given the finest body which no other living being has been given, and he has been blessed with the noblest faculties of thought, knowledge and intellect which no other creature has been blessed with. Then, since the most sublime model these excellencies and unique merits of mankind’s are the Prophets and no creation can have a higher rank than them, so that Allah may choose it for appointment to the office of Prophethood, an oath has been sworn by the places associated with the Prophets of God to bear testimony to man’s having been created in the finest of molds. The land of Syria and Palestine is the land where a large number of Prophets, from the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) to the Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him), were raised. Mt. Toor is the place where the Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) was blessed with Prophethood. As for Makkah, it was founded by the Prophets Abraham and Ishmael (peace be upon them) themselves. It was on account of their association with it that it became the holiest central place of Arabia. It was the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) who had prayed: O my Lord, make this city a city of peace and security. (Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayat 126); and it was because of this prayer that in the midst of chaos and confusion prevailing everywhere in Arabia only this city continued to remain an island of peace for some 2500 years or more. Thus, the verse means to say: We created mankind in such an excellent mold that it produced men who attained to the most sublime rank of Prophethood.