“Say…Who encompasses the hearing and the sight?…” (Qur’an 10:31)
Man rises to knowledge only through the faculties given to him by God, that is, the various senses, the ability to think and reason, and the potential for subtle and deep insight. Even the ability for these senses, such as the sense of sight, to function, is dependent on the system and laws through which the physical world operates. Sight is dependent on the existence of light, and vision is in fact limited to a narrow range of the full spectrum of light. All our information derived in this world is severely limited and incomplete, just as our senses and even the instrumentation by which we extend them provide us only a limited and incomplete view of the material world we live in. And our reason can carry us only so far in overcoming these limitations.
In this verse God is pointing out who has the limitations (us) and Who is free from limitations and regulates and encompasses all affairs and all systems (God). Within the systems He causes certain attractors, certain nodes of confluence, to arise - these provide a connection with levels of reality that rise above sensory knowledge and which, being above the senses, lead to deeper, sturdier, and more reliable knowledge. They act as a conduit for higher, more encompassing points of view, for more intense levels of reality. As such they carry weight and authority - they are divine attractors, guides manifesting in the form of revelation and the messengers. And through these two authorities further ways to knowledge will be opened up for the people.
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