Note that the verse says “Everyday He manifests Himself in yet another way”; it does not say ‘Allah’. He is translated from the Arabic word ‘HU’, which does not connote gender, of course, but connotes a pure being beyond description.
We can think of HU as the dimension of unity in the essence of each monad, the source of the constant formation.
HU is the unity disguised as multiplicity. HU is the dimension of oneness implicit in the essence of all things!
Question:
Is the acquisition of knowledge in our control? How does it affect our future; the ‘step’ we have been destined to compose?
Knowledge, experience and guidance shape us into becoming the ‘step’ we are meant to be. The degree, to which someone acquires and applies knowledge, is the degree of ‘shaping’ that occurs. Without getting shaped, one cannot become. Therefore, knowledge without application is futile.
Let’s say, for example, that I have attained much knowledge and internalized the fact that each individual can only express his, or her, natural disposition and can’t display behavior beyond the limits of his capacity. Now let’s suppose I go to a restaurant, the waiter comes and throws the menu at me. Can I get angry or yell at him? He is only displaying the behavior resulting from his internal program; obviously he lacks the data to enable him to act in a different way!
If I were ignorant of this truth, I would react with anger and frustration. I would question his behavior with fury and try to correct him. Knowledge enables me to remain calm, to not react with emotions. Knowledge saves me from the unnecessary burdens of impulsive reactions and the tiresome repercussions arising as a result.
When a person gets infuriated and angry, millions of cells are terminated instantly! One moment of anger, depending on its intensity, can cause millions of short circuits and explosions at the molecular level, sometimes even damaging irreplaceable brain cells! So how can a learned person who has acquired knowledge display such behavior and cause his own demise? Could this be true knowledge? If knowledge does not prevent us from harming ourselves and others, if knowledge does not ‘shape’ us, then we cannot really claim to have knowledge.
The cut of a diamond is what determines its value. A one-carat diamond, with 52 facets, is much more valuable than the same diamond with 32 facets, or 16 facets. The more a diamond is cut, the more its value will increase.
We, also, are like diamonds. The more knowledge cuts and shapes us, the more we increase in value.
Question:
If the level of knowledge that I can acquire is up to me, that is, if I’m in charge of using my brain to evaluate knowledge, then it’s logical to assume that the ‘step’ we form in the staircase is not fixed, which means the staircase itself is not stable?
Our place in the staircase is fixed. The place we occupy, the ‘step’ we compose is the very purpose of our creation. However, its final shape is determined at the point of death. So long as we are living, we are still being cut and shaped.