THE MIRACLE OF THE QUR'AN
inborn instincts did not tell him that Allah was lodged in his heart and soul he would never have understood the meaning of the word, nor would it have acquired that universal meaning which lives in harmony with mankind. It is, indeed, our faith in His existence which makes us understand the meaning of the word 'Allah', for, all those things that are not registered in our memory and mind are meaningless. If we consult the different dictionaries of all languages we will find that they contain only words which name well-de足 fined and existing objects. They are revised periodically so that new words for newly-found objects are added. It is therefore essential that a thing must be found before a new name for it is devised. In fact there is in every country a body. of professional linguists whose main task is to revise their language and supplement it with new words and terms for newly-discovered things and meanings. But the fact that the word 'Allah' (or its equivalent) is found in all languages is a clear indication that He has never been far from man's thought; it provides the indisputable evidence that His existence preceded all His creation, as well as the develop足 ment of any language. This universal agreement by all languages and all peoples about the meaning of the word 'Allah' and what it implies shows that the human mind knows Allah by instinct, even though it is beyond his power to see Him. This takes us back to the divine messages and the verse in which Allah says, "And when thy Lord brought forth from the Children of Adam, from their reins, their seed, and made them testify of themselves, (saying): Am I not your Lord? They said: Yes, verily. We testify. (That was) lest you should say at the Day of Resurrection! La! of this we were unaware." (al-A'raf 7:172) The above verse shows how Allah lives within us, although it is beyond our ability to see Him. This is the reason why 124
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