Imam Ali (a) & His Description About Marvels Of Ants
In one of his sermons, Imam Ali (a) speaks with deep wonder about the tiny ant as an example of Allah’s precise and thoughtful creation. Despite its size, the ant is equipped with everything it needs to live and function in world. Imam (a) highlights how, though barely visible, the ant has a perfectly working body.
Even with such tiny frame, it has senses, an exoskeleton, skin, and internal organs, all arranged with precision. The ant’s complex body & abilities are sign of Allah’s greatness, showing that even smallest creatures are created with same care as the largest.
Imam Ali (a) then describes the ant’s daily life. He mentions how the ant is guided across the earth to find its food and shelter. This tiny creature has a purpose and moves with focus, gathering the grains and then storing them for the colder seasons. Even on the dry land or solid rocks, the ant is able to find its food.
This shows that Allah provides sustenance for all His creations. Ant’s tiny organs, its inner structure, & systems to digest food are all designed perfectly for its needs. Imam (a) admires how a small being can possess such a complex & organized system created by Allah!
Imam (a) marvels at Allah’s wisdom in creating the world, reminding us that no one besides Allah had any role in the creation process. No matter how much we study or think, we can only conclude that the same Creator who has shaped the large palm trees with patterns also formed the ant with same attention to detail.
This similarity in creation shows that there is a single, unified Creator behind everything. To make his point even clearer, Imam Ali (a) talks about how both the animals like the ant and plants like the palm trees share a number of features in their respective structures.
Today, the science has shown us that all the living things, whether it be the animals or the plants, are made up of cells that share the similar structures, even though they serve their different purposes. This resemblance across the diverse creations is a testament to the unity of the one who created them.
Imam (a) further explains that, for Allah, there is no difference between creating something large or small, heavy or light, strong or weak. Everything in the universe, from the vastness of the the heavens to the smallest creature, is crafted each with an equal precision and care.
Modern science affirms that natural laws, like gravity & electromagnetism, apply equally to vast celestial bodies & to the tiniest particles on Earth, showing a unity in creation. Imam (a) encourages people to look at the sun, moon, plants, trees, & other wonders of nature, each of which reflects the Allah’s unmatched skill.
Through the example of the ant, Imam Ali (a) invites us to see the beauty and the depth of perfection in all of the Allah’s creations & to recognize that even the smallest creature that exists is built with complexity and perfection, serves a purpose showing greatness of Allah.
Imam Ali (a) & His Description About The Bats
In Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 153, Imam Ali (a) speaks about the wonders of Allah’s creation, focusing on the bat, its a creature that shows Allah’s wisdom in surprising ways. He explains how bats, unlike most creatures, are bound by daylight, which illuminates everything else, but they are freed by darkness, which hides all else.
Imam Ali (a) marvels at how their weak eyes cannot handle the bright sunlight, which usually guides others. Instead, their understanding and vision come to life at the night, as they find their way without the help of sun’s light. The sun’s brightness blinds the bats, making them seek shelter in their hiding places until the night falls.
During the day, bats always close their eyes, using the night as a lantern to search for their food, unaffected by its darkness. As daylight comes and the sun spreads its light, bats return to their specified resting places, satisfied with what they have gathered during the night time.
Glory be to the One who made the night as their dayt and their time for earning their sustenance and made day as their time for rest. Imam (a) also describes how bats have wings made up of flesh that help them fly. These wings are like pieces of the skin but not made of feathers or hollow bones, but veins running through them.
The young bat childrens clings to its mother, dropping when she lands and with her when rising when she flies, staying with her until it becomes strong enough to fly on its own, able to live and find its own food. Truly, glory be to the Creator of all things (Allah), who created without having any example before or model.
Imam Ali’s choice of the animals and his way of describing them is truly remarkable. Among the Allah’s unique creations is the bat, which He has designed with various special qualities. The bat being among some of the mammals that gives live birth rather than laying the eggs, and this is why bats have ears that are visible on its head.
Unlike other animals, it rests during day & looks for food at night. Because of its weak eyesight, it can’t see clearly during the day or in complete darkness, so Allah has given it an extraordinary sense connected to its sharp hearing—what we today call “radar.” When flying at night, the bat sends out a sound from its throat as the signals.
This sound travels through the air and then hits the nearby objects, and then bounces back to the bat’s ears. By hearing this reflected sound, the bats can easily sense the direction and the distance of obstacles then adjusting its flight’s path to avoid the collisions. This entire process happens in the span of less than a second.
To demonstrate this ability, the researchers had placed several bells hanging from strings in a dark room and released a bat. Though they could hear the bat flying and making sounds, none of the bells rang, showing that the bat avoided every string as it flew in the darkness.Glory be to the One who spread His marvels among His creations and has scattered His blessings all across the earth and the skies.
Imam Ali (a) & His Description About Design Of Wombs
Imam Ali (a.s.) would often remind people about the stages of their creation in their mothers’ wombs—from a drop of fluid to a fertilized egg, to a blood clot, to a piece of flesh, and finally to a fully formed baby. This journey of creation, shown through the example of humans themselves, encouraged reflection on the power of the Creator.
In Sermon 81 & 161 of Nahj al-Balagha, he said:”Or is He not the one who created [man] in the darkness of wombs, under layers of coverings; as a mere drop, then as a clinging clot, then as a fetus, then as an infant, then as a child, and then as a youth?”
“O you who were created perfectly and developed well; you were in the depths of the womb, surrounded by veils upon veils. You were formed from the essence of clay and placed in a safe place for an appointed time and a set moment. You moved within your mother’s belly as a fetus, hearing no sound and not responding to calls.
Then you were brought out into a world unknown to you and unfamiliar with its ways. Who guided you to draw sustenance from your mother’s breast? Who made you aware of your needs and led you to where they would be fulfilled?”
One of the wonders of God in this process of creation is how the senses are developed in the fetus, as described by Imam Ali (a.s.) as the opening of hearing and sight. He said in Sermon 183:”How He perfected its creation, finely tuned its structure, opened for it hearing and sight, and formed its bones and flesh!”
Allah created the human beings in a safe, protected place, allowing each stage of the growth to take place perfectly, with precision and take place in a miraculous nature.The womb of the mother serves as a protective environment where the fetus goes through changes like stages of animal life, resembling a worm and then a frog, until it reaches its final stage and becomes a fully developed human being with a perfect design.
The development of the fetus starts with a fertilized egg from both parents, which attaches to the uterine wall, feeding off it until it becomes a blood clot, and then into a piece of flesh that is still not fully formed. During this process, the head, trunk, and limbs begin to emerge, with the eyes, mouth, nose, and ears starting to take shape.
In the first six months of development, the eyes and ears remain closed. In the final stages, the eyes are covered with a thin layer of skin that soon opens up, revealing beautiful eyelids. Along the edges of these eyelids, soft eyelashes grow, allowing the eyes to open and close. Behind these lids, the full structure of the eye forms, including the lenses, the pupil, and the sensitive layer (retina). When the eyelids open, light enters the eyes, allowing the baby to see images and colors.
Similarly, the ear, which is even more complex than the eye itself, stays closed from the outside while it keeps growing inside the skull. When the Creator wills, it opens into a system capable of hearing sounds, melodies, whispers, and speech. Glory be to the One who created all this with such precision and perfect order, making it a blessing and a lesson for humankind !
Imam Ali (a) & His Description About Beauty Of Peacock
Imam Ali (a) presents one of the most fascinating birds: Peacock, created in a perfect symmetry & adorned in a beautiful patterns of colors. Its wings, carefully structured with an evenly arranged feathers of varying lengths, & its long tail are truly a sight to behold.
Whenever it approaches its mate, it spreads its tail, lifting its tail proudly like a sail raised shading its head, similar to merchant ship’s sail gracefully angled by its sailors. It walks with pride while moving its tail from side to side, captivating everyone with vibrant colors. It mates like roosters in season.
Imam Ali (a) refutes the false belief that the peacock reproduces by shedding a tear that its mate needs to consume, explaining that such ideas have no solid basis and are merely some weak stories. Imam emphasizes the importance of understanding the creation based on the true observations.
Imam highlights unique features of this bird. Unlike some of other creatures, there are strange beliefs about how they reproduces, some claim it involves a tear passed between male & female, theory that surrounds mating of the crow, which also hides its mating rituals.
Imam (a) describes its feathers as crafted from the pure silver, with patterns like golden suns & circles, resembling groups of precious green gemstones. White feathers shine like silver, while gold like feathers glow like gold. Its appearance is compared to elegant garment made from spring flower similar to a beautiful Yemeni cloth & jewelry having colorful gem- stones.
It shows off tail & wings as if laughing at its own beauty. It looks down at its thin legs, which is against its beauty, making a cry that reflects its discomfort with thin legs like of the mixed-breed rooster.
There’s a small thorn on its leg, & a green crown marks the top of its head, while its neck shows the beautiful flow of a pitcher, with a shining, dark colour like polished Yemeni fabric. Its deep colors seem nearly as black, yet they shine with a green tint, adding an illusion of depth and richness.
Imam (a) compares the beauty of its colors & patterns to delicate lines of a pen, with colors ranging from white to yellow. Its each feather holds its own unique shine, decorated with such shine that shines like silk, making the beauty of peacock an amazing example of the creativity and the perfection in Allah’s creation.
Reference: Nahjul Balagha
Imam Ali (a) & His Description About Buds Of Flowers
In the famous sermon of skeletons,Imam (a) mentioned about the expanded fruit from the husks, which explains a complex process of plants, describing how fruit forms within the husks. In Arabic, (akmam) represents these husks, covering and securing the fruit inside flower. Scientifically, this husk, or the protective layer, acts as a natural shield that enables initial stages of the fruit formation.
Within each flower, there is an ovary also known as the female reproductive part or a specialized chamber containing ovules (eggs). Fertilization occurs when pollen from the stamen (the male part of the plant) reaches the stigma (the female part), allowing pollen to travel down to the ovules. Once fertilized, the ovules grow into seeds, while the ovary around them begins to develop into the fruit.
Pollen can reach stigma through: insects like bees, butterflies & beetles, who are attracted to flower’s color or scent, carry pollen on their bodies as they move from flower to flower. In addition, environmental forces like the wind play a major role, especially for plants whose flowers are adapted to release pollen into the air. Once pollen lands on the stigma, it travels down to ovules, where fertilization occurs.
Imam Ali also mentions transfer of leaves from the branches, a description that also beautifully aligns with our understanding of how leaves emerge from specific points on branch, known as nodes. Leaves play critical roles they’re not just attachments but act as miniature factories within the plant. Each leaf contains chlorophyll, the green pigment that is responsible for process of photosynthesis.
Through this process, the leaves capture the sunlight and draws in carbon dioxide from air. Simultaneously, the plant’s roots absorb water from the soil through capillary action, where the water travels up through stem to reach the leaves. With sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water, the leaf produces essential compounds like the glucose which is a sugar that fuels the plant’s growth and help maintain its health.
These complex processes of photosynthesis, nutrient transport, and reproduction were first explored in the 17th century, with major advancements in plant biology in the late 19th century, providing us an explanation on how each part of the plant supports this beautifully designed system of life. Imam Ali’s (a) words inspire us all to reflect on the Allah’s wisdom and perfection regarding his every creation !
Source: Sermon Of Skeletons Reported In Nahjul Balagha
