Maulana Wahiduddin Khan | Speaking Tree Website | March 14, 2016
The sun is nature’s laboratory, in which atomic reaction converts into light. Cows are a living laboratory in which grass converts into milk. Trees are also a laboratory of nature, which take in water, minerals and gases and convert them into blossoms and fruits.
God requires man to undergo the same process of conversion as sun, trees and animals undergo with such perfection. But there is one difference: in other things conversion is an instinctive process, whereas in man it is a conscious one; in other things conversion occurs on a material plane, whereas in man it occurs on a spiritual plane.
Normally, we just observe the outside world, but we should do more than just observe. The Creator of the universe requires us to see His reflection in the mirror of His creation. Facts may enter our minds as information, but we should convert this information into knowledge of God. When we are successful in this world, we should attribute our success wholly to God. When we fail we should, through our failure, see how helpless man is. When we have cause for complaint against any¬body, our inner mechanism should convert resentment into forgiveness and pardon.
Land which converts earth into trees is fertile land: land which does not do this is sterile. So it is with man. Whoever is able to awaken his inner mechanism in such a way that it begins to convert raw matter into sublime matter is a true believer.