456)A Collection of Posts on Astronomy; Quotes of Noble Quran, Aga Khan IV, Aga Khan III, Nasir Khusraw, Abu Yakub Al Sijistani and Aristotle

"And the more we discover, the more we know, the more we penetrate just below the surface of our normal lives - the more our imagination staggers.........What we feel, even as we learn, is an ever-renewed sense of wonder, indeed, a powerful sense of awe – and of Divine inspiration.....the Power and the Mystery of Allah as the Lord of Creation"(Aga Khan IV, Ottawa, Canada, December 6th 2008)

"......The Quran tells us that signs of Allah’s Sovereignty are found in the contemplation of His Creation - in the heavens and the earth, the night and the day, the clouds and the seas, the winds and the waters...."(Aga Khan IV, Kampala, Uganda, August 22 2007)

"Astronomy, the so-called “Science of the Universe” was a field of particular distinction in Islamic civilization-–in sharp contrast to the weakness of Islamic countries in the field of Space research today. In this field, as in others, intellectual leadership is never a static condition, but something which is always shifting and always dynamic"(Aga Khan IV, Convocation, American University of Cairo, Cairo, Egypt, June 15th 2006)

"From the seventh century to the thirteenth century, the Muslim civilizations dominated world culture, accepting, adopting, using and preserving all preceding study of mathematics, philosophy, medicine and astronomy, among other areas of learning. The Islamic field of thought and knowledge included and added to much of the information on which all civilisations are founded. And yet this fact is seldom acknowledged today, be it in the West or in the Muslim world, and this amnesia has left a six hundred year gap in the history of human thought"(Aga Khan IV, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA, 1996)

"The Holy Qu'ran's encouragement to study nature and the physical world around us gave the original impetus to scientific enquiry among Muslims"(Aga Khan IV, Aga Khan University Inauguration Speech, Karachi, Pakistan, November 11th 1985)

"Thus Islam's basic principle can only be defined as mono-realism and not as monotheism. Consider, for example, the opening declaration of every Islamic prayer: "Allah-o-Akbar". What does that mean? There can be no doubt that the second word of the declaration likens the character of Allah to a matrix which contains all and gives existence to the infinite, to space, to time, to the Universe, to all active and passive forces imaginable, to life and to the soul"(Memoirs of Aga Khan III, 1954)

"The God of the Quran is the One whose Ayats(Signs) are the Universe in which we live, move and have our being"(Aga Khan III, April 4th 1952)

"Nature is the great daily book of God whose secrets must be found and used for the well-being of humanity"(Aga Khan III, Radio Pakistan, Karachi, Pakistan, February 19th 1950)

"O brother! You asked: What is the [meaning of] `alam [world] and what is that entity to which this name applies? How should we describe the world in its entirety? And how many worlds are there? Explain so that we may recognize. Know, O brother, that the name `alam is derived from [the word] `ilm(knowledge), because the traces of knowledge are evident in [all] parts of the physical world. Thus, we say that the very constitution (nihad) of the world is based on a profound wisdom"(Nasir Khusraw, 11th century Ismaili cosmologist-philosopher-poet, from his book "Knowledge and Liberation")

"Tarkib' is composition as in the compounding of elements in the process of making more complex things, that is, of adding together two things to form a synthesis, a compound. Soul composes in the sense of 'tarkib'; it is the animating force that combines the physical elements of the natural universe into beings that move and act. Incorporating is an especially apt word in this instance. It means to turn something into a body, as in 'composing'. But it is actually the conversion of an intellectual object, a thought, into a physical thing. Soul acts by incorporating reason into physical objects, the natural matter of the universe and all the things composed of it"(Abu Yakub Al-Sijistani,10th century Fatimid Ismaili cosmologist, d971CE, from the book, 'Abu Yakub Al-Sijistani: Intellectual Missionary', by Paul Walker)

Chapter 30, Verse 27: He originates creation; then refashions it - for Him an easy task. His is the most Sublime Symbol in the heavens and the earth(Noble Quran, 7th Century CE)

Chapter 21, Verse 30: Do not the unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together before We clove them asunder, and of water fashioned every thing? Will they not then believe?(Noble Quran, 7th Century CE)

Chapter 51, verse 47: We built the heavens with might, and We expand it wide(Noble Quran, 7th Century CE)

Chapter79, verse 30: And then he gave the earth an oval form(Noble Quran, 7th Century CE)

Chapter 86, verse 11: I swear by the reciprocating heaven.....(Noble Quran, 7th Century CE)

"All human beings, by their nature, desire to know."(Aristotle, The Metaphysics, circa 322BC)


The above are 16 quotes and excerpts taken from Blogpost Four Hundred, a collection of around 100 quotes on the subjects of Knowledge, Intellect, Creation, Education, Science and Religion:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/09/400blogpost-four-hundred-knowledge.html





Basics on the vast distances and sizes in Astronomy. http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/273basics-on-vast-distances-and-sizes.html


'Ismaili Lunar Calendar': An ideal base to unite the 'Ummah'; Quotes of Aga Khan IV, Aga Khan III and Noble Quran.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/09/406ismaili-lunar-calendar-ideal-base-to.html


Scientists catch exploding star red-handed in earliest stages recording unexpected burst of invisible X-rays 100 billion times brighter than sun. http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/05/363scientists-catch-exploding-star-red.html


Two back-to-back pictures on NASA Astronomy website reflect the tiniest living organisms(viruses) versus the largest galaxies of stars in space
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/04/352two-back-to-back-pictures-on-nasa.html


Existential Wonderment: Huge star exploded 7.5 billion yrs ago, Earth was created 5 billion yrs ago: light from the star arrived here Mar 19 '08!! http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/04/340existential-wonderment-huge-star.html


Star explodes 7.5 billion light years away from Earth with the emitted light reaching us on Wednesday March 19th 2008, 7.5 billion years later!! http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/03/335star-explodes-75-billion-light-years.html


Our Sun is a WILD place-doing all kinds of ablutions, looking like a Picasso painting, having a bad hair day, or just scintillating radiantly....
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/02/329our-sun-is-wild-place-doing-pesap.html


Tonight most North Americans will see a total lunar eclipse; What the last one(March 2007) looked like; Quotes of Aga Khans.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/02/328tonight-most-north-americans-will.html


Massive supernova explosion: Source of chemical elements that make up all else in the universe, including living systems; Quotes of Aga Khans.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/318massive-supernova-explosion-source.html


The bending and scattering of light in the recent total lunar eclipse; Quote of Aga Khan IV. http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/308the-bending-and-scattering-of-light.html


"Pillars of Creation" or "Fingers on the Hand of God"; take your pick.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/307134pillars-of-creation-or-fingers-on.html


Invisible Dark Matter, making up a quarter of the contents of the Universe, uncovered; Quotes of Aga Khan IV.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/298invisible-dark-matter-making-up.html


Big Dipper and Little Dipper in the night sky: legacy of Astronomy during Islam's golden era. http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/295big-dipper-and-little-dipper-in.html


A cosmic show of lights on December 13th 2006.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/290a-cosmic-show-of-lights-on-december.html


Al-Nitak, Al-Nilam, Mintaka, Betelgeuse, Al-Deberan: Arabic-named stars in nearby constellations in space.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/289al-nitak-al-nilam-mintaka-betelgeuse.html


The Top Ten Hubble Space Telescope photographs of the past 16 years.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2007/12/265the-top-ten-hubble-space-telescope.html


The Hubble Space Telescope: A fine example of the ingenuity of man.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2007/12/261the-hubble-space-telescope-fine.html


Neutrinos: Such small particles with so little mass that when they rain down on planet Earth they pass right through it!; Practical applications. http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2007/12/260neutrinos-such-small-particles-with.html


Cosmic Rays, Stars and Black Holes: Marvels of Allah's creation
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2007/12/259cosmic-rays-stars-and-black-holes.html


Ayats(Signs) in the Universe: Why planet Venus is lifeless. http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2007/11/252ayatssigns-in-universe-why-planet.html


Islam and Astronomy: Vestiges of a fine legacy; Quotes of Aga Khan IV and Ibn Sina
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/05/358islam-and-astronomy-vestiges-of-fine.html


So how old is the Universe anyway, 6000 years or 14 billion(14,000,000,000) years old?; Quotes of Aga Khan IV.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/317so-how-old-is-universe-anyway-6000.html


Jupiter Takes It On The Chin:Images Suggest An Object Has Recently Struck The Giant Planet;Quotes Of Noble Quran, Prophet Muhammad and Aga Khan IV
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/07/495jupiter-takes-it-on-chinimages.html


Ayats(Signs) of Allah's Magnificence in the world of Astronomy, Collection from my old blog; Quotes from Noble Quran and the Aga Khans. http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/314ayatssigns-of-allahs-magnificence-in.html


The tiniest submicroscopic particles in the Universe:
The Large Hadron Collider Collection Of Posts On Easy Nash's Blog: A 10 Billion Euro Gizmo That Could Unlock The Secrets Of Genesis.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/03/598the-large-hadron-collider-collection.html


Kepler Telescope Detects Possible Earth-Size Planet, Bringing Us Closer To Answering The Question: Are We Alone In The Universe?
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/08/645kepler-telescope-detects-possible.html


Arabic In The Sky: Saudi Aramco World Magazine Comes Up With A Comprehensive Article On Astronomy In Medieval Islam; Quotes From Blogpost 400
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/09/650arabic-in-sky-saudi-aramco-world.html


Scientists Race To Find Dark Matter, The Stuff That Shapes The Visible Universe, In Canadian Mine; Quotes From Blogpost Four Hundred
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/09/653scientists-race-to-find-dark-matter.html


Scientists Find The First "Goldilocks" Extrasolar Planet: Not Too Hot, Not Too Cold But Just Right; Quotes From Blogpost Four Hundred.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/10/657scientists-find-first-goldilocks.html


The Orbiting Hubble Space Telescope Reveals The Oldest And Furthest Known Galaxy In The Universe; Quotes From Blogpost Four Hundred.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2011/01/676the-orbiting-hubble-space-telescope.html



Easy Nash

The Qur'an itself repeatedly recommends Muslims to become better educated in order better to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
The Quran tells us that signs of Allah's Sovereignty are found in the contemplation of His Creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
This notion of the capacity of the human intellect to understand and to admire the creation of Allah will bring you happiness in your everyday lives: Aga Khan IV(2007)
Islam, eminently logical, placing the greatest emphasis on knowledge, purports to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2006)
The first and only thing created by God was the Intellect(Aql): Prophet Muhammad(circa 632CE)