The tasbīḥ of other creatures

The tasbīḥ of other creatures

All of creation—the seven heavens and the earth and whatever there is between them—glorifies God.[1] The animals such as the birds, inanimate objects such as the mountains,[2] thunder and storm[3] do so and that too is out of consciousness and instinct! 

﴾ تَسْبيحَهُ وَ صَلاتَهُ عَلِمَ قَدْ كُلُّ ﴿

“Each knows his prayer and glorification.”[4]

The tasbīḥ of the angels is so pervasive that the Prophet (ṣ) said: “There is not a single layer of the heavens except that therein is an angel in the state of prayer and tasbīḥ.”[5]

Imām aṣ-Ṣādiq (‘a) says: “Whenever Ḥaḍrat Dāwūd (‘a) would read the Zabūr, there was no mountain, stone and bird that did not recit it with him.”[6]

In the traditions, we are admonished not to strike a blow on the face of four-footed animals for they are glorifying God.[7]

شد همراز جهان ذرّات تو با           شد باز چشمى غيب از را تو گر

دل اهل حواس محسوس هست          گل نطق و خاك نطق و آب نطق

شبان و روزان گويند مى تو با                    نهان در عالم ذرّات جمله

خاموشيم ما نامحرمان شما با              هوشيم و بصيريم و سميعيم ما

If you could see the unseen, to you would be revealed the secret behind every particle of the world.

The voice of water, soil and mud can be heard by the gnostics.

All the particles of the world say secretly to you during the day and night:

“We are hearing, discerning and vigilant. We are silent with you the strangers.”

A group of chirping sparrows passed by in front of Imām as-Sajjād (‘a). The Imām (‘a) turned to those who were near him and said: “Every morning the birds glorify Allah and pray for power for the day.”[8]

Some people have said that what is meant by the tasbīḥ and sujūd of other creatures is allegorical and not literal. Just as a beautiful painting and a collection of poems respectively testify to the enormous talent of the painter and the inborn disposition of the poet, the mysterious constitution of other creatures bears witness to the knowledge, power, wisdom, and precision of God, declaring Him immune from any sort of defect and shortcoming. This is the very meaning of the tasbīḥ of other creatures.

This view is put forward when, in the first place, we have no proof and evidence substantiating this notion. Secondly, we have to resort to allegorical interpretation [ta’wīl] and analysis when the apparent meaning of a word poses an impossibility such as the verse, ﴾ يَدُ اللَّهِ فَوْقَ أَيْدِيهِمْ ﴿ “The hand of Allah is above their hands,”[9] in which it is impossible for God to have a hand and so we say that what is meant by “the hand of Allah” is divine power. However, in case where we cannot comprehend the meaning, we have no right to resort to allegorical interpretation.

How could we resort to allegorical interpretation when the Qur’an itself says,

﴾ وَ إِن مِّن شىْ ءٍ إِلا يُسبِّحُ بحَمْدِهِ وَ لَكِن لا تَفْقَهُونَ تَسبِيحَهُمْ ﴿