through the vicissitudes of life and emerges refulgent from the
shadows of death.
Some of the Divine attributes, mentioned in the Qur’an, are such
as can belong only to God. No finite being can acquire them. For
example, the Qur’an says of God that “He is the First and the Last”
(57:3). Others, such as knowledge, wisdom, power, etc., can be
shared by man, though only to some extent, i.e., within human
limits. The description of these is at the same time a description of
the ideals self:
Verily We have sent down to you a Book which mentions your own
eminence (21:10).
Some of these attributes, which are within the reach of man, are
fundamental, while others may be said to be of a contingent
character. The short chapter of the Qur’an entitled Ikhlaas presents
them in a compendious form. We should bear in mind that these
attributes appertain to God as the Absolute Self, but, by virtue of
possessing a self, man too can acquire them within human limits. A
close study of the four verses will be found to be highly rewarding.
Let us take the first verse: “Say that He God, is one” (112:1). The
word “One” (Ahad) is exceptionally rich in meaning. It connotes
unity, uniqueness and wholeness. It implies self-identity, self-
consistency and integrity. Nothing from outside can secure a
lodgment in it. Its unity is not paralleled anywhere in the universe.
Of course, only a strong personality possesses unity of this kind. A
weak personality, with its ever-changing attitudes, cannot lay claim
to such oneness. Through development the unity of the self is
strengthened. It is in the direction of development that all changes
take place, but they do not in any way affect its essential nature. In its
essence it knows no change. As the Qur’an says:
All that dwells upon the earth is undergoing change, yet still endures
the countenance of the Rabb, majestic, splendid (55:26-27).
A man of strong character never deviates from the path he has
chosen to follow, and a strong character goes with a strong
personality. As Berdyaev says: “A strong personality is an expressed
character.”(14) Such a personality really is what it appears to be, for it
is self-consistent. As Professor Whitehead remarks:
Truth is the conformation of Appearance to Reality.(15)
Because the self enjoys real and not illusory freedom, it is
The Self of Man and Its Destiny 78