The Luzumiyat · Chapter
CVIII explained
The speaker questions why miracles are no longer performed as in ancient times, pointing to the ongoing suffering and death around them, and challenges the seers to acknowledge the reality of human pain.
What happens
The speaker questions why miracles are no longer performed as in ancient times, pointing to the ongoing suffering and death around them, and challenges the seers to acknowledge the reality of human pain.
Themes in this chapter
Suffering and Resilience
The chapter highlights the presence of death and weeping, emphasizing the persistence of suffering in the world.
Doubt and Skepticism
The speaker questions the absence of miracles in the present, expressing doubt toward the claims of ancient wonders.
Key passages
“If miracles were wrought in ancient years, Why not today, O Heaven-cradled seers?”
If miracles happened in the past, why don't they happen now, you wise ones who claim divine insight?
The speaker challenges the inconsistency between past miracles and present suffering.
“The highway’s strewn with dead, the lepers weep, If ye but knew—if ye but saw their tears!”
The roads are littered with corpses, and lepers cry in pain—if only you truly understood or witnessed their grief.
A vivid depiction of ongoing human misery that contrasts with the idea of divine intervention.