Knowledge of God can be summarized as knowing God as the Quran informs us, knowing that His Names are of eternal perfection, and attaining to divine truths.

The heart of believer in God is illumined by faith. This is the contemplation of God by the soul, its belief in Him and its knowing itself as His creature with a far more development than opening of a blind eye and a deaf ear’s starting to hear. And now is the time to progress on the way to get to know Him.

The Holy Qur’an always gives the believer lessons of knowledge; begins in the name of God and presently says that God is merciful and compassionate. This is knowledge; i.e. knowing God as merciful and compassionate.

With the command “Read in the name of your Sustainer who creates!” it is commanded to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and in his person to the entire community of believers to progress in the field of knowledge. Having taken our lesson from the name ‘Sustainer’ in this commandment, we first read the divine favors and management upon us. We read our face and eyes on it, our heart and soul, our blood and cells… We read the mercy and favor of our Sustainer Who sustains and manages all of them in the best and most fruitful way. The more we read the more our knowledge of His management and sustaining and the more our knowledge of His mercy. We get to contemplate upon His favors better and clearer.

We proceed to the next part of the verse and ponder upon our creation from a drop of sperm. We become amazed at the favor and mercy of our Sustainer and Cherisher Who placed us in that small code, opening, and extending it put all our organs in their specific places and we applaud this management.

This contemplation on the Name ‘Sustainer’ leads us to the Surah Al-Fatiha-the Opening. We get to know our Sustainer as “the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds.” He is the Sustainer of all the worlds of animals and plants as well. He is the Sustainer of both the world of heavens and earth. The Sustainer of the world of angels and of jinn… The Sustainer of the highest heaven, the throne, the Paradise and the Hell… Thinking about all these, we further progress in His knowledge.

The Name Sustainer is just one of the divine names. We ponder upon His other names and reflections in the same way. As we know God as Cherisher, we also know Him as Ever Provider, Giver of Life, Generous, and Powerful… Thus, our knowledge grows further. Then we think that all these names come from the divine qualities. Our knowledge deepens and expands in the realm of qualities. Finally, by knowing that all these qualities belong to just one Entity, we proceed in the field of Oneness of God and know God as just one Entity who resembles none of His creatures and who is unprecedented with His Being as well as with all His Names.

The fact that the scientists ponder upon the commodity God creates from the beginning of Earth and that each day they make new discoveries and get to know the realm of creatures’ shows that it does not have an end to know God and to progress in His knowledge, which creates all these works. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) by saying, “I could not know you rightfully.” in the last station of the miracle of Miraj-his ascent to heaven- gives us the lesson that this field is endless and that we should not see our knowledge enough and proceed on this way until the end of our lives.