Section 1: The Secret in the Seed

In the pictures below, what are these things that resemble shriveled bits of wood? Can these objects transform into a living thing?

Some would think they were fruit pits, brushwood or even a kind of rubbish. But then take these objects and put them in a pot in some earth and wait for a time. If you want to see the result, turn the page.

From the pictures overleaf, you will understand that each of these dried bits of matter is a seed. And when the conditions are right, they sprout in an amazing way to produce plants of many varieties. So what sets these small, dry things apart from an inert chunk of dry wood?

Seeds have a very important characteristic that makes them different: They contain the knowledge of the shape of each stem, each leaf, the number of leaves, the thickness and color of the skin or bark, the diameter and number of the channels through which nutrients and water flow, the height of the plant, whether or not it will bear fruit, and if it does, its taste, aroma, shape, color – in short, every possible detail about the plant that the seed will produce.

A person scrutinizing watermelon seeds will be aware of an important fact: It is a miracle of creation that these tiny seeds contain all the information to create a perfect fruit in regard to taste, aroma, and protective skin.

If we were seeing these seeds for the first time with no idea what they were for, could we guess that countless plants, each different from the others, would emerge, and that some would reach meters in height? We would never have thought that countless fragrant flowers of striking shapes and colors – daisies, tulips, azaleas, geraniums, narcissi, roses, violets – would arise out of some shriveled dry thing. We would never have imagined that so many varieties of fruit – peaches, coconuts, pears, quinces, mulberries, apricots – would grow on the trees arising from these seeds; or that blackberries, oranges, mandarins, melons, plums, peppers and tomatoes would form from these little black, brown and yellow objects.

And so, it’s worth thinking about that for millions of years, all the characteristics related to plants have been contained in seeds. When you think about this knowledge, it opens unexpected horizons that change the perspective of many events. To consider this subject more closely, begin thinking about the things closest to hand, the vegetables, flowers and fruit in your house.

What knowledge is required for a seed to become a watermelon? Hold a slice of watermelon in your hand, and its regular order is very evident. All the knowledge that creates the taste, fragrance and sweetness of the watermelon is present in the watermelon’s seeds. Observe the slender tie by which the seed is attached to the red flesh of the watermelon and the seed’s filmy, slippery skin. The knowledge relating to this structure is likewise present in the seeds. And all the patterns on the outer skin, its thickness and waxy texture – to a degree of smoothness that a stonemason could not create – are also coded in its seeds. Watermelons all over the world have the same characteristics stored in their seeds. For this reason, if you gather a quantity of seeds from any number of places and sow them in the earth, after a time small seedling vines will sprout, and in time each of these will bear real watermelons.

Every species of tree has different structural features. All the information relating to these features is stored in its seeds.

To give another example, compare the characteristics of coniferous trees and those of some plants found in arid habitats.

When the ground freezes in winter, roots are unable to take in water from the earth. In addition, most of the precipitation in winter falls as snow, and for this reason, trees have to be able to withstand conditions of drought that prevail. They owe this resilience to their leaves. For instance, the leaves of many coniferous trees are not shed in autumn and have a tough skin, whose waxy surface reduces moisture loss through evaporation. By maintaining internal water pressure, this resilience prevents the leaves from being shed or the plant from wilting. And moreover, most coniferous trees have needle-shaped leaves that are resistant to frost.

Every spring, these plants gather more energy when new leaves unfurl. The resilience of the leaves is important for these plants, inasmuch as they store nutrients by photosynthesis whenever weather conditions permit. Non-deciduous trees are usually conical in shape, which prevents their branches from breaking under too much accumulation of snow. What snow does settle on them insulates the tree from sub-zero cold and prevents water loss by reducing loss of moisture from the leaves.¹

For plants living in the desert, drought is one of the greatest dangers. Negative factors such as sporadic rainfall, sand storms and intense heat would normally mean extinction for desert plants. But species living in arid climates enjoy special features that enable them to withstand their environment. Their seeds’ structure and method of reproduction enable these plants to survive under such conditions.

God, the Lord of the heavens and the Earth, makes colorful roses of perfect beauty appear from the dry-looking seeds pictured above.

Many desert seeds contain various substances that prevent or postpone germination. The fruit valves of Sinapis Alba contain blastokoline, which delays germination of the seeds. In Arizona, some arid plants sprout after very long dormant periods due to certain substances they contain. For instance, Lepidium lasiocarpum is ready to germinate only after one year, and Streptanthus arizonicus after 26 months. The importance of these substances is evident in the dry season in particular.²

This means that the germination-prolonging characteristics of these two species must be contained in the embryo of every one of their seeds. These few differences that distinguish arid plants clearly show the extent of detail of the encoded information in their seeds.

A rose’s red color, the curl of each of its petals, their number, softness, velvet texture and the proportion of substances that give the rose its perfume each constitute information. The deep purple color of an eggplant or aubergine, its shiny skin, the alignment of its seeds, and the length of the veins in its resilient stem all derive from information embedded in its embryo. Similar information causes sweet, juicy little grapes to grow on dry, contorted vines. The information contained in the seed’s embryo makes the skin of a grape different from that of a hazelnut; it is responsible for these two fruits’ differing color, taste, smell and the vitamins they contain, as well as the fact that the one is juicy and the other dry.

Desert plants' ability to withstand drought and heat depends on information encoded in their seeds. The One Who packs such varied information into tiny seeds is of course the Almighty God.

This information has been contained in each species since the emergence of seed-producing plants. The absence of such information would spell the plants’ immediate extinction. At this point the following question should arise:

Who put this information in the seed?

The answer we have is given in the introduction to this book, but at this point, it is pertinent to remind ourselves that it is God, the Creator of all things, Who embedded this vital information in seeds.

The fact that such important information and other characteristics are implanted in a tiny seed is an example of God’s incomparable creative art, and a means by which the faithful are drawn closer to our Lord. We are shown once more, by the way He implants thousands of pages of information in seeds and makes countless plants grow from these tiny objects, that God has power over all things. It is God alone Who causes plants to grow from seeds, a truth made known in the following verses of the Qur’an:

Have you thought about what you cultivate? Is it you who make it germinate or are We the Germinator? If We wished We could have made it broken stubble. You would then be left devoid of crops, distraught. (Qur’an, 56:63-65)

Sweet juicy grapes grow on the dry branches seen above. No doubt, it is God Who creates kilos of grapes on a slender stalk.

Another verse explains that God, the Creator of the seed, causes the seed that falls to the ground to split open and a new plant to grow:

God is He Who splits the seed and kernel. He brings forth the living from the dead, and produces the dead out of the living. That is God, so how are you perverted? (Qur’an, 6:95)

The truth is evident, but there have always been people who fail to comprehend it. Those who deny the existence of God are disinclined to see the miracle of creation and still try to use coincidence to explain the existence of seeds. But try as they will, the result remains the same.

On examining the perfect structure of the seed and the extraordinary knowledge contained within it, everyone of reason and conscience will comprehend that it could not have come into existence through coincidence, and bear witness to the fact of creation.

As you’ll see later in this book, the creation of the seed and the information it contains are too magnificent for them to have come into being of their own accord.

Don't they see how We drive water to barren land and bring forth crops by it which their livestock and they themselves both eat? So will they not see? (Qur'an, 32:27)