Atomu moja lina usawa kamili kati ya elektroni zake na protoni zake, kwa kiwango kile kile ambacho mfumo wa jua, jua lake, sayari zake na satelaiti zake zina usawa kamili. Kila kimoja kati ya hivyo viwili kinajua njia kilichopangiwa kusafiri na kutekeleza wajibu wake. Seli moja hai pia ni kamilifu na imeandaliwa vizuri kufanya kila kitu inachoombwa kufanya, kwa kiwango kile kile cha spishi zilizoendelea zaidi na tata zaidi. Usawa huu kamili, kwa maana ya mtu binafsi na ya pamoja, unaonekana kwa urahisi katika kila aina ya viumbe visivyohesabika vinavyojaza pengo kati ya atomu moja na mfumo wa jua, au kati ya seli moja na kiumbe hai kilichoendelea zaidi.
A single atom is well balanced between its electrons and protons, to the same degree as the solar system, its sun, planets and satellites are well balanced. Each of the two knows the way it is assigned to travel and fulfils its role. A single living cell is also perfect and well equipped to do everything it is asked to do, in the same measure as the most advanced and complex species. This perfect balance, in the individual and collective sense, is easily noticed in every one of the countless types of creation that fill the gap between the single atom and the solar system or between the single cell and the most advanced living creature.
Ukweli huu wa msingi, unaothibitishwa na kila kitu kilichomo katika ulimwengu, unatambuliwa vizuri na moyo wa mwanadamu unapotafakari yaliyomo katika ulimwengu. Aina hii ya msukumo na utambuzi iko ndani ya uwezo wa kila mtu katika kila zama, bila kujali kiwango chake cha elimu. Kinachohitajika ni akili iliyo wazi inayotafakari na kuitikia.
This basic fact, evidenced by everything in the universe, is well recognized by the human heart as it contemplates what is in the universe. This sort of inspiration and recognition is within the reach of every man in every age, regardless of his standard of education. All that is required is an open mind which contemplates and responds.
Maarifa inayoongezeka kisha huthibitisha na kusisitiza, kwa mifano mingi, yale ambayo msukumo wa awali ulikwisha kuthibitisha kwa mtazamo wa kwanza. Matokeo ya masomo na utafiti yanathibitisha, ndani ya upeo wake mdogo, kweli hii ya msingi inayohusu kila kitu katika ulimwengu.
Increased knowledge then endorses and emphasizes, with numerous examples, what inspiration has already proven at first glance. The results of study and research endorse, within their limited scope, this basic truth which applies to everything in the universe.
Mwanasayansi wa Kimarekani, A. Cressy Morrison, Mkuu wa Chuo cha Sayansi huko New York, anasema katika kitabu chake *Man Does Not Stand Alone*:
The American scientist, A. Cressy Morrison, Head of the Science Academy in New York, says in his book Man Does Not Stand Alone:
Ndege wana silika ya kurudi nyumbani. Robini aliyejenga kiota mlangoni kwako anaweza kwenda kusini wakati wa vuli, lakini atarudi kwenye kiota chake cha zamani msimu wa masika unaofuata. Mwezi wa Septemba, makundi ya ndege wengi wa kwetu huruka kusini, mara nyingi juu ya bahari kuu yenye umbali wa zaidi ya maili elfu moja, lakini hawapotei njia. Njiwa wa kurudi nyumbani, aliyechanganyikiwa na sauti mpya katika safari ndefu ndani ya sanduku lililofungwa, huzunguka kwa muda mfupi kisha huelekea karibu moja kwa moja nyumbani. Nyuki hupata mzinga wake wakati upepo unaopepesa nyasi na miti unafuta kila alama inayoonekana ya kumwongoza mahali alipo.
Birds have the homing instinct. The robin that nested at your door may go south in the autumn, but will come back to his old nest the next spring. In September, flocks of many of our birds fly south, often over a thousand miles of open sea, but they do not lose their way. The homing pigeon, confused by new sounds on a long journey in a closed box, circles for a moment then heads almost unerringly for home. The bee finds its hive while the wind waving the grasses and trees blots out every visible guide to its whereabouts.
Hisia hii ya kutafuta njia imeendelezwa kidogo kwa binadamu, lakini yeye hujisaidia kwa vifaa vyake vichache kwa kutumia vyombo vya kusafiria na kuelekeza njia. Tunahitaji silika hii, na ubongo wetu hutoa jibu. Wadudu wadogo lazima wawe na macho madogo sana yasiyoonekana kwa jicho, jinsi yalivyo kamilifu hatujui, na vipanga, tai na kondori lazima wawe na uwezo wa kuona mbali kama darubini. Hapa tena binadamu huwapita kwa vyombo vyake vya kimitambo. Kwa darubini yake anaweza kuona nebula hafifu sana inayohitaji uwezo wa kuona mara milioni mbili zaidi ya uwezo wake wa kawaida, na kwa darubini ya elektroni anaweza kuona bakteria ambazo hadi sasa hazikuonekana, pamoja na, kusema kweli, wadudu wadogo wanaowauma.
This homing sense is slightly developed in man, but he supplements his meagre equipment with instruments of navigation. We need this instinct and our brain provides the answer. The tiny insects must have microscopic eyes, how perfect we do not know, and the hawks, the eagle and the condor must have telescopic vision. Here again man surpasses them with his mechanical instruments. With his telescope he can see a nebula so faint that it requires two million times his vision, and with the electron microscope he can see hitherto invisible bacteria and, so to speak, the little bugs that bite them.
Ukimwacha mzee Dobbin peke yake atafuata barabara hata katika usiku wa giza kabisa. Anaweza kuona, labda kwa hafifu, lakini anatambua tofauti ya joto kati ya barabara na pembeni kwa macho yake yaliyoathiriwa kidogo na miale ya infra-red inayotoka barabarani. Bundi anaweza kuona panya mwenye joto zuri anapokimbia kwenye nyasi zenye baridi zaidi katika usiku wa giza kabisa. Sisi tunageuza usiku kuwa mchana kwa kuzalisha mionzi katika ile oktava fupi tunayoiita nuru. 12
If you let old Dobbin alone he will keep to the road in the blackest night. He can see, dimly perhaps, but he notes the difference in temperature of the road and the sides with eyes that are slightly affected by the infra-red rays of the road. The owl can see the nice warm mouse as he runs in the cooler grass in the blackest night. We turn night into day by creating radiation in that short octave we call light. 12
Wafanyakazi wa nyuki wa asali hutengeneza vyumba vya ukubwa tofauti katika sega inayotumika kwa ufugaji. Vyumba vidogo hujengwa kwa ajili ya wafanyakazi, vikubwa zaidi kwa ajili ya madume, na vyumba maalum kwa ajili ya malkia wanaotarajiwa. Malkia wa nyuki hutaga mayai yasiyorutubishwa katika seli zilizoundwa kwa madume, lakini hutaga mayai yaliyorutubishwa katika vyumba vinavyofaa kwa wafanyakazi wa kike na malkia wanaowezekana. Wafanyakazi, ambao ni majike waliobadilishwa, wakiwa wameshatarajia kuja kwa kizazi kipya tangu zamani, pia wako tayari kuwapa chakula nyuki wachanga kwa kutafuna na kuyeyusha asali na chavua kabla. Wao huacha mchakato wa kutafuna, pamoja na kuyeyusha kabla, katika hatua fulani ya ukuaji wa madume na majike, na kuwalisha asali na chavua pekee. Majike wanaotibiwa hivyo ndio hugeuka kuwa wafanyakazi.
The honey-bee workers make chambers of different sizes in the comb used for breeding. Small chambers are constructed for the workers, larger ones for the drones, and special chambers for the prospective queens. The queen bee lays unfertilized eggs in the cells designed for males, but lays fertilized eggs in the proper chambers for the female workers and the possible queens. The workers, who are the modified females, having long since anticipated the coming of the new generation, are also prepared to furnish food for the young bees by chewing and predigesting honey and pollen. They discontinue the process of chewing, including the predigesting, at a certain stage of the development of the males and females, and feed only honey and pollen. The females so treated become the workers.
Kwa majike yaliyo katika vyumba vya malkia, lishe ya chakula kilichotafunwa na kumeng'enywa awali inaendelea. Majike haya yanayotibiwa kwa namna ya pekee hukua na kuwa malkia nyuki, ambao peke yao hutaga mayai yenye rutuba. Mchakato huu wa uzazi unahusisha vyumba maalum, mayai maalum, na athari ya ajabu ya mabadiliko ya lishe.
For the females in the queen chambers the diet of chewed and pre-digested food is continued. These specially treated females develop into queen bees, which alone produce fertile eggs. This process of reproduction involves special chambers, special eggs, and the marvellous effect of a change of diet.
Hii inamaanisha kutarajia mambo mapema, busara, na matumizi ya ugunduzi wa athari ya lishe. Mabadiliko haya yanahusu hasa maisha ya kijamii, na yanaonekana kuwa ya lazima kwa uwepo wake. Ujuzi na stadi zinazohitajika lazima zilijitokeza baada ya kuanza kwa maisha haya ya kijamii, na si lazima ziwe asili katika muundo au uhai wa nyuki kama kiumbe. Kwa hiyo, nyuki anaonekana kumzidi mwanadamu katika ujuzi wa athari za lishe chini ya hali fulani.
This means anticipation, discretion, and the application of a discovery of the effect of diet. These changes apply particularly to a community life and seem necessary to its existence. The knowledge and skills required must have been evolved after the beginnings of this community life, and are not necessarily inherent in the structure or the survival of the honey bee as such. The bee, therefore, seems to have outstripped man in knowledge of the effects of diet under certain conditions.
Mbwa mwenye pua inayochunguza anaweza kuhisi mnyama aliyepita. Hakuna chombo cha uvumbuzi wa kibinadamu kilichoongeza hisi yetu dhaifu ya kunusa, na hatujui kwa urahisi pa kuanzia kuchunguza upanuzi wake. Hata hivyo hisi yetu ya kunusa imeendelezwa kiasi kwamba inaweza kugundua chembe ndogo sana zisizoonekana hata kwa darubini. Tunajuaje kwamba sote tunapata mwitikio uleule kutoka kwa harufu yoyote moja? Ukweli ni kwamba hatupati. Ladha pia hutupa hisia tofauti sana kila mmoja wetu. Ni jambo la ajabu kwamba tofauti hizi katika mtazamo zinarithiwa.
The dog with an inquiring nose can sense the animal that has passed. No instrument of human invention has added to our inferior sense of smell, and we hardly know where to begin to investigate its extension. Yet even our sense of smell is so highly developed that it can detect ultra-microscopic particles. How do we know that we all get the same reaction from any single odour? The fact is that we do not. Taste also gives a very different sensation to each of us. How strange that these differences in perception are hereditary.
Wanyama wote husikia sauti, nyingi kati yake zikiwa nje ya upeo wetu wa mitetemo, kwa usikivu mkali unaopita kwa mbali hisia yetu finyu ya kusikia. Mwanadamu, kwa vifaa vyake, sasa anaweza kusikia nzi akitembea umbali wa maili nyingi kana kwamba yuko kwenye ngoma ya sikio lake, na kwa vyombo kama hivyo kurekodi athari ya miale ya kikosmiki.13
All animals hear sounds, many of which are outside our range of vibration, with an acuteness that far surpasses our limited sense of hearing. Man by his devices can now hear a fly walking miles away as though it was on his eardrums, and with like instruments record the impact of a cosmic ray.13
Mmoja wa buibui wa majini hutengeneza kiota chenye umbo la puto kwa nyuzi za utando, kisha hukiunganisha na kitu fulani chini ya maji. Baada ya hapo, kwa ustadi mkubwa, hunasa Bubu la hewa kwenye manyoya ya chini ya mwili wake, hulibeba hadi majini, na kuliachia chini ya kiota. Kitendo hiki hurudiwa hadi kiota kijae hewa, ndipo yeye huendelea kutaga na kuwalea watoto wake wakiwa salama dhidi ya mashambulizi kutoka nje ya maji. Hapa tunaona muunganiko wa utandazi, uhandisi, ujenzi, na sayansi ya anga. Huenda ikawa ni bahati tu, lakini hilo bado halieleweki kuhusu buibui huyo.
One of the water spiders fashions a balloon-shaped nest of cobweb filaments and attaches it to some object under water. Then she ingeniously entangles an air bubble in the hairs of her under-body, carries it into the water, and releases it under the nest. This performance is repeated until the nest is inflated, when she proceeds to bring forth and raise her young safe from attack by air. Here we have a synthesis of the web, engineering, construction, and aeronautics. Chance perhaps, but that still leaves the spider unexplained.
Samaki aina ya salmon mchanga hutumia miaka baharini, kisha hurudi kwenye mto wake mwenyewe, na zaidi ya hayo, husafiri juu kando ya mto ambao tawi alimozaliwa linaingia ndani yake. Sheria za Mataifa upande mmoja wa mkondo unaotenganisha zinaweza kuwa kali na zile za upande mwingine zisiwe kali, lakini sheria hizi huathiri tu samaki ambao wanaweza kusemwa kuwa ni wa kila upande. Ni nini kinachowarudisha kwa uhakika namna hii? Ikiwa salmon anayepanda mto atahamishiwa kwenye tawi jingine, atatambua mara moja kwamba hayuko kwenye tawi sahihi, na atapigana kushuka hadi mkondo mkuu, kisha ageuke kupinga mkondo ili kukamilisha hatima yake.
The young salmon spends years at sea, then comes back to his own river, and, what is more, he travels up the side of the river into which flows the tributary in which he was born. The laws of the States on one side of the dividing stream may be strict and the other side not, but these laws affect only the fish which may be said to belong to each side. What brings them back so definitely? If a salmon going up a river is transferred to another tributary he will at once realize he is not in the right tributary and will fight his way down to the main stream and then turn up against the current to finish his destiny.
Ta zaidi ngumu zaidi ya kurudi nyuma inayohitaji kutatuliwa katika kesi ya kongoro. Viumbe hawa wa ajabu huhama wanapokomaa kutoka kwenye mabwawa na mito kila mahali; wale kutoka Ulaya huvuka maelfu ya maili za bahari na wote huenda kwenye kina kirefu kusini mwa Bermuda. Huko huzaliana kisha hufa. Watoto wadogo, pasipo njia yoyote inayoonekana ya kujua kitu chochote isipokuwa kwamba wamo katika jangwa la maji, huanza safari ya kurudi na kutafuta njia yao hadi ufukweni walikotoka wazazi wao, kisha hadi kila mto, ziwa na bwawa dogo, hivyo kwamba kila maji daima hujaa kongoro. Wamekabiliana na mikondo mikali, dhoruba na mawimbi, na wameshinda mawimbi yanayopiga kila ufukwe. Sasa wanaweza kukua, na watakapokomaa, kwa sheria fulani ya ajabu, watarudi kupitia haya yote ili kukamilisha mzunguko. Msukumo unaowaongoza unatoka wapi? Hakuna kongoro wa Marekani ambaye amewahi kukamatwa katika maji ya Ulaya, na hakuna kongoro wa Ulaya ambaye amewahi kukamatwa katika maji ya Marekani. Maumbile pia yamechelewesha kukomaa kwa kongoro wa Ulaya kwa mwaka mmoja au zaidi ili kufidia safari yake ndefu zaidi. Je, atomi na molekuli zinapounganika katika kongoro zina hisia ya mwelekeo na nia ya kuutumia?
There is, however, a much more difficult reverse problem to solve in the case of the eel. These amazing creatures migrate at maturity from all the ponds and rivers everywhere, those from Europe across thousands of miles of ocean, all go to the abysmal deeps south of Bermuda. There they breed and die. The little ones, with no apparent means of knowing anything except that they are in a wilderness of water, start back and find their way to the shore from which their parents came and thence to every river, lake and little pond, so that each body of water is always populated with eels. They have braved the mighty currents, storms and tides, and have conquered the beating waves on every shore. They can now grow and when they are mature, they will, by some mysterious law, go back through it all to complete the cycle. Where does the directing impulse originate? No American eel has ever been caught in European waters and no European eel has ever been caught in American waters. Nature has also delayed the maturity of the European eel by a year or more to make up for its much greater journey. Do atoms and molecules when combined in an eel have a sense of direction and willpower to exercise it? 14
Nondo jike aliyewekwa kwenye dari lako karibu na dirisha lililo wazi hutuma ishara fulani hafifu. Juu ya eneo lisilo la kuaminika, nondo dume wa aina hiyo hiyo watapokea ujumbe huo na kujibu licha ya majaribio yako ya kutengeneza harufu za kimaabara ili kuwachanganya. Je, kiumbe huyu mdogo ana kituo cha kurusha matangazo, na je, nondo dume ana seti ya redio ya kiakili karibu na antena zake? Je, yeye hutikisa etha na je, yeye hupokea mtetemo huo? Kriketi husugua miguu au mabawa yake pamoja, na usiku usio na upepo sauti yake husikika umbali wa nusu maili. Hutikisa tani sita mia za hewa na kumwita mwenzi wake. Bi Nondo, akifanya kazi katika uwanja tofauti wa fizikia na kimya kinachoonekana, huita kwa ufanisi sawa.
Kabla redio haijagunduliwa, wanasayansi walidhani harufu ndiyo iliyomvutia nondo dume. Kwa vyovyote vile ilikuwa muujiza, kwa sababu harufu ingelazimika kusafiri pande zote, iwe kuna upepo au la. Nondo dume angelazimika kuweza kutambua molekuli moja na kuhisi mwelekeo ulikotoka. Kwa mfumo mkubwa, sisi tunaendeleza uwezo uleule wa mawasiliano, na siku itakuja ambapo kijana anaweza kumwita mpenzi wake kutoka mbali bila njia yoyote ya kimitambo, naye atajibu. Hakuna kufuli wala baa zitakazowazuia. Simu zetu na redio ni maajabu ya kiufundi yanayotupa njia ya mawasiliano ya karibu papo hapo, lakini tumefungwa kwa waya na mahali. Nondo bado yuko mbele yetu, na tunaweza tu kumwonea wivu hadi ubongo wetu utakapobadilika na kuwa redio ya kibinafsi. Hapo, kwa namna fulani, tutakuwa na telepathi.
A female moth placed in your attic by the open window will send out some subtle signal. Over an unbelievable area, the male moths of the same species will catch the message and respond in spite of your attempts to produce laboratory odours to disconcert them. Has the little creature a broadcasting station, and has the male moth a mental radio set beside his antennae? Does she shake the ether and does he catch the vibration? The cricket rubs its legs or wings together, and on a still night can be heard half a mile away. It shakes six hundred tons of air and calls its mate. Miss Moth, working in a different realm of physics and, in apparent silence, calls quite as effectively. Before the radio was discovered, scientists decided it was odour that attracted the male moth. It was a miracle either way, because the odour would have to travel in all directions, with or without the wind. The male moth would have to be able to detect a molecule and sense the direction from whence it came. By a vast mechanism, we are developing the same ability to communicate, and the day will come when a young man may call his loved one from a distance and without mechanical medium and she will answer. No lock or bars will stop them. Our telephone and radio are instrumental wonders and give us means of almost instant communication, but we are tied to a wire and a place. The moth is still ahead of us, and we can only envy her until our brain evolves an individual radio. Then, in a sense, we will have telepathy.
Mimea hutumia kwa hila mawakala wasio na hiari yao ili kuendeleza uwepo wake: wadudu wanaobeba chavua kutoka ua moja hadi jingine, na upepo pamoja na kila kitu kinachoruka au kutembea kinachoeneza mbegu. Hatimaye, mimea imemnasa mwanadamu mwenye ujuzi. Ameiboresha asili, nayo inamzawadia kwa ukarimu. Lakini ameongezeka kwa wingi wa ajabu hivi kwamba sasa amefungwa kwenye jembe. Lazima apande, avune na ahifadhi; azalishe na kuvuka mbegu; apogoe na apandikize. Akiacha kazi hizi, njaa ingekuwa fungu lake, ustaarabu ungeporomoka, na dunia ingerudi katika hali yake ya awali ya uasili.15
Vegetation makes subtle use of involuntary agents to carry on its existence — insects to carry pollen from flower to flower and the winds and everything that flies or walks to distribute seed. At last, vegetation has trapped masterful man. He has improved nature, and she generously rewards him. But he has multiplied so prodigiously that he is now chained to the plough. He must sow, reap, and store; breed and cross-breed; prune and graft. Should he neglect these tasks starvation would be his lot, civilization would crumble, and earth return to her pristine state.15
Wanyama wengi ni kama kamba-bahari, ambaye, akipoteza kucha moja, kwa kuchochewa tena kwa seli na kuamshwa kwa jeni, atagundua kwamba sehemu fulani ya mwili wake imekosekana na kuirejesha. Kazi itakapokamilika, seli huacha kufanya kazi, kwa sababu kwa namna fulani zinajua kwamba wakati wa kuacha umefika. Polipi wa maji baridi aliyegawanywa nusu mbili anaweza kujijenga upya kutoka nusu mojawapo. Kata kichwa cha mdudu wa ardhini, naye hivi karibuni ataunda kichwa kipya. Sisi tunaweza kuchochea uponyaji, lakini madaktari wetu wa upasuaji watajua lini, kama watajua kabisa, jinsi ya kuchochea seli kutoa mkono mpya, nyama, mifupa, kucha, na kuamsha neva?16 Ukweli wa ajabu unatoa mwanga fulani juu ya fumbo hili la urejesho. Seli zikitenganishwa katika hatua za awali za ukuaji, kila moja ina uwezo wa kuunda mnyama kamili. Kwa hiyo, seli ya awali ikijigawanya mara mbili na zikitenganishwa, watu wawili watakua. Hili laweza kueleza pacha wanaofanana, lakini lina maana zaidi ya hapo: kila seli mwanzoni ina uwezekano, kwa undani, kuwa kiumbe kamili. Basi hakuna shaka kwamba wewe ni wewe katika kila seli na kila nyuzi. 17
Many animals are like a lobster, which, having lost a claw, will by some restimulation of the cells and the reactivation of the genes discover that a part of the body is missing and restore it. When the work is complete, the cells stop work, for in some way they know it is quitting time. A fresh-water polyp divided into halves can reform itself out of one of these halves. Cut off an angle worm’s head and he will soon create a new one. We can stimulate healing but when will our surgeons, if ever, know how to stimulate the cells to produce a new arm, flesh, bones, nails, and activating nerves?16 An extraordinary fact throws some light on this mystery of recreation. If cells in the early stages of development are separated each has the ability to create a complete animal. Therefore, if the original cell divides into two and they are separated, two individuals will be developed. This may account for identical twins but it means much more — each cell at first is in detail potentially a complete individual. There can be no doubt then, that you are you in every cell and fibre. 17
Mbegu ya mwaloni huanguka chini ya ardhi — ganda lake gumu la kahawia linailinda salama. Hujikunja hadi kwenye nyufa fulani za udongo. Wakati wa masika kiini cha uzao huamka, ganda hupasuka, na chakula hutolewa na punje yenye umbo la yai ambamo jeni zilifichwa. Zinatuma mizizi ardhini, na tazama, chipukizi, mche, na baada ya miaka mti. Kiini hicho pamoja na jeni zake kimezidisha mara trilioni na kutengeneza shina, gome, na kila jani na tunda la mwaloni, vyote vikifanana kabisa na mwaloni uliozaa. Kwa mamia ya miaka, ndani ya kila mbegu zisizohesabika, kimehifadhiwa mpangilio kamili wa atomi ulioizalisha mti wa kwanza wa mwaloni miaka milioni iliyopita. 18
An acorn falls to the ground — its tough brown shell holds it safe. It rolls into some earthy crevice. In the spring the germ awakes, the shell bursts, food is provided by the egg-like kernel in which the genes were hidden. They send roots into the earth, and behold a sprout, a sapling, and in years a tree. The germ with its genes has multiplied by trillions and made the trunk, bark and every leaf and acorn identical with that of the oak which gave it birth. For hundreds of years in each of the countless acorns is preserved the exact arrangement of atoms that produced the first oak tree millions of years ago. 18
Mwandishi anasema katika sura nyingine:
The author says in another chapter:
Kila seli inayozalishwa katika kiumbe chochote hai lazima ijitengeneze ili kuwa sehemu ya mwili, ijitoe kama sehemu ya ngozi, ambayo hivi karibuni itachakaa. Lazima itengeneze enamel ya meno, itoe kimiminika chenye uwazi kilichomo jichoni, au iwe pua au sikio. Kisha kila seli lazima ijirekebishe kwa umbo na sifa nyingine zote zinazohitajika ili kutimiza kazi yake. Ni vigumu kufikiria seli kuwa ya mkono wa kulia au wa kushoto, lakini moja huwa sehemu ya sikio la kulia, nyingine huwa sehemu ya sikio la kushoto. Baadhi ya fuwele zenye kemikali inayofanana kabisa huzungusha miale ya mwanga kwenda kushoto, nyingine kwenda kulia. Inaonekana kuna mwelekeo kama huo katika seli. Mahali hasa pale zinapostahili, huwa sehemu ya sikio la kulia au sikio la kushoto, na masikio yako mawili yako kinyume kimoja cha kingine kichwani mwako, si kama kwa kriketi, ambayo masikio yake yako kwenye viwiko vyake. Mikunjo yao iko kinyume, na yanapokamilika yanafanana sana hata huwezi kuyatofautisha. Mamia ya maelfu ya seli zinaonekana kusukumwa kufanya jambo sahihi kwa wakati sahihi mahali sahihi.19
Every cell that is produced in any living creature must adapt itself to be part of the flesh, to sacrifice itself as a part of the skin, which will soon be worn off. It must deposit the enamel of teeth, produce the transparent liquid in an eye, or become a nose or an ear. Each cell must then adapt itself in shape and every other characteristic necessary to fulfil its function. It is hard to think of a cell as right-handed or left-handed, but one becomes part of a right ear, the other becomes part of the left ear. Some crystals that are chemically identical turn the rays of light to the left, others to the right. There seems to be such a tendency in the cells. In the exact place where they belong, they become a part of the right ear or the left ear and your two ears are opposite each other on your head, and not as in the case of a cricket, on your elbows. Their curves are opposite, and when complete, they are so much alike you cannot tell them apart. Hundreds of thousands of cells seem impelled to do the right thing at the right time in the right place.19
Mahali pengine katika kitabu chake, Morrison anasema:
Elsewhere in his book Morrison says:
Katika msukosuko wa uumbaji, viumbe vingi vimeonyesha kiwango cha juu cha aina fulani za silika, akili, au vinginevyo. Nyigu hukamata panzi, huchimba shimo ardhini, na humchoma panzi mahali hasa panapofaa ili apoteze fahamu lakini aendelee kuishi kama nyama iliyohifadhiwa. Nyigu hutaga mayai yake mahali hasa panapofaa, labda bila kujua kwamba watoto wake watakapoanguliwa, wataweza kula bila kumuua wadudu ambaye wanamlisha, jambo ambalo lingewaua. Nyigu lazima alifanya haya yote sawasawa mara ya kwanza na kila mara, la sivyo wasingekuwepo nyigu wa aina hii.
In the melee of creation many creatures have come to exhibit a high degree of certain forms of instinct, intelligence, or what not. The wasp catches the grasshopper, digs a hole in the earth, stings the grasshopper in exactly the right place so that he becomes unconscious but lives as a form of preserved meat. The wasp lays her eggs exactly in the right place, perhaps not knowing that when they hatch, her children can eat without killing the insect on which they feed, which would be fatal to them. The wasp must have done all this right the first and every time, or there would be no wasps of this species.
Sayansi haiwezi kueleza fumbo hili, lakini pia haiwezi kuhusishwa na bahati nasibu.
Science cannot explain this mystery, and yet it cannot be attributed to chance.
Nyuki-mwitu (mavu) hufunika tundu ardhini, huondoka kwa furaha, kisha hufa. Yeye wala mababu zake hawakuwa wametafakari mchakato huu, wala yeye hajui kitakachotokea kwa watoto wake. Hata hajui kwamba amefanya kazi na kuishi maisha yake kwa ajili ya kuhifadhi kizazi.20
The wasp covers a hole in the earth, departs cheerfully, and dies. Neither she nor her ancestors have reasoned out the process, nor does she know what happens to her offspring. She doesn’t even know that she has worked and lived her life for the preservation of the race.20
Katika kitabu hicho hicho pia tunasoma:
In the same book we also read:
Katika baadhi ya spishi, wafanyakazi huleta mbegu ndogo ili kuwalisha chakula wale chungu wengine wakati wa msimu wa baridi. Chungu hao huanzisha kile kinachojulikana kama chumba cha kusaga, ambamo wale waliokuza taya kubwa sana zilizojengwa mahsusi kwa kusaga, huandaa chakula kwa koloni. Kazi hii ndiyo kazi yao pekee. Vuli inapofika na mbegu zote zimekwisha kusagwa, 'manufaa makubwa kwa idadi kubwa zaidi' yanahitaji kwamba akiba ya chakula ihifadhiwe, na kwa vile kutakuwa na wasagaji wengi katika kizazi kipya, chungu askari huwaua wasagaji, wakijituliza kwa dhamiri yao ya kiwadudu kwa kuamini labda kwamba wasagaji walikuwa wamepata thawabu ya kutosha kwa kupata kwanza nafasi ya chakula wakati walipokuwa wakisaga.
In some species, the workers bring in little seeds to feed the other ants through the winter. The ants establish what is known as the grinding room, in which those which have developed gigantic jaws especially built for grinding, prepare the food for the colony. This is their sole occupation. When the autumn comes and the seeds are all ground, ‘the greatest good for the greatest number’ requires that the food supply be conserved and as there will be plenty of grinders in the new generation, the soldier ants kill off the grinders, satisfying their entomological conscience by believing perhaps that the grinders had had reward enough in having had first chance at the food while they ground.
Baadhi ya chungu, kwa njia ya silika au kwa kutumia akili (chagua unachopendelea), hulima uyoga kama chakula katika kile kinachoweza kuitwa bustani za uyoga, na hukamata baadhi ya viwavi na vidukari (wadudu wa mimea). Viumbe hawa ni ng'ombe na mbuzi wa chungu, ambao kutoka kwao hupata utokaji fulani wenye asili ya asali kwa ajili ya chakula. Chungu hukamata na kuweka watumwa. Baadhi ya chungu, wanapojenga viota vyao, hukata majani kwa ukubwa unaohitajika, na wakati wafanyakazi fulani wanashikilia kingo zake mahali pake, hutumia watoto wao, ambao katika hatua ya funza wanaweza kusokota hariri, kama vyombo vya kushonea kuziunganisha pamoja. Mtoto huyo maskini anaweza kunyimwa fursa ya kujitengenezea kifuko chake mwenyewe, lakini amekwishaitumikia jamii yake.
Certain ants, by means of instinct or reasoning (choose which you prefer), cultivate mushrooms for food in what may be called mushroom gardens, and capture certain caterpillars and aphids (plant lice). These creatures are the ants’ cows and goats, from which they take certain exudations of a honey-like nature for food. Ants capture and keep slaves. Some ants, when they make their nests, cut the leaves to size, and while certain workers hold the edges in place, use their babies, which in the larval stage are capable of spinning silk, as shuttles to sew them together. The poor baby may be bereft of the opportunity of making a cocoon for himself, but he has served his community.
Atomi na molekuli zisizo hai zinazounda chungu zinawezaje kuanzisha michakato hii tata? Lazima kuna Akili fulani mahali fulani.21
How do the inanimate atoms and molecules of matter composing an ant set these complicated processes in motion? There must be Intelligence somewhere.21
Hakika, lazima kuwepo Muumba anayewaongoza viumbe hawa na wengine, wakubwa kwa wadogo. Yeye ndiye “aliyeumba na kusawazisha, aliyepanga na kuongoza.” (Aya 2-3)
True, there must be a Creator who guides these and other creatures, large and small. He is the One “who creates and proportions well, who determines and guides.” (Verses 2-3)
Mifano tuliyotoa hapo juu ni michache tu kati ya idadi kubwa ya mambo ya ajabu ambayo sayansi imeyarekodi katika ulimwengu wa mimea, wadudu, ndege na wanyama. Lakini mambo haya yote yanaakisi sehemu tu ya maana ya aya mbili: “ambaye huumba na kupanga kwa uzuri, ambaye huamua na kuongoza.” (Aya 2-3) Kwa maana ujuzi wetu unahusu sehemu ndogo tu ya kilichomo katika ulimwengu unaoonekana, zaidi ya hapo kuna ulimwengu mzima ambao hatuujui chochote, isipokuwa dalili chache ambazo Mungu ameamua kutupa, kulingana na uwezo wetu mdogo.
The examples we have quoted above are but a few of the large number of remarkable aspects science has recorded in the worlds of plants, insects, birds and animals. But all these aspects reflect only a part of the import of the two verses: “who creates and proportions well, who determines and guides.” (Verses 2-3) For our knowledge covers only a scanty part of what is in the visible universe, beyond which extends a whole world of which we know nothing apart from the few hints God has chosen to drop us, as befits our limited abilities.
Baada ya kutoa sifa nyingi kwa Mwenyezi Mungu, sifa zinazovuma hata katika pembe za mbali kabisa za ulimwengu, sura hii inaongeza fundisho lenye kuvutia kutoka katika ulimwengu wa mimea: “Ambaye huotesha malisho, kisha huyafanya kuwa makavu meusi.” (Aya 4-5)
Neno malisho, kama linavyotumika hapa, linarejelea mimea yote. Kila mmea unafaa kwa aina fulani ya viumbe. Kwa hiyo neno hili lina maana pana zaidi kuliko malisho yanayojulikana ambako ng'ombe hula. Mwenyezi Mungu ameumba sayari hii na kuitayarisha ikiwa na chakula cha kutosha kulisha kila kiumbe hai kinachotembea, kuogelea, kuruka au kujificha chini ya ardhi.
Having fired such a great volley of praises to God, resounding in even the remotest corners of the universe, the sūrah complements this with an inspiring insight from the realm of plants: “who brings forth the pasturage, then turns it to withered grass.” (Verses 4-5) The pasturage, as used here, refers to all plants. Every plant is suitable for one sort of species or another. The term then has a much wider sense than the familiar pastures where cattle feed. God has created this planet and provided on it enough food to nourish every single living creature which walks, swims, flies or hides itself underground.
Malisho huwa ya kijani kibichi yanapochipua mara ya kwanza, lakini hunyauka na kuwa meusi.
The pasturage is green when it first shoots forth, but it withers away and blackens.
Inaweza kutumika kwa kulisha ikiwa bado ni kijani, baada ya kugeuka nyeusi na kunyauka, au katikati ya hali hizo.
It may be used for feeding when green, after it blackens and withers, or in between.
Kwa hiyo, ni yenye manufaa katika kila hali, na inatumika kwa kusudi kulingana na mpango wa kina wa Yule anayeumba, anayepima, anayeamua na anayeongoza.
Thus, it is useful in every condition, and it serves a purpose according to the elaborate planning of the One who creates, proportions, determines and guides.
Rejeo ya maisha ya mimea pia linabeba maana iliyojificha kwamba mimea yote hukatwa na kuvunwa. Vivyo hivyo, kila kiumbe hai kitafikia mwisho wake uliowekwa. Maana hii inaendana vizuri na rejeo la ulimwengu mbili za mwanadamu: "Lakini nyinyi mnapendelea maisha haya ya dunia, na hali ya Akhera ni bora na ya kudumu zaidi." (Aya 16-17) Maisha haya ni malisho ambayo hufikia mwisho wake pale yanaponyauka na kuwa meusi, ilhali maisha ya Akhera ndiyo yanayodumu.
The reference here to the life of plants carries also an implicit connotation that all plants are reaped and harvested. Similarly, every living being will come to its appointed end. This connotation fits in well with the reference to the two worlds of man: “Yet you prefer this present life, while the life to come is better and longer lasting.” (Verses 16-17) This life is a pasture which comes to its end when it withers away and blackens, while the life to come is the one which lasts.