“地上没有任何爬行的动物，也没有任何用翅膀飞翔的生灵，但（都）

“There is not an animal (that lives) on the earth, nor a being that flies on its wings, but (forms part of)

“……就像你们一样的群体。”［《古兰经》6:38］研究表明，动物和鸟类也以群体生活，即它们有组织，并且共同生活、共同劳作。

communities like you.” [Al-Qur’an 6:38] Research has shown that animals and birds live in communities, i.e. they organize, and live and work together.

“难道他们没有看见天空中被托住、悬在空中的飞鸟吗？

“Do they not look at the birds, held poised in the midst of (the air and) the sky?

除了真主的大能之外，没有任何东西能支撑它们。

Nothing holds them up but (the power of) Allah.

“在这些之中，确有迹象给信道的人们。”［古兰经 16:79］另有一节经文也提到了飞鸟：

Verily in this are Signs for those who believe.” [Al-Qur’an 16:79] Another verse also touches on birds:

“难道他们没有看见头顶上的鸟儿吗?它们展翅飞翔,也收拢双翼。

“Do they not observe the birds above them, spreading their wings and folding them in?

除了（安拉）至仁主，无人能够担当它们。

None can uphold them except (Allah) Most Gracious:

“的确，祂是看护万物的。”[古兰经 67:19] 阿拉伯语词 amsaka 的字面意思是“用手按住、抓住、握住、阻止某人”，表达的是：安拉以祂的大能托住飞鸟。这些经文强调，鸟类的行为与天命律例之间有着极为紧密的依附关系。现代科学数据显示，某些鸟类在其运动的程序设定上达到了惊人的精确程度。只有鸟类遗传密码中存在迁徙程序，才能解释这样一个事实：非常年幼的鸟，在没有任何先前经验、也没有任何向导的情况下，能够完成漫长而复杂的旅程；它们还能在确定的日期回到出发的地点。

truly it is He that watches over all things.” [Al-Qur’an 67:19] The Arabic word amsaka literally means, ‘to put one’s hand on, seize, hold, hold someone back,’ which expresses the idea that Allah holds the bird up in His power. These verses stress the extremely close dependence of the birds’ behaviour on Divine law. Modern scientific data has shown the degree of perfection attained by certain species of birds with regard to the programming of their movements. It is only the existence of a migratory programme in the genetic code of the birds that can explain the long and complicated journey that very young birds, without any prior experience and without any guide, are able to accomplish. They are also able to return to the departure point on a definite date.

普利策奖得主、哈佛大学的汉堡教授在其著作《力量与脆弱》中举了“鲑鹱”（mutton-bird）的例子。这种鸟生活在太平洋地区，其飞行路线呈“8”字形，全程超过24,000公里。它在六个月的时间里完成这一旅程，并且最多只晚一周便能回到出发地点。这样高度复杂的旅程指令，必定蕴含在这些鸟的神经细胞之中。它们显然是被编程过的。因此，我们难道不应该至少思考一下这位“编程者”的身份吗？

Prof. Hamburger in his book ‘Power and Fragility’ gives the example of ‘mutton-bird’ that lives in the Pacific with its journey of over 24,000 km in the shape of figure ‘8’. It makes this journey over a period of 6 months and comes back to its departure point with a maximum delay of one week. The highly complicated instructions for such a journey have to be contained in the birds’ nervous cells. They are definitely programmed. Therefore, should we not at least reflect on the identity of this ‘Programmer’?

“而你的主启示蜜蜂：你要在山上、树上，以及人们所建造的房屋中筑巢；然后从各种果实中采食，并顺着你主所铺设的路径，安然地行走。”[《古兰经》16:68-69] 冯·弗里施因其对蜜蜂行为与交流的研究，于1973年获得诺贝尔奖。蜜蜂在发现任何新的花园或花朵后，会回去告诉同伴确切的方向和路线，这种行为被称为“蜜蜂舞蹈”。科学家借助摄影等方法，已经探明了这种昆虫在工蜂之间传递信息时所做动作的含义。上述经文提到，蜜蜂凭借其非凡的本领，找到了其主所铺设的宽阔路径。

“And thy Lord taught the Bee to build its cells in hills, on trees, and in (men’s) habitations; then to eat of all the produce (of the earth), and find with skill the spacious paths of its Lord.” [Al-Qur’an 16:68-69] Von-Frisch received the Nobel Prize in 1973 for his research on the behaviour and communication of the bees. The bee, after discovering any new garden or flower, goes back and tells its fellow bees the exact direction and map to get there, which is known as ‘bee dance’. The meanings of this insect’s movements that are intended to transmit information between worker bees have been discovered scientifically using photography and other methods. The Qur’an mentions in the above verses how the bee with its skill, finds the spacious paths of its Lord.

上述经文中用于蜜蜂的性别是阴性（fa’slukî 和 kulî），这表明离开蜂巢去采集食物的蜜蜂是雌蜂。换言之，士兵蜂或工蜂是雌性蜜蜂。

The gender used for the bee in the above verses is the female gender (fa’slukî and kulî), indicating that the bee that leaves its home for gathering food is a female bee. In other words the soldier or worker bee is a female bee.

事实上,在莎士比亚的戏剧《亨利四世》中,一些角色谈到蜜蜂,并提到蜜蜂是士兵,而且它们有一个国王。这是莎士比亚时代人们的看法。他们认为工蜂是雄蜂,它们回到蜂房后要听命于一只蜂王。然而,这并不属实。工蜂是雌性的,它们不是听命于雄蜂之王,而是听命于蜂后。而这一点直到过去三百年间的现代研究才被发现。

In fact, in Shakespeare’s play, ‘Henry the Fourth’, some of the characters speak about bees and mention that the bees are soldiers and that they have a king. That is what people thought in Shakespearean times. They thought that the worker bees are male bees and they go home and are answerable to a king bee. This, however, is not true. The worker bees are females and they do not report to a king bee but to a queen bee. But it took modern investigations in the last 300 years to discover this.

“取非安拉为保护者的人，其比喻如同蜘蛛，它给自己建造了一座房子；而最脆弱的房子，确实是蜘蛛的房子——如果他们懂得的话。”[《古兰经》29:41] 《古兰经》除了描述蜘蛛网的外形极为单薄、纤细和脆弱之外，还强调了蜘蛛之家中关系的脆弱：雌蛛时常会杀死它的配偶，即雄蛛。

“The parable of those who take protectors other than Allah is that of the Spider, who builds (to itself) a house; but truly the flimsiest of houses is the Spider’s house – if they but knew.” [Al-Qur’an 29:41] Besides giving the physical description of the spider’s web as being very flimsy, delicate and weak, the Qur’an also stresses on the flimsiness of the relationship in the spider’s house, where the female spider many a times kills its mate, the male spider.

这则比喻也说明了那些在今世和后世寻求庇护于安拉之外者的关系是多么脆弱。

The parable also has reference to the weakness of such relationship of the people who seek protection for this world and for the hereafter from those other than Allah.

“在所罗门面前，他的军队被集结起来——包括精灵、人类和飞鸟，它们都井然有序地按队列排列。”

“And before Solomon were marshalled his hosts – of Jinns and men and birds, and they were all kept in order and ranks.

“直到他们来到一个蚂蚁的山谷，一只蚂蚁说：

“At length, when they came to a (lowly) valley of ants, one of the ants said :

“蚂蚁们啊，你们进入自己的巢穴吧，免得所罗门和他的军队在你们不知不觉中把你们践踏了。”

‘O ye ants, get into your habitations, lest Solomon and his hosts crush you (under foot)

“……在他们没有察觉的情况下。”[《古兰经》27:17-18]过去，有些人可能会嘲笑《古兰经》，把它当作一部童话故事，认为蚂蚁之间会说话、会传递复杂的信息。然而近年来，研究向我们揭示了蚂蚁生活的若干事实，这些事实在此前是人类所不知道的。研究表明，在动物或昆虫中，生活方式与人类最为相似的正是蚂蚁。从以下关于蚂蚁的发现中便可以看出这一点：

without knowing it.’” [Al-Qur’an 27:17-18] In the past, some people would have probably mocked at the Qur’an, taking it to be a book of fairy tales in which ants talk to each other and communicate sophisticated messages. In recent times however, research has shown us several facts about the lifestyle of ants, which were not known earlier to humankind. Research has shown that the animals or insects whose lifestyle is closest in resemblance to the lifestyle of human beings are the ants. This can be seen from the following findings regarding ants:

(a) 蚂蚁埋葬死者的方式与人类相似。

(a) The ants bury their dead in a manner similar to the humans.

(b) 他们拥有一套精细的劳动分工体系，设有经理、主管、工头、工人等不同层级。

(b) They have a sophisticated system of division of labour, whereby they have managers, supervisors, foremen, workers, etc.

(c) 他们偶尔会聚在一起"聊聊天"。

(c) Once in a while they meet among themselves to have a ‘chat’.

(d) 他们之间有一套先进的沟通方式。

(d) They have an advanced method of communication among themselves.

(e) 他们定期举办"集市"，在那里交换货物。

(e) They hold regular ‘markets’ where they exchange goods.

(f) 他们在冬季将谷物储存很长时间，如果谷物开始发芽，他们就会剪掉根部，仿佛他们明白，若任其生长，谷物就会腐烂。如果他们储存的谷物因降雨而受潮，他们就会把谷物搬到阳光下晾干；晒干之后，再将其收回屋内，仿佛他们知道潮湿会使根系生长，从而导致谷物腐烂。

(f) They store grain for long periods in winter and if the grain begins to bud, they cut the roots, as if they understand that if they leave it to grow, it will rot. If the grain stored by them gets wet due to rains, they take it out into the sunlight to dry, and once dry, they take it back inside as though they know that humidity will cause development of root systems which will cause the grain to rot.