﴿ مَثَلُ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّخَذُوا۟ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ أَوْلِيَآءَ كَمَثَلِ ٱلْعَنكَبُوتِ ٱتَّخَذَتْ بَيْتًۭا ۖ وَإِنَّ أَوْهَنَ ٱلْبُيُوتِ لَبَيْتُ ٱلْعَنكَبُوتِ ۖ لَوْ كَانُوا۟ يَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

“The parable of those who take [beings or forces] other than God for their protectors is that of the spider which makes for itself a house: for, behold, the frailest of all houses is the spiders house. Could they but understand this!”

It is shown here that one who sees a spider’s web and learns a lesson about reality from it, is a learned person in the true sense. This clealy demonstrates who are the truly learned in the eyes of God. They are not those who have become expert in bookish discourses, but individuals who are capable of imbibing the sound advice given by God’s signs scattered throughout His world, and whose minds are capable of magnifying small events into great lessons. When this very learning reaches the final stage of ma‘rifah or ‘knowledge with intense realization of God,’ then it is called by its other name: faith or iman.