A Living Pipeline

The 31-millimeter purification plant or pipeline we have been referring to is actually a living tube—or more accurately, a collection of millions of living cells. These cells which constitute the pipeline fulfill a vital function for the human body with enormous determination, consciousness and responsibility.

From within the urine, the cells select and trap those substances necessary for human survival. They then pass them through the capillary vessels surrounding this pipeline, expending considerable quantities of energy. Substances of vital importance—glucose, amino acids, and proteins—are thus released back into the bloodstream. For this process to take place, the transportation molecules that will assist the cells need to be ready. Everything has been flawlessly planned and set out.

We now need to think a little. The cells gain nothing from the work they do. Yet just like a chemist, they distinguish the requisite molecules and deliver them to the blood vessels, day and night. To select between different substances, a cell needs to possess information, and must have intellect and experience to tell them apart.

But it is not enough for only one single cell to possess awareness. It is essential that millions of cells in the kidneys should assemble to form a tube, and that all of them should work together, demonstrating the same determination. Therefore, billions of cells all exhibiting similar consciousness must come together to form a million independent pipelines. At the same time, more billions of cells must combine so as to form a million filters and locate themselves at the entrances to the pipelines.

Remember that no cell possesses any consciousness whatsoever. If a collection of cells come together in a tiny tube in one corner of our bodies and perform actions requiring reason, responsibility, and coordination, then that is a manifestation of Allah’s infinite intellect and incomparable artistry. Such a flawless order can only come into being, not through a string of coincidences, but by Almighty Allah telling it to “Be!”

The Originator of the heavens and Earth. When He decides on something, He just says to it, “Be!” and it is. (Surat al-Baqara: 117)