al-Matīn

The Firm, whose strength never tires

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Recited as it sounds in the Qur'an, 51:58.

Heard together with: al-Qawiyy / al-Matīn

Start with what we know

Then take away everything it needs. What is left is not a bigger version of us. It is the Name.

Episode 1

In us

Human bone and muscle: strong, but they fatigue and fracture under repeated load.

But: Wear, age, repetition.

Episode 2

In nature

Darwin's bark spider silk: toughest biological material measured (2010). Yet the Qur'an calls a spider's house (29:41): toughness of thread is not safety of home.

Episode 3

At our best

Graphene: 'the strongest material ever measured' (Science, 2008); Hone: 'it would take an elephant, balanced on a pencil, to break through a sheet… the thickness of Saran Wrap'.

But: Measured on tiny defect-free flakes; real sheets have defects. Metals fatigue: two de Havilland Comet airliners broke up in 1954; a Farnborough water-tank test found fatigue cracks from fastener holes (G-ALYU burst after 3,057 cycles). The popular 'square windows' story is a myth.

Episode 4

The Break

Take away fatigue, defects, load cycles, wear.

Everything strong we know is strong until the 3,057th time. al-Matīn has no 'until'.

Read: 51:58 (dhu l-quwwati l-matīn); 2:255.

From the tradition: Ghazālī: al-Matīn is intensity (shidda) of strength, as al-Qawiyy is complete power. Muslim 'Allah does not grow weary, but you will'.

On screen

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Where it shows up

In scripture: Q 51:58; 2:255; 29:41; Deut 32:4; Isa (peace be upon him) 40:28–31.
The same thread in Jewish and Christian scripture: 'The Rock!—whose deeds are perfect' (Deut 32:4); Isaiah 40:28–31. Moderate-strong.
In the universe: NASA: the Moon's surface records billions of years of impacts; nothing stays unworn.
In nature: Spider webs card: BBC 'Amazing spider baffles scientists with huge web' (The Hunt).
In people: Comet disaster and the Farnborough tank test (UK, 1954): engineers learning that strength tires.
In science: Materials science: tensile strength vs fatigue; crystal lattices (diamond, graphene).

Living it

Steadfastness: keep a promise on the thousandth day as on the first.

Its kind

Capacity: a quality we know a little of: hearing, knowing, seeing.

In the Qur'an: 51:58

Sources for this page

engineering.columbia.edu/even-defects-graphene-strongest-material-world; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Comet