The Smallest Thing

Many centuries before  there was a well‐known theory of atomism
advanced by the Greek philosopher, Democritus. He and
the people who came after him assumed that matter
consists of tiny, indestructible, indivisible particles called
atoms. The Arabs too, used to deal in the same concept; in
fact, the Arabic word dharrah commonly referred to the
smallest particle known to man. Now, modern science has
discovered that this smallest unit of matter (i.e., the atom,
which has all of the same properties as its element) can be
split into its component parts. This is a new idea, a
development of the last century; yet; interestingly enough,
this information had already been documented in the
Quran (Surah Saba’, 34:3) which states:
“He [i.e., Allah] is aware of an atom’s weight in the
heavens and on the earth and even anything smaller
than that…”
Undoubtedly, fourteen centuries ago that statement would
have looked unusual, even to an Arab. For him, the
dharrah was the smallest thing there was. Indeed, this is
proof, that the Quran is not outdated.