İKİNCİ FEN · ÜÇÜNCÜ BÂB · BİRİNCİ FASIL · Birinci Madde
Article One
It briefly describes the muscles' drawing of bodies closer and the movements they effect.
O Noble One! Know that anatomists have said: The completion and perfection of the four hundred twenty-seven conscious and voluntary movements present in the human body depend on a force and energy provided through the nerves, traveling from the heart to the brain and then to the bodily organs. Because direct contact between the hard bones, which are the origins of the moving organs, and the delicate, soft matter that constitutes the nerves is unsuitable, the Most High (Bârî teâlâ), through His generosity, has placed tissues resembling nerves between the bones and the bodily organs. These connections have coalesced like a single body and formed a network like a web.
The bodies composed of these connections and nerves are thin at their initial emergence, proportionate to the volume that the head, brain, and spinal cord can contain. They are then distributed to the organs and branched out; the connection allocated to each bone is exceedingly fine and weak, and it is evident that it will weaken and deteriorate as it moves away from its origin. Therefore, through the wisdom of the Most High (Bârî teâlâ), He has taken preventative measures by thickening these bodies composed of connections with nerves, filling the spaces between them with muscular tissue, and drawing a veil-like membrane to preserve the central axis, which is the essence of the nerves. Thus, all the substances that constitute the muscles consist of nerves – those nerves that are fashioned into cords, fibers, flesh, and a covering membrane; this is what gives the limb its name as "muscle." When this muscle contracts by gathering itself, the veter (tendon) directed towards the limb draws it inward (thus flexion occurs). In this state, the limb wrinkles and contracts. Again, when this muscle relaxes and extends, the veter loosens (extension occurs). In this state, the limb opens and stretches. All conscious movements occur in this manner, taking on various forms according to their need.
“We glorify Allah, who created muscles and regulates movements. His glory is exalted. His blessings are for all. There is no deity but Him.”