From Caterpillar to Butterfly

by Harun Yahya

What would you do if you had 450-500 eggs that you had to keep outside? It would no doubt be the wisest way to take the necessary precautions that will prevent them from being scattered and strewed with the effects of natural causes like wind. Hence, the silkworm (450-500) which is among the animals that lay the highest number of eggs at once, apply very wise methods to preserve its eggs. The silkworm prevents its eggs from being scattered or strewed by attaching them to each other with an adhesive material (string) it secrets.

The caterpillars that leave their eggs will find an appropriate branch for themselves and will stick to that branch with the same string. Then they begin to build a cocoon with the string they secrete to get developed in it. It will take 3-4 days of non-stop working for the new born caterpillar to finish this process. During this period the caterpillar would turn around itself for thousands of times and secrete approximately 900-1500 m. long strings. With the end of this process, the caterpillar, without giving any break, will begin the metamorphosis process which will turn itself a beautiful, charming butterfly.

Neither the precautions that the mother silkworm takes in order to preserve its young, nor the attitude of the little caterpillar unaware of anything which does not have any experience or knowledge can be explained by evolution. First of all, the string secreted by the mother silkworm to protect its young has a miraculous structure on its own. The baby caterpillar that builds a cocoon appropriate to its surroundings, and the metamorphosis process that begins all of a sudden and ends without any problem coerce the limits of human understanding. Under these circumstances we can definitely say that every caterpillar is born knowing what to do; this means every one of them is "taught" to do what they do.

Let us clarify this miracle with another example: What would you think if you see a new born -human being- baby, standing up just one or two hours after his birth and beginning to gather the materials needed to prepare a bed (quilt, pillow, cushion, etc.), and what would you think if you see this new born baby succeeding in doing his own bed?

After you throw off your bewilderment, the most logical result that you can reach to is that the baby is "trained" to do these somehow in his mothers womb in an extraordinary way. The case of the caterpillars are in fact no different from the above mentioned baby.

This would again take us to the same result: all these living beings are born, behave and live just as the way their Creator, Allah created and designed. Qur'an announces that Allah had revealed to the honeybee and had commanded the honeybee to produce honey (Sura Nahl, 68-69). This announces an example of a giant secret of life. This secret states the fact that, all living creatures that are submitted to Allah's will and follow the faith designated by Allah. The honeybee produces honey upon this, and so the silkworm produces silk just with the very same reason...

Symmetry in Wings

If you look at the wings of the butterflies in the photograph you will see perfect symmetry. These wings decorated with figures, spots and colours are masterpieces of art and the marvels of creation of Allah.

While examining these wings you will easily notice that the figures and the colours on both sides are identical, no matter how complex its design. Even the smallest spot appears identically on both sides. Hence, there occurs a perfect design and symmetry.

At the same time, a colour on this very delicate and fine wing never gets mixed with another colour and the existing colours are distinguished from the others with a distinct border. These colours are formed by series of spots arranged one on another. How can these spots, that would be scattered with a touch of a finger tip, be arranged, without any loss, to form the exactly identical design on both wings? Even an extra single spot would cause the symmetry to be corrupted. But you can not find any kind of disorder on any one of the butterfly wings on earth. Each of them has aesthetic and well-arranged appearance that looks as if it was the masterpiece of a talented artist. This is because the butterflies, like all other living beings, are created by the Superior Creator, Allah.

"He is Allah , the Creator, the Evolver, the Bestower of Forms (or Colours). To Him belong the Most Beautiful Names: whatever is in the heavens and on earth, doth declare His Praises and Glory: and He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise." (Sura Al-Hashr, 24)

"Is then He Who creates like one that creates not? Will ye not receive admonition?" (Sura An-Nahl, 17)

These aesthetic and orderly figures on the wings of the butterflies indicate that these living beings are formed as a result of unique creation, but not as a result of series of unconscious coincidences.

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