Shape
&
Movement

People can see simple patterns in complicated things,

and build complicated things out of simple shapes.

And of course they understand those simple shapes

by means of numbers,

the number and length of sides

and the angles between them.

And angles show how much a line turns around one end,

but they can also use angles

to see the way that shapes move.

And they use the angles of the compass

to know which way they are facing,

which is useful if you want to know if you are walking in a straight line,

as well as knowing the direction of the Ka'aba in Makkah.

And by using the simplest of patterns

they can make maps of the world,

and find their way around it,

a simple grid of crossed lines

to give a set of rectangles,

and it's possible to use numbers to say

exactly where something is.

And they can also use grids to make shapes that have symmetry,

shapes of great beauty,

and they can take flat shapes and turn them into models,

using nets of shapes in 2d

that fold up into useful shapes in 3d,

like cardboard boxes.

And shapes they can make in tiny models

can be made much bigger in wood and metal and stone,

which gives them engineering

and architecture.

And muslims were famous for covering their buildings

with thousands of coloured tiles,

arranging them in fabulous patterns,

and shaping them in marvellous structures,

they used the language of numbers that humans use for the world

to show the beauty of the numbers that lie beneath it,

the beauty that can be seen in the growth of rocky crystals.

But the crystalline shapes of straight lines and flat faces

only reflect one part of the world,

so by covering their geometric patterns with curves and spirals,

they made those patterns take on

the gentle beauty of arabesque,

the curvy look of growing things

growing out of rigid number patterns,

reflecting the way that the organic shapes of vegetable life

grow out of the crystal shapes of earth.

So from simple numbers humans find ways to build up a very complicated world.

And from using simple numbers they find ways

to understand the world that God created.

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