When the Prophet Abraham was growing up, there came a moment during the search for the truth when he became deeply contemplative. During this gnostic phase of the search for the Beloved, his mind at first turned to the outward objects and toward the very thought of who his Creator was and where He was. That became a focal point of his quest. The depth of the awareness finally created a way towards gnosis and he directly received the Divine Guidance (hidaya). In the Quran (Koran), the quest of Abraham is related as follows:

“And We let Abraham observe the creatures of the skies and earth so that he could become the man of absolute faith. And when the darkness of the night prevailed, he saw a star. Said he, this is my Lord. So when it fell said he, I do not love those who go down.”

“Then when he saw the moon, the bright and glowing, said he, this is my Creator. When that fell too Abraham said, if my God would not guide me then I would be among those who have gone astray. Then when saw the sun, he said, this is my God. This is the biggest one. So when that went down, he said, O’ my people, no doubt I am disgusted with your infidelity. I turn my way towards the One who created this earth and the skies and I am not among those who worship idols.”

[Sura Inaam]