Epigraph
He made beautiful all that he created, He first created man from clay. (Al Quran 32:7)
Beauty as a Pathway to the Divine
Written and collected by Zia H Shah MD, Chief Editor of the Muslim Times
Introduction
Beauty has long been regarded as more than a mere sensory pleasure – across cultures and philosophies it is viewed as a pointer to something transcendent. Experiences of beauty in nature, art, and human life often evoke awe, wonder, and a longing that many interpret as a reach toward the divine. Philosophers from Plato to Immanuel Kant, and theologians from St. Augustine to St. Thomas Aquinas, have pondered how the beautiful can lead the mind and soul to God. Likewise, the world’s religious traditions – Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, and others – frequently affirm that the splendor we perceive around us reflects a higher spiritual reality. In this article, we will explore how beauty serves as a pathway to the divine, examining insights from philosophy and theology and considering examples from nature, art, and human experience.
Beauty in nature can evoke a sense of awe and transcendence. Majestic landscapes – from soaring snow-capped mountains to tranquil mirror-like lakes – often stir the human spirit to contemplate realities beyond the material world.
Philosophical Perspectives on Beauty and Transcendence
Plato: Ascent to the Form of Beauty
One of the earliest explicit connections between beauty and the divine comes from Plato. In his Symposium, Plato (through the prophetess Diotima’s discourse) describes a “ladder of love” by which a lover of beauty ascends from attraction to a single beautiful body, to appreciation of all beautiful bodies, then to beautiful souls, onward to beautiful ideas, and finally to Beauty itself – the eternal Form of Beauty. At the climax of this ascent, the seeker attains a vision of Beauty in its pure, unchanging essence. This absolute Beauty is closely linked to the Good and ultimate reality. In fact, Plato implies that encountering the Form of Beauty is a profoundly spiritual experience – a glimpse of the divine. All particular beautiful things are beautiful, for Plato, by participating in this heavenly Form. In other dialogues, he suggests an intimate unity between the Good, the True, and the Beautiful. Ultimately, the experience of beauty has an anagogical function (leading upward): the beautiful elevates the soul toward what is divine and true. In other words, the love of beauty can be a route by which one’s mind transcends the physical world and contemplates the eternal.
Plato’s idea inspired later philosophers like the Neoplatonist Plotinus, who taught that all beauty in the world emanates from “the One,” the ultimate divine source. As Plotinus (echoing Plato) put it, all multiplicity of beautiful things resolves into an underlying unity, and “all roads of inquiry and experience lead toward the Good/Beautiful/True/Divine” Beauty (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). This Platonic view set the stage for seeing beauty as a bridge between the material and the spiritual – an insight that would permeate Western thought for millennia.
Aquinas and the Medieval Christian Tradition: “God is Beauty Itself”
In the medieval period, Christian philosophers and theologians embraced the Greco-Roman idea of transcendent beauty and explicitly identified it with the Christian God. St. Thomas Aquinas, drawing on both Aristotle and Augustine, considered beauty as a property of being that reflects God’s nature. Aquinas famously stated that God is beauty itself, and that every earthly instance of beauty is a reflection of the divine beauty [The Soul’s Endless Delight in Beauty: How the Human Spirit Reflects God’s Infinite Beauty]. For Aquinas, something is beautiful when its form, harmony, and clarity please the perceptive faculties – he defined beauty as “that which, being seen (or known), pleases” [Beauty as Sacred — Paul J. Stankard]. This delight we take in beauty is not an end in itself but a pathway to deeper truths [Beauty as Sacred — Paul J. Stankard]. Just as a work of art reflects the genius of its artist, the beauty in creation reflects the glory of the Creator. Aquinas and others viewed beauty alongside truth and goodness as “transcendentals” – fundamental qualities of existence that originate in God. Therefore, to encounter real beauty is, in a sense, to encounter a trace of God’s own perfection.
Earlier Christian voices laid the groundwork for Aquinas. St. Augustine extolled God as the supreme Beauty: “Late have I loved You, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new,” he famously wrote, lamenting that he sought beautiful things in the world without recognizing God as their source. Augustine taught that created beauties are “a pure manifestation of the good” and serve as a “bridge between the earthly and the transcendent” [Beauty as Sacred — Paul J. Stankard]. They awaken a nostalgia for God, the all-beautiful, in the human heart. As Augustine observed, our hearts remain restless amid finite beauties until they rest in the infinite beauty of God [The Soul’s Endless Delight in Beauty: How the Human Spirit Reflects God’s Infinite Beauty]. This theme – that finite beauty stirs an insatiable longing that only the infinite can satisfy – became a recurring motif in Christian spirituality.
Medieval Christian theology often described creation’s beauty as a deliberate pointer to God. The 6th-century mystic Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite taught that the whole universe yearns toward God and that “the universe is called into being by love of God as Beauty” [Beauty (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)]. In other words, God’s beauty sparked creation itself, and all creatures in their own way reflect and seek that Beauty. In the 12th century, Abbot Suger of Saint-Denis articulated how material beauty can lift the soul to the divine. After adorning his Gothic abbey church with dazzling stained glass and jewels, Suger wrote that “the loveliness of the many-colored gems has called me away from external cares, … transferring that which is material to that which is immaterial,” so that he seemed to find himself in “some strange region of the universe … neither entirely in the slime of the earth nor entirely in the purity of Heaven,” and by God’s grace “transported from this inferior to that higher world in an anagogical manner” [Beauty (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)]. Here we see a vivid account of aesthetic rapture leading to spiritual vision. The radiant light and beauty of the church’s art were, for Suger, a means of elevating the mind from earthly concerns to heavenly contemplation. This sentiment – that the splendor of art and nature can incline the heart toward God – was widespread in the Middle Ages. Beauty was considered a path of sanctification: to cultivate or contemplate the beautiful could purify the soul and direct it to God.
Immanuel Kant: Aesthetics and the Sense of the Sublime
Not only explicitly religious thinkers have linked beauty to transcendence. Enlightenment philosopher Immanuel Kant, while operating in a more secular framework, still gave beauty a special role that hints at the divine. In his Critique of Judgment (1790), Kant analyzed aesthetic experience in depth. He argued that when we judge something to be “beautiful,” we do so with a unique kind of disinterested pleasure and with a sense of universal validity – as if beauty is not just personal preference but has a claim on everyone’s agreement. Kant noted that in experiencing beauty (for example, in nature), we often sense an inherent purposefulness or order in the thing, even though the beauty is “purposeless” in a practical sense [Beauty as Sacred — Paul J. Stankard]. This led him to propose that our faculty of judgment enables us to grasp beauty as part of an “ordered, natural world with purpose.” In other words, the mind feels as if the beautiful object fits into a meaningful design [Kant, Immanuel: Aesthetics | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]. This experience borders on the spiritual – it hints that the world is not chaotic but ordered in a way that harmonizes with our cognitive faculties. Such harmony can easily be taken as evidence of a providential Mind behind nature.
Kant went further to draw a parallel between beauty and morality. He asserted that aesthetic judgment is deeply analogous to moral judgment [Kant, Immanuel: Aesthetics | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]. Both involve a sense of universal validity and a free (unconstrained) delight in the good. In fact, Kant famously stated “the beautiful is the symbol of the morally good.” While Kant did not explicitly claim that beauty proves God’s existence, he did see the sensus communis (shared human faculty for judging beauty) as part of the bridge between the world of sense and the world of moral freedom [Kant, Immanuel: Aesthetics | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]. The feeling of the sublime – awe at something vast like the starry sky or towering mountains – was, for Kant, even more directly linked to the moral and the transcendent: the sublime in nature arouses an awareness of our own supersensible faculty (reason) that surpasses nature, giving a kind of intimation of the infinite or the Absolute. Kant’s philosophy thus upheld that aesthetic experience hints at transcendence, unifying the physical realm of nature with the higher realm of moral ideas [Kant, Immanuel: Aesthetics | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]. Many interpreters view this as Kant’s indirect way of acknowledging a spiritual dimension to beauty: the beautiful prepares our minds to recognize moral truth, and in Kant’s system, moral truth ultimately leads to the postulation of God.
In summary, from Plato’s metaphysical ladder to Aquinas’s theological aesthetics to Kant’s analysis of judgment, philosophers have consistently found that beauty has a **transcendental aspect**. It points beyond itself – whether to the Form of Beauty, the glory of the Creator, or the harmony of the cosmos – suggesting that our encounter with the beautiful is not just sensory but spiritual.
Beauty in Religious Traditions
Islam: Signs of Beauty Pointing to the Creator
In Islam, the concept of beauty is closely tied to the nature of God (Allah) and to the appreciation of His creation. A renowned hadith (saying of the Prophet Muhammad) proclaims, “God is beautiful and loves beauty.” [The Messenger of God( pbuh ) and Beauty | Greendome].This concise statement has had far-reaching influence in Islamic thought. It affirms that beauty (jamal) is a divine quality, and that seeking or cultivating beauty is pleasing to God. Importantly, it also implies that wherever beauty is found, there is a reflection of the Creator’s own beauty – hence, noticing and loving beauty in the world can be a form of remembering and loving God.
Islamic theology teaches that the entire created order is full of ayat, meaning signs or tokens, of God. These signs include the beauty of nature: the Qur’an often invites people to look at the heavens, the stars, the gardens, the camels, and all creatures, and to observe the order and beauty in them as evidence of God’s wisdom and beneficence. For example, the Qur’an states, “Look at the fruits when they begin to bear fruit and ripen. Indeed, in these are signs for those who believe” (6:99). Such verses encourage a contemplative attitude toward nature’s beauty. The rhythm of day and night, the ornament of the sky with sun and moon, the variety of colors in plants and mountains – all these beautiful phenomena “serve as the most eloquent witnesses to [God’s] existence, unity, and supreme artistry.” [The Messenger of God( pbuh ) and Beauty | Greendome]. In other words, by observing beauty in the natural world, one is drawn to acknowledge the Oneness of God and His attributes of power, mercy, and majesty. A blooming rose or a starry night is never just an isolated thing of beauty in Islamic perspective; it is a sign pointing back to al-Musawwir, “the Shaper/Form-Giver,” one of the Beautiful Names of God.
Islamic spiritual tradition, especially Sufism, goes even further in linking beauty to the divine. Sufi poets speak of the world as filled with the Beloved’s reflection. Jalaluddin Rumi, for instance, would look at beloved faces or the beauty of nature and see them as mirrors in which God’s beauty glances back. To love the beauty of a person in the highest sense was, for Rumi, a step toward loving God, since the person’s soul beauty came from God. One Sufi saying goes, “Wherever you turn, there is the Face of God” (paraphrasing Qur’an 2:115), meaning that a sincere seeker perceives the Divine through the beauty that shines in all things. This is not to equate creation with the Creator, but to recognize the handwriting of God in the handwriting of creation.
Islamic art embodies the quest to express divine beauty in a manner that avoids idolatry. Because depicting God or prophets in images is traditionally discouraged, Islamic sacred art turned to other forms: arabesque floral designs, complex geometric patterns, and elegant calligraphy of Quranic verses. These artistic forms are often of striking beauty and serve a spiritual purpose. Geometric patterns, for example, hint at the underlying order and unity in the cosmos – a beauty of intellectual design that leads the mind to God the Great Geometer. Calligraphy transforms Scripture into visual art, so that one literally sees the Word of God in beautiful form, reinforcing its meaning. Islamic architecture (from the Alhambra’s lace-like walls to the soaring domes of mosques) cultivates symmetry, light, and balance, aiming to create spaces that inspire serenity and remembrance of God. The tranquil courtyard with a fountain and the echo of the muezzin’s call in a minaret – these aesthetic elements in Islamic life are intended to direct the soul toward dhikr (remembrance of God). In essence, beauty is interwoven with worship.
An Islamic scholar, reflecting on the Prophet’s saying, explained that recognizing and cherishing beauty is part of faith: we should adorn ourselves inwardly with the beauty of virtue and outwardly appreciate the beauty of God’s creation. Thus, to the Muslim sensibility, a beautiful act (like showing compassion) and a beautiful sight (like a sunset) both lead one’s thoughts to Allah al-Jameel (God the Beautiful). By cultivating inner beauty (ihsan, spiritual excellence) and being attentive to outer beauty, believers orient themselves to the Divine Artist. Beauty in Islam is ultimately understood as a sign of God’s love – the fact that the world contains beauty is a mark of the Creator’s benevolence toward His creatures, inviting them lovingly toward Himself.
Christianity: The Splendor of Creation and Sacred Art
Within Christianity, the idea that beauty leads to God is deeply ingrained. Christian scripture and tradition teach that the natural world is a reflection of God’s glory – “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands” as the Psalmist exclaims (Psalm 19:1). The magnificence of creation is viewed as a book in which God’s beauty can be “read” by any attentive soul. Christian theologians have described beauty as a divine attribute: God is the ultimate source of all that is beautiful, and therefore every genuine beauty in the world mirrors something of God’s nature [The Soul’s Endless Delight in Beauty: How the Human Spirit Reflects God’s Infinite Beauty]. The doctrine of the transcendentals (mentioned above) holds that Being, Truth, Goodness, and Beauty are all one in God; hence encountering beauty is implicitly an encounter with God’s own being. As Aquinas wrote, “God is beauty itself” [The Soul’s Endless Delight in Beauty: How the Human Spirit Reflects God’s Infinite Beauty]. This provides a basis for a sacramental view of the world, where the physical can mediate the spiritual.
Christians have also used sacred art and architecture as means to experience God through beauty. The design of churches – from the soaring vaults and jewel-toned windows of Gothic cathedrals to the shimmering gold mosaics of Byzantine basilicas – deliberately aims to create an ambience of awe, pointing worshippers heavenward. The play of light in a cathedral, the harmonious proportions of a shrine, or the stirring melody of liturgical chant all serve to lift the heart and mind to contemplation of the divine. The Eastern Orthodox tradition, for instance, places heavy emphasis on divine beauty – Orthodox churches are filled with icons and hymns that are meticulously crafted to be “windows to heaven,” allowing the faithful to sense God’s presence through color, form, and sound. One Orthodox theologian, Paul Evdokimov, said, “Beauty will save the world,” expressing the belief that the radiant beauty of Christ (as depicted in icons and in the lives of the saints) has the power to redeem and transform souls.
Christian mystics often describe spiritual experiences in terms of beauty. St. Augustine wrote of God: “Too late have I loved You, O Beauty so ancient and so new,” recognizing God as the ultimate beauty who had been with him all along. Augustine taught that when we love beautiful things in creation rightly, we actually love God in them, because they are reflections of God’s beauty. Similarly, C.S. Lewis in the 20th century spoke of an intense longing evoked by earthly beauty – a longing that no finite thing can satisfy, which points to God as the source and fulfillment of all desire. This sense of inconsolable longing (Sehnsucht) triggered by music or landscape is interpreted as the soul’s thirst for God.
In Christian thought, even the moral and spiritual beauty of a person (holiness) is seen as reflecting God. The Bible speaks of “the beauty of holiness” (Psalm 96:9), implying that virtue and sanctity have an attractive radiance that leads others to glorify God. The lives of saints – people whose goodness shines in their countenance and actions – are often described in aesthetic terms, and their beauty of soul has drawn many toward faith. In short, Christianity envisions beauty in all its forms as a trail of breadcrumbs leading to the Divine: whether through the majesty of creation, the creativity of art, or the integrity of a holy life, beauty has the power to “transport” the human spirit from the earthly to the heavenly [Beauty (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)].
Masterpieces of religious art have long been used to convey and evoke the divine. Michelangelo’s famous fresco **The Creation of Adam** (Sistine Chapel, Vatican) portrays God reaching out to impart life to man – a scene of profound beauty that has inspired viewers for centuries. Such art seeks not just to please the eye but to lift the mind to the relationship between humanity and God.*
Hinduism: Divine Beauty and Devotional Rapture
In Hinduism, beauty (often termed “sundaram”) is considered an essential aspect of the divine reality. Many Hindu traditions hold that God possesses infinite beauty, and that experiencing this beauty is one way devotees come to know and love the Divine. One well-known Sanskrit phrase “Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram” describes ultimate reality (Brahman or God) as Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. The perception of beauty, therefore, is not merely aesthetic but spiritual – it is a recognition of God’s manifested qualities.
Hindu devotional (Bhakti) literature is replete with descriptions of the enchanting beauty of deities like Krishna, Rama, or the Goddess in her many forms. These descriptions are intentionally vivid and emotive, because beauty is seen as a magnet drawing the heart toward God. In the Vaishnava tradition, for example, devotees meditate on the exquisite form of Lord Krishna – his lotus-like eyes, peacock-feather crown, graceful flute-playing posture – as a means of cultivating love (prema). The Bhakti rasa theory in Indian aesthetics holds that the rasa (flavor or emotion) of divine love can be evoked through the artistic depiction of God’s beauty, leading devotees into states of blissful communion. Indeed, it is said that Krishna’s form is so beautiful that it “elicits love and spiritual ecstasy in the devotee” ([Divine beauty: Significance and symbolism]. In this way, the sensory appreciation of beauty (seeing a deity’s image, hearing devotional music, smelling incense and flowers offered to the deity) becomes a gateway to direct spiritual experience.
Classical Hindu texts also discuss how natural beauty can stir spiritual realization. The Upanishads and other scriptures frequently use imagery of light, suns, lotuses, and jewels to convey the glory of Brahman. For instance, the Katha Upanishad compares realizing the Self (Atman/Brahman) to discovering a light brighter than all earthly light. The awe one feels before a stunning sunrise or the delicate symmetry of a lotus blossom can prompt reflection on the underlying cosmic order (Rta) sustained by the divine. Hindu philosophy identifies the divine both with the formless absolute and with the personal God who manifests in form; in the latter case, God deliberately takes on beautiful form (as an Avatar) to charm and redeem souls. Krishna’s divine play (lila) in Vrindavan, dancing with the cowherd girls under the full moon, is often interpreted as the Supreme Beauty revealing himself to those souls and thereby granting them liberation through love.
Moreover, Hindu worship (puja) is a very aesthetic affair: temples are adorned with intricate sculpture and vivid colors, icons of deities are meticulously decorated, and offerings appeal to all five senses. This emphasis on aesthetic richness in worship stems from the understanding that engaging the beauty of the divine with our senses helps unite us with God. The devotee offers beautiful things (flowers, lamps, music) to God and in turn beholds God’s beauty, creating a reciprocal flow of love. As one summary puts it, in Hinduism “Divine beauty…inspires devotion and admiration in devotees” [Divine beauty: Significance and symbolism], ultimately transforming their hearts. To behold the loveliness of the Divine is to be filled with ananda (bliss), which is the nature of Brahman itself.
Finally, Hindu thought does not limit beauty to the visual. The melodious raga of Indian classical music, the graceful movements of Bharatanatyam dance, or the poetry of saints like Mirabai and Tagore are all seen as channels through which the soul can experience rasa (spiritual flavor) and thus touch the infinite. In summary, Hindu traditions view beauty as a theophany – a revelation of God – and actively use aesthetic experience in their spiritual practices to lead devotees Godward.
The Aesthetic Path: Nature, Art, and Human Experience
Despite the variety of perspectives across different philosophers and religions, there is a remarkable consensus that beauty in our lived experience serves as a pathway to transcendence. Whether one is religious or not, many have felt that moment when a breathtaking natural vista, a moving piece of music, or a deeply noble human action suddenly makes one feel connected to something greater – something sacred. Here we will consider briefly how beauty in nature, art, and human life can elevate us toward the divine or ultimate reality.
Nature’s Beauty: The natural world is often the first and most universal temple of beauty. The starry night sky has filled humans with wonder since time immemorial – as Kant said, the “starry heavens above” enthrall us and stir our conscience. The intricate beauty of a snowflake or the grandeur of a galaxy can be revelatory. Many traditions see nature as **a tapestry woven by God**, where each sunset or blooming flower is an intentional brushstroke of the Creator. In the Bible, Jesus points to the “lilies of the field” (Matthew 6:28-29) – how gorgeously they are adorned by God – to inspire trust and awareness of divine providence. In the Bhagavad Gita (Hindu scripture), Krishna says, “Wherever you see something splendid, wealthy or powerful, know that it springs from but a spark of My splendor.” Such verses echo the idea that **beauty is a spark of divine splendor**. The sense of peace or awe we feel in nature can lead naturally to prayer or contemplation. Standing on a seashore at dusk, one often feels tiny yet somehow part of an immense meaningful cosmos. This shift in consciousness is a **spiritual motion** – the beauty of nature gently unseats us from our ego and opens us to **transcendence**, to questions of origin, purpose, and the Creator. It is no surprise that so many religious traditions have saints and sages who went out into the wilderness or mountains to seek God; they often report that the silence and beauty of nature spoke to them of the Divine more eloquently than any words.
Artistic Beauty: Human creativity, when it produces true beauty, is often experienced as **co-creation with the divine**. Artists throughout history have described feeling “inspired” – literally *in-spiritus*, breathed into by a higher spirit – when creating beauty. The great Russian novelist Dostoevsky wrote, “Beauty will save the world,” suggesting that art has a redemptive, transformative power on the soul. In Christian tradition, the vocation of the artist has been highly esteemed; Pope John Paul II wrote to artists, saying that by creating true beauty they *“sense in it some echo of the mystery of creation with which God… has wished to associate you”* ([Beauty as Sacred — Paul J. Stankard]. In other words, the artist’s inspiration and the viewer’s admiration of art can become **an encounter with God’s own creative joy**. Take, for example, the effect of sacred music: a Bach cantata or a Sufi qawwali can induce a state of spiritual transport, where the beauty of melody and rhythm lifts listeners beyond mundane concerns and into an experience of unity or devotion. Visual art, from icons to mandalas, often carries symbolic forms that draw the mind into meditation. Even secular art, when it captures something universally true and beautiful (a poignant novel, a graceful dance), can awaken in audiences a sense of **transcendent meaning** or catharsis that has quasi-spiritual overtones. It is as if through artistic beauty we momentarily glimpse the world “through God’s eyes,” seeing the wholeness, harmony, or deep emotion that underlies existence. Many have had the experience of being moved to tears by a painting or a song, feeling “elevated” or purified – such moments strongly parallel classical descriptions of religious consolation. In sum, **art’s beauty bridges the human and the divine** by speaking to that part of us which yearns for perfection and eternal significance.
The Beauty of Human Experience: Not all beauty is tangible or visual; some of the most powerful experiences of beauty come through relationships and virtues. The tender love of a mother for her child, the solidarity of strangers helping each other in a crisis, the forgiveness offered by a victim to a wrongdoer – these actions strike us as **beautiful** in a profound moral sense. This moral or experiential beauty can also lead one to God, often more compellingly than intellectual arguments. When we witness true compassion or courage, we sense we are in the presence of something **sacred**. Many religious traditions acknowledge this; for example, in Judaism and Christianity, people are called to “worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” The **beauty of holiness** refers to the radiance that emanates from a life aligned with God’s will. Such beauty has converted hearts: observers seeing the serene joy of saints, the unearthly light in the face of someone in prayer, or the unity of a community in loving fellowship have been drawn to seek the source of that beauty. In Islam, the character of Prophet Muhammad is called “uswa hasana” (an excellent model) – the beauty of his life of truth and mercy is considered a primary evidence of his prophethood and of God’s guidance. In a more general sense, whenever we experience profound **joy, love, or awe**, we are touching on a quality of beauty that can trigger spiritual awakening. For instance, witnessing the birth of a child or beholding the face of one’s beloved can be moments where the boundary between earthly and divine seems thin. The overwhelming beauty of such moments often leads people to thank God or to feel there *must* be a higher love behind existence.
To tie these threads together: beauty in all its forms – physical, artistic, moral – has a unifying transcendental character.** It **conveys truth and goodness in a delightful form**, and thus it “cheats” our typical defenses and reaches the soul directly. It hints that **the world has an underlying meaning and order**. As the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy notes, for Platonic and classical thinkers “all roads of inquiry and experience lead toward the Good/Beautiful/True/Divine” [Beauty (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)]. Beauty is one such road of experience, accessible to everyone in some manner. It gently pulls us out of ourselves, **awakens love and reverence**, and points to realities beyond the immediate. Little wonder, then, that nearly every religion uses beauty as part of its language of devotion – be it through glorious temples, enchanting rituals, melodic chants, or the simple beauty of kindness.
Conclusion: Beauty’s Call to Transcendence
In a fragmented world where people often disagree on theology or philosophy, the experience of beauty remains a **universal phenomenon** that can unite hearts and hint at higher truths. The insight that “beauty leads to God” emerges in the writings of a Greek philosopher, a Christian theologian, a Hindu poet-saint, and a Muslim mystic alike. Across these traditions, beauty is understood as a pathway upward – an anagoge, to use the ancient term – guiding the soul to the source of all beauty. When we stand before something truly beautiful, we often feel a “flutter” or “joy” that, as the Greeks like Plato thought, is the soul remembering the perfect beauty it came from [Beauty as Sacred — Paul J. Stankard]. The article has surveyed how thinkers like Plato, Aquinas, and Kant explain this philosophically, and how Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam embrace it through theology and practice. All point to a common reality: beauty has a revelatory power. It not only pleases us but also moves and changes us – it elevates our mind, expands our heart, and plants in us a desire for the infinite.
Ultimately, whether one speaks of the Form of Beauty, the glory of God, the beauty of Krishna, or the Jamal of Allah, the message is that beauty is a pointer beyond itself. It is not an end, but a doorway. By walking through that doorway with reflective attention and gratitude, we find ourselves in a larger space of understanding – a space where the divine presence might be felt. The next time we encounter beauty – in a rose or a rainbow, a sonnet or a symphony, a virtuous deed or a loving smile – we might listen for its gentle whisper. For it often whispers, “I am but a reflection – seek the Source of this light.” And in heeding that call, we join countless seekers through the ages who have discovered in beauty’s mirror the face of God.
God is beauty, the Quran says more than once that His are the most beautiful names and he is the Designer, Artists and Creator of All that exists:
He is Allah, the Creator, the Maker, the Fashioner. His are the most beautiful names. All that is in the heavens and the earth glorifies Him, and He is the Mighty, the Wise. (Al Quran 59:24)
Additional reading
Challenging Mainstream Thought About Beauty’s Big Hand in Evolution
The Glorious Quran and Science 
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