Think of yourself as a desert ant. You leave your nest to search for food early in the morning in the deserts of Tunisia, except you do not know where to find food. You, therefore, walk randomly in the desert in a circuitous outward path from your nest until you find food. If you would find food, how do you get it back to your home? How do you go back without having left for yourself any traces or signs in the wasteland, without knowing where you located, and most importantly, without ending up stranded in the scorching heat of the desert? Could you accomplish coming back each day with food? Well, desert ants can.

To find out how ants can do this, scientists observed their behavior, and surprisingly they have found that ants did not follow back on the same trail they randomly took after they left their nests. Instead, ants took a direct route as if they already knew where the nest exactly located. How do these ants find the closest way and shortest distance to their nest from their current locations? Former studies had found that red and forest ants secrete a chemical substance to mark their paths. They leave a trail of chemical scents or visual traces behind them—like leaving a trail of breadcrumbs to help you find your way home. However, the structure of desert sands and conditions are not consonant with containing chemicals that will carry an odor or leave visual cues. Even if such markings have made, it is hard to guarantee that they will remain intact long enough considering the harsh conditions of the desert. As in Hansel and Gretel fairy tale kids who could not return home for the breadcrumbs they had left on the trail eaten by birds. Therefore, these desert ants must be equipped with another cognitive mechanism so that they can return to their nests before succumbing to the midday heat.  

Black desert ants (Cataglyphis fortis) emerge from their nests in the heat of desert sand, which rises to 70 degrees with the rise of the morning sun, to search for the remains of other insects that were not as heat resistant as they are. They can only survive for one hour on the hot sand and under the blazing sun, which means that within an hour, they must find their food and bring it back home without getting lost. The journey is quite arduous and dangerous each day. If the slightest confusion occurs and they are not able to return to their nest in time, then it could cost them their lives.

Scientists conducted a series of research in the scorching deserts of Tunisia to find out how desert ants take their food to their nests in the shortest route possible. Researchers first determined an anthill and plotted the terrain around it to set up a coordinate plane. They observed that the ants left their nests very early in the morning to begin their daily search for food, and many of them eventually found grubs that had been planted by the scientists. However, researchers moved the ants to locations that they had not previously been to after the ant began carrying the food back to their nests. The attempt was to understand whether there was a “sign placement system” within the ants. This system would encourage the ant to find its last known location, in this instance where it had picked up, then find its way back home. However, the ant instead began heading directly to its nest. It was as if the ant determined its position concerning its nest and set off for it immediately. This experiment was repeated on many ants numerous times and with the same consistent results. The ants, as soon as they had placed on the ground, moved to the nest relative to there. With a wondrous intrinsic coding of some neurons in their nervous systems, they traveled the distance between their new location and the nest in the shortest way possible. In addition to this, the margin of error was very nominal; they found their nests with a ten percent error in the average distance of 500-meters and with an error of only two degrees in angle. Additionally, a fascinating discovery revealed that the ants could calculate errors in their navigation systems. As they approach their destination, they would make adjustments if they need to by moving back and forth in parallel lines to reach the nest with minimum error.

Scientists determined that desert ants have about a thousand lenses in their compound eyes (remember that a human eye has only one lens) and 80 lenses in each of their eyes that can detect polarized light that comes from different points in the sky. Polarized light occurs when sunlight enters the atmosphere of Earth, hits air molecules and other particles, and then scatters in all directions. This dispersion leads to polarization, and the light that starts to vibrate in many planes begins to vibrate in only one plane. Therefore, the strongest of them is a distinct polarization that always makes a 90-degree angle towards the sun. The lens system in the eyes of desert ants uses this polarization to form a kind of Sky Map. These ants will occasionally stop and robotically move their heads while returning to their nest. This brief period allows the ants to make this sky map by surveying the sky and making a mental note of its layout. Researchers believe that ants can then calculate the direction that they need to travel to return to their nest. They repeat this movement along the way to continually update their sky maps. If they cannot find their home, then they utilize a patterned search method with a set of circular motions. It means that each ant knows how far it is from their nest at every point of their journey.

Then, how do ants find their direction to the nest? Perhaps they were guided by the position of the sun in the sky is. To test this hypothesis, researchers placed a set of mirrors to make ants perceive the sun in a different state than where it ordinarily would be. It observed that the ants changed their directions according to the new state of the sun. However, this finding raised another question; researchers wondered how the time of day would affect the ants since the sun moves across the sky during the day. However, this finding raised another question; researchers wondered how the time of day would affect the ants since the sun moves across the sky during the day.

In another part of the experiment, the researchers caught the ants after they found the bait, closed a box over them, and kept them inside the box for several hours so that they could not see the sun and its movements. It expected that the ants would have trouble finding their way back after they were released since a long time had passed, and the sun was in a drastically different position in the sky. However, they once again returned home by using the shortest distance possible. It understood that the desert ants were aware that time was passing even though they could not see the sun.

We now understand that ants determine their direction home by using the sun, but we still do not know how they figure out the distance they must travel to return to their nest. Researchers have developed three hypotheses to explore this phenomenon. The first hypothesis was the energy hypothesis. According to this hypothesis, the ants were able to know how much energy they needed on the way back by calculating it they had spent until they reached their food. The depletion of their energy meant the end of their journey. An ant loaded with extra weights to test this hypothesis as soon as it reached its food. The scientists thought that if their body weight increased, then they would not be able to strike reach the nest since they would spend more energy on the return trip. However, in this case, it did not affect the ants, and they returned home in the shortest way possible regardless of their weight.

The second hypothesis was the optical-flow hypothesis. In this hypothesis, it believed that the ants had visual memory, and this was how they remembered the way back. To prove this, scientists prevented the ants from seeing their surroundings by blindfolding the ants when they found their food source. However, the blindfold did not prevent the ants from obtaining the shortest distance back home. As a follow-up to this experiment, the researchers placed an extensive television screen in front of the ants showing an endless desert on the television screen to make the ants feel as if they had crossed the entire desert in this simulation. They used various types of simulations, but the result did not change; the ants found their way.

The last test involved the pedometer hypothesis. It surmised that ants could be counting their steps to determine how far they had traveled. To test whether they were doing so, researchers attached stilts made of hair strands to the legs of one group of ants after they found the food. As their legs now extended, they could move with longer scale steps. Another group of ants had their legs cut below the knee, thus shortened to increase the number of steps needed to walk the required distance back. They then observed the return journey of both groups of ants. The results were astounding; the ants with shorter legs had concluded their course before reaching the nest, while the ants with longer legs ended up passing the nest. Thus, it understood that the ants counted their steps according to the distance they traveled.

The findings reveal that the ants are created with an internal system that keeps track of the steps they take and re-calibrates itself on the way back. People make these complex calculations with measuring instruments and by knowing the laws of trigonometry. However, these small creatures find their way directly back without using any tools or computer applications. They do not use their perception to find direction, and they do not use any other directional methods because they all remember direction and distance as they move forward. If you look at this situation, what would be your simplest explanation? You can only have one definition: These little creatures can measure distances and angles precisely by applying mathematical calculations and trigonometry within their conditions. Since the first day of their existence, these creatures show only a few of the shreds of evidence of the divine power created them out of nothing with wondrous systems and superior abilities in their bodies.

I have put my trust in God, my Lord, and your Lord. No living creature is there, but He holds it by its forelock and keeps it under His complete control. Undoubtedly, my Lord is on a straight path (He governs all that exists and carries out His decrees rightly and with absolute justice). (Surah Hud, 56)

The morning had withheld its sunlight and left only a gray hue to open its doors when the man turned aside to his wife facing him, her Cantu-scented curls waving in his face. The sunlight compliments her already perfect face even though the gray brings gloom to others, but not him. The sounds of breakfast cooking brew an ambience that acts as lenses onto her beauty while her eyes secure her innocence. The appreciation of sunlight comes natural for those who don’t have it, but alternatives are the only option with no availability. As a result, he finds the sunlight captured in her beauty while her eyes take the picture.

“Want some eggs,” she asks, her words softly layered.

“With syrup please,” he replies as his words stick to his mouth.

Her response echoes through the whole house, her laughter bounces off the walls. Her eyes close when she laughs and he wonders what she sees. The sight she sees contains an expression of her love with him at the center of her photograph. In the meanwhile, a whole dictionary was consumed in the process of describing what she feels towards what she sees.

The day passes them by in a swirl of heartfelt emotions. A haze of old music lingers in the house as she takes two steps back while he takes two steps forward.

She asks, “Where did the day go?”                                                                                      

“With you in my arms,” he responds.

“Ha-Ha-Ha,” she says sarcastically.

Her laugh gets softer and softer as he feels the heat escape her body. Her eyes flash red not with pain but with a warning. “Low Battery! Charge Now!” but a recharge isn’t possible, at least not in an electrical sense. With this he holds her memory tightly, tighter than the grip of death itself. He carries her soul in his heart as he steps to the cellar. Her brown hair now twisted with curls, rooted in the insecurities of others. The door creaks open to deliver a gust of contempt for death and a sense of resurrection. Human sized tubes litter the wall. The same face stares back at him at least a dozen times, providing twelve instances of relief. A transaction is made with his heart and mind, and one of the tubes opens. He feels elated but the air still chills around him, and an aura steps out followed by a hand reaching for him.

The morning withholds its sunlight and leaves only the gray to open its doors when the man turns aside to his wife facing him, her strawberry scented hair waving in his face.

The foot is a limb that is not given much importance when compared to other vital organs such as the brain or heart. However, the foot is a very complex mechanical structure that is made of 26 bones, 33 joints, and more than 100 muscles and ligaments. About a quarter of the bones in the human body and about a fifth of the joints are found in our two feet. That is why Leonardo da Vinci described the human foot as an engineering and artistic masterpiece.

A healthy person takes about 5,000 steps a day. Given a life of eighty years, a person takes about 150 million steps throughout their life. Assuming that each step is 75 cm, a person walks about 110,000 kilometers throughout his life. This corresponds to walking around the equator about 3 times. Apart from that, a typical person stands for around 2-4 hours a day. During all these activities, the human foot carries the entire body’s weight. In standing position, body weight is supported by two feet while activities such as walking and running are done by only one foot for a certain period of time. While standing, the feet carry 100% of their body weight, while walking, this rate rises up to 150%. While walking, the foot that needs to be lifted from the ground approaches the ground again with an acceleration in the same direction as gravity. Therefore, the impact force at the moment the foot touches the ground corresponds to 150% of a person’s body weight. In cases of severe effects such as running and jumping, this force easily increases up to 5 times the body weight and up to 10 times in some people. For a person weighing 70 kilograms, this force can be 105 kg (or about 1050 Newton) in walking, and easily 350 kg (or about 3500 Newton) in running or jumping. Assuming that a person walking for an hour takes 5,000 steps, the foot pulls a total of about 500 tons of load (5,000 steps x 105 kg). In running, this figure will increase approximately three times.

The foot has been created with a wonderful mechanical and construction design that is able to consistently sustain such high loads. The bones and muscles of the foot add two different belt designs to it. One of them, the structure called the longitudinal belt starts from the heel bone (calcaneus) and ends with its metatarsal bones (Figure 1). Some researchers claim that the long arch is divided into two parts as the inner (medial arch) and the outer arch (lateral arch). However, both structures resemble bridges built in arches. The second arch on the foot is called the transverse arch. This belt is perpendicular to the long belt from the right side of the foot to the left side and is shorter in length (Figure 2).

Therefore, the foot is a marvelous structure consisting of roughly two arches. This structure of the foot can be compared to arch bridges or a dam. The arch structure is known as the strongest structure against steep loads in construction areas due to the robustness of the designs against compression forces in cases of vertical loading. Therefore, hydroelectric dams are constructed in the form of arches or arcs in order to make the most resistant model against hydrostatic pressure.

The arch structure of the foot is very flexible and can also move up and down like a car suspension and acts as a shock absorption. If there was no such structure on the foot, the impact forces during walking and running activities would be higher and cause chronic foot pain. The flatfoot complication is a result of a damage in the arch structure in the foot which comes from birth or develops afterwards. Flatfoot patients are often unable to perform long-term activities and experience foot pain as well as complications in other organs of the body.

Our feet’s arch structure is not the only factor involved in shock absorption that is designed against mechanical forces. The layer of fat on the bottom of the foot also contributes to this process. In a healthy person, this fat layer, which has a height of 2.5 cm under the heel, drops to 5-7 mm in the front part of the foot. It also helps to distribute the vertical and horizontal forces caused by standing or walking evenly on the sole of the foot. At the same time, it serves as a source of heat insulation and helps protect our feet from hot or cold surfaces. In some diseases such as diabetes, in which this fat layer melts or decreases, wounds called foot ulcers can develop because the shock absorption and load distribution get damaged. Mechanical pressure is calculated by dividing the amount of mechanical force by the surface area on which it is applied, meaning that smaller surfaces areas are subjected to more pressure. This is why very tiny needles, despite weighing almost nothing, can pierce our skin and cause pain. Similarly, damage to the fat layer under the foot causes the forces applied under the foot to act on a limited surface area. For example, the reduction of fat in the area just below the heads of the metatarsal bones reduces the “cushioning” effect in this area and causes a pressure in high values. This extra pressure can cause tissue damage along with the aforementioned foot ulcers.

Such a situation that will cause pain in a normal person cannot be felt by many diabetics. If diabetes is not well controlled, neuropathy or a “lack of feeling” may occur as a complication. Dead nerve cells become unable to feel pain which can result in people not knowing about harm that is being done to their body. Diabetic patients who develop neuropathy would not feel fatty layer damage and accompanying high pressure values whereas a typical person normally would. Untreated foot ulcers can become infected and can turn into gangrene. Since the gangrenous foot has to be cut, diabetes unfortunately causes a large number of amputations. Such amputations are sadly quite frequent throughout the world due to diabetic neuropathy. Dr. Paul Brand, who studied diabetic foot ulcers, defined pain as a gift from God that no one wanted. Sometimes, what we do not like might be better for us (Qur’an 2:216); likewise, pain can cause a lot of trouble to people but it can also alert us of dangers and harm to our bodies.

Thus, foot care is very important in diabetics. The following three actions are recommended to patients; daily inspection of the foot; daily washing; and control of the inside of the shoes. The pest, pebble, or similar hard object in the shoe that can be very harmful for diabetics with loss of sensation would be removed this way. On the other hand, when such a hard object remains in the shoes, patients may step on them repeatedly without feeling it which will likely lead to an ulcer case.

With its pain that works like a health alarm, extraordinary mechanical loads it carries, heat insulation and shock absorbing features, the human foot is a wonder of art that calls for contemplation.

A being that covers half the remaining distance with every step can reach its destination only if it can walk for infinity. When the ability to walk is limited, irrespective of the length of the steps taken, one will only be able to cover half the remaining distance, not the entire distance. In other words, there will always be a distance that remains to be covered. To cover more than half would be nothing less than attempting the impossible, because no being lives long enough to do this. With every step that the being moves forward it can only cover half the distance between the location and the destination.

In the light of this mathematical perspective, we can analyze the deeds we carry out and the steps that we have already taken, and those that we will take in our journey through life that is to be carried out towards God. I wonder if the steps we have already taken are enough to acquire His love and consent at the end of the journey. Answering this question in a conclusive way is difficult, because in the end this situation depends on God’s will. Moreover, God informed us of what needs to be done when he sent the Prophets and Books. Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, encouraged us to increase our steps in one of his hadith: “He whose two days are equal is at a loss.” As life passes by, we may be satisfied with our performance so far and we may be sure that we will reach our goal, but if our steps which we make for the sake of God are abating, then we are deceiving ourselves. After some time, our steps become so small as to disappear and it becomes impossible to attain our goals. There is no doubt that such a break in our actions creates a lack of progress, and this in turn induces us to take no further steps. In this saying the Prophet, peace be upon him, highlights this danger and advises us to take more steps than the day before.

In another hadith qudsi (a saying uttered by the Prophet but the meaning of which belongs to God) related to the subject, the Prophet describes how to acquire God’s love in the following manner:

“My servant draws not near to Me with anything more loved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined upon him, and My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works so that I shall love him. When I love him I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes and his foot with which he walks. (I protect her/him from hearing, looking at, touching forbidden things and walking on the wrong path.” (Bukhari, Tawhid, 15)

Certainly, there are occasions when we become so enthusiastic that we lose ourselves in the desire to gain the consent of God and to be reunited with God. On special days and nights and at holy times, we push ourselves; at such times we might perform supererogatory prayers. We hope that God the Almighty accepts these prayers; but if this worship is short-lived, it will not be enough to help us reach our goal. As we can understand from the above hadith, what is important is that prayers are constant. In another hadith, the narrator Abdullah bin Amr bin As reports that our Prophet, peace be upon him, told him “O Abdullah! Do not be like such and such a person who used to pray during the nights but gave up later” (Bukhari-Muslim). Again, according to a narration by Aisha, the Messenger of God, peace be upon him, carried out twelve cycles of prayer to compensate a night in which he had been unable to pray because of pain or some other reason (Muslim).

All of this shows us how important it is to be steadfast in prayer. Taking control of one’s carnal self, the believer should walk toward God with constant steps. To attain the prosperity of the servant described in the above hadith qudsi, a person should make obligatory and supererogatory prayers a habit. Although sometimes the carnal self, nafs, and the Devil try to imprison one in hopelessness, the believer should do whatever they can in order not to lose their zeal and enthusiasm. Even if, from time to time, they stumble or fall, they should never fall into a whirlpool of despair and should not be overcome by pessimism. Thoughts about the brevity of their steps or the inadequacy of their worship should never slow the servant down nor should they be a reason for the servant turning back on the road to which they have devoted their lives. We should not forget that “our Lords’ most beloved worship is the one that is consistent, even if it is small.”