LETTERS
The present work forms the second volume of the Risale-i Nur Collection and consists of the most important letters, and those of most general interest, written by Bediuzzaman Said Nursi to his students between and 1932, while in exile in Barla, an isolated village in the province of Isparta in South-Western Anatolia. Other letters belonging to this period are included in one of the collections of additional letters, also volumes of the Risale-i Nur, called Barla Lahikası (Barla Letters). The letters in the present volume cover many subjects and were set in order and numbered, not chronologically, by the author. They were largely written in reply to questions put by his students, and also in reply to criticisms of and attacks on various questions of belief and Islam made in that time of oppression by those inimical to religion and Islam.
Thus, during that period of despotism when, under the name of secularization, those in power were seeking the virtual eradication of Islam and Islamic-Turkish culture and their substitution by irreligion and materialist philosophy of Western origin, Bediuzzaman himself with his unequalled learning and extraordinary clear vision and foresight and courage, and his writings, became a point of hope and strength for the people. Inspite of the adverse conditions and efforts to isolate him in Barla, he began to attract 'students' - so-called since he described himself as a teacher. Drawn by those "lights of belief' in that dark time, they willingly suffered the persecution of the authorities and assisted Bediuzzaman by writing out and spreading the Words. The writing and dissemination was another unique feature of the Risale-i Nur; Bediuzzaman would dictate at speed to his students who acted as scribes. He had no books for reference and the writing of religious works was of course forbidden. They were all written therefore in the mountains and out in the countryside. Handwritten copies of the treatises or the letters were then made of the originals and these were conveyed to the Risale-i Nur students and secretly copied out in their houses. These copies were passed from village to village, and then from town to town, with more and more copies being made on the way till eventually they spread throughout Turkey.
Travel was not easy, and Bediuzzaman communicated by letter with those of his students who lived in towns and villages other than Barla.Largely in reply to their questions, the letters offer important guidance on numerous points of belief and Islam, explained in the light of the Risale-i Nur and its way, and in the face of the misguidance of the times. Indeed, they form an important source and authority on many subjects for all Muslims today.
Since some of his students had previously been attached to Sufi orders, he sometimes explains the way of the Risale-i Nur to them through comparisons with the Suf way. The primary aim of the Risale-i Nur is the saving and strengthening of belief. Employing both the intellect and the heart, Bediuzzaman described it as Reality (hagiqat) and Shari'a, rather than tariqat, that is Sufism. It is the highway of the Qur'an, which teaches the true affirmation of Divine Unity; true and certain belief, attained in a short time through investigation and the exercise of the reason. The direct way to Reality and knowledge of God, which is the way of the Companions of Prophet (PBUH) through "the legacy of Prophethood."
Some of the Letters offer guidance and encouragement to the students through answering criticisms and misrepresentations put forward by atheists and the enemies of religion, concerning both points of Islam, and Bediuzzaman himself. Others expose the plans to corrupt Islam through the introduction of innovations. They show how on the one hand Bediuzzaman was absolutely uncompromising in the face of enemies to religion, and on the other his complete fairness and moderateness in adjudicating points of conflict and controversy within Islam. All these illustrate his profound knowledge of many subjects, as well as the clarity and power of his style, which is based on logic.
Bediuzzaman did not ascribe the Risale-i Nur to himself; he saw it as a Divine favour bestowed because of need, with himself as the means. In some of his letters he writes that he feels justified in describing these "Divine favours which pertain to the service of the Qur'an," to his students - to encourage them in the exceedingly difficult conditions of the time, since they were a mark of the acceptability of both his writings and their service. A number of them were mentioned above. Bediuzzaman pointed out that the fact the Risale-i Nur proves the most important of the truths of belief and the Qur'an, was a clear mark of Divine favour. For it had proved and demonstrated, for example, such questions as bodily resurrection before which even geniuses like Ibn-i Sina had confessed their impotence, and many mysteries concerning Almighty God, which are of such breadth and profundity that they cannot be comprehended by the human mind. Yet, Bediuzzaman stated, these truths were explained by means of comparison by someone in "the wretched situation" he was in so that they could be understood by even the most ordinary and uneducated of people. So also, no one, from religious scholars to philosophers, had been able to put forward any criticisms of the treatises or to challange them. The writing too had been with extraordinary speed at the most distressing times, often when he had been afflicted with illness. For example, a profound treatise like the Thirtieth Word had been written in six hours in an orchard, while the lengthy Nineteenth Letter, recounting the Miracles of Muhammed, had been written in a total of twelve hours partly in the rain on the mountains, referring to no book at all. There was also the question of the 'coincidences', or mutual correspondence of words in the hand written copies of the Risale-i Nur, and of the Qur'an, for which readers may refer to the present work. In relating these Divine favours to his students, Bediuzzaman was impressing on them the importance of the Qur'anic way of the Risale-i Nur and its function of saving and strengthening belief at that time when the very foundations of Islam were being threatened. In a way outside their own will and knowledge, they were being employed, they were being made to work. Indeed, within the twenty-five years of Bediuzzaman's exile; the handful of students grew into many thousands, the Risale-i Nur movement and its service to belief and the Qur'an spread throughout Turkey, despite all efforts to stop it.
LETTERS
CONTENTS
THE FIRST LETTER
The answers to four questions:
The First is a convincing answer to a question about Hadhrat Khidr’s life, and in connection with it explains the five levels of life..
The Second explains how, in accordance with certain Qur’anic verses, death is created and a bounty, like life.
The Third: A most reasonable explanation of where Hell is situated, and of the Greater and Lesser Hells. It points out in reasoned manner the wisdom in the creation of the Greater Hell, and how in majestic fashion, manifesting Divine favour and wrath, Heaven and Hell are the two fruits of the tree of the universe and will be filled with the produce of this world.
The Fourth: This shows that like ‘metaphorical’ love for individuals may be transformed into true love, so through belief in God, ‘metaphorical’ love for this world may be transformed into true love, which is acceptable
* * *
THE SECOND LETTER
Six reasons why, in accordance with Qur’anic verses, those working for the cause of religion should practice self-sufficiency, and if there is no compelling reason to do so, not accept alms and gifts.
* * *
THE THIRD LETTER
A description of two verses which in miraculous fashion allude to the face of the heavens and orderly motion of the heavenly bodies. It includes Two Points, the First explaining how the wicked will travel to Hell, the Second showing the infinite ease in Unity and infinite difficulty in multiplicity.
* * *
THE FOURTH LETTER
This makes two points about the Risale-i Nur and its way: firstly, that it manifests the meaning of the verse, He who has been given wisdom......; and secondly, about ‘the way of impotence.’ Finally is a piece “resembling poetry” on the Utterance of the Stars.
* * *
THE FIFTH LETTER
Written in the face of the tendency of some people to attach too much importance to Sufism at the expense of serving the cause of spreading the truths of belief, this letter points out the three sorts of sainthood and that the way of ‘greater sainthood’ is following the Practices of the Prophet (PBUH) and direct service to the truths of belief at this time. It states that the unfolding of the truths of belief is the most important aim of the Sufi ways, and that this is also possible through the Risale-i Nur, but in a shorter time.
* * *
THE SIXTH LETTER
This explains the meaning of two verses concerning reliance on God, and describes a light and consolation proceeding from them and belief which dispelled the darkness of five grievous degrees of exile.
* * *
THE SEVENTH LETTER
A decisive answer to atheists at the present time who seek to criticize the Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) number of wives and his marriage with Zaynab in particular, pointing out some important instances of wisdom in his marriages.
* * *
THE EIGHTH LETTER
In accordance with the verse, God is the Best of Protectors and He is the Most Merciful of the Merciful, this shows that what the Prophet Jacob (Upon whom be peace) felt for Joseph (Upon whom be peace), was not love of a passionate kind, but compassion —compassion being more elevated and pure, and the means of attaining to the Divine Names of Merciful and Compassionate.
* * *
THE NINTH LETTER
A discussion of wonder-working (kerâmet), Divine bestowal, and Divine favour which points out that although it is harmful to display wonder-working, it is a form of thanks to make known Divine bestowal, since it is a bounty. Secondly is an explanation of how intense emotions such as curiosity, love, greed, ambition, and stubbornness are of two sorts, metaphorical and real. Having been given in order to gain the matters of the hereafter, while the former sort are the source of bad morals, the latter are beneficial and the source of good morals. Thirdly is a discussion on the differences between ‘Islam’ and ‘belief’ (Iman).
* * *
THE TENTH LETTER
This consists of the answers to two questions. The First explains the realities of the ‘Clear Book’ and the ‘Clear Record,’ mentioned in several places in the Qur’an. While the Second is a convincing explanation of where the Great Gathering and Last Judgement will take place.
* * *
THE ELEVENTH LETTER
Four Topics. Expounding the verse, Indeed the wiles of Satan are weak, the First is a cure for those who suffer from scruples. The Second is included in the Seventeenth Word, and not repeated here. The Third and Fourth are two examples demonstrating the impotence of modern civilization before the Qur’an. The examples show how the Qur’anic decrees on women’s inheritance are both pure justice and pure compassion.
* * *
THE TWELFTH LETTER
The brief replies to three questions disputed over by some people with a modern educational background.
The First is a decisive answer to why Adam was expelled from Paradise and why some of his descendants are sent to Hell.
The Second explains why the creation of evil is not evil, and why Divine Mercy permits it.
The Third explains why calamities and tribulations being inflicted on even the innocent and animals is not tyrannical or contrary to justice.
* * *
THE THIRTEENTH LETTER
The reply, written in the tongue of the Old Said, to frequent questions as to how Bediuzzaman endured the oppression inflicted on him by the politicians and ‘the worldly.’ It shows how the varieties of ill-treatment were transformed by Divine Mercy into various sorts of mercy. It also gives the reasons Bediuzzaman did not apply for his release papers, and in addition, for his total indifference towards politics.
* * *
THE FOURTEENTH LETTER
Was not written.
* * *
THE FIFTEENTH LETTER
Six important answers to six important questions:
The First: The answer in ‘Two Stations’ to the questions why the Companions of the Prophet (PBUH) did not perceive the troublemakers with the eye of sainthood, so that it resulted in three of the Four Rightly-Guided Caliphs being martyred. For it is said the Companions were greater than the saints.
The Second: What was the true nature of the wars that started in ‘Ali’s time? How should those who took part in them be described?
The Third: A most important answer concerning the wisdom in the cruel treatment received by members of the Prophet’s Family.
The Fourth: It says in narrations that after Jesus (UWP) kills the Dajjal at the end of time, most people will enter the true religion, however others state that no one will remain who says, “Allah! Allah!” A convincing answer to this.
The Fifth: An explanation of the question: Will the immortal spirits be grieved by the events of the Last Day?
The Sixth: A satisfying answer to the question, Does the verse, Everything will perish save His countenance include the hereafter and Paradise and Hell?
* * *
THE SIXTEENTH LETTER
This consists of Five Points:
First Point: explains that service of the Qur’an forbad Bediuzzaman from any involvement in politics, which at that time consisted mostly of falsehood, innovation, and misguidance.
Second Point: Service to the Qur’an and working seriously for the hereafter necessitated his aloofness from politics; it therefore was not a case of his looking tolerantly on the errors and activities of the politicians, he did not concern himself with them at all.
Third Point: This relates two stories illustrating an important reason for Bediuzzaman enduring the severe oppression to which he was subject.
Fourth Point: The answer to a number of suspicious questions put to him by ‘the worldly.’ It describes some undeniable instances of Divine favours connected with his service to the Qur’an.
Fifth Point: A reply which reduces to silence those who were unjustly proposing certain of their ‘principles’ and innovations to Bediuzzaman.
ADDENDUM TO THE SIXTEENTH LETTER: Written to dispel the groundless fears and suspicions of the authorities and atheists concerning Bediuzzaman, despite his having completely withdrawn from the world and politics; also written to preserve the dignity of learning.
* * *
THE SEVENTEENTH LETTER
A letter of condolence on the death of a child. Although it is short and addressed to a close student of Bediuzzaman, it is of considerable general benefit. It establishes that, as the Qur’an teaches, children who die before the age of puberty remain as children in the Everlasting Realm, and are returned to the embrace of their parents.
* * *
THE EIGHTEENTH LETTER
This consists of Three Important Matters.
The First: explains and illustrates by means of a comparison how sometimes the things the saints witness and have unfolded to them through illumination in other worlds and levels of existence appear contrary to reality in this Manifest World.
The Second: A clear explanation of the way of the Unity of Existence, which has been the cause of confusion and controversy. It proves that the way of the Companions of the Prophet (PBUH) and the veracious, the people of sobriety, is sounder and more elevated and acceptable.
An Addendum to the Second Matter
The Third: A brief indication to the solution of one of the three main riddles of creation. These have been solved completely in the Twenty-Ninth and Thirtieth Words, and this third one, in the Twenty-Fourth Letter.
* * *
THE NINETEENTH LETTER
The Miracles of Muhammad (PBUH): Itself a marvel in several respects, this Letter describes more than three hundred miracles of Muhammad (PBUH). It consists of Nineteen Signs.
The First Sign establishes that the Master and Owner of the Universe will speak with man, and foremost the most perfect of mankind, with Muhammad (PBUH), and make him the guide to the rest of humanity.
Second Sign: On the prophethood of Muhammad.
Third Sign: The evidences for Muhammad’s messengership
Fourth Sign: Comprises Six Principles to ensure a complete understanding of the subject of the Noble Prophet’s predictions concerning his Companions, his Family, and his Community.
Fifth Sign: Examples of Hadiths concerning the Prophet’s predictions relating to the Unseen. It includes important answers to the questions of why ‘Ali did not precede the others in holding the Caliphate, and why Islam experienced such disorders during his Caliphate; why the Caliphate did not remain in his Family; and the reasons for the dissensions at that time.
Sixth Sign: Consists of further predictions of future events, and includes the answer to a question about the Shi‘a’s love for ‘Ali.
Seventh Sign: Sixteen examples relating to the Prophet’s (PBUH) effecting increase in food.
Eighth Sign: Relates miracles which were manifested in connection with water.
Ninth Sign: Examples of miracles related to trees. Like human beings, trees obeyed his orders, and moving from their places, came to him.
Tenth Sign: The miracle of the Moaning of the Pole.
Eleventh Sign: Shows how rocks and mountains from among lifeless creatures demonstrated prophetic miracles.
Twelfth Sign: Consists of three examples related to the Eleventh Sign, but which are of great importance.
Thirteenth Sign: Examples of the Noble Prophet’s healing the sick and the wounded.
Fourteenth Sign: This describes wonders manifested as a result of his prayers.
Fifteenth Sign: Consists of Three Branches:
The First shows how the animal kingdom recognized the Prophet (PBUH) and displayed his miracles.
The Second concerns corpses, jinns, and angels recognizing God’s Noble Messenger.
The Third is the protection and preservation of the Noble Prophet, of which there were many instances, and which were clear miracles.
Sixteenth Sign: Describes the wonders that took place before his prophetic mission, but which were related to it, called irhasat. They were of three kinds:
The First Kind: The tidings of Muhammad’s Prophethood given by the Torah, the Bible, the Psalms of David, and other scriptures.
The Second Kind: Tidings of his coming given by soothsayers, and people known at that time as saints and gnostics
The Third Kind: The wondrous events that occurred at the time of, and in conjunction with, the birth of God’s Noble Messenger (PBUH).
Seventeenth Sign: The Messenger’s own self
Eighteenth Sign: The greatest miracle of the Messenger, the All-Wise Qur’an. It consists of Three Points describing aspects of the Qur’an’s miraculousness
Nineteenth Sign: Fifteen Principles indicating the integrity, truthfulness, and veracity of the Noble Prophet (PBUH), the most brilliant and conclusive proof of Divine Unity and eternal happiness.
FIRST ADDENDUM TO THE MIRACLES OF MUHAMMAD: The Nineteenth Word, it proves decisively and explains the Messengership of Muhammad, silencing even the most obdurate opponents.
SECOND ADDENDUM: About the Miracle of the Splitting of the Moon. Refuting objections made to the miracle in the name of science, it demonstrates that there was nothing to prevent its occurrence, and proves clearly that it happened.
THIRD ADDENDUM: About the Messengership of Muhammad (PBUH), this is a concise index-like answer to the question in the Treatise on the Ascension: “Why was this mighty Ascension particular to Muhammad the Arabian (Upon whom be blessings and peace)?”
FOURTH ADDENDUM: The Sixteenth Degree, on the Messengership of Muhammad, from the Supreme Sign.
* * *
THE TWENTIETH LETTER
This contains Two Stations and an Introduction, and expounds the verse, So know there is no god but God, and the eleven phrases of the Hadith: There is no god but God, He is One, He has no partner etc. The First Station points out the good news for man that each phrase contains, and the Second demonstrates with powerful proofs the degrees of the true affirmation of Divine Unity.
ADDENDUM TO THE TENTH PHRASE OF THE TWENTIETH LETTER: That is: And He is Powerful over all things. It points out through three comparisons that when everything is attributed to Divine Power, they become as simple as one thing, and if they are not and are ascribed to things other than Him, each thing becomes as difficult as all things.
* * *
THE TWENTY-FIRST LETTER
A short but important letter showing how on five levels the verse, Whether one or both of them attain old age in your life.... summons children to be kindly to their parents.
* * *
THE TWENTY-SECOND LETTER
In accordance with a number of Qur’anic verses, the First Topic summons believers to love and brotherhood. It points out effective ways of preventing discord, rancour, and enmity, and proves that they are extremely damaging both from the point of view of truth, wisdom, humanity, and Islam, and for personal, social, and spiritual life, and are to be rejected.
The Second Topic points out effective ways of avoiding greed, another awesome disease, as harmful for the life of Islam as enmity. It also explains the importance of zakat and the wisdom in this pillar of Islam.
Conclusion showing how the Qur’an reproaches the backbiter on six levels with the verse, Would any among you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother?
* * *
THE TWENTY-THIRD LETTER
The answers to seven questions:.
The First: What is the best way believers can pray for one another?
The Second: Is it appropriate to use the phrase May God be pleased with him for those other than the Companions?
The Third: Which were superior, the great interpreters of the Holy Law, or the ‘shahs’ of the true Sufi paths?
The Fourth: What is the purpose of the verse, God is with those who patiently persevere?
The Fifth: How did the Prophet (PBUH) worship before his prophetic mission?
The Sixth: What was the wisdom in his prophethood commencing when he was forty years of age?
The Seventh: Is the following a Hadith: “The best of your youths are those who resemble men of mature age...”?
Conclusion: the letter concludes with a subtle point about Joseph’s (Upon whom be peace) elevated veracity, inspired by the verse, Take my soul at death as one submitting to Your will.
* * *
THE TWENTY-FOURTH LETTER
This consists of Two Stations which solve one of the most obscure riddles of the universe, and form an answer to the question: How can the Divine Names of All-Compassionate, Wise, and Loving be reconciled with death, separation, calamity, and suffering? The First Station consists of Five Signs which show the necessitating cause and reason, the Second Station, Five Indications, which point out the aims and benefits.
FIRST ADDENDUM TO THE TWENTY-FOURTH LETTER: In Five Points, this expounds important aspects of the verse, No importance would your Sustainer attach to you, were it not for your supplication
SECOND ADDENDUM: A most convincing, reasoned answer, in Five Points, to three important questions about the Ascension of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and the ‘Mevlid.’ The Conclusion shows that the most perfect individual and the universal master of the cosmos is the Noble Messenger (PBUH).
* * *
THE TWENTY-FIFTH LETTER
This was to consist of Twenty-Five Points about Sura Ya. Sin., but was not realized.
* * *
THE TWENTY-SIXTH LETTER
Consists of Four Topics.
First Topic: ‘A Proof of the Qur’an Against Satan and His Party,’ this defeats in argument the Devil and his followers by refuting clearly one of their cunning stratagems, which is to be ‘unbiased;’ that is, their deceiving people into considering the Qur’an and matters of religion ‘impartially.’
Second Topic: This explains how a person may have numerous personalities in respect of his different duties, and describes the three personalities of the author.
Third Topic: In Seven Matters, this expounds the verse, We....... made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other, pointing out significant truths about social relations and mankind being created as different peoples and groups. A most beneficial remedy for nationalism, the most awesome disease of this time, it also exposes the pseudo-patriots and their fraudulent attitudes.
Fourth Topic: Consists of Ten unrelated Matters, which are the answers to six questions.
First Matter: Explains several subtle points of the Qur’an connected with ‘the worlds’ in the phrase Sustainer of All the Worlds, and their being eighteen thousand.
Second Matter: Explains an important aspect of knowledge of God: what Muhyi’l-Din al-‘Arabi meant by saying to Fakhr al-Din Razi: “To know God is different to knowing He exists.”
Third Matter: How is the verse, We have honoured the sons of Adam, conformable with the verse, He was indeed unjust and foolish?
Fourth Matter: A brilliant reply to a question about the wisdom contained in the Hadith: “Renew your belief by means of ‘There is no god but God.’”
Fifth Matter: Will one who says There is no god but God, but does not say, Muhammad is the Messenger of God be saved?
Sixth Matter: By means of a comparison, this drives Satan and his party into a corner and takes possession of the field in the name of the Qur’an, thus showing all the Prophet’s qualities and conduct to be miraculous and proving his prophethood.
Seventh Matter: Seven brief examples of people who for various reasons ceased their service to the Qur’an and received blows contrary to their intentions, written to strengthen their morale and dispel their groundless fears.
Eighth Matter: An important answer to those who want to translate the words of the Qur’an and various supplications into other languages, showing that the words of the Qur’an and glorifications of the Prophet (PBUH) are not lifeless garments for the meanings; they are like living skin. Garments are changed, but it would be harmful to the body if the skin were to be changed.
Ninth Matter: An important answer to the question, “Can there be saints outside the Sunnis, who are the people of truth?”
Tenth Matter: An important principle for those wishing to see and visit Bediuzzaman.
* * *
THE TWENTY-SEVENTH LETTER
Consists of letters written by the author of the Risale-i Nur to his students, as well as some written by the Risale-i Nur students to their Master, and to each other. Being three or four times the size of the present collection, it has not been included here, but published separately under the titles of Barla Lahikasi, Kastamonu Lahikasi, and Emirdag Lahikasi.
* * *
THE TWENTY-EIGHTH LETTER
This consists of Eight Matters.
First Matter: Seven Points explaining the reality and benefits of true dreams.
Second Matter: This was written to put a stop to and solve an argument about the Hadith which describes how Moses (Upon whom be peace) struck Azra’il (Upon whom be peace) in the eye, and is a satisfying answer to objections of this sort levelled at Hadiths by the people of misguidance.
Third Matter: Five Points stating that those who visit Bediuzzaman should do so only in respect of his being herald of the Qur’an, not with any other intention. It mentions too a number of examples of the Divine favours associated with service of the Qur’an that Bediuzzaman and his students had received. A supplement to it enumerates some Divine favours in the writing of the Words
Fourth Matter: Four Points written in the tongue of the Old Said, in reply to questions about the small mosque Bediuzzaman used being unlawfully raided on a number of occasions, and subsequently closed
Fifth Matter: On Thanks; this expounds most convincingly the many Qur’anic commands to offer thanks. It demonstrates that the universe is a treasury with thanks being the key; and that sustenance is its result and the introduction to thanks.
Sixth Matter: This was not included here, as it was to be included in another collection.
Seventh Matter: This consists of Seven Signs describing seven instances of Divine favour connected with the Risale-i Nur and those who serve it. These are preceded by Seven Reasons for making known the seven Divine favours.
Answer to a Confidential Question: Explains the power and effectiveness of the Risale-i Nur.
Conclusion to the Seventh Matter: Describes a further Divine favour in the form of the ‘coincidences’ (tawafuqat)
Eighth Matter: This consists of Eight Points, which form the answers to six questions:
First Point: concerns the signs of the Unseen in the form of ‘coincidences’ being found in all the parts of the Risale-i Nur.
Second and Third Points were not included.
Fourth Point: Consists of answers to six questions about the Last Judgement and Great Gathering
Fifth Point: In the period between prophets, did the forefathers of the Noble Prophet (PBUH) belong to a religion and were they religious?
Sixth Point: Were there any prophets among the Prophet’s (PBUH) forefathers?
Seventh Point: Which of the narrations about the belief of the Prophet’s parents and his grandfather are the most authentic?
Eighth Point: What is the authentic narration concerning his uncle, Abu Talib?
* * *
THE TWENTY-NINTH LETTER
This consists of Nine Sections, and contains twenty-nine important points.
First Section: is Nine Points.
First Point: An answer to those who say, “The Qur’an’s mysteries are not known; the commentators have not understood its realities.”
Second Point: Explains an instance of wisdom in the Qur’anic oaths, such as, By the sun and its glorious splendour.
Third Point is about the ‘disjointed letters,’ which are a Divine cypher, at the start of a number of Suras.
Fourth Point points out a flash of the Qur’an’s miraculousness in its style, showing that a true translation of it is not possible.
Fifth Point demonstrates that it is impossible to translate the phrase, All praise be to God, that its meaning can be expressed only in a few lines.
Sixth Point: An important explanation for the use of the first person plural in You alone do we worship and from You alone do we seek help.
Seventh Point: Expounding, Guide us to the Straight Path, it points out the harm of innovations.
Eighth Point: Explains a point about ‘the marks of Islam’ being ‘general rights.’
Ninth Point: In connection with the call to prayer, this explains how the matters of the Shari‘a are of two kinds
Second Section: On the Month of Ramadan. Nine Points explaining nine instances of wisdom in the fast of Ramadan, expounding the verse, It was the month of Ramadan in which the Qur’an was revealed
Third Section: Concerns the writing of a Qur’an showing the ‘coinciding’ of the word Allah. Consisting of Nine Matters, only the first was i~cluded here
Fourth Section, also about ‘coincidences,’ it consists of Three Points, the Four Points of the Third being included here. It been included in the Index, and therefore not repeated here
Fifth Section: One beautiful light of the many mysteries of the verse, God is the Light of the heavens and earth. This treatise is short, yet important.
Sixth Section: Written to warn students and servants of the Qur’an, so that they should not be deceived by six of the stratagems of satanic individuals and dissemblers.
First Stratagem: Exposes their attempts to attract people through desire for rank and position.
Second Stratagem: Points out how they take advantage of the vein of fear.
Third Stratagem: They hunt many people through greed and ambition, in order to make them give up service to the Qur’an.
Fourth Stratagem: They excite nationalist feelings, in or-der to create discord and make Bediuzzaman’s students lose their love of him.
Fifth Stratagem: They encourage egotism
Sixth Stratagem: They take advantage of the human characteristics of laziness, the desire for physical comfort, and attachment to other duties.
A Sacred Date: The date a Qur’anic mystery became clear
Addendum to the Sixth Section: Sixth Questions: Written in order to avoid the disgust that will be levelled at us in the future. A petition with which to hit over the head the followers of modern low civilization, who this century have a hundred thousand times over necessitated the existence of Hell, and to silence those who have deviated from the true path
Seventh Section: Seven Signs formed of seven powerful and decisive answers to seven questions, which also expound two verses.
First Sign: A firm answer to those people of innovation who claim that it is permissible to translate the call to prayer into other languages because certain people who have embraced Islam do so in Europe.
Second Sign: A decisive answer to those who say that in Europe, a revolution was brought about in the Catholic Church by reformists and philosophers, then they progressed; why should there not be such a religious revolution in Islam?
Third Sign: They also say: Religious bigotry made us backward. Europe advanced on giving up bigotry, so would it not be better if we did too?
Fourth Sign: The firm answer to a deceptive and misleading question put by those who purport to want to strengthen religion by means of nationalism.
Fifth Sign: A powerful answer to a question as to how the Mahdi will be able to put the world to rights in a few years, when like at the present time, society has grown so corrupt and religious feeling has waned.
Sixth Sign: About the Mahdi routing the secret society of the Sufyan at the end of time, and Jesus (Upon whom be peace) defeating the Dajjal and following the Shari‘a of Islam.
Seventh Sign: The answer to a question as to why, having opened up a completely new way, Bediuzzaman had changed the manner of the Old Said and was striking philosophy at the very roots, and that the principles known as the physical sciences were very superficial beside the Qur’an.
Eighth Section: The Eight Symbols. These eight short treatises on ‘coincidences’ (tawafuqat) have been included in another collection, and not included here.
Ninth Section: The Nine Allusions. Nine Allusions about the ways of sainthood and Sufism:
First Allusion: A definition of the Sufi path, and explanation of the truth underlying the terms Sufism, path, sainthood, and spiritual journeying
Second Allusion: Explains how the heart is ‘worked’ through reflective thought and remembrance of God, and how this is a means to happiness.
Third Allusion: Explains how sainthood is a proof of prophethood, and the Sufi way, a proof of the Shari‘a.
Fourth Allusion: The way of sainthood is both very easy and very difficult; and very long and very short; and it is both valuable, and dangerous. This explains also the two ways of ‘inner journeying’ and ‘outer journeying.’
Fifth Allusion: Explains the reality of the Unity of Existence and the Unity of Witnessing, and establishes the superiority of the people of ‘the legacy of prophethood.’
Sixth Allusion: Three Points showing that the best of the ways of sainthood is following the Practices of the Prophet (PBUH), and its most important foundation, sincerity; and that this world is the realm of wisdom and service, not reward; so spiritual pleasures and illuminations should not be sought here.
Seventh Allusion: Four Points pointing out that the Sufi way should serve the Shari‘a; that its highest degrees are matters of the Shari‘a; that it should always remain as a means and follow the Shari‘a; and an answer to the question: Can saints be found outside the bounds of the Sunna and Shari‘a?
Eighth Allusion: Describes Eight Abysses on the Sufi way
Ninth Allusion: Nine of the sweet fruits of the Sufi way
ADDENDUM: A short, safe, and direct way leading to Almighty God, taken from the Qur’an
* * *
THE THIRTIETH LETTER
The Arabic Qur’anic commentary, Signs of Miraculousness (Isharat al-I‘jaz).
* * *
THE THIRTY-FIRST LETTER
The Thirty-One Flashes the make up the seperate volume: The Flashes Collection
* * *
THE THIRTY-SECOND LETTER
The treatise in free verse called Lemeât. It is also the Thirty-Second Flash and has been included at the end of Sözler.
* * *
THE THIRTY-THIRD LETTER
Thirty-Three Windows making known the Creator. It is in one respect the Thirty-Third Word and has therefore been included in The Words (Sözler) and not repeated here.
* * *
SEEDS OF REALITY: Aphorisms compiled from a number of Bediuzzaman’s early works, which were first published in 1920.
* * *
A BRIEF LOOK at Bediuzzaman Said Nursi’s Life, the Risale-i Nur, and ‘Letters—1928-1932’
The present work forms the second volume of the Risale-i Nur Collection and consists of the most important letters, and those of most general interest, written by Bediuzzaman Said Nursi to his students between 1928 and 1932,* while in exile in Barla, an isolated village in the province of Isparta in South-Western Anatolia. Its original title is Mektûbat. Other letters belonging to this period are included in one of the collections of additional letters, also volumes of the Risale-i Nur, called Barla Lahikasi (Barla Letters). The letters in the present volume cover many subjects and were set in order and numberered, not chronologically, by the author. They were largely written in reply to questions put by his students, and also in reply to criticisms of and attacks on various questions of belief and Islam made in that time of oppression by those inimical to religion and Islam. In order to enable readers unfamiliar with Bediuzzaman and his life and works to see the Letters in clearer perspective, included here is a brief outline of his life, the background to the writing of the Risale-i Nur and the Letters, and a description of their main characteristics.
* * *
IN THE NAME OF ALLAH,
THE MERCIFUL, THE COMPASSIONATE
And from Him do we seek help
The First Letter
In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.
[This consists of the brief answers to four questions]
FIRST QUESTION
Is Hazrat Khidr alive? If he is alive, why do some important religious scholars not accept this?
T h e A n s w e r : He is alive, but there are five degrees of life. He is at the second degree. It is because of this that some religious scholars have been doubtful about it.
The First Level of Life is that of our life, which is very restricted.
The Second Level of Life is that of the lives of Khidr and Ilyas (May Allah grant them peace), which is free to an extent. That is to say, they can be present in numerous places at the same time. They are not permanently restricted by the requirements of humanity like us. They can eat and drink like us when they want to, but are not compelled to like us. The saints are those who uncover and witness the realities of creation, and the reports of their adventures with Khidr are unanimous and elucidate and prove this level of life. There is even one degree of sainthood which is called ‘the degree of Khidr.’ A saint who reaches this degree receives instruction from Khidr and meets with him. But sometimes the one at that degree is mistakenly thought to be Khidr himself.
The Third Level of Life is that of Idris and Jesus (May Allah grant them peace) which, being removed from the requirements of humanity, enters an angelic life and acquires a luminous fineness. Quite simply, Idris and Jesus are present in the heavens with their earthly bodies, which have the subtlety of bodies from the World of Similitudes and the luminosity of star-like bodies. The Hadith the meaning of which is, “At the end of time, Jesus (Upon whom be peace) will come and will act in accordance with the Shari’a of Muhammed (PBUH),” indicates that at the end of time the religion of Christianity will be purified and divest itself of superstition in the face of the current of unbelief and atheism born of Naturalist philosophy, and will be transformed into Islam. At this point, just as the collective personality of Christianity will kill the fearsome collective personality of irreligion with the sword of heavenly Revelation, so too, representing the collective personality of Christianity, Jesus (Upon whom be peace) will kill the Dajjal, who represents the collective personality of irreligion, that is, he will kill atheistic thought.
The Fourth Level of Life is that of the martyrs. According to the Qur’an, the martyrs have a level of life higher than that of the other dead in their graves. Since the martyrs sacrificed their worldly lives in the way of truth, in His perfect munificence, Almighty Allah bestows on them in the Intermediate Realm a life resembling earthly life, but without the sorrow and hardship. They do not know themselves to be dead, thinking only that they have gone to a better world. They enjoy themselves in perfect happiness and do not suffer the pains of separation that accompany death. For sure the spirits of the dead are immortal, but they know themselves to be dead. The happiness and pleasure they experience in the Intermediate World are not equal to that of the martyrs. Like if two men in their dreams enter a beautiful palace resembling Paradise; one knows that he is dreaming and the pleasure and enjoyment he receives are deficient. He thinks: “If I wake up, all this enjoyment will disappear.” While the other man does not know he is dreaming, and he experiences true happiness and pleasure.
The way the martyrs and other dead benefit from life in the Intermediate Realm is thus different. It has been established by innumerable incidents and narrations and it is certain that the martyrs manifest life in that way and think that they are alive. Indeed, this level of life has been illuminated and proved on repeated occasions by many occurrences like Hamza (May Allah be pleased with him) - the lord of the martyrs - protecting those that have recourse to him and performing and making performed matters in this world. I myself, even, had a nephew and student called Ubeyd. He was killed at my side and in my place and became a martyr. Then, when I was being held as a prisoner-of-war at a place three months’ distance away, I entered his grave in a true dream, which was in the form of a dwelling-place under the earth, although I did not know where he was buried. I saw him living the level of life of martyrs. He evidently thought that I was dead, and said that he had wept much for me. He thought that he was alive, but having retreated from the Russian invasion, had made himself a good home under the ground. Thus, through a number of conditions and indications, this unimportant dream afforded the conviction as certain as witnessing it concerning the above-mentioned truth.
The Fifth Level of Life is that of the life of the spirits of the dead in their graves. Yes, death is a change of residence, the liberation of the spirit, a discharge from duties; it is not annihilation, non-existence, and a going to nothingness. Many evidences like innumerable occurrences of the spirits of the saints assuming forms and appearing to those who uncover the realities, and the other dead having relations with us while awake or sleeping and their telling us of things that are conformable with reality, - evidences like these illuminate and prove this level of life. In fact, the Twenty-Ninth Word about the immortality of man’s spirit demonstrates this level of life with incontrovertible proofs.
SECOND QUESTION
Verses like the following in the All-Wise Qur’an, the Criterion of Truth and Falsehood,
Who creates death and life that He may try you, which of you is the best in conduct,
make it understood that “like life, death too is created, and it too is bounty.” Whereas apparently death is dissolution, non-existence, decay, the extinction of life, the annihilator of pleasures; how can it be created and a bounty?
T h e A n s w e r : As was stated at the end of the answer to the First Question, death is a discharge from the duties of life; it is a rest, a change of residence, a change of existence; it is an invitation to an eternal life, a beginning, the introduction to an immortal life. Just as life comes into the world is through a creation and a determining, so too departure from the world is through a creation and determining, through a wise and purposeful direction. For the death of plant life, the simplest level of life, shows that it is a more orderly work of art than life. For although the death of fruits, seeds, and grains appear to occur through decaying, rotting, and dissolution, their death is in fact a kneading which comprises an exceedingly well-ordered chemical reaction and well-balanced combining of elements and wise formation of particles; this unseen, well-ordered and wise death appears through the life of the new shoots. That is to say, the death of the seed is the start of life of the shoot; indeed, since it is like life itself, this death is created and well-ordered as much as is life.
Moreover, since the death of the fruits of living beings and animals in the human stomach is the beginning of their rising to the level of human life, it may be said “such a death is more orderly and created than their own life.”
Thus, if the death of plant life, the lowest level of life, is thus created, wise, and ordered, so also must be the death that befalls human life, the most elevated level of life. And like a seed sown in the ground becomes a tree in the world of the air, so too a man who is laid in the earth will surely produce the shoots of an everlasting life in the Intermediate Realm.
As for the aspects of death that are bounties, we shall point out tour of them.
The First: It is a great bounty because it is a being freed from the duties and obligations of life, which have become burdensome, and because it is a door through which to join and be united with the ninety-nine out of a hundred of one’s friends who are already in the Intermediate Realm.
The Second: It is a release from the narrow, irksome, turbulent, and agitated prison of this world, and, manifesting an expansive, joyful, troublefree immortal life, it is to enter the sphere of mercy of the Eternally Beloved One.
The Third: There are numerous factors like old age which make the conditions of life arduous and show death to be a bounty far superior to life. For example, if together with your very elderly parents who cause you much distress were now in front of you your grandfather's grandfathers in all their pitiful state, you would understand what a calamity is life, and what a bounty, death. Also for example, it is understood how difficult are the lives in the conditions of winter of the beautiful flying insects, the lovers of the beautiful flowers, ... and what mercy are their deaths.
The Fourth: Just as sleep is a comfort, a mercy, a rest, particularly for those afflicted by disaster and the wounded and the sick, so too is death, the elder brother of sleep, a pure bounty and mercy for those struck by disaster and suffering tribulations which drive them to suicide. However, as is proved decisively in many of the Words, for the people of misguidance, like life, death too is pure torment, pure affliction, but it is outside the discussion here.
THIRD QUESTION
Where is Hell?
T h e A n s w e r:
Say: the knowledge is with Allah alone * None knows the Unseen save Allah.
According to some narrations, Hell is beneath the earth. As we have explained in other places, in its annual orbit, the globe of the earth traces a circle around an area that in the future will the place of the Great Gathering and Last Judgement. It means Hell is beneath the area of its orbit. It is invisible and unperceptible because it consists of veiled and lightless fire. In the vast distance travelled by the earth are many creatures that are invisible because they are without light. Like the moon loses its existence when its light withdraws, we are also unable to see numerous lightless globes and creatures which are in front of our eyes.
There are two Hells, the Lesser and the Greater. In the future, the Lesser will be transformed into the Greater and is like its seed; in the future it will become one of its habitations. The Lesser Hell is under the earth, that is, at the earth’s centre. It is the inside and centre of the globe. It is known in geology that in digging downwards, the heat for the most part increases one degree every thirty-three metres. That means that since half the diametre of the earth is around six thousand kilometres, the fire at the centre is at a temperature of around two hundred thousand degrees, that is, two hundred times hotter than fire at the circumference; this is in agreement with what is related by Hadiths. This Lesser Hell performs many of the functions of the Greater Hell in this world and Intermediate Realm, and this is indicated in Hadiths. Just as in the World of the Hereafter, the earth will pour its inhabitants into the arena of the resurrection within its annual orbit, so too at the Divine command will it hand over the Lesser Hell within it to the Greater Hell.
Some of the Mu’tazilite imams said that “Hell will be created later” but this is mistaken and foolish, and arises from Hell not having completely opened up at the present time and developed into a form entirely appropriate to its inhabitants. In order to see with our worldly eyes the dwelling places of the World of the Hereafter within the veil of the Unseen and to demonstrate them, either the universe has to be shrunk to the size of two provinces, or our eyes have to he enlarged to the size of stars, so that we can see and specify their places. The knowledge is with Allah, the dwelling-places of the Hereafter are not visible to our worldly eyes, but as indicated by certain narrations, the Hell of the Hereafter is connected with our world. In a Hadith it is said of the intense heat of summer, “It gives an inkling of Hell.” That is to say, that Greater Hell is not visible to the tiny and dim eyes of the minds of this world. However, we may look with the light of the Divine Name of All-Wise, as follows:
The Greater Hell beneath the earth's annual orbit has as though made the Lesser Hell at the earth's centre its deputy and made it perform some of its functions. The possessions of the All-Powerful One of Glory are truly extensive; wherever Divine wisdom pointed out, He situated the Greater Hell there. Yes, an All-Powerful One of Glory, an All-Wise One of Perfection Who is owner of the command of ‘Be!’ and it is has tied the moon to the earth before and eyes in perfect wisdom and order, and with vast power and perfect order tied the earth to the sun, and has made the sun. travel together with its planets with a speed close to that of the annual rotation of the earth, and with the majesty of His Dominicality, according to one possibility, made it travel towards the sun of suns, and like a feet decked out with electric lights has made the stars luminous witnesses to the sovereignty of His Dominicality. It is not far from the perfect wisdom, tremendous power, and sovereignty of Dominicality of one thus All-Glorious to make the Greater Hell like the boiler of an electric light factory and with it set fire to the stars of the heavens which look to the Hereafter, and give them heat and power. That is, give light to the stars from Paradise, the world of light, and send them fire and heat from Hell, and at the same time, make part of that Hell a habitation and place of imprisonment for those who are to be tormented. Furthermore, He is an All-Wise Creator Who conceals a tree as large as a mountain in a seed the size of a finger-nail. It is surely not far then from the power and wisdom of such an All-Glorious One to conceal the Greater Hell in the seed of the Lesser Hell in the heart of the globe of the earth.
I n S h o r t : Paradise and Hell are the two fruits of a branch of the tree of creation which stretches out towards eternity. The fruits’ place is at the branch’s tip. And they are the two results of the chain of the universe; and the places of the results are the two sides of the chain. The base and heavy are on its lower side, the luminous and elevated on its upper side. They are also the two stores of this flood of events and the immaterial produce of the earth. And the place of a store is according to the variety of the produce, the bad beneath, the good above. They are also the two pools of the flood of beings which flows in waves towards eternity. As for the pool's place, it is where the flood stops and gathers. That is, the obscene and filthy below, the good and the pure above. They are also the two places of manifestation, the one of beneficence and mercy, the other of wrath and tremendousness. Places of manifestation may he anywhere; the All-Merciful One of Beauty, the All-Compelling One of Glory, establishes His places of manifestation where He wishes.
As for the existence of Paradise and Hell, they have been proved most decisively in the Tenth, Twenty-Eighth, and Twenty-Ninth Words. Here, we only say this: the existence of the fruit is as definite and certain as that of the branch; the result as the chain; the store as the produce; the pool as the river; and the places of manifestation as definite and certain as the existence of mercy and wrath.
FOURTH QUESTION
Like metaphorical love for objects of love can be transformed into true love, can the metaphorical love that most people have for this world also be transformed into true love ?
T h e A n s w e r : Yes, if a lover with metaphorical love for the transitory face of the world sees the ugliness of the decline and transience on that face and turns away from it. If he searches for an immortal beloved and is successful in seeing the world’s other two most beautiful faces that of mirror to the Divine Names and the tillage of the Hereafter, his illicit metaphorical love then starts to be transformed into true love. But on the one condition that he does not confuse his own fleeting and unstable world which is bound to his life with the outside world. If like the people of misguidance and heedlessness he forgets himself, plunges into the outside world, and supposing the general world to be his private world becomes the lover of it, he will fall into the swamp of Nature and drown. Unless, extraordinarily, a hand of favour saves him. Consider the following comparison which will illuminate this truth.
For example, if on the four walls of this finely decorated room are four full-length mirrors belonging to the four of us, then there would be five rooms. One would be actual and general, and four, similitudes and personal. Each of us would be able to change the shape, form, and colour of his personal room by means of his mirror. Should we paint it red, it would appear red, should we paint it green, it would appear green. Likewise, we could give it numerous states by adjusting the mirror; we could make it ugly, or beautiful, give it different forms. But we could not easily adjust and change the outer and general room. While in reality the general and personal rooms are the same, in practice they are different. You can destroy your own room with one finger, but you could not make one stone of the other stir.
Thus, this world is a decorated house. The life of each of us is a full-length mirror. We each of us have a world from this world, but its support, centre, and door is our life. Indeed, that personal world of ours is a page. Our life is a pen; many things that are written with it pass to the page of our actions. If we have loved our world, later we have seen that since it is constructed on our life, we have perceived and understood that it is fleeting, transitory, and unstable like our life. Our love for it turns towards the beautiful impresses of the Divine Names to which our personal world is the mirror and which it represents. Moreover, if we are aware that that personal world of ours is a temporary seed-bed of the Hereafter and Paradise, and if we direct our feelings for it like intense desire, love, and greed, towards the benefits of the Hereafter, which are its results, fruits, and shoots, then that metaphorical love is transformed into true love. Otherwise, manifesting the meaning of the verse,
Those who forget Allah; and he made them, forget their own souls.
Such are the. rebellious transgressors,
a person will forget himself, not think of life’s fleeting nature, suppose his personal, unstable world to be constant like the general world, and imagine himself to be undying; he will fix himself on the world and embrace it with intense emotions; he will drown in it and depart. Such love will be boundless torment and tribulation for him. For an orphan-like compassion, a despairing softness of heart will be born of that love. He will pity all living beings. Indeed, he will feel sympathy for all beautiful creatures which suffer decline, and the pain of separation, but he will be able to do nothing, he will suffer in absolute despair.
However, the first man, who is saved from heedlessness, finds an elevated antidote for the pain of that intense compassion. For in the death and decline of all the living beings he pities, he sees the mirrors of their spirits in which are depicted the perpetual manifestations of the enduring Names of an Ever-Enduring One to be immortal; his compassion is transformed into joy. He also sees behind all beautiful creatures which are subject to death and transience, an impress a making beautiful, an art, adornment, bestowal, and illuminating which are permanent and which make perceived a transcendent beauty, a sacred loveliness. He sees the death and transience to be renewal for the purpose of increasing the beauty, refreshing the pleasure, and exhibiting the art, and this augments his pleasure, his ardour, his wonder.
The Enduring One, He is the Enduring One!
Said Nursi
The Second Letter
In His Name, be He Glorified!
And there is nothing but glorifies Him with praise.
[Part of the letter written in response to a gift from his above-mentioned, well-known student]
T h i r d l y : You sent me a present, and want to break an extremely important rule of mine! I do not say: “I don't accept presents from you in the same way that I don't accept them from Abdulmecid and Abdurrahman, my brother and nephew,” because since you are more advanced than them and closer to my spirit, even if everyone’s gifts are refused just this time, your’s may not be refused. But in connection with this, I shall tell you the reason for my rule. It is like this:
The Old Said never accepted favours. He preferred death to becoming obliged to people. He never broke that rule of his despite suffering great hardship and difficulty. This characteristic, which was left as a legacy by the Old Said to this wretched brother of yours, is not asceticism or artificial self-sufficiency, but is based on four or five serious reasons:
The First: The people of misguidance accuse religious scholars of making their learning a means of subsistence. They attack them unfairly, saying: “They are making knowledge and religion a means of livelihood for themselves.” It is necessary to show this to be false by action.
The Second: We are charged with following the prophets in disseminating the truth. In the All-Wise Qur’an, those who do this say,
My reward is only due from God * My reward is only due from God
and display independence. The sentence in Sura Ya Sin,
Follow those who do not ask no reward of you, and who have themselves received guidance
is most meaningful regarding this matter of ours.
The Third: As is explained in the First Word, one should give in God’s name and take in God’s name. Whereas mostly either the one giving is heedless and gives in his own name and implicitly puts the other under an obligation, or the: one who receives is heedless; he lives the thanks and praise due to the True Provider to apparent causes and is in error.
The Fourth: Reliance on God, contentment, and frugality are such a treasury and wealth that they can be exchanged for nothing. I do not want to take things from people and shut up that inexhaustible treasury and store. I offer hundreds of thousands of thanks to the All-Glorious Provider that since my childhood He has not compelled me to remain under obligation and be abased. Relying on His munificence, I beseech His mercy that I may also spend the remainder of my life in accordance with this rule.
The Fifth: As a result of many signs and experiences over the past year or two I have formed the firm conviction that I am not permitted to receive the people’s goods and particularly the gifts of the rich and of officials. Some of them make me ill.. rather, they are made to be like that, they are made so that I cannot eat them. Sometimes they are turned into a form that upsets me. This means that it is in effect an order not to receive the goods of others and is a prohibition to receive them. Moreover, I have a need for solitude, I cannot receive everyone all the time. Accepting the people’s gifts necessitates considering their feelings and accepting them at times I do not want to. And I do not find that agreeable. I find it. more agreeable to eat a small piece of dry bread and wear clothes patched in a hundred places, and be saved from artificiality and sycophancy. It is disagreeable for me to eat the best quality baklava and wear the finest clothes at the hands of others and be obliged to consider their feelings.
The Sixth: And the most important reason for self sufficiency is what Ibn Hajar, the most reliable scholar of our school of law, says: “If you are not righteous it is forbidden to accept something intended for the righteous.”
Thus, due to greed and ambition, the people of this age sell the smallest gift very expensively. They imagine a sinful wretch like myself to be righteous or a saint and they give him a loaf of bread. If, God forbid, I consider myself to be righteous, it is a sign of pride and points to the non-existence of righteousness. If I do not consider myself to be righteous, it is not permissible to accept those goods. Also, to receive alms and gifts in return for actions directed towards the Hereafter, means consuming the eternal fruits of the Hereafter in transitory form in this world.
The Enduring One, He is the Enduring One!
Said Nursi
* * *
The Third Letter
In His Name, be He glorified
And there is nothing but glorifies Him with praise.
[Part of a letter sent to the well-known student of his]
F i f t h l y : You wrote in one of your letters to me that you wanted to share in my feelings here, so listen now to one thousandth of them.
One night at the height of a hundred-storey building in my tree-house at the top of a cedar tree, I looked at the beautiful face of the heavens gilded with stars and saw in the All-Wise Qur’an’s oath of
So verify I call to witness the planets * That recede, go forth, or hide. an elevated light of miraculousness and brilliant secret of eloquence. This verse, which indicates the planets and their being concealed and spread abroad, displays to the gaze of observers a most elevated embroidery of art and exalted and instructive tapestry. These planets emerge from the sphere of the sun, their commander, and entering that of the fixed stars, display fresh embroideries and instances of art in the skies. Sometimes they come shoulder to shoulder with another star like themselves and display a beautiful situation. And sometimes they enter among the small stars and take up the position of commander. Especially in this season after evening, Venus on the horizon, and before the early dawn one of its shining companions, display a truly graceful and lovely scene. Later, after carrying out their duties as inspectors and acting as shuttles in the tapestries of art, they return, and entering the dazzling sphere of the sun, hide themselves. Now they demonstrate as brilliantly as the sun the majesty of Dominicality and glittering Divine sovereignty of the One Who spins this earth of ours and the planets described in the above verse with perfect order in space, each like a ship or aeroplane. See that majestic dominion which has under its sway ships and aeroplanes a thousand times greater in size and velocity than the globe of the earth.
And so you can compare what an elevated happiness, what a great honour, it is to be connected to such a Monarch through worship and belief and to be his guest.
Then I looked at the moon, and saw a most shining light of miraculousless stated by the verse,
And the moon, We have measured for her mansions till she returns like the old lower part of a date stalk.
Indeed, the determining, rotating, regulating, and illuminating of the moon, and its positioning in regard to the earth and the sun with an extremely precise reckoning is so wonderful, so astonishing, that for the All-Powerful One Who orders and determines it thus nothing at all could be difficult. It instructs all beings with intelligence who behold it, conveying to them the idea, “The One Who makes it thus can surely do everything.” And it follows the sun in such a fashion that it does not deviate from its path even for a second, or lag behind one iota in its duties. It makes those who observe it carefully exclaim: Glory be in the One Whose art bewilders the mind! Especially when like at the end of May it sometimes comes into conjunction with the Pleiades in the shape of fine crescent, since it displays the form of the curved white branch of a date-palm, and the Pleiades appear as a bunch of grapes, it conjures up in the imagination the existence of a huge luminous tree behind the veil of the green heavens. As if the pointed tip of one of the tree’s branches had pierced the veil and stuck out its head together with its bunch of grapes and become the Pleiades and the crescent moon, and the other stars had become the fruits of that hidden tree. And so see the subtlety and eloquence of the metaphor of,
Like the old lower part of a date stalk.
Then this verse occurred to me,
He it is Who has made the earth submissive to you, so traverse its tracts,
which suggests that the earth is a subjugated ship or mount. From this I saw myself high up in a huge ship journeying at speed through space. I recited the verse,
Glory be to Him Who has subjected these to us, for we could never have accomplished this,
which it is Sunna to recite when mounting means of transport like horses or ships.
And I saw that with this motion the globe of the earth had taken the position of a projector showing images like in the cinema; it brought into movement all the heavens, and began to mobilize all the stars like a magnificent army. It shows such fine and lofty scenes that it intoxicates and fills with wonder those who think. “Glory be to God!”, I exclaimed; what numerous, vast, strange, wonderful, high and elevated works are performed at so little expense. Two subtle points concerning belief occurred to me from this:
The First: A few days ago I was asked a question by a guest; its basis, which displayed doubt, was this: Paradise and Hell are a great distance away. Through Divine grace, the people of Paradise will pass through the resurrection like lightening or like Buraq, and enter Paradise. But the people of Hell, how will they go, with their heavy bodies and loaded down with the heavy burdens of their sins? By what means will they travel?
What occurred to me was this: just as if for example all nations are invited to a general congress in America and each boards a huge boat and goes there, so too the globe of the earth, which travels the long distance of twenty-five thousand years in one year in the vast ocean of the universe, will take on its people, travel to the field of the resurrection, and disembark them. Furthermore, the Hell at the centre of the earth, which is indicated to by the fact that the earth’s temperature increases 1 degree every thirty-three metres, will pour its fire, whose temperature of 200,000 degrees is similar to that described in Hadith and according to Hadiths will carry out some of the duties of the Greater Hell in this world and the Intermediate Realm, into the Greater Hell, then at a Divine command, the earth will be transformed into a better and eternal form, and become one of the dwelling-places of the Hereafter.
The Second Point which comes to mind: it is the custom of the All-Powerful Maker, the All-Wise Creator, the Single One of Unity, in order to demonstrate the perfection of His power and beauty of His wisdom and proofs of His Unity, to perform many works with very little and to have large duties carried out by small things. As I have said in some of the Words, if all things are attributed to a single being, things become so easy as to be necessary. Whereas if things are attributed to numerous makers and causes, as many difficulties arise as to be impossible. For a single individual like an officer or master builder easily gives a single situation to numerous soldiers or numerous stones with a single act, a single movement, and obtains a result. But if, in order to obtain that situation and result, they were referred to the soldiers in the army or the stones of the dome, which is without support, they could only be achieved with truly numerous acts, numerous difficulties, and great confusion.
And so, if the acts like the whirling and rotations, the circulation and revolutions, and the glorification-scattering promenading and the excursions of the four seasons and day and night in the universe are ascribed to unity, then by impelling a single globe with a single command, a Single Being can obtain those elevated situations and exalted results like displaying the wonders of art in the alternation of the seasons, and the wonders of wisdom in the revolutions of day and night, and the graceful spectacles in the apparent motions of the stars, sun, and moon. For the army of all beings is His. If He wishes, He may appoint a soldier like the earth as commander of all the stars, make the mighty sun a lamp furnishing heat and light for his people, and the four seasons, which are tablets of the inscriptions of His power, as shuttles, and night and day, which are pages for the writings of His wisdom, He can make into bows. By showing to each day a moon in a different shape, He makes it into a calendar for reckoning time. And just as He gives the stars the form of adorned, elegant, shining lanterns in the hands of the angels who dance in ecstasy, so too He demonstrates many instances of their wisdom concerning the earth. If these situations are not sought from One Being Whose command, order, law, and regulation address all beings, then all the suns and stars would have to cut an infinite distance each day with actual motion and infinite speed.
It is because of this infinite ease in unity and infinite difficulty in multiplicity that businessmen and industrialists give a unity to multiplicity and so secure an ease and facility; that is, they form companies.
In Short: There are infinite difficulties in the way of misguidance, and infinite ease in the way of unity.
The Enduring One, He is the Enduring One!
Said Nursi
* * *
The Fourth Letter
In His Name be, He glorified !
And there is nothing but it glorifies him with praise.
May God's peace and mercy and blessings be upon you, and upon my brothers especially ..........
My Dear Brothers!
I am now on a high peak on Çam Dağı (Pine Mountain), at the top of a mighty pine tree in a tree-house. In lonely solitude far from men, I have grown accustomed to this isolation. When I wish for conversation with men, I imagine you to be here with me, and I talk with you and find consolation. If there is nothing to prevent it, I would like to remain alone here for one or two months. If I return to Barla, I shall search for some means for the verbal conversation with you I so long for, if you would like it. For now I am writing two or three things which come to mind here in this pine-tree.
The First: This is somewhat confidential, but no secrets are concealed from you. It is thus:
Some of the people of truth manifest the Divine Name of Loving One, and through that manifestation at a maximum degree look to the Necessarily Existent One through the windows of beings. In the same way, but just when he is employed in service of the Qur'an acid is the herald of its infinite treasuries, this brother of your's who is nothing, but nothing, has been given a state that is the means to manifesting the Divine Names of All-Compassionate and All-Wise. God willing, the Words manifest the meaning of the verse: He who has been given wisdom, has been great good!
The Second: This saying concerning the Naqshbandi Order suddenly occurred to me: "On the Naqshbandi way, one must abandon four things: the world, the Hereafter, existence, and abandoning itself." It gave rise to the following thought:
“On the way of impotence four things are necessary: absolute poverty, absolute impotence, absolute thanks, and absolute ardour, my friend.”
Then the rich and colourful poem you had written, Look at the multicoloured page of the book of the universe, etc. came to mind. I looked at the stars on the face of skies through it. I said to myself, if only I had been a poet and completed it. And although I have no ability to write poetry and verse, I still began, but it was not poetry. However it occurred to me, that Is how I wrote it. You, my heir, may transform it into poetry and set it into verse. And so, what suddenly came to mind was this:
Then listen to the stars, listen to their harmoniaus address!
See what wisdom has emblazed on the decree of its light.
Altogether they start to speak with the tongue of truth,
They address the majesty of the All-Powerful, All-Glorious One's sovereignty:
We are each of us light-scattering proofs of the existence of our Maker, We are witnesses both to His Unity and His Power,
We are subtle miracles gilding the face of the skies for the angels to gaze upon.
We are the innumerable attentive eyes of the heavens which watch the earth, which study Paradise.
We are the innumerable exquisite fruits which the hand of wisdom of the. All-Glorious and Beauteous One has fastened
To the celestial portion of the tree of creation, to all the branches of the Milky Way.
For the inhabitants of the heavens,
we are each of us a travelling mosque, a spinning house, a lofty home,
Each is an illumining lamp, a mighty ship, an aeroplane.
We are each of us a miracle of power, a wonder of creative art
Created by the Powerful One of Perfection, the All-Wise One of Glory;
A rarity of His wisdom, a marvel of His creation, a world of light.
We demonstrated to mankind innumerable proofs,
We made them hear with these innumerable tongues of ours;
But their accursed unseeing, unbelieving eyes did not see our faces,
They did not hear our words.
And we are signs that speak the truth:
Our stamp is one, our seal is one,
We are mastered by our Sustainer,
We glorify Him through our subjugation,
We recite His Names,
We are each of us in ecstasy,
A member of the mighty circle of the Milky Way.
The Enduring One, He is the Enduring One!
Said Nursi
* * *
The Fifth Letter
In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.
In his Mektûbat (Letters), Imam-i Rabbani (May God be pleased with him), the hero and a sun of the Naqshbandi Order, said: “I prefer the unfolding of a single matter of the truths of belief to thousands of illuminations, ecstasies, and instances of wonder-working.”
He also said: “The final point of all the Sufi ways is the clarification and unfolding of the truths of belief.”
He also said: “Sainthood is of three sorts: one is the ‘lesser sainthood,’ which is the well-known sainthood. The others are the ‘middle sainthood’ and the ‘greater sainthood.’ ‘Greater sainthood’ is to open up by way of the legacy of prophethood a direct way to reality without entering the intermediate realm of Sufism.”
He said also: “The spiritual journeying on the Naqshi way is with two wings.” That is, “Through having firm belief in the truths of faith and carrying out the religious obligations. If there is defect in these two wings, the way cannot be traversed.” In which case, the Naqshi way has three veils:
The First and most important is direct service to the truths of belief; Imam-i Rabbani travelled this way in his later years.
The Second is service to the religious obligations and Glorious Sunna under the veil of the Sufi way.
The Third is to work to eliminate the sicknesses of the heart by way of Sufism and to journey with the feet of the heart. Of these, the first is the equivalent of obligatory, the second, close to obligatory, and the third, Sunna.
Since the reality of the matter is thus, my conjecture is that if persons like Shaykh Abd a1-Qadir Gilani (May God be pleased with him) and Shah Naqshband (May God be pleased with him) and Imam-i Rabbani (May God be pleased with him) were alive at the present time, they would expend all their efforts in strengthening the truths of belief and tenets of Islam. For they are the means to eternal happiness. If there is deficiency in them, it results in eternal misery. A person without belief may not enter Paradise, but those who have gone to Paradise without Sufism are truly numerous. Man cannot live without bread, but he can live without fruit. Sufism is the fruit, the truths of Islam, basic sustenance. In former times, through spiritual journeying from forty days to as much as forty years, a person might rise to some of the truths of belief. But now, if through Almighty God's mercy there is a way to rise to the those truths in forty minutes, it surely is not sensible to remain indifferent to it.
Thus, those who have studied carefully the thirty-three Words state that they have opened up just such a Qur’anic way. Since this is a fact, I am of the opinion that the Words written about the mysteries of the Qur’an are a most appropriate medicine and salve for the wounds of this time, and a most beneficial light for the totality of Islam which has been subject in the assaults of darkness, and a most right guide for those wandering bewildered in the valleys of misguidance.
You know that if misguidance arises from ignorance, it is easy to dispel. But if it proceeds from science and learning, it is difficult to eliminate. In former times, the latter was one in a thousand, and of these only one in a. thousand could come to the way through guidance. For such people fancy themselves. And they do not know, but they suppose that they do know. I think that Almighty God has bestowed the Words at this time, which arc flashes of the Qur'an's miraculousness, as an antidote to this atheistic misguidance.
The Enduring One, He is the Enduring One!
S a i d N u r s i
The Sixth Letter
In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.
May God’s peace and His mercy and His blessings be upon you and upon your brothers so long as day and night continue and the ages follow on in succession and the sun and moon endure and the two stars in Ursa Minor are in opposition.
My hard-working brothers, zealous friends, and means of consolation in these lands of exile known as the world!
Since Almighty God has made you shareholders in the meanings He has imparted to my mind, it is surely also your right to share in my feelings. In order not to sadden you unduly, I shall skip the excessively grievous part of my loneliness in exile and shall relate another part to you, as follows:
These last two or three months I have been very much alone. Sometimes once every two or three weeks I have a guest with me. The rest of the time I am alone. And for nearly three weeks now there have been none of those working in the mountains near me; they have all dispersed...
One night in these strange mountains, silent and alone amid the mournful sighing of the trees, I saw myself in five exiles of different hues.
The first: due to old age, I was alone and a stranger away from the great majority of my friends, relations, and those close to me; I felt a sad exile at their having left me and departed for the Intermediate Realm. Then another sphere of exile was opened within this one: I felt a sad sense of separation and exile at most of the beings to which I was attached, like last spring, having left me and departed. And a further sphere of exile opened up within this, which was that I had fallen apart from my native land and relations, and was alone. I felt a sense of separation and exile arising from this too. Then through that the lonesomeness of the night and the mountains made me feel another pitiable exile. And then I saw my spirit in an overwhelming exile, which had been prepared to journey to eternity both from this exile and from the transitory guest-house of this world. I said to myself suddenly, My God, how can these exiles and layers of darkness be borne? My heart cried out:
My Lord! I am a ,stranger, I have no one, I am weak, I am powerless, I am impotent, I am old;
I am without will; I seek recourse, I seek, forgiveness, I seek help from Your Court, O God!
Suddenly the light of belief, the effulgence of the Qur’an, and the grace of the Most Merciful, came to my aid. It transformed those five dark exiles into five luminous and familiar spheres. My tongue said:
God is enough for us, and He is the best disposer of affairs.
While my heart recited the verse:
And if they turn away, say: God is enough for me, there is no god but He.; in Him do I place my my trust, for He is the Lord of the Mighty Throne.
My mind too addressed my soul, crying out in distress and terror, saying:
Cry not out at misfortune, O wretch, come, trust in God!
For know that crying out compounds the misfortune and is a great error.
Find misfortune’s Sender, and know it is a gift within gift, and pleasure.
So leave crying out and offer thanks; like the nightingale, smile through your tears!
If you find Him not, know the world is all pain within pain, transience and loss.
So why lament at a small misfortune while upon you is a worldful of woe? Come trust in God!
Trust in God! Laugh in misfortune's face; it too will laugh.
As it laughs, it will diminish; it will be changed and transformed.
And like Mawlana Jalaluddin, one of my masters, said to his soul, I too said:
“He said: ‘Am I not your Lord?’, and you assented. So what is thanks for that ‘Yes’? It is to suffer tribulation. And what is the. true meaning of tribulation? It means to be the door-knocker on the. abode of poverty and annihilation.”
So then my soul too said: “Yes, yes, through impotence and reliance on God, and poverty and seeking refuge with Him, the door of light is opened and the layers of darkness dispersed. All praise be to God for the light of belief and Islam!” I saw what an elevated truth the following lines of the famous Hikam Ataiyya express:
“What does the one who, finds God lose? And what does the one who loses Him find?”
That is, the one who finds Him finds everything, while the one who does not find Him, can find nothing. And if he does find it, it will only bring him trouble. And I understood the meaning of the Hadith, “Tuba (happiness) for strangers in exile.” And I offered thanks.
And so, my brothers, for sure these dark exiles were lit up through the light of belief, but they still had an effect. over me to a degree and provoked the following thought: “Since I am a stranger and I am in exile and I shall o to exile, I wonder if my duties in this guest-house are finished? Should I hand over the Words to you, and completely sever all my ties?” For this reason I asked you if the Words that have been written are sufficient, or are they lacking something. That is, is my duty finished, so that with ease of heart I can cast myself into a light-filled, pleasurable, true exile, forget the world, and say like Mawlana Jalaluddin,
“Do you know what the sama’ is? To become unconscious of existence,
“To taste eternity in absolute annihilation.”?
Asking, can I search for an elevated exile?, I troubled you with these questions.
The Enduring One, He is the Enduring One!
S a i d N u r s i
The Seventh Letter
In His Name, be he Glorified!
And there, is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise..
May peace be upon you and God’s mercy and blessings for ever and ever.
My Dear Brothers!
I gather you told ?amly Hafyz to ask me two things:
THE FIRST
“Like the dissemblers in early times, the people of misguidance of modern times also make the Prophet’s (Upon whom be blessings and peace) marriage with Zaynab a pretext for criticism, considering it to have been to satisfy the lusts of the soul.”
T h e A n s w e r : God forbid, a hundred thousand times! The hand of such vile doubts cannot reach up to that elevated one! Yes, he was such that from the age of f fifteen to forty when the blood is fiery and exuberant and the passions of the soul enf1amed, sufficed and was content with a single older woman like Khadija the Great (May God be pleased with her) with complete chastity and purity - as is agreed by friend and foe alike. His then having numerous wives after the age of forty, that is, when bodily heat subsides and the passions are quitened, is evidence proving decisively and self-evidently to those who are even a little fair-minded that such marriages were not to satisfy the carnal appetites, but were based on other important instances of wisdom.
One of those instances of wisdom is this: Like the Prophet’s words, his actions, states, conduct, and deeds are the sources of religion and the Shari’a, and the authority for its injunctions. Just as the Companions transmitted the outward, public things, the transmitters and narrators Of the private matters of religion and injunctions of the Shari’a which were manifested from his private conduct in the personal sphere, were his wives, and they carried out that duty in fact. Perhaps half of the private matters and injunctions of religion come from them. That is to say, numerous wives of differing temperament were required to perform this necessary duty.
Now let us consider his marriage with Zaynab. In connection with the verse,
Muhammed is not the father of any of your men, but [he is] the Prophet of God and the Seal of the Prophets,
which is one of the examples given in the Third Ray of the First Light in the Twenty-Fifth Word, it is written that with its many aspects, a single verse states meanings appropriate to the understandings of all classes of men.
One class’s share of understanding of the above verse is this: according to a sound narration based on his own admission, Zayd, the Most Noble Prophet’s (Upon whom be blessings and peace) servant whom he addressed as “my son,” divorced his proud wife because he did not find himself equal to her. That is to say, with his perceptiveness, Zayd realized that Zaynab had been created with an elevated character different to his and that it was in her nature to be a prophet’s wife. And since he found himself to be by nature unequal to her as a spouse and this caused incompatibility, he divorced her. At God's command, the Most Noble Prophet (Upon whom be blessings and peace) took her. That is, as indicated by the verse,
We joined her in marriage to you
showing that it was a heavenly contract, this marriage was out of the ordinary, above external relations, and purely on the orders of Divine Determining. Thus, the Most Noble Prophet (Upon whom be blessings and peace) submitted to the decree of Divine Determining and was compelled to do so; it was not at the behest of carnal desire.
The verse,
In order that [in future] there may be no difficulty to the believers
in [the matter of] marriage with the wives of their adopted sons,
comprises an important injunction of the Shari’a, a general instance of wisdom, and a comprehensive, general benefit pertaining to this decree of Divine Determining, and indicates that adults calling the young “my son” is not forbidden, as is the matter of zihar, that is, a man saying to his wife “you are like my mother,” so that ordinances should change due to it? Also, rulers looking to their subjects and prophets looking to their communities and addressing them in fatherly fashion, is due to the function of prophethood; it is not in respect of their human personalities so that it should be inappropriate for them to take wives from them?
Another class’s share of the understanding of this verse is this: a great ruler looks on his subjects with paternal compassion. If he is a spiritual king holding both outward and inward rule, since his compassion is a hundred times greater than that of a father, his subjects look on him as his father, as though they were his real sons. A father’s view is not easily transformed into that of a husband, and a girl’s view into that of a wife. So, since according to this it is inappropriate in the public view for a prophet to take in marriage the believers’ daughters, with the purpose of repelling such a doubt, the Qur'an says: “On account of Divine mercy the Prophet has compassion for you, he deals with you in fatherly fashion, and in the name of prophethood you are like his children. But in regard to his human personality he is not your father so that it should be inappropriate for him to take a wife from among you!? And if he calls you “Son,” in respect of the rulings of the Shari’a, you cannot be his children!..."
The Enduring One, He is the Enduring One!
Said Nursi
The Eight Letter
In His Name!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise..
There are numerous instances of wisdom in the Names of Most Merciful and Compassionate being included in ‘In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate’ and at the start of all good things. Postponing the explanation of these to another time, I shall for now recount a feeling of mine:
My brother, I see the Names of Merciful and Compassionate to be a light so vast that they embrace the whole universe and satisfy all the eternal needs of all spirits, and so luminous and powerful that they secure a person against all his innumerable enemies. The most important means I have found for attaining to these Names, which are two vast lights, are poverty and thanks, impotence and compassion. That is, worship and realizing one’s neediness. What comes to mind in connection with this and I say contrary to the great mystics and religious scholars, and even to Imam-i Rabbani, one of my masters, is this: the intense and brilliant emotion the Prophet Jacob (Upon whom be peace) felt for Joseph (Upon whom be peace) was not love or passion, but compassion. For compassion is much sharper and more brilliant and elevated, and purer and more worthy of the rank of prophethood than love and passion. If the love and passion for metaphorical objects of love and creatures are intense, they are not fitting for the elevated rank of prophethood. This means Jacob's feelings, which the All-Wise Qur’an describes with brilliant, glittering eloquence, and which were the means to attaining to the Name of All-Compassionate, were a high degree of compassion. As for passionate love, which is the means of attaining to the Name of All-Loving, it concerns the matter of Zulaikha’s love for Joseph (Upon whom be peace). That is to say, however much higher the Qur’an of Miraculous Exposition shows Jacob’s (Upon whom be peace) emotions to be than Zulaikha’s, compassion is seen to be more elevated than passionate love to that degree. My master, Imam-i Rabbani, did not consider metaphorical love to be altogether fitting for the rank of prophethood and therefor said: “Joseph’s virtues were virtues pertaining to the Hereafter, so love for him was not of a metaphorical kind so that it should have been defective.” But I say: “Master! That is an artificial interpretation, the truth of the matter must be this: that was not love, but a degree of compassion which was a hundred times more brilliant, more extensive, and more elevated than love.” Yes, in all its varieties, compassion is subtle and pure. Whereas many varieties of love and passion may not be condescended to.
Furthermore, compassion is extremely broad. Through the compassion he feels for his child, a person’s compassion encompasses al1 young and even all living beings, and acts as a sort of mirror to the comprehensiveness of the Name of All-Compassionate. Whereas passionate love restricts its gaze to its beloved and sacrifices everything, for it. Or else to elevate and praise its beloved, it denigrates others, and in effect insults them and abuses their honour. For example, one said: “The sun saw my beloved’s beauty arid was embarrased. In order not to see it, it veiled itself in cloud.” Lover, fine sir! What right do you have to impute shame to the sun, which is a light-filled page of eight Greatest Names?
Moreover, compassion is sincere, it does not want anything in return; it is pure and seeks nothing in exchange. The self-sacrificing unselfish compassion of animals for their young, at the most common degree even, is evidence for this. Passionate love, however, desires remuneration and seeks return. The weepings of passionate love are a sort of demanding, or desiring remuneration.
Thus, Jacob’s (Upon whom be peace) compassion, the most brilliant. light of Sura Yusuf-the most brilliant of the Qur’an’s Suras, points to the Names of Merciful and Compassionate. It informs us that the way of compassion is the way of mercy. And as a salve for the pain of compassion, it causes a person to utter:
For God is the Best of Protectors and He is the Most Merciful of the Merciful.
The Enduring One, He is the Enduring One!
S a i d N u r s i
The Ninth Letter
In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but glorifies Him with praise.
[Again part of a letter he sent to the same sincere student of his.]
S e c o n d l y : Your success, endeavour, and eagerness in spreading the lights of the Qur’an are a Divine bestowal, a wonder of the Qur’an, a Dominical favour. I congratulate you. Since we have come to a discussion of wonder-working (kerâmet), bestowal, and favour, I shall tell you a difference between wonder-working and bestowal. It is like this:
So long as there is no necessity for it, to display wonder-working is harmful. Whereas to make known bestowal is to make known a Divine bounty. If someone who is honoured with wonder-working knowingly manifests an extraordinary matter, and his evil-commanding soul is persistent, then in respect of him relying on himself and on his soul and what he has uncovered and falling into pride, it may be that Almighty God is drawing him on by at first granting him success. If unknowingly he displays a wondrous act, for example, a person has an unvoiced question and involuntarily he gives an appropriate answer, and afterwards understands, this increases his confidence, not in himself, but in his Sustainer. He says: “I have a Preserver who is raising me better than I myself.” And this increases his reliance on God. This is a harmless sort of wonder-working; he is not charged with concealing it, but he should not intentionally display it, because of pride. For since apparently man’s power to act has some connection with it, he may relate it to himself. When it comes to bestowal, it is sounder than the second sort of wonder-wonder, the sound sort, and in my opinion is more elevated. To display it is to make known a bounty. The power to act has no connection with it, and the soul does not attribute it to itself.
And so, my brother, the Divine bounties concerning both yourself, and myself, particularly in our service to the Qur’an, which for a long time past I have seen and written about, are bestowal, and to make them known is to make known a Divine bounty. For this reason I mention to you the success of both of us in our service in order to make known the Divine bounty. I always knew that it would arouse the vein of thanks in you, not pride.
T h i r d l y : I observe that the most fortunate person in this worldly life is he who sees the world as a military guest-house, and submits himself and acts accordingly. Through seeing it in this way, he may rise swiftly to the rank of God’s pleasure, the highest rank. Such a person will not give the price of a lasting diamond for something of the value of glass that will be broken. He will pass his life uprightly and with pleasure. Yes, the matters to do with this world are like pieces of glass doomed to be broken, while the lasting matters of the Hereafter have the value of flawless diamonds. The intense curiosity, fervent love, terrible greed, and stubborn desires, and other intense emotions in man’s nature were given in order to gain the matters of the Hereafter. To direct those emotions in intense fashion towards transitory worldly matters means giving the price of eternal diamonds for pieces of glass that are to be smashed. A point has occurred to me in connection with this, and I shall tell it. It is like this:
Passionate love is an ardent sort of love. When it is directed towards transitory objects, it either causes its owner perpetual torment and pain, or, since the metaphorical beloved is not worth the price of such fervent love, it causes love’s owner to search for an eternal beloved. Then metaphorical love is transformed into true love.
Thus, there are in man thousands of emotions, each of which has two degrees, one metaphorical, the other, true. For example, the emotion of anxiety for the future is present in everyone. Then a person is intensely anxious at the future, but he sees that he possesses nothing to guarantee that he will reach the future he is anxious about. Also, in respect of sustenance, there is an undertaking for it, and the future is brief and not worth such intense worry. So he turns away from the future towards the true future beyond the grave, which is long-lasting, and which for the heedless, there is no undertaking.
Man also displays intense ambition for possessions and position, then he sees that the transient property which has been put temporarily under his supervision, and calamitous fame and position, which is dangerous and leads to hypocrisy, are not worth such intense ambition. He turns away from them towards spiritual rank and degrees in closeness to God, which constitute true rank, and towards provisions for the Hereafter, and good works, which are true property. Metaphorical ambition, which is a bad quality, is transformed into true ambition, an elevated quality.
And, for example, with intense obstinacy, man expends his emotions on trivial, fleeting, transient things. Then he sees that he obstinately pursues for a year something not worth even a minute’s obstinacy. Also, in the name of obstinacy, he persists in something damaging and harmful. Then he sees that this powerful emotion was not given him for such things and that it is contrary to wisdom and truth to expend it on them. And so he utilizes his intense obstinacy, not on those unnecessary transient matters, but on the elevated and eternal truths of belief and foundations of Islam and service and duties pertaining to the Hereafter. Metaphorical obstinacy, a base quality, is transformed into true obstinacy that is, ardent steadfastness and constancy in what is right, a fine and good quality.
Thus, as these three examples show, if man uses the faculties given to him on account of the soul and this world, and behaves heedlessly as though he was going to remain in the world for ever, they become the means to base morality, wastefulness, and utility. But if he expends the lesser of them on the matters of this world and the more intense of them on spiritual duties and those pertaining to the Hereafter, they become the source of laudable morals and the means to happiness in this world and the next in conformity with wisdom and reality.
And so, my guess is that one reason the advice and admonitions given at this time have been ineffective is that those giving them say: “Don’t be ambitious! Don’t display greed! Don’t hate! Don’t be obstinate! Don’t love the world!” That is, they propose something that is apparently impossible for those they address like changing their inborn natures. If only they would say: “Turn these emotions towards beneficial things, change their direction, their channel,” their advice would be both effective, and they would be proposing something within the bounds of their wills.
F o u r t h l y : The differences between ‘Islam’ and ‘belief’ (iman) have frequently been the subjects of discussion among Islamic scholars. One group has said that they are the same, while another has said that they are not the same, but that there cannot be one without the other. They have expressed various ideas similar to this. I myself have understood the following difference:
Islam is preference, while belief is a conviction. To put it another way, Islam is taking the part of the truth and is submission and obedience to it, and belief is acceptance of and assent to the truth. Long ago I saw certain irreligious people who fervently supported the injunctions of the Qur’an. That is to say, such people by in one respect taking the part of the truth were Muslim, and were called “irreligious Muslims.” Then later I saw certain believers who did not show any support for the injunctions of the Qur’an they did not take the part of them, and they reflected the term “non-Muslim believers.”
Can belief without Islam be the means of salvation?
The Answer: Just as Islam without belief cannot be the means of salvation, neither can belief without Islam be the means of salvation. All praise and bounty is God’s, through the grace of the Qur’an’s miraculousness, the comparisons of the Risale-i Nur have demonstrated the fruits and results of the religion of Islam and Qur’anic truths in such a way that even if someone without religion does not understand them, it is not possible for him not to be sympathetic towards them. And they have shown the evidences and proofs of belief and Islam in such powerful fashion that if a non-Muslim even understands them, he is certain to assent to them. Although he would be a non-Muslim, he would believe. Yes, the Words show the fruits of belief and Islam to be sweet and delectable like the fruits of the Tuba-tree of Paradise, and show their results to be pleasant and agreeable like the pleasures of happiness in this world and the next. They therefore induce in those who see them and know them a feeling of infinite partiality, support, and surrender. And they have demonstrated proofs as powerful as the chains of beings and numerous as minute particles so that they afford infinite conviction and strength of belief. On certain occasions even, when testifying to belief in the invocations of Shah Naqshband and saying, In accordance with that we live, in accordance with it we shall die, and in accordance with it shall we be raised up on the morrow, I have felt an infinite feeling of partiality. If the whole world was given me, I could not sacrifice a single truth of belief. It causes me extreme distress to imagine the reverse truth of belief for a minute even. Even if the whole world was to be given me, my soul would submit without hesitation for the existence of a single truth of belief. When I say, We believe in what You have sent through the Prophet, and we believe in what You have revealed through the Book, and we assent to it, I feel an infinite strength of belief. I think the opposite of all the truths of belief is rationally impossible, and I consider the people of misguidance to be infinitely foolish and crazy.
I send many greetings to your parents and offer them my respects. So let them pray for me. They are like my mother and father, since you are my brother. And I send greetings to the people of your village, especially to all those who listen to you reading the Words.
The Enduring One, He is the Enduring One!
S a i d N u r s i
The Tenth Letter
[This consists of the answers to two questions.]
In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.
T h e F i r s t concerns the footnote to the long sentence describing the transformations of minute particles in the Second Aim of the Thirtieth Word.
‘The Clear Book’ and ‘The Clear Record’ are mentioned in many places in the All-Wise Qur’an. Some Qur’anic commentators said they were the same while others said they were different. Their explanations of their realities differ. In short, they said they were titles for Divine knowledge. However, through the effulgence of the Qur’an I have formed this opinion: the Clear Record is a title for a variety of Divine knowledge and command which looks to the World of the Unseen rather than the Manifest World. That is, it looks to the past and the future more than the present. That is, it looks to the origin, progeny, roots and seeds of things more than their external existence. It is a notebook of Divine Determining. The existence of this notebook has been proved both in the Twenty-Sixth Word and in a footnote in the Tenth Word.
Yes, the Clear Record is a title for a sort of Divine knowledge and command. For since the origins, roots, and sources of things result in their existences with perfect order and extreme art, they show that they are ordered through a notebook of the principles of Divine knowledge. And since the results, progeny, and seeds of things comprise the programmes and indexes of beings that will come in the future, they surely make known that they are miniature collections of Divine commands. For example, it may be said that a seed resembles the programmes and indexes which will order all the parts of the tree, and is like a miniature embodiment of those creative commands, which will specify the index and programme.
In Short: The Clear Record is like a programme or index of the tree of creation the branches of which have spread throughout the past. and the future and the World of the Unseen. The Clear Record with this meaning is a notebook of Divine Determining and a collection of its principles. Minute particles are despatched to their duties and motions in the bodies of things through the dictation and decree of those principles.
As for the Clear Book, it looks to the Manifest World rather than the World of the Unseen. That is, it looks to the present more than the past and the future. It is a title, a notebook, a leger of Divine power and will more than of knowledge and command. If the Clear Record if the notebook of Divine Determining, the Clear Book is a the notebook of Divine power.
That is to say, the perfect art and order in the beings, essences, attributes, and qualities of all things show that they are being clothed in existence through the principles of a perfect power and the laws of u penetrating will. Their forms are determined And specified, each is given definite proportions and a particular shape. This means the power and will have a universal, general collection of laws, a great leger, according to which the particular existences and forms of all things are cut out, sewn, and clothed. The existence of this notebook, like the Clear Record, has been proved in the matters concerning Divine Determining and man’s will. See the foolishness of the people of misguidance, heedlessness, and philosophy, for- they perceived the Preserved Tablet of Creative Power and the manifestation, reflection, and similitude in things of that perspicacious book of Dominica1 Wisdom and Will, but, God forbid, calling it “Nature,” they made it blind. Thus, through the dictation of the Clear Record, that is, through the decree of Divine Determining and according to its principles, Divine power writes and creates the chains of beings, each of which is a sign in the creation of beings, on the page of time known as ‘the Tablet of Appearance and Dissolution’ it causes the motion of particles...
This means that the motions of particles is a vibration, a movement, arising from that writing and copying, in the passage of beings from the World of the Unseen to the Manifest World, from Knowledge to Power. As for the Tablet of Appearance and Dissolution, it is an ever-changing notebook, a slate for writing and erasing, in the sphere of contingency of the Supreme Preserved Tablet - which is fixed and constant - that is, in beings, which constantly manifest life and death, existence and annihilation; it is the reality of time. Yes, like everything has a reality, so does time; the reality of what we call ‘time’, a mighty river which flows through the universe, is like the page and ink of the writing of Power in the Tablet of Appearance and Dissolution.
None knows the Unseen save God.
S e c o n d Q u e s t i o n : Where will the Great Gathering and Last Judgement occur?
The Answer : And the knowledge is with God alone. The elevated instances of wisdom the All-Wise Creator displays in all things, and His even attaching truly vast instances of wisdom to the single most insignificant thing, suggests to the point of being plain that the globe of the earth does not revolve in a circle aimlessly and pointlessly, but revolves around something important; it depicts and shows the circumference of a vast arena. It travels around a huge place of exhibition and hands over its immaterial produce to it, for in the future the produce will he displayed there before the gazes of men. That is to say, it will fill the circle, the circumference of which is approximately a distance of twenty-five thousand years: ,Syria will be like a seed - according to one narration; the arena of the Great Gathering will be expanded out of that region. All the immaterial produce of the earth is for now sent to the notebooks and tablets of the arena which is beneath the veil of the Unseen, and in the future when the arena is opened up, the earth will also pour its inhabitants into it. Its immaterial produce will also be transposed to the Manifest Realm from that of the Unseen. Yes, like an arable field, a spring a measure, the earth has produced crops enough to fill that vast arena, and the creatures that will occupy it have flowed on from the earth, and those that will fill it have departed from it. That is to say, the globe of the earth is a seed, and the arena of the Great Gathering, together with those within it, a tree, a shoot, and a store. Indeed, just as a point of light becomes a luminous line or circle on moving at speed, so too the earth, through its rapid, purposeful motion is the means of depicting a circle of existence, and together with that circle of existence and its produce, to the formation of the arena of the Great Gathering.
Say, the knowledge of it is with God alone,
The Enduring One, He is the Enduring One!
Said Nursi
The Eleventh Letter
In His Name,
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.
[This letter forms a significant remedy and points out four small gems from the treasuries of four verses.]
My Dear Brother!
The All-Wise Qur'an taught my soul these four different matters at various times. I am writing them now so that those of my brothers who wish may also receive instruction or a share of them. With regard to subject matter, each has been shown as a sample, a small jewel, from the treasuries of truths of four different verses. Each of the four topics has a different form and a different benefit.
FIRST TOPIC
Indeed the wiles of Satan are weak.
O my soul which despairs at doubts and scruples! The association of ideas and imaginings, suppositions, that occur to one are a sort of involuntary expression or depiction. As for a depiction, if it arises from good and luminosity, the qualities of such a truth pass to an extent to its form and image. Like the sun's light and heat pass to its image in a mirror. If the depiction is of something evil and dense, the qualities and decree of the original cannot pass to its form and spread to its image. For example, the reflected form in a mirror of something unclean and corrupt is neither unclean nor corrupt. Nor can a snake's image bite.
As a consequence of this, to imagine unbelief is not unbelief, and to imagine abuse is not abuse. Particularly if it is involuntary and is a hypothetical assumption that occurs to one, it is altogether harmless. Furthermore, according to the School of the Ahl-i Sunna wa'l-Jama'at, the badness or uncleanness of a thing according to the Shari'a is because it is prohibited by God. Since such things are involuntary associations of ideas, imaginings that occur to one without one's consent, prohibitions do not concern them. However ugly and unclean a form they take, they are not ugly and unclean.
SECOND TOPIC
This was a fruit of the Pine, Cedar, and Black Poplar trees of Tepelice in the mountains of Barla, which, since it has been included in The Words, has not been repeated here.
THIRD TOPIC
These two matters are part of the examples given in the Twenty-Fifth Word showing the impotence of present-day civilization before the miraculousness of the Qur'an. Two examples out of thousands proving how unjust is the law of present-day civilization, which opposes the Qur'an:
Just as the Qur'anic decree,
And for the man a portion equal of that of two women
is pure justice, so too is it pure compassion. Yes, it is justice, for the overwhelming majority of men take a wife and undertake to provide for her. As for women, they take a husband and load their livelihood on him, and this makes up for the deficiency in what they have inherited. It is also mercy, for a weak girl is greatly 1n need of kindness from her father and brothers. The Qur'an decrees that she receives kindness from her father without worry. Her father does not consider her anxiously, thinking of her as "a harmful child due to whom half of his wealth will pass to the hands of a stranger." Anxiety and anger are not mixed with his kindness. She also receives her brother's kindness and protection free of rivalry and jealousy. He does not consider her "as a rival who will destroy half the family and give an important part of our property to someone else." They will be no hatred and hostility mixed with his feeling of compassion and protection towards her. Thus, the girl, who is delicate and weak by nature, is apparently deprived of a small part, but in place of it she gains inexhaustible wealth in the form of the compassion and kindness of those close to her. And to give her more than her due with the idea of being more merciful to her than Divine Mercy, is not kindness, but a great wrong. Indeed, the savage greed of the present time, which recalls the appalling tyranny of burying girl children alive in the Age of Ignorance due to savage jealousy, may possibly open the way to merciless wickedness. Like this one, all Qur'anic rulings confirm the decree,
And we did not send you but as Mercy to all the worlds.
FOURTH TOPIC
And to the mother, a ,sixth.
Just as this low civilization has caused an injustice by giving daughters more than their due, so too it perpetrates an even greater injustice by not giving the mother what is her right. Yes, the compassion of mothers is a most sweet, subtle, and lovely manifestion of Dominical mercy, and among the truths of the universe, is one most worthy of respect and reverence. And a mother is so generous, so compassionate, so self-sacrificing a friend that driven by her compassion she will sacrifice all her world, her life, and her comfort for her child. A timid hen, even, the simplest and lowest level of motherhood, will cast herself at a dog and attack lion in order to protect her young "through a tiny manifestation of that compassion.
And so, to deprive a mother, who is the bearer of such an honourable and elevated truth, of the property of her child is an appalling injustice, a most savage lack of respect, a compounded wrongful insult, an ingratitude for bounties that causes the Divine Throne of Mercy to tremble, and adds poison to a most brilliant and benefical cure for man's social life. If those human monsters who claim to love humanity cannot understand this, for sure true humans can. They know that the All-Wise Qur'an's command of,
And to the mother a sixth,
is pure truth and pure justice.
The Enduring One, He is the Enduring One!
Said Nursi
The Twelfth Letter
In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.
Peace be upon you and on your companions.
My Dear Brothers!
You asked me a question that night arid I did not reply, for it is not permissible to argue over the questions of belief. Your discussion of them was in the form of a dispute. For now I am writing very brief replies to your three questions which were the basis of your dispute. You will find the details in The Words, the names of which the chemist has written. Only, it did not occur to me to mention the Twenty-Sixth Word, about Divine Determining and man's faculty of will; look at that too, but do not read it like a newspaper. The reason for my referring the chemist to study of those Words is this: doubts about matters of that sort arises from weakness of belief in the pillar of faith. Those Words prove all of the pillars of belief.
FIRST QUESTION
What wisdom does it spring from, Adam (Upon whom be peace) being expelled from Paradise and some of mankind, the sons of Adam, being sent to Hell?
T h e A n s w e r : The wisdom of it concerns the charging of duties; Adam was sent charged with such a duty that the unfolding of all mankind's spiritual progress and the revealing of all mankind's potentialities and man's essential nature being a comprehensive mirror to all the Divine Names, are the results of it. If Adam had remained in Paradise, his rank would have been fixed like that of the angels; man's potentialities would not have unfolded. In any case, the angels, whose rank is fixed, are numerous, and there is no need for man to perform that sort of worship. Indeed, since Divine wisdom required a realm of responsibility appropriate to the potentialities of man, who would traverse infinite degrees, he was expelled from Paradise for his well-known sin - sin being the requirement of man's nature and contrary to that of the angels. That is to say, just as Adam being expelled from Paradise was pure wisdom and pure mercy, so too is it just and right that the unbelievers should be sent to Hell.
As is mentioned in the Third Indication in the Tenth Word, the unbeliever only committed one sin in a short life, but within the sin was infinite wrongdoing. For unbelief is an insult to the whole universe, it reduces the value of all beings, it denies the testimony to Divine Unity of a11 creatures, and is contempt towards the Divine Names the manifestations of which are to be seen in the mirrors of beings. Therefore, in order to avenge the rights of beings on the unbeliever, the beings' monarch, the All-Compelling One of Glory, casts the unbelievers into Hell, and this is pure right and justice. For an infinite crime demands infinite punishment.
SECOND QUESTION
Why are devils created? Almighty God created Satan and evils; what is the wisdom in it? Isn't the creation of evil, evil, and the creation of bad, bad?
T h e A n s w e r : God forbid, the creation of evil is not evil, the desire for or inclination towards evil, rather, is evil. For creation and bringing into existence look to all the consequences, whereas such desire looks to a particular result, since it is a particular relation. For example, there are thousands of consequences of rain falling, and all of them are good. If through ill choice, some people receive harm from the rain, they cannot say that the creation of rain is not mercy, they cannot state that the creation of rain is evil. Rather, it is due to their ill choice and inclination that it is evil for them. Also, there are numerous benefits in the creation of fire, and all of them are good. But if some people receive harm from fire through their misuse of it and their wrong choice, they cannot say that the creation of fire is evil, because it was not only created to burn them. Rather, they thrust their hands into the fire while cooking the food through ill choice, and made that servant inimical to themselves.
In Short: The lesser evil is acceptable for the greater good. If an evil which will lead to a greater good is abandoned so that a lesser evil should not be, a greater evil will then have been perpetrated. For example, there are certainly some minor material and physical harms and evils in sending soldiers to fight a jihad, but in the jihad is a greater good whereby Islam is saved from being conquered by infidels. If the jihad is abandoned due to those lesser evils, then the greater evil will come after the greater good has gone. And that is absolute wrong. And for example, to amputate a finger which is infected with gangrene and has to be amputated is good and right, although it is apparently an evil. For if it is not amputated, the hand will be amputated, and that would be a greater evil.
Thus, the creation and bringing into existence of evils, harms, tribulations, satans, and harmful things, is not evil and bad, for they are created for many important results. For example, satans have not been set to pester the angels, and the angels cannot progress; their degrees are fixed and deficient. However, in the world of humanity the degrees of progress and decline are infinite. There is an extremely long distance through which to progress, from the Nimrod's and Pharaoh's as far as the veracious saints and the prophets.
Thus, through the creation of satans and the mystery of man's responsibility and the sending of prophets, an arena of trial and examination and striving and competition has been opened so that coal-like base spirits may be differentiated and separated out from diamond-like elevated spirits. If there had been no striving and competition, the potentialities in the mine of humanity which are like diamonds and coal would have remained equal. The spirit of Abu Bakr the Veracious at the highest of the high would have remained on the same level as that of Abu Jahl at the lowest of the law. This means that since the creation of satans and evils looks to great and universal results, their being brought into existence is not evil or bad. The evils and instances of bad that arise from abuses and the particular causes known as inclination or choice pertain to man's choice, not to Divine creation.
If you ask? The majority of humanity become unbelievers due to the existence of Satan and embrace unbelief and suffer harm, despite the sending of prophets: If, according to the rule, "the majority has the word," the majority suffers evil as a result, then the creation of evil is evil, and it may even be said that the sending of prophets is not a mercy. Is that not so?
The Answer: Quantity has no importance in relation to quality. The true majority looks to quality. For example, if. there are a hundred seeds of the date-palm and they are not put beneath the earth and watered and so do not undergo a chemical reaction and manifest a struggle for life, they are only a hundred seeds worth virtually nothing. But If they are watered and are subject to the struggle for life, and then eighty out of the hundred rot due to their faulty make-up, but twenty become fruit-bearing trees, can you say, "watering them was evil because most of them ratted?" Of course, you cannot say that, for that twenty have become like twenty thousand. One who loses eighty and gains twenty thousand suffers no harm and it cannot be evil.
And for example, if a peahen lays one hundred eggs, and they are worth five hundred kurush. If the hen sits on the hundred eggs and eighty are spoilt and twenty hatch into peacocks, can it be said that there was a high loss and the affair was evil; that it was bad to put the broody hen on the eggs and an evil occurred? No, it is not thus, it is rather a good. For the peacock species and egg family lost eighty eggs worth four hundred kurush, but gained twenty peacocks worth eighty liras.
Thus, through the sending of prophets and the mystery of man's responsibility, and through striving, and fighting with satans, in return for the hundreds of thousands of prophets and millions of saints and thousands of millions of purified scholars they have gained, who are like the suns, moons, and stars of the world of humanity mankind has lost the unbelievers and dissemblers, who are numerous in regard to quantity, insignificant in regard to quantity, and like harmful beasts.
THIRD QUESTION
Almighty God sends calamities and inflicts tribulations; is this not tyrannical towards the innocent in particular, and animals even?
T h e A n s w e r : God forbid, the sovereignty is His. He holds sway over His possessions as He wishes. Moreover, a skilful craftsman makes you a model in return for a wage and dresses you in a bejewelled garment that he has most artistically fashioned. Then in order to display his art and skill, he shortens it and lengthens it, measures it and trims it, and he makes you sit down and stand up. Are you able to say to him: "You have made the garment which made me beautiful ugly. You have caused me trouble, making me sit down and stand up." Of course, you cannot say that. If you did say it, you would be crazy.
In just the same way, the All-Glorious Maker has clothed you in a most artistically wrought being bejewelled with faculties like the eye, the ear, and the tongue. In order to display the embroideries of various of His Names, He makes you ill, He afflicts you with tribulations, He makes you hungry, He fills you, He makes you thirsty; He makes you revolve in states like these. In order to strengthen the essence of life and display the manifestation of His Names, He makes you journey in numerous such conditions. If you say: "Why do you inflict these calamities on me?", as is indicated in the comparison, a hundred instances of wisdom will silence you. In any event, calm, repose, idleness, monotony, and arrest from action are forms of non-existence, and harm. Action and change are existence and good. Life find its perfection through action, it progresses by means of tribulations. Life manifests various actions through the manifestation of the Divine Names, it is purified, finds strength, it unfolds and expands, it becomes a mobile pen to write its own appointed course; it performs its duty, and acquires the right to receive reward in the Hereafter.
Thus, the answers to the three questions in your dispute is briefly this. Explanations of them are to be found in the thirty-three Words.
My Dear Brother!
Read this letter to the chemist and to those who heard the argument whom you think suitable. And convey my greetings to my new student, the chemist, and tell him the following:
"It is not permissible to discuss subtle matters of belief like those above in a social gathering in the form of an unbalanced dispute. As an uncontrolled contest, whale being a panacea it becomes a poison. It is harmful for both those who speak and those who listen. It is permissible to discuss such matters moderately and fairly as a exchange of ideas." And tell him: "If doubts occur to you in matters of this sort and you cannot find the answer in the Words, then write to me privately..." And tell the chemist: "The following meaning occurred to me concerning the dream he had about his late father: since his late father was a doctor perhaps he had been of benefit to some of those close to God, and at the time of his death the spirits of those blessed people who had been gratified by him were seen by the one closest to him, his son, in the form of birds; it occurred to me that they came to meet him with a sort of welcoming that would be intercession for his spirit." I send greetings to all the friends who were together here that night, and I pray for them.
The Enduring One, He is the Enduring One!
Said Nursi
***
The Thirteenth Letter
In His Name,
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.
Peace on those who follow Guidance, and may those who follow their own desires be censured!
My Dear Brothers!
You frequently ask about my situation and how I am, and why I have not applied for my release papers, and concerning my indifference towards politics and the state of the world. Since you have repeated these questions on numerous occasions, and also ask me them in meaning if not in fact, I am compelled to reply to them not as the New Said, but in the language of the Old Said.
YOUR FIRST QUESTION
Are you comfortable? How are you?
T h e A n s w e r : I offer a hundred thousand thanks to the Most Merciful of, the Merciful that He has transformed the various wrongs 'the worldly' perpetrate against me into various forms of mercy. It is like this:
Having given up politics and withdrawn from the world, I was living in a mountain cave and thinking of the Hereafter when `the worldly' wrongfully took me out of there and sent me into exile. The All-Compassionate and Wise Creator turned the exile into mercy; He transformed the solitude on the mountain, which was unsafe and exposed to factors that would harm sincerity, into a retreat in the safe and sincere mountains of Barla. While a prisoner-of-war in Russia I formed the intention to withdraw into a cave towards the end of my life and offered supplications for that purpose. The Most Merciful of the Merciful made Barla the cave and bestowed the benefits of a cave, but He did not burden the difficulties and troubles of a cave on my weak being. Only, in Barla there were two or three people who were suspicious, and due to their groundless fears I suffered torments. It was as though those friends were thinking of my comfort, but due to their suspicions; they caused harm both to my heart and to the service of the Qur'an.
Moreover, although 'the worldly' gave the document in question to all the exiles, and released the criminals from prison and offered them an amnesty, they wrongfully did not give it to me. In order to further employ me in the service of the Qur'an and make me write to a greater extent the lights of the Qur'an called the Words, my Compassionate Sustainer left me in untroubled manner in this exile and transformed it into a great instance of compassion.
In addition, although 'the worldly' left all the influential and powerful leaders and shaykhs who could interfere in their world in the towns and cities and permitted them to meet with their relatives and everyone, they wrongfully isolated me and sent me to a village. With one or two exceptions they gave permission to none of my relatives and fellow-countrymen to visit me. My All-Compassionate Creator transformed that isolation into a vast mercy for me. It left my mind clear and was the means of my receiving the effulgence of the All-Wise Qur'an as it is, free of all malice and ill-will.
Also, 'the worldly' considered the two commonplace letters I wrote in two years at the beginning of my exile to be excessive. And now even, they do not look favourably on one or two visitors coming to me purely for the sake of the Hereafter once every ten or twenty days or once a month; and they have harassed me because of this. My All-Compassionate Sustainer and All-Wise Creator transformed that tyranny into mercy, for He transformed It into a desirable solitude and acceptable retreat for me during these Three Months, which will gain a spiritual life of ninety years. All thanks be to God for all conditions, my condition and comfort is thu5.....
YOUR SECOND QUESTION
Why don't you apply for your release papers?
T h e A n s w e r : I have been sentenced by Divine Determining in this matter, not by 'the worldly.' My application is to Divine Determining.
Whenever it gives permission, whenever it halts my sustenance here, then I shall go. The reality of this meaning is as follows: there are two causes of everything that befalls one, one apparent, and the other, real. 'The worldly' are the apparent cause; they brought me here. As for Divine Determining, that was the true cause; it sentenced me to this isolation. The apparent cause acted wrongfully, whereas the true cause acted with justice. The apparent one thought like this: "This man serves learning and religion excessively, he may interfere in our world." Because of this possibility, it exiled me and perpetrated a threefold wrong. Divine Determining saw that I could not truly serve religion and learning with sincerity, so it sentenced me to this exile. It transformed their compounded tyranny into a multiple mercy. Since in my exile Divine Determining is dominant and it is just, I have recourse to it. For sure, the apparent cause has certain pretexts and things; that means it is meaningless to make application to them. If they possessed some right or some powerful cause, there application could have been made to them also.
Although I have completely given up their world - may it be the end of them, and their politics - may it rebound on them, since the pretexts and suspicions they think up are of course baseless, I do not want to imbue their- suspicions with reality by applying to them. If I had an appetite to meddle in world politics, the reins of which are in the hands of Westerners, it would not have remained thus secret for eight hours let alone eight years; it would have leaked out and shown itself. Whereas for eight years I have felt no desire to read a single newspaper, and I have not read one. For four years I have been here under surveillance, and there has not been the slightest sign of my meddling in politics. That is to say, service of the All-Wise Qur'an is superior to all politics so that it does not allow one to lower oneself to world politics, which consists mostly of Falsehood.
The second reason for my not applying is this: to claim a right before those who suppose wrong to be right, is a sort of wrong. I do not want to perpetrate such a wrong.
YOUR THIRD QUESTION
Why are you so indifferent towards world politics? You don't change your attitude at all, even in in the face of so many events occurring in the world; does this mean you consider them to be good, or are you frightened so that you are silent?
T h e A n s w e r : Service of the AII-Wise Qur'an severely prohibited me from the world of politics. It even made me forget about it. For the whole story of my life testifies that fear has never taken me by the hand and prevented me taking the way I considered to be right, nor can it. And why should I he frightened? I have no connection with the world apart from the appointed hour. I have no family and children to think of. It is not wanting to preserve worldly glory and renown which consists of hypocritical, undeserved fame, may God bless those who help in destroying it. There only remains the appointed hour and that is in the hands of the All-Glorious Creator. Who has the power to interfere with it before the time of its coming? Anyway we are among those who prefer honourable death to degradation in life. Someone resembling the Old Said spoke the following lines: We are those for whom there is no middle way; For s ether the place of honour among the people, or the grave.
Indeed, service of the Qur'an prevents me from thinking of sociopolitical life. It is like this: human life is a journey. I saw at this time through the light of the Qur'an that the way has entered a swamp. The caravan of mankind is stumbling forward in stinking and filthy mud. Part of it is travelling a safe way. Part of it has found certain means to save itself as far as is possible from the muddy swamp. The great majority are travelling, in darkness in the stinking, filthy, muddy swamp. Twenty per cent suppose the filthy mud to be musk and ambergris because they are drunk, and are smearing it over their faces and eyes... they stumble on till they drown in it. However, eighty per cent understand it is a swamp and realize it is stinking and filthy, but they are bewildered and cannot see the safe way... Thus there are two solutions for these:
The First: to bring the drunken twenty per cent to their senses with a club.
The Second: to point nut the safe way to the bewildered by showing them a light.
I look and see that eighty people are brandishing clubs at the twenty while the light is not shown truly to the unhappy and bewildered eighty. And even if it is shown, since those showing it have both the club and the light in one hand, it does not inspire confidence. The bewildered man anxiously wonders: "Does he want to attract the with the light then hit me with the club?" And sometimes when, due to some defect, the club is broken, the light flies away too or else is extinguished.
And so, the swamp is the dissolute social life of mankind, which breeds heedlessness and misguidance. The drunkards are those obdurate people who take delight in misguidance, and the bewildered, those who detest misguidance, but cannot extract themselves from it. They want to be saved, but cannot find the way: they are confused. As for the clubs, they are the political currents. And the light, the truths of the Qur'an. Light cannot be disputed, nor can enmity be held towards it. No one can detest it apart from Satan the Accursed. And so, in order to hold in my hand the light of the Qur'an, I said, "I seek refuge with God from Satan and from politics," and throwing away the club of politics, embraced the light with both hands. I saw that in the political currents, there are lovers of those lights in both the opposition and the supporters. It is necessary that no side and no group casts aspersions on or holds back from the lights of the Qur'an which are shown, and from the teachings of the Qur'an which arc in a position far above all political currents and partisanship, and are exempt from and free of all their biased considerations. Unless they be the satans in human form or animals in human dress, who imagine irreligion and atheism to be politics and support them...
All praise be to God, because I withdrew from politics, I did not reduce the diamond-like truths of the Qur'an to the value of fragments of glass amid accusations of political propaganda. Indeed, the diamonds increase their value in the view of every group in brilliant fashion.
And they shall say: "All praise be to God, Who has guided us to this [felicity]; never could we have found guidance, had it not been for the guidance of God; indeed it was the truth that the prophets of our Sustainer brought to us!"
The Enduring One, He is the Enduring One!
S a i d N u r s i
* * *
The Twenty-Fourth Letter
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
Allah does what He wishes, and decrees what He wills.
Q u e s t i o n : How can the solicitous nurturing, the purposeful and beneficial planning, the loving kindness of the Names of AllCompassionate, All-Wise, and Loving, which are among the greatest of the Divine Names, be reconciled with death and non-existence, decline and separation; and disaster and hardship, which are awesome and terrible?
Very well, man goes to eternal happiness, so we can tolerate his passing down the road of death, but for the delicate, lovely species of trees and plants, and the flowers, all living creatures, and the species of animals, which are worthy of existence, lovers of life, and desire permanent life - what compassion and kindness is there in their continuously, without exception, being annihilated, in their swiftly being despatched to non-existence without being allowed to so much as open their eyes, in their being made to work and labour without being allowed to so much as take a breath, in their being changed by calamities with not one of them being left in peace, in their being killed without exception, in their dying with not one of them remaining, in their departing with not one of them being gratified - what wisdom and purpose, what favour and mercy are there in this?
T h e A n s w e r : Through Five Signs which show the necessitating cause and reason, and Five indications which point out the aims and benefits, we shall try to look from afar at the mighty truth which solves this question, and which is extremely broad, profound, and elevated.
FIRST STATION
[This consists of Five Signs]
· FIRST SIGN
As is described at the end of the Twenty-Sixth Word, when making a precious bejewelled and embroidered garment, a Skillful Craftsman employs a poor man in return for a commensurate wage. In order to display his skill and art, he dresses the poor man in the garment, then measures it and cuts it, and lengthens and shortens it, and making the man sit down and stand up, he gives it various forms. So does the wretched man have the right to say to the craftsman ? :
"Why are you interfering with this garment which makes me beautiful, and altering and changing it? Why are you making me stand up and sit down, disturbing me and causing me trouble?"
In exactly the same way, in order to display the perfections of His art through the embroideries of His Names, the All-Glorious Maker takes the essential nature of every sort of being as a model, then He clothes everything and especially living creatures in the garment of a body bejewelled with senses, and inscribes it with the pen of Divine Decree and Determining; thus demonstrating the rnanifestation of His Names. In addition, He gives to every being a perfection, a pleasure, an effulgence, in a way suitable to it and as a wage.
Has then anything the right to say to the All-Glorious Maker, Who manifests the meaning of, the Lord of All-Dominion has free disposal over His realms as He wishes :
"You are giving me trouble and disturbing me."? God forbid! In no way do beings have any rights before the Necessarily Existent One, nor can they claim them; their right rather is to carry out through offering thanks and praise, what is required by the degree of existence He has given them.
For all the degrees of existence that are given are occurrences, and each requires a cause. Degrees which are not given are possibilities, and possibilities are non-existent, as well as being infinite. As for instances of non-existence, they do not require a cause. For example, minerals cannot say: "Why weren't we plants?" they cannot complain. Rather, their right, since they have received mineral existence, is to offer thanks to their Creator. And plants may not complain asking why they were not animals; their right is to offer thanks, since they have received life as well as existence. As for animals, they may not complain that they are not humans; the right over them rather, since they have been given the precious substance of spirit in addition to life and existence, is to offer thanks. And so on...
O complaining man! You did not remain non-existent; you were clothed in the bounty of existence, you tasted life. You did not remain inanimate, nor become an animal; you received the bounty of Islam; you did not remain in misguidance; you have experienced the bounties of good health and well-being!
O ungrateful one! Where did you win the right not to offer thanks in return for the degrees of existence which Almighty God has given you and are pure bounty (blessing). How is it that because exalted bounties which are contingencies and non-existent and which you do not deserve have not been given to you, you complain about Almighty God with meaningless greed, ungrateful for the bounties you have received?
If a man rises to an exalted degree like climbing to the top of a minaret and finds a high station, and on every step receives a large bounty, then does not thank the one who gave him the bounties and complainingly asks why he could not have risen higher than the minaret, how wrong he would be, what an ungrateful denial of the bounties, what great foolishness it would be; as even a lunatic would understand.
O discontented greedy, thriftless wasteful, unjustly complaining, heedless man! Know certainly that contentment is profitable thanks; greed is loss-causing ingratitude, and frugality, fine and beneficial respect for bounties. As for wastefulness, it is ugly and harmful contempt for bounties.
If you have intelligence, grow accustomed to contentment and try to be satisfied with little. If you cannot endure it, say: "O Most Patient One!" and seek patience. Be satisfied with your lot and do not complain. Understand who is complaining about whom, and be silent. If you have to complain, then complain about your soul to God Almighty, for the fault is its.
· SECOND SIGN
As is stated at the end of the final rnatter of the Eighteenth Letter, one instance of wisdom in the All-Glorious Creator constantly changing and renewing beings in an astonishing and awesome fashion through the activity of His Dominicality is as follows:
Activity and rnotion in creatures arises from an appetite, a desire, a pleasure, a love. It may be said that in all activity there is a sort of pleasure; even, that every activity is a sort of pleasure. Pleasure too is turned towards a perfection; it is even a sort of perfection. Since activity indicates a perfection, a pleasure, a beauty; and since the Necessarily Existent One, Who is Absolute Perfection and the Perfect One of Glory, unites in His essence, attributes, and Names every sort of perfection, for sure, in a manner fitting for the necessary existence and holiness of the Necessarily Existent Essence, in a form suitable to His absolute riches and the self-sufficiency of His essence, in a way appropriate to His absolute perfection and freedom from defect, He has a boundless sacred compassion and infinite pure love.
Of a certainty, there is an infinite holy eagerness arising from that sacred compassion and pure love; and from that holy eagerness arises an infinite sacred joy. And arising from that sacred joy, is, if the term is permissible, an infinite holy pleasure. And from this holy pleasure and from the gratitude and perfections of creatures which result from the emergence and development of their potentialities within the activity of His power, arise, if one may say so, an infinite sacred gratification and holy pride pertaining to that Most Merciful and Compassionate Essence; and it is these which necessitate a boundless activity.
And that boundless activity in turn necessitates boundless change, and transformation, and alteration, and destruction. And that boundless change and transformation necessitate death and extinction, decline and separation.
At one time, the benefits shown by human science and philosophy concerning the purposes of beings appeared most insignificant in my view. And I understood from this that such philosophy leads only to futility. It is for this reason that leading philosophers either fall into the swamp of Nature, or they become Sophists, or they deny Divine knowledge and choice, or they call the Creator "self-necessitating."
At that point, Divine mercy sent the Name of All-Wise to my aid, and it showed me the great aims of creatures. That is to say, every creature, every artefact, is such a Dominical missive that all conscious beings study it.
This aim satisfied me for a year. Then the wonders in the art of beings were unfolded to me, and the former aim started to appear insufficient. Another, much greater aim became apparent. That is, the most important aims of all creatures look to their Maker. I understood that this aim is to present to His gaze the perfections of His art, the embroideries of His Names, the embellishments of His wisdom, and the gifts of His mercy; it is to be mirrors to His beauty and perfections. This aim satisfied me for a long time.
Then the miracles of Divine power and functions of Dominicality in the extremely swift changes and transformations within the astonishing activity in the art and creation of things became apparent. The former aim too began to appear insufficient. I understood that a necessitating cause, a motive, as great as this aim was necessary. It was then that the causes in this Second Sign and aims in the Indications to follow became apparent.
It was made known to me with complete certainty that "the activity of Divine Power in the Universe and the constant flood of beings is so meaningful that through it the All-Wise Maker causes all the realms of beings in the universe to speak.". It is as if the beings of the earth and the skies and their motion and actions are the words of their speech; their motion is their speech. That is, the motion and decline arising from activity is speech glorifying God. And the activity in the Universe, too, is the silent speech of the Universe and that of the varieties of its beings...
· THIRD SIGN
Things do not go to non-existence, they rather pass from the sphere of power to the sphere of knowledge; they go from the Manifest World to the World of the Unseen; they turn trom the world of change and transience to the worlds of light and eternity.
From the point of view of reality, the beauty and perfcetion in things pertain to the Divine Names and are their impresses and manifestations. Since the Names are eternal and their manifestations, perpetual, certainly their impresses will be renewed, refreshed, and made beautiful. They do not pass and depart for non-existence, only their relative positions change; their realities, essences, and identities, which are the means of beauty and loveliness, effulgence and perfection, are enduring.
The beauty and fineness in Beings with no spirits pertain directly to the Divine Names; the honour is their's; praise is due to them; the beauty is their's; Love goes to them; they suffer no harm on those mirrors changing.
If they are Beings with spirits but no intellect, their death and departure is not extinction and vanishing into non-existence, it is rather being saved from physical existence and the turbulent duties of life. Making over to their spirits, which are immortal, the fruits of the duties they have gained, each relying on a Divine Name, their immortal spirits persist, attaining a happiness worthy of them.
If they are Beings possessing both spirits and intellects, their demise is anyway a journeying to everlasting happiness, to the eternal realm, which is the means to perfections, material and non-material, and to the other dwelling-places of the All-Wise Maker, like the Intermediate Realm, the World of Similitudes, and the Spirit World, which surpass this World in beauty and luminosity. Their passing is not death and extinction, separation and non-existence, it is attaining perfection.
I n S h o r t : Since the All-Glorious Maker exists and He is Eternal and since His attributes and Names are perpetual and everlasting; certainly His Names' manifestations and impresses are renewed, affording a sort of perpetuality; they are not destroyed and transitory, departing for non-being.
It is clear that by reason of his humanity, man is connected with most of the other beings; he receives pleasure at their happiness, and is grieved at their destruction. And he is more grieved at the suffering of living creatures, of mankind in particular, and particularly of those possessing perfection he loves and admires; and his happiness is greater at their happiness.
Like a fond mother, even, he sacrifices his own happiness and comfort for their happiness. Thus, in accordance with their degree, through the light of the Qur'an and mystery of belief, all believers may be happy at the happiness of all beings, and at their enduring and being saved from nothingness and their being valuable Dominical missives; they may gain a light as extensive as the world. Everyone may profit from this light according to his degree.
As for the people of misguidance, they are grieved at the destruction of all beings, at their transience and their apparent despatch to non-existence - and if they have spirits, at their suffering, in addition to their own pains. That is to say, their unbelief fills their world with non-existence; it empties it over their heads, causing them Hell before they go there.
· FOURTH SIGN
As we have said in many places, a Monarch has various different offices and departments proceeding from his titles like Sultan, Khalifa, Judge, and Commander-in-Chief, and in the same way, Almighty God's Most Beautiful Names have innumerable different sorts of manifestations. The varieties and different sorts of creatures arise from the varieties of manifestations.
Thus, in accordance with the fact that every possessor of beauty and perfection has an innate desire to see and display his beauty and perfection, those various Names too - since they are constant and eternal - want to be displayed in permanent fashion on account of the Most Pure and Holy Essence. That is to say, they want to see their impresses; that is, to see the manifestation of their beauty and reflection of their perfection in the mirrors of their embroideries; that is, to renew every instant the mighty book of the universe and the different missives of beings; that is, to constantly write them anew; that is, to write thousands of different missives on a single page and to display each missive to the witnessing gaze of the Sacred Essence, the Most Pure and Holy One Who is Signified; and together with this, to exhibit them to the meditative gazes of all sentient beings, and cause them to read them.
Consider the following poem which alludes to this truth:
The leaves of the Book of the World are of variety incalculable.
Its letters and words, too, are of number infinite;
Inscribed on the workbench of the Preserved Tablet of Reality
An embodied meaningful word, is each Being in the Universe.
Study the lines of the Universe; they are missives to you from the Sublime Assembly.
· FIFTH SIGN
The Fifth Sign consists of Two Points.
F i r s t P o i n t : Since Almighty God exists, everything exists. Since there is a relation with Almighty God, all things exist for everything. For through the mystery of Unity, through the relation with the Necessarily Existent One, all beings become connected with all other beings. That means, through the mystery of Unity, every being which knows its relation with the Necessarily Existent One, or whose relation is known, becomes related with all beings which are related to Him. This means, from the point of view of the relation, every being may manifest endless lights of existence. There is no separation or death from that point of view. To live for a single passing second is the means to innumerable lights of existence.
Whereas if the relation does not exist or is not known, the being manifests infinite separations and deaths. For in that case, in the face of every being with which he could have been connected, he is exposed to a separation, a parting, a death. That is, he burdens his own personal existence with endless instances of non-existence and separation. Should he remain in existence for a million years even (without connection), it would not be as much as living for an instant being related in the former respect.
Those who have penetrated to the realities have said therefore:
"Illumined existence for even a passing instant is preferable to a million years of profitless existence."
And it is also because of this that those who have researched into the realities of creation have said:
"The lights of existence become apparent through recognizing the Necessarily Existent One."
That is to say: "In that case, the Universe is seen to be full of angels, spirit beings, and conscious beings within lights of existence. Whereas without them, the darkness of nonexistence and pains of death and separation encompass all beings. The world appears in such a man's view to be an empty and desolate wasteland."
Indeed, each one of a tree's fruits has a relation with all the other fruits on the tree, and since through the relation, each is his friend and brother, he possesses accidental existences to their number. But when the fruit is plucked from the tree, a separation and death comes about in the face of all the other fruits; they all become as though non-existent for it; a darkness of external non-existence results for it.
In exactly the same way, in respect of being related to the Power of the Single Eternally Besoughted One, for everything, all things exist. lf not for that relation, there would be external non-existences for all things to the number of things.
And so, from this Sign you may see the vastness of the lights of belief, and the terrifying darkness of misguidance. That is, belief is the title of the essential reality of the elevated truth described in this Sign; and it may be benefited from through belief. In the absence of belief, just as everything is non-existent for someone who is blind, deaf, dumb, and stupid, so is everything non-existent and dark for one without belief.
S e c o n d P o i n t : The world and all things have three faces: The First Face looks to the Divine Names and is their mirror. Death, separation, and non-existence cannot intrude on this face; there is rather renewal and renovation.
The Second Face looks to the Hereafter and gazes upon the World of Eternity; it is like its arable field. Enduring fruits and produce are raised on this face. It serves eternity, and makes transitory things as though eternal. On this face too there is no death and decline, but the manifestations of life and eternity.
The Third Face looks to transient beings, that is, to us. It is the beloved of ephemeral beings and those who follow the caprices of their souls; the place of trade for the conscious; the arena of trial and examination for those charged with duties. Thus, the salve and cure for the pains and wounds of the transience and decline, the death and extinction, on this third face, are the manifestations of life and eternity in its inner face.
I n S h o r t : This flood of beings, these travelling creatures, are moving mirrors and changing places of manifestation for the renewal of the lights of creation and existence of the Necessarily Existent One.
THE TWENTY-FOURTH LETTER
SECOND STATION
The Second Station consists of an Introduction and Five Indications. The Introduction contains Two Topics.
F i r s t T o p i c : In each of the following Five Indications is a comparison, written in the form of a dull, short-ranged telescope, in order to observe the Attributes of Dominicality. These comparisons cannot contain the reality of those attributes; they cannot encompass them and be the measure of them, but they can assist in looking at them. Any phrases or expressions in the comparisons, or in the previous Signs, unfitting for the attributes of the Most Pure and Holy Essence are the fault of the comparisons.
For example, the meanings of pleasure, joy, and gratification known by us cannot express the Sacred Attributes, but each is the title of an observatory, a means of reflective thought. In addition, through showing in a small example the tip of an encompassing mighty law of Dominicality, it proves the reality of the law within the attributes of Dominicality. For example, it is said that a flower departs from existence leaving behind it thousands of existences; this demonstrates a mighty law of Dominicality which is in force in all the beings of spring, indeed, of all the World.
Yes, through whichever law the All-Compassionate Creator changes and renews the feathered dress of a bird, through the same law that All-Wise Maker renews the dress of the globe of the earth every year. And through the same law, He transforms the shape of the world every century. And through the same law, He will change the form of the Universe at the resurrection of the dead.
And through whichever law He impels particles like Mawlawi Derwishes, He makes the Earth spin through the same law, like an ecstatic Mawlawi Derwish rising up to dance the sama. And through that law, He causes worlds to revolve, and the Solar- System to travel through Space.
And through whichever law He renews, repairs, and dissolves the particles in your body's cells, through the same law, He renews your garden every year, making it anew many times every season. And through the same law, He renews the face of the Earth every spring, drawing a fresh veil over its face.
And through whichever law, that All-Powerful Maker raises a fly to life, through the same law He restores to life the plane-tree before your window every spring; and through that law, He raises the Globe of the Earth to life in the spring; and through the same law will raise creatures to life at the resurrection.
The Qur'an alludes to this with the verse :
" Your creation and your resurrection is but as a single soul." (Quran 31-28)
And so on; you can make further examples in the same way.
There are many laws of Dominicality like these which are in force from particles to the totality of the world. And so, consider the immensity of these laws within Dominical activity; note carefully their breadth, and see the meaning of Unity within them. Understand that each law is a proof of Divine Unity.
Yes, through each of these numerous and immense laws being the manifestation of knowledge and will, and being both the same and all-encompassing, each also proves most certainly the Maker's Unity, Knowledge, and Will.
Thus, most of the comparisons throughout the Words show the tips of laws like these through a small example, and by doing this point to the existence of the same law in the matter claimed. Since the actual existence of the law is demonstrated through a comparison, it proves the assertion as categorically as a logical proof. That is to say, most of the comparisons in the Words are like categorical proofs and certain arguments.
S e c o n d T o p i c : As described in the Tenth Truth of the Tenth Word, however many flowers and fruits a tree has, each of them has that many aims, purposes, and instances of wisdom. These instances of wisdom are of three sorts:
One sort looks to the Maker and displays the embroideries of His Names.
Another sort looks to conscious beings, and in the view of the conscious, things are valuable missives and meaningful words.
Another sort looks to itself and to its own life and perpetuation; and if beneficial for man, the being contains instances of wisdom accordingly.
At one time, while contemplating on how all beings have such numerous aims, the following phrases occurred to me in Arabic, which, like notes forming the basis of the following Indications, allude to those Universal Aims:
These glorious Beings are flowing places of manifestation and roving mirrors for the renewal of the manifestations of the Lights of His Creativity, Glory be unto Him: through the changing of their relative positions.
* Firstly, and by preserving their beautiful meanings and their identities in the World of Similitudes;
* Secondly, and producing truths pertaining to the World of the Unseen and the weavings of the Preserved Tablet;
* Thirdly, and spreading the fruits of the Hereafter and publishing everlasting panoramas;
* Fourthly, and proclaiming Dominical glorifications and making known what the Divine Names necessitate;
* Fifthly, so that the Divine Attributes become apparent and the aspects of Divine Knowledge.
These five sections contain the bases of the Indications we shall discuss below. Yes, all beings, and particularly living beings, possess on five levels different aims and instances of wisdom and purposes. Like a tree produces fruit on branches one over the other, so too all living beings have five different levels of aims and purposes.
O ephemeral man! If you want your own reality which is like a small seed to be transformed into an eternal fruit-bearing tree, and to obtain the ten levels of fruits and ten sorts of aims pointed out in the five Indications, acquire True Belief. Otherwise, in addition to being deprived of all of them, you will be squeezed into that seed and you will rot.
· FIRST INDICATION
Firstly, through the changing of their relative positions (determinations), and by preserving their beautiful meanings and their identities in the World of Similitudes.
This section expresses the following: After departing from existence, a being apparently disappears into non-existence and transience, but the meanings it has expressed are preserved and perpetuated. Its identity, form, and essentiaI nature, too, are preserved in the World of Similitudes, in the Preserved Tablets (Alwah ul-Mahfuzah), which are samples of the World of Similitudes, and in memories, which are samples of the Preserved Tablets. That is, the being loses its apparent existence, and gains hundreds of immaterial existences which pertain to knowledge.
For example, in order to print a page in a printing-press, the type is set up and arranged. Then after the page has bequeathed its form and identity to many pages on being printed and after it has proclaimed its meanings to many minds, the arrangement of the type is changed. For no need remains for it, also other pages have to be printed.
In exactly the same way, the Pen of Divine Determining sets up and arranges the beings of the earth, and especially plants. Divine Power creates them on the page of the springtime, then in order for them to express their beautiful meanings and for their forms and identities to pass to the ledgers of the World of the Unseen, like the World of Similitudes, Divine Wisdom requires that the arrangement be changed. In this way, the page of another, future spring may be written, and its beings may express those meanings too.
· SECOND INDICATION
Secondly, and producing truths pertaining to the World of the Unseen and the weavings of the Preserved Tablet (Lawh al-Mahfuz).
This section indicates that after departing from existence, everything whether particular or universal, and particularly living beings produce many truths pertaining to the Unseen. So too they leave behind them on the tablets and notebooks of the World of Similitudes forms to the number of the stages of their lives; their life histories and those of the forms that are meaningful are inscribed and become objects of study for spirit beings.
For example, a flower passes from existence, but together with leaving behind its essential nature in its hundreds of seeds, it also leaves behind thousands of its forms on small Preserved Tablets and in memories, which are small samples of the Preserved Tablets, and through the stages of its life, causes conscious beings to study the embroideries of the Divine Names and Dominical glorifications it expresses; then it departs.
In exactly the same way, adorned with finely wrought beings in the flower-pot of the face of the earth, the springtime is a flower; it apparently declines and departs for non-existence, but in its place it leaves behind in existence the truths pertaining to the Unseen it has expressed to the number of its seeds, and identities in the World of Slmilitudes it has published to the number of its flowers, and the instances of Dominical wisdom it has displayed to the number of its beings; only then is it hidden from us. And it makes room for its friends, other springs, to come and perforrn their duties. That is to say, the spring is divested of an apparent existence, and in meaning is clothed in a thousand existences.
· THIRD INDICATION
Thirdly, and spreading the fruits of the Hereafter and publishing everlasting panoramas.
This section states that the world is a workbench and arable field raising crops suitable for the market of the Hereafter. We have proved in many of the Words that just as jinn and men send their actions to the market of the Hereafter, so too the other beings of the world perform numerous duties on account of the Hereafter and produce many crops for it. It may even be said that the earth travels for them, or even that this is its purpose. This Dominical Ship traverses a twenty-four thousand year distance in one year, circumscribing the field of the Resurrection.
For example, the people of Paradise will surely desire to recall their adventures in this world and recount them to one another. They will be exceedingly curious to see the images and pictures of those adventures, and if they watch them like watching the Cinema screen, they will enjoy it immensely. Since that is the case, as the verse,
"Joyfully facing each other on thrones (of dignity)"...(Quran 15-47, 37-44)
indicates, there will be in Paradise, the realm of delight and happiness, the recounting of worldly adventures, and scenes of worldly happenings, amid everlasting panoramas.
Thus, these beautiful beings appearing for a moment then disappearing, and their following on one after the other in succession, seem like factories and workshops for manufacturing the vistas of eternity. For example, in order to afford a sort of permanence to transient situations and leave a souvenir for the people of the future, the people of civilization record the forms of beautiful or strange situations and present them as gifts to the future by means of the Cinema screen; they show the past in the present and the future, and include it in them.
In just the same way, for the All-Wise Maker of those beings of the spring and the world to record the aims of their brief lives which look to the World of Eternity in that world, and for Him to record in everlasting scenes in the Eternal Realm the vital duties and the Divine Miracles those beings have performed throughout the stages of their lives, is the requirement of the Names of All-Wise, All-Compassionate, and Loving.
· FOURTH INDICATION
Fourthly, and proclaiming Dominical glorifications and making known the requirements of the Divine Names.
This sections states that throughout the stages of their lives, beings perform numerous varieties of Dominical glorifications. They also demonstrate various situations that the Divine Names necessitate and require....
For example, the Name of All-Compassionate desires to be compassionate. The Name of Provider necessitates the giving of sustenance. The Name of Gracious requires the granting of favours. And so on; all the Divine Names require and necessitate something. Thus, in addition to demonstrating the requirements of the Names through their lives and existences, all living beings glorify the All-Wise Maker to the number of their members and faculties.
For example, a man eats delicious fruits which are then dissolved in his stomach and apparently destroyed, but in addition to producing a pleasure and eagerness arising from activity in all the cells of his body as well as his mouth and stomach, they are the means to very many instances of wisdom like nurturing his life and every part of his body and causing his life to continue. The food itself also rises from vegetable existence to the level of human life; it progresses.
In exactly the same way, when beings are hidden behind the veil of death, together with the very many glorifications of each enduring in their places, they also bequeath to the Divine Names, many of the Names' embroideries and requirements. That is to say, they depart entrusting them to an eternal existence. If, then, on the departure of a transient and temporary existence thousands of existences manifesting a sort of permanence remain in its place, can it be said that the thing is to be pitied, or that it was all for nothing, or why did that lovable creature depart; can it be complained about`?
It is rather that the mercy, wisdom, and love concerning it required and necessitated it to be thus. Otherwise it would be necessary to abandon thousands of benefits so that a single harm should not come about; in which case the harm would be a thousandfold. That is to say, the Names of All-Compassionate, All-Wise, and Loving One are not opposed to death and separation; indeed, they require and necessitate it.
· FIFTH INDICATION
Fifthly, so that the Divine attributes become apparent and the aspects of Divine knowledge.
This section states that on departing from apparent existence, beings, and particularly living beings, leave behind them many enduring things. As described in the Second Sign, present in the attributes of Dominicality in a way fitting to the sacredness and perfect self sufficiency of the Necessarily Existent Essence, and in a form worthy of Him, are a boundless Love, an infinite compassion, an endless pride, and, if the term is permissible, a boundless Holy Pleasure, a joy, and if the expression is not mistaken, an Infinite Sacred Delight, and a transcendent happiness; the traces of which are to be observed and seen.
Thus, through change and transformation, decline and transience, beings are driven on at speed within the astonishing activity necessitated by these attributes; they are constantly sent from the Manifest World to the World of the Hereafter. Under the manifestations of those attributes, creatures are shaken up in a continual flow and flood, motion and movement, scattering to the ears of the heedless the lamentations of death and separation, and to the hearing of the people of guidance, a clamour of glorification and recitation of God's Names.
It is due to this mystery that all beings depart leaving behind them in existence meanings, qualities, and states which will each be the means to the manifestation of the Necessarily Existent One's eternal attributes.
Furthermore, beings depart leaving behind them the stages and states they have undergone throughout their lives - a detailed existence which represents their external existence - in the Preserved Tablet, the Clear Book, and the Clear Record, and other spheres like these pertaining to Divine Knowledge where there is existence. This means that every transitory being abandons one existence and gains thousands of permanent existences.
For example, a number of common substances are thrown into a wondrous machine in a factory; they burn up inside it and are apparently destroyed, but in those vats most valuable chemical substances are precipitated. Also, through its force and steam, the factory's machinery works: in one area of it textiles are woven, in another books are printed, while in another sweets and other rare things are manufactured; and so on; it is the means to these.
That is to say, thousands of things come into existence through the burning of those common substances and their apparently being destroyed. One common existence departs, but it leaves a legacy of numerous elevated existences. And so, can one feel sorry for the common substance ? Can one complain about the factory owner because he did not pity it and burnt it, destroying those affectionate substances ?
In exactly the same way, And God's is the highest similitude, as necessitated by mercy, wisdom, and lovingness, the Wise, Compassionate, and Loving Creator causes the factory of the Universe to work. He makes all transient existences the seeds to numerous perpetual existences; He makes them the means for the fulfilment of the Dominical aims; He makes them manifest the Divine functions; He makes them the ink for the Pen of Divine Determining and shuttles for the weaving of Divine Power; and for many elevated aims and favours which we do not yet know, through the activity of His own Power, He causes the activity of the Universe; He causes particles to spin, beings to travel, animals to flow, and the planets to rotate; He makes the Universe speak, causing it to recite silently His verses, His signs, and to inscribe them.
And of the creatures of the earth - with regard to His Dominicality - He makes the Air a sort of Throne to His command and will; the element of Light a Throne to His Knowledge and wisdom; and Water a Throne to His bounty and mercy; and Earth a sort of Throne to His preservation and giving of life; and three of these Thrones He rests on the creatures of the Earth.
Know certainly that the shining truth demonstrated in these Five Signs and Five Indications is to be seen through the Light of the Qur'an and may be laid claim to through the Strength of Belief. Otherwise a terrifying darkness takes the place of this enduring truth. For the people of misguidance, the world is full to overflowing with deaths, separations, and non-existence; for them, the Universe becomes a sort of Hell. Having only a flash of existence, everything is surrounded by never-ending nonexistence. All the past and the future is filled with the darkness of nonexistence; they may find a sad light of existence only in the fleeting present.
While through the mystery of the Qur'an and the light of belief, a light of existence becomes apparent which stretches from pre-eternity to post-eternity; they may become connected with that, and through it secure eternal happiness.
I n S h o r t : In the manner of the poet Niyazi Misri, we say:
Till this breath becomes the ocean,
Till this cage is smashed to fragments,
Till this voice is silenced,
I shall call: O Truth! O Existent! O Living One! O Worshipped One!
O Most Wise! O Sought One! O Compassionate One! O Loving One!
And I call out:
There is no god but Allah, the Sovereign, the Truth, the Evident,
Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah, faithful in His promise, Ameen.
And believing, I state:
Resurrection after death is a reality; Paradise is a reality; Hellfire is a reality; Eternal Happiness is a reality; God is Compassionate, Wise and Loving; and Mercy, Wisdom, and Love encompass all things and their attributes.
And they shall say: "Praise be to Allah, Who has guided us to this felicity; never could we have found guidance, had it not been for the guidance of Allah; indeed it was the truth that the Prophets of our Sustainer brought to us!" (Q 7-43)
Glory be to He Who has made the Garden of the Earth: the exhibition of His art, the gathering of His creatures, the place of manifestation of His power, the means of His wisdom, the garden of His mercy, the tillage of His Paradise, the place of passage of creatures, the place through which beings flow, the measure of artefacts; adorned by animals, embroidered with birds, made fruitful by trees, made to blossom with flowers; miracles of His knowledge, wonders of His art, gifts of His munificence, proofs of His favour, evidences of His Unity, subtleties of His wisdom, witnesses to His mercy; the smiling of the blossoms with the adornment of fruits, the singing of the birds in breezes of morning, the pattering of the rain on the cheeks of the flowers; the adornment of the flowers, the embellishment of the fruits in these gardens; all mothers, human and animal, are tender towards their small young, making known a Loving one, making loved a Merciful one, the Compassion of a Kind one, the Tenderness of One sympathetic to Man and Jinn, and to Spirits, Animals, Angels, and Demons.
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The Fifteenth Letter
In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.
My Dear Brother!
YOUR FIRST QUESTION
Why didn't the Companions discover the troublemakers with the eye of sainthood, so that it resulted in three of the four Rightly-Guided Caliphs being martyred? For it is said that the lesser Companions are greater than the greatest saints?
T h e A n s w e r : There are two Stations in this matter.
FIRST STATION
This question is solved by explaining as follows, a subtle mystery of sainthood:
The Companions' sainthood, known as the 'greater sainthood,' is a sainthood which arose from the legacy of prophethood, and, passing directly from the apparent to reality without travelling the intermediate path, looks to the unfolding of Divine immediacy. Although this way of sainthood is very short, it is extremely elevated. Its wonders are few, but its virtues many. Illuminations and wonder-workings are to be encountered infrequently on it. Moreover, the wonder-working of the saints is mostly involuntary; wonders appear from them unexpectedly as a Divine bestowal. And the majority of these illuminations and wonder-workings occur during their spiritual journeying, when they traverse the intermediate realm of the Sufi path; they manifest these extra-ordinary states because they have withdrawn to a degree from ordinary humanity. As for the Companions, due to the reflection, attraction, and elixir of the company of prophethood, they were not compelled to traverse the vast sphere of spiritual journeying present on the Sufi way. They were able to pass from the apparent to reality in one step, through one conversation with the Prophet. For example, there are two ways of reaching the Night of Power, if it was last night:
One is to travel and wander for a year and so come to that night. One has to traverse the distance of a year in order to gain this proximity. This is the way of those who take the way of spiritual journeying, which most of those who follow the Sufi path take.
The second is to slip free of and be divested of the sheath of corporeality, which is restricted by time, to rise in the spirit, and to see the Night of Power, which was last night, together with the night of the 'Eid, which is the day after tomorrow, as being present like today. For the spirit is not restricted by time. When the human emotions rise to the level of the spirit, present time expands. Time which is the past and the future for others is as though the present for such a person.
And so, according to this comparison, in order to reach the Night of Power, one has to rise to the level of the spirit and see the past as though it was the present. The basis of this obscure mystery is the unfolding of Divine immediacy. For example, the sun is close to us, for its light and heat are present in our mirror and in our hand. But we are far from it. If we perceive its immediacy from the point of view of luminosity, and understand our relation to its image in our mirror, which is a similitude; if we come to know it by that means, and know what its light, heat, and totality is, its immediacy is unfolded to us and we recognize it as close to us and we become connected to it. If we want to draw close to it and get to know it from the point of view of our distance from it, we are compelled to embark on an extensive journeying of the mind, so that by means of thought and the laws of science, we may rise to the skies in the mind and conceive of the sun there, and through lengthy scientific investigation understand the light and heat in its nature and the seven colours in its light. only after this may we attain to the non-physical proximity the first man attained with little thought through his mirror.
Thus, like this comparison, the sainthood in prophethood and in the legacy of prophethood looks to the mystery of the unfolding of Divine immediacy. The other sainthood proceeds mostly on the basis of proximity, and is compelled to traverse numerous degrees in is spiritual journeying.
SECOND STATION
Those who were the cause of those events and instigated the trouble did not consist of a few Jews so that having discovered them the trouble could have been prevented. For with numerous different peoples entering Islam, many currents and ideas which were opposed to and contrary to one another had confused the situation. Particularly since the national pride of some of them had received awesome wounds at the blows of Umar (RA), they were waiting to take their revenge. For both their old religion had been rendered null and void and their old rule and sovereignty, the source of their pride, been swept away. Knowingly or unknowingly, they were emotionally in favour of taking their revenge on Islamic rule. It was therefore said that certain clever and scheming dissemblers like the Jews took advantage of that state of society. That is to say, it would have been possible to prevent those events through reforming the social life, and various ideas of that time. They could not have been prevented by discovering one or two troublemakers.
I f i t i s s a i d : Why did Umar (RA) not see his murderer, Firuz, who was at his side with that piercing eye of sainthood of his, although while in the pulpit he said to one of his commanders called Sariya who was a month's distance away, "Sariya! The mountain, the mountain!" making Sariya hear it and in wondrous fashion causing a strategic victory - showing how piercing his view was?
T h e A n s w e r : We answer with the answer that the Prophet Jacob (Upon whom be peace) gave. That is, it was asked of Jacob, "How did you perceive the odour of Joseph's shirt from Egypt when you did not see him in the well at Cana'an close by?" He replied: "Our state is like lightening; sometimes it appears and sometimes it is hidden. Sometimes it is as though we are seated on the highest spot and can see everywhere. And sometimes we cannot even see the arch of our foot."
In short: However much man acts with choice, still, in accordance with the verse,
You do not will it except as God wills,
Divine will is fundamental, Divine Determining is dominant. Divine will gives back human will. It confirms the statement, If Divine Determining speaks, human power cannot speak, man's will falls silent.
THE MEANING OF YOUR SECOND QUESTION
What was the nature of the wars that started in the time of Ali {May God be pleased with him)? In what way should we describe those who took part in them, and those who died and those who killed?
T h e A n s w e r : The war called the Event of the Camel between Ali and Talha, and Zubayr and Aysha the Veracious (May God be pleased with all of them) was the struggle between pure justice and relative justice. It was as follows:
Ali took pure justice as the basis and in accordance with his judgement of the Law, proceeded on that basis, as was the case in the time of the Caliphs Abu Bakr and Umar. Those who opposed him said that at that time the purity of Islam permitted pure justice, but since with the passage of time various peoples whose Islam was weak had entered Islamic social life, to apply pure justice was extremely difficult. For this reason, their judgement of the Law was to proceed on the basis of relative justice, known as the lesser of two evils. Dispute over interpretation of the Law led to war. Since the interpretations had been purely for God's sake and for the benefit of Islam, and war was born of interpretation of the Law, we may surely say that both those who killed and those who were killed gained Paradise, and both acted rightfully. However accurate was Ali's interpretation, and however much in error those who opposed him, they still did not deserve punishment. For if one who interprets the Law extracts the truth, he gains two rewards, but if he does not extract it, he still earns one reward, the reward for interpreting which is a form of worship; he is forgiven his error. A learned person who is widely known amongst us, and who speaks the truth, wrote in Kurdish: "Don't gossip about the war between the Companions, for both killer and killed were destined for Paradise."
Pure justice and relative justice may be explained like this: according to the allusive meaning of the verse,
If any one slew a person - unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would he as if he slew the whole people,
the rights of an innocent man cannot be cancelled for the sake of all the people. A single individual may not be sacrificed for the good of all. In the view of Almighty God's compassion, right is right, there is no difference between great and small. The small may not be annulled for the great. Without his consent, the life and rights of an individual may not be sacrificed for the good of the community. If he consents to sacrifice them the name of patriotism, that is a different matter.
As for relative justice, a particular is sacrificed for the good of the universal; the rights of an individual are not considered in the face of the community. A sort of relative justice is attempted to be applied as the lesser of two evils. But if it possible to apply pure justice, relative justice may not be attempted, if it is it is wrong.
Thus, Imam Ali {May God be pleased with him), saying it was possible to apply pure justice in the time of the Caliphs Abu Bakr and Umar, he constructed the Islamic Caliphate on the same basis. Those who opposed him and objected to him said that it was not possible to apply it because of the great difficulties, and judged according to the Law that they should proceed with relative justice. The other reasons related by history are not true reasons, they are pretexts.
I f y o u a s k : What was the reason for Imam Ali's lack of success in regard to the Islamic Caliphate relative to his predessesors, despite his extraordinary capabilities, unusual intelligence, and great deservedness?
T h e A n s w e r : That blessed person was worthier of important duties other than politics and rule. If he had been completely successful in politics and government, he would have been unable to truly gain the meaningful title of 'King of Sainthood'. Whereas he gained a spiritual rule far surpassing the external and political Caliphate, and became like a Universal Master; in fact, his spiritual rule will continue even until the end of the world.
When it comes to Imam Ali's war with Mu'awiya at Siffin, that was a war over the Caliphate and rule. That is to say, taking the injunctions of religion, the truths of Islam, and the Hereafter as the basis, Imam Ali sacrificed some of the laws of government and pitiless demands of politics to them. Whereas Mu'awiya and his supporters left aside resoluteness and favoured permissiveness in order to strengthen Islamic social life with their politics of government; they supposed themselves to be compelled to do so due to the demands of politics, and choosing permissiveness, fell into error.
As for Hasan and Husain's struggle against the Umayyads, that was a war between religion and nationalism. That is, the Umayyads planted the Islamic state on Arab nationalism and put the bonds of nationalism before those of Islam, therefore causing harm in two respects:
The First Respect: They offended the other nations and frightened them off.
The Other: Since the principles of racialism and nationalism do not follow justice and right, they are tyranny. They do not proceed on justice. For a ruler of racialist leanings prefers those of the same race, and cannot act justly. According to the clear decree of, Islam has abrogated what preceded it. There is no difference between an Abyssinian slave and a leader of the Quraish, once they have accepted Islam, Islam has abrogated the tribalism of Ignorance; the bonds of nationalisrn may not be set up in place of the bonds of religion; if they are, there will be no justice; right will disappear.
Thus, Husain took the bonds of religion as the basis, and struggled against them as someone who executes justice, until he acquired the rank of martyrdom.
I f i t i s s a i d : It he was so right and just, why was he not successful`? Also, why did Divine Determining and Divine Mercy permit them to meet with the tragic end they did?
T h e A n s w e r : It was not Husayn's close supporters, but those of other nations who had joined his community, and due to their wounded national pride, harboured feelings of revenge towards the Arab nation; they caused harm to the pure, shining ways of Husain and his supporters, and were the cause of their defeat.
The wisdom in their tragic end from the point of view of Divine Determining is this: Hasan and Husain and their family arid descendents were destined for a spiritual rule. It is extremely difficult to bring together worldly rule and spiritual rule. Therefore, Divine Determining made them feel disgust with the world; it showed them the ugly face of the world, so that they should cease to feel any attachment to the world with the heart. They lost a temporary and superficial rule, but were appointed to a splendid and permanent spiritual rule. They became the authorities of the spiritual poles among the saints instead of commonplace governors.
YOUR THIRD QUESTION
What was the wisdom in the tragic and cruel treatment those blessed persons received?
T h e A n s w e r : As explained above, there were three basic reasons that gave rise to the pitiless cruelty of Husain's opponents during Umayyad rule:
One was the pitiless principle of politics: "Individuals may be sacrificed for the well-being of the government and preservation of public order."
The second was the cruel rule of nationalism, "Everything may be sacrificed for the well-being of the nation," since their rule was based on racialism and nationalism.
The Third: Since the traditional vein of rivalry of the Umayyads towards the Hashimites was found in some people like Yazid, he displayed a merciless ability to be cruel.
A Fourth Reason: The Umayyads, taking Arab nationalism as the basis, looked on the members of other nations - who were found among Husain's supporters - as slaves, and had wounded their national pride. So, since the other nations had joined Husain's community with mixed intentions and to take revenge, the Umayyad's fanatic nationalism was excessively affronted, and the other nations were the cause of the extremely cruel and pitiless well-known tragedy.
The four reasons mentioned above are outward and apparent. When it is considered from the point of view of Divine Determining, the results pertaining to the Hereafter and the spiritual rule and spiritual progress that the tragedy gained for Hazrat Husain and his relatives were of such high worth that the distress they suffered due to it became extremely easy and cheap. Like if a soldier dies after an hour's torture and becomes a martyr, he attains such a rank that another could reach it only if he strove for ten years. If the soldier was to be asked after he had died, he would reply that he had gained much for very little.
THE MEANING OF YOUR FOURTH QUESTION
After Jesus (Upon whom be peace) kills the Dajjal (Antichrist) at the end of time, most people will enter the true religion. But it says in some narrations: "The end of the world will not occur so long there remain on the earth those who say, Allah! Allah!" So how after most people have come to believe, will most people become unbelievers?
T h e A n s w e r : Those whose belief is weak deem it unlikely that what is narrated in a sound Hadith, "Jesus (Upon whom be peace) will come, he will act in accordance with the Shari'a of Islam, and he will kill the Dajjal," will come about. But if the reality of this is explained, no reason remains to deem it unlikely. it is as follows:
The meaning expressed by this Hadith and those about the Sufyan and the Mehdi, is this: at the end of time two currents of irreligion will gain strength.
One of them: Under the veil of duplicity, a fearsome individual named the Sufyan, who will deny the prophethood of Muhammed (PBUH), will come to lead the dissemblers, and will try to destroy the Islamic Shari'a. To oppose him, a luminous individual called Muhammed Mehdi of the Family of the Prophet will come to lead the people of sainthood and perfection, who are bound to the luminous chain of the Family of the Prophet, and he will kill the current of dissemblers, which will be the collective personality of the Sufyan, and scatter it.
The Second Current: A tyrannical current born of Naturalist and Materialist philosophy will gradually become strong and spread at the end of time by means of materialist philosophy, reaching such a degree that it denies God. A savage who does not recognize the king or accept that the officers and soldiers in the army are his soldiers ascribes a sort of kingship and rulership to everyone and to all the soldiers. In just the same way, the members of that current, who deny God, each ascribes dominicality to his soul like a little Nimrod. And the greatest of them, the Dajjal, who will come to lead them, will manifest awesome wonders - a sort of spiritualism and hypnosis; he will go even further, and imagining his tyrannical, superficial rule to be a sort of dominicality, he will proclaim his godhead. It is clear just what foolish buffoonery it is for impotent man, who may be defeated by a fly and cannot create even a fly's wing, to claim godhead.
At that point when the current appears to be very strong, the religion of true Christianity, which comprises the collective personality of Jesus (Upon whom be peace), will emerge. That is, it will descend from the skies of Divine Mercy. Present Christianity will be purified in the face of that reality; it will cast off superstition and distortion, and unite with the truths of Islam. Christianity will in effect be transformed into a sort of Islam. Following the Qur'an, the collective personality of Christianity will be in the rank of follower, and Islam, In that of leader. True religion will become a mighty force as a result of its joining it. Although defeated before the atheistic current while separate, Christianity and Islam will have the capability to defeat and rout it as a result of their union. Then the person of Jesus (Upon whom be peace), who is present with his human body in the world of the heavens, will come to lead the current of true religion, as, relying on the promise of One Powerful Over All Things, the Bringer of Sure News has said. Since he has told of it, it is true, and since the One Powerful Over All Things has promised it, He will certainly bring it about.
Indeed, it is not far from the wisdom of an All-Wise One of Glory Who all the time sends the angels to the earth from the heavens, sometimes sends them in human form (like Gabriel appearing in the form of Dihya), and sends spirit beings from the Spirit World making them appear in human form, and even sends the spirits of most of the dead saints to the world with similitudes of their bodies, it would not be far from His Wisdom - even if he was not alive and present with his body in the skies of the world, and had truly died and departed for the furthest corner of the Hereafter - to clothe Jesus (Upon whom be peace) in his body and send him to the world, so to bring the religion of Jesus to a good conclusion; for such a momentous result. Indeed He promised it because His wisdom required it to be thus, and since He promised it, He will most certainly send him.
When Jesus (Upon whom be peace) comes, it is not necessary that everyone should know him to be the true Jesus. His elect and those close to him will recognize him through the light of belief. It will not be self-evident so that everyone will recognize him.
Q u e s t i o n : There are narrations which say: "The Dajjal has a false paradise into which he puts those that follow him, and he also has a false hell into which he casts those who do not follow him. He even has made one of his mount's ears into a paradise and the other into a hell... his body is of such-and-such vast dimensions...", they describe him like this?
T h e A n s w e r : The Dajjal is superficially like a human being. Since he is arrogant and pharaoh-like and has forgotten God, he is a foolish satan and intriguing man who calls his superficial, tyrannical rule godhead. But his huge current of atheism, his collective personality, is truly vast. The awesome descriptions of the Dajjal in the narrations allude to that. At one time, the commander-in-chief of Japanese army was depicted with one foot in the Pacific Ocean and the other ten days' distance away in Port Arthur. The collective personality of the commander-in-chief's army was shown by depicting him in this way.
The Dajjal's false paradise are the alluring amusements and enticements of civilization. His mount is means of transport like the railway; at one end of the train is the fire-box which sometimes sprays fire on those who do not follow him. The other of the mount's ears, that is, the other end of it, has been furnished like Paradise, and he seats his followers in it. Anyway, the railway, an important mount of dissolute and cruel civilization, brings a false paradise for- the dissolute and the worldly, while for the people of religion and Islam like the angels of Hell it brings dangers in the hand of civilization, and casts them into captivity and indigence.
For sure, with the emergence of the true religion of Christianity and its being transformed into Islam, it will spread its light to the great majority of people in the world, but when the end of the world is close an atheistic current will again show itself and become dominant. According to the rule, The word is with the majority, no one will remain on earth who says, "Allah! Allah!;" that is, "Allah! Allah!" will not he uttered by a significant group which holds an important position on the earth. The people of truth will form a minority or will be defeated, hut they will remain permanently till the end of the world. Only, the moment Doomsday occurs, as a sign of Divine mercy, the spirits of the believers will be seized first so that they do not see the terrors of the Last Day, and it will break forth over the unbelievers.
THE MEANING OF YOUR FIFTH QUESTION
Will the immortal spirits be grieved at the events of the Last Day?
T h e A n s w e r : They will be grieved according to their degrees. They will be grieved in the same way that. they are grieved at the overwhelming, wrathful manifestations of the angels towards themselves. Just as in respect of his mind and conscience a person is affected by those trembling in the snow and cold outside while he himself is inside in the warm, so too, since they are connected to the universe, according to their degree, immortal spirits are affected by the awesome events of the universe. The Qur'an indicates and alludes to this and to the tormented being afflicted in a grievous manner, and those destined for happiness being struck by wonder and amazement, and even rejoicing. For the All-Wise Qur'an always mentions the extraordinary events of the resurrection in the form of threats; it says: "You will see it!" Whereas those who will witness it physically are those living at the Last Day. That is to say, the spirits whose bodies have rotted in their graves also have a share of those Qur'anic threats.
THE MEANING QF YOUR SIXTH QUESTION
Does the verse,
Everything will perish save His countenance
include the Hereafter, Paradise, and Hell, and their inhabitants or does it not include them?
T h e A n s w e r : This question has been much discussed by the scholars, the saints, and those who uncover the realities of creation. The word is their's in this matter. Moreover, the verse is very broad and contains many levels. The majority of scholars said that it does not include the everlasting realm, while others said that those realms too will perish for ,just an instant, a brief interval of time, but so brief a time that it will not be perceived that they have been annihilated and returned. But the absolute annihilation stated by some of those who uncover the realities whose ideas are extreme, is not right. For since the Most Pure and Holy Divine Essence is eternal and everlasting, His attributes and Names are also surely eternal and everlasting. And since His attributes and Names are everlasting and eternal, the everlasting beings and the immortal ones in the realm of eternity which are the mirrors, manifestations, impresses, and places of reflection of His attributes and Names of necessity will not go to absolute non-existence.
I shall now write one or two points that occur to me from the effulgence of the Qur'an:
The First: Almighty God is the possessor of such Absolute Power that He can despatch and bring into being existence and non-existence most easily as though they were two houses in relation to His power and will. If He wishes He can return them from there in a day or in an instant. Anyway there is no absolute non-existence, for His knowledge is all-embracing. And there is nothing outside the sphere of Divine knowledge that something can be cast there. The non-existence within the sphere of His knowledge is external non-existence and a title for something concealed but existent in Divine knowledge. Some scholars have called these beings existent in Divine knowledge, "latent realities." In which case, to go to extinction is to be temporarily divested of external dress and to enter upon existence in Divine knowledge, existence in meaning. That is to say, transitory, ephemeral beings leave external existence and their essences are clothed in what has the meaning of existence; they pass from the sphere of Divine power to that of Divine knowledge.
The Second: As we have explained in many of the Words, in regard to their faces which look to themselves, all things are nothing. They do not possess existences which are of themselves independent or constant. And they do not possess realities which subsist of themselves. But in regard to their aspects that look to Almighty God, that is, that signify a meaning other than themselves, they are not nothing. For in that aspect are to be seen the manifestations of eternal Names. It is not doomed for non-existence, for it bears the shadow of an eternal existent. It has a reality, it is constant, and it is elevated. For it is a sort of constant shadow of the eternal Name which it manifests.
Furthermore, Everything will perish save His countenance is a sword to sever man's hand from things other than God. It looks to the transitory things of this world in order to sever the attachment for ephemeral things in this fleeting world, which are not for Almighty God's sake. That is to say, if it is for God's sake, on account of the face which looks to Him, for Him, it cannot enter upon what is other than Him so that its head should be cut off with the sword of Everything will perish save His countenance.
In Short: If it is for God, if a person finds God, it cannot remain other than Him so that his head should be severed. If he does not find God and does not look on his account, everything is other than Him. A person has to use the sword of Everything will perish save His countenance, he has to rend the veil so that he can find Him.....
The Enduring One, He is the Enduring One!
S a i d N u r s i
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The Sixteenth Letter
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
Men said to them: "A great army is gathering against you," and frightened them. But it [only] increased their belief; they said: "For us God suffices, and He is the best Disposer of Affairs."1
This letter manifested the meaning of the verse, But speak to him mildly,2 and was not written vehemently. It is the answer to a question asked me explicitly and implicitly by many people.
[To reply is not agreeable to me and I do not want to, for I have bound everything to reliance on God. But since I have not been left in peace to myself in my own world and since they have directed my attention towards the world, I am compelled to propound five Points in the language of the Old Said in order to explain the reality of the situation both to my friends, and to 'the worldly,' and to those in authority, so as to save not myself, but my friends and my Words, from the suspicions and ill-treatment of 'the worldly.']
FIRST POINT
It is asked: "Why have you withdrawn from politics and now have nothing to do with it?"
T h e A n s w e r : The Old Said of nine or ten years ago was involved in politics a certain amount; indeed, thinking he would serve religion and learning by means of politics, he was wearied for nothing. And he saw that it is a dangerous way which is doubtful and full of difficulties and for me superfluous, as well as forming an obstacle to the most necessary duties. It is mostly lies and there is the possibility of unknowingly being a tool in the hand of Europe. Furthermore, one who enters politics is either successful or is in opposition. As for being successful, since I am neither an official nor a deputy, to work in politics is unnecessary and nonsense for me. Politics has no need for me so that I should interfere for nothing. If I join the opposition, I would do so either with ideas or with force. If it was with ideas there is no need for me, for the questions are all clear, and everyone knows them as I do. To wag one's chin pointlessly is meaningless. If I join the opposition for the purpose of force and to provoke an incident, there would be the possibility of committing thousands of sins in order to obtain a doubtful goal. Many people would be afflicted by disaster on account of one. So saying that in conscience he could not accept committing sins and causing the innocent to commit sins due to a one or two in ten possibility, the Old Said gave up cigarettes together with the newspapers, politics, and worldly conversation about politics. Decisive evidence for this is the fact that for the past eight years I have not read a single newspaper nor listened to one being read. Let someone come forward and say that I have read one or listened to one. Whereas eight years ago the Old Said used to read perhaps eight newspapers every day. Furthermore, for the past five years I have been under the closest scrutiny and surveillance. Anyone who has observed the slightest hint of political activity should say so. But for someone like me who is nervous, fearless, and without attachment, who considers the best stratagem to be without stratagem, his ideas will not remain secret for eight days, let alone eight years. If he had had the appetite and desire for politics, he would not have left any necessity for investigation and scrutiny, he would have given voice like the firing of a cannon.
SECOND POINT
Why does the New Said avoid politics with such vehemence?
T h e A n s w e r : He avoids it so vehemently in order to serve belief and the Qur'an, which is of the greatest importance, the greatest necessity and is the most pure and most right, in order not to sacrifice unnecessarily and officiously for one or two doubtful years of worldly life the working for and gaining of more than millions of years of eternal life. For he says: I am getting old and I do not know how many more years I shall live, so the most important question for me must be to work for eternal life. The prime means of gaining eternal life and the key to everlasting happiness is belief, so one has to work for that. But since I am obliged by the Shari'a to serve people in respect of learning so that they may profit also, I want to perform such a duty. However, such service will either concern social and worldly life, which I cannot do, and also in stormy times it is not possible to perform such service soundly. Therefore, I left aside that aspect and chose the aspect of service to belief, which is the most important, the most necessary, and the soundest. I leave that door open so that the truths of belief I have gained for myself and the spiritual remedies I have myself experienced may be acquired by others. Perhaps Almighty God will accept this service and make it atonement for my former sins. Apart from Satan the Accursed, no one, be it a believer or an unbeliever, one of the veracious or an atheist, has the right to oppose this work. For unbelief resembles nothing else. In tyrannizing, vice, and grievous sins there may be an inauspicious satanic pleasure, but in unbelief there is no sort of pleasure at all. It is pain upon pain, darkness upon darkness, torment upon torment.
Just how contrary to reason it would be for someone like me who is unattached, alone, and compelled to atone for his former sins to leave aside working for an endless eternal life and serving a sacred light like belief, and to cast himself in old age into the unnecessary, perilous games of politics-just how contrary to wisdom, just what a lunacy it would be even lunatics would understand!
But if you ask why service to the Qur'an and belief prohibit me, I would say: Since the truths of belief and the Qur'an are each like diamonds, if I was polluted by politics, the ordinary people who are easily deceived, would wonder about those diamonds I was holding, "Aren't they for political propaganda to attract more supporters?" They might regard the diamonds as bits of common glass. Then by being involved with politics, I would be wronging the diamonds and as though reducing their value. And so, O you whose view is restricted to this world! Why do you struggle against me? Why do you not leave me to myself?
If you say: The shaykhs sometimes interfere in our business, and they sometimes call you a shaykh.
I reply: Good sirs! I am not a shaykh, I am a hoja [teacher]. The evidence is this: I have been here four years and if I had taught a single person the Sufi way, you would have had the right to be suspicious. But I have told everyone who has come to me: Belief is necessary, Islam is necessary; this is not the age of Sufism.
If you say: They call you Said-i Kurdi; perhaps you have some nationalist ideas, and that doesn't suit our interests.
I would reply: Sirs! The things the Old Said and the New Said have written are clear. I cite as testimony the certain statement, "Islam has abrogated the tribalism of Ignorance." For years I have considered negative nationalism and racialism to be a fatal poison, since it is a variety of European disease. And Europe has infected Islam with that disease thinking it would cause division, and Islam would break up and be easily swallowed. My students and those who have had anything to do with me know that for years I have tried to treat that disease. Since it is thus, good sirs, I wonder why you make every incident a pretext to harass me? According to what principle do you cause me distress at every worldly incident, like punishing and inflicting trouble on a soldier in the West because of a mistake made by a soldier in the East due to the connection of the army, or convicting a shopkeeper in Baghdad because of a crime committed by a tradesman in Istanbul due to their being in the same line of business? How can the conscience demand this? What benefit can require it?
THIRD POINT
My friends who wonder how I am and are astonished at my meeting every calamity silently with patience ask the following question: "How can you endure the difficulties and troubles with which you are faced, whereas formerly you were very proud and angry and could not endure even the least insult?"
T h e A n s w e r : Listen to two short incidents and stories and you shall receive your answer:
The First Story: Two years ago an official spoke insultingly and contemptuously about me behind my back. They later told me about it. For about an hour I was affected due to the Old Said's vein of temperament. Then through Almighty God's mercy the following fact occurred to me; it dispelled the distress and made me forgive the man. The fact is this:
I addressed my soul saying: if his insults and the faults he described concern my person and my soul, may God be pleased with him, because he recounted the faults of my soul. If he spoke the truth, he drove me to train my soul and he helped in saving me from arrogance. If he spoke falsely, he has helped to save me from hypocrisy and undeserved fame, the source of hypocrisy. No, I have not been reconciled with my soul, for I have not trained it. If someone tells me there is a scorpion on my neck or breast or else points it out to me, I should be grateful to him, not offended. But if the man's insults were directed towards my belief and my attribute of being servant of the Qur'an, it does not concern me. I refer him to the Qur'an's Owner, Who employs me. He is Mighty, He is Wise. And if it was merely to curse at me, insult me, and destroy my character, that does not concern me either. For I am an exile, a prisoner, a stranger, and my hands are tied, and it does not fall to me to try to restore my honour myself. It rather concerns the authorities of this village where I am a guest and under surveillance, then of the district, then of the province. Insulting the prisoner of a person, concerns the person; he defends the prisoner. Since the reality of the matter is this, my heart became easy. I said,
My [own] affair I commit to God; for God [ever] watches over His servants.3
I thought of the incident as not having happened. But unfortunately it was later understood that the Qur'an had not forgiven him...
The Second Story: This year I heard that an incident had occurred. Although I only heard a brief account of it after it had happened, I was treated as though I had been closely connected with it. Anyway I do not correspond with anyone, and if I do, I only write extremely rarely concerning some question of belief to a friend. In fact I have written only one letter to my brother in four years. Both I prevent myself from mixing with others, and 'the worldly' prevent me. I have only been able to meet with one or two close friends once or twice a week. As for visitors to the village, once or twice a month perhaps one or two used to meet with me for one or two minutes concerning some matter to do with the hereafter. In exile, a stranger, alone, with no one, I was barred from everything, from everyone, in a village which was unsuitable for someone like me to work for a livelihood. Even, four years ago I repaired a tumble-down mosque. Although with the certificate I had from my own region to act an imam and preacher I acted as imam in the mosque for four years (May God accept it), this past Ramadan I could not go to the mosque. Sometimes I performed the five daily prayers alone. I was deprived of the twenty-fivefold merit and good of performing the prayers in congregation.
And so, I showed the same patience and forbearance in the face of these two incidents that befell me as I did towards the treatment of that official two years ago. God willing I shall continue to do so. I think like this and say: if this ill-treatment, distress, and oppression inflicted on me by 'the worldly' is for my faulty soul, I forgive it. Perhaps my soul will be reformed by means of it, and perhaps it will be atonement for its sins. I have experienced many of the good things in this guest-house of the world; if I experience a little of its trials, I shall still offer thanks. If 'the worldly' oppress me because of my service to belief and the Qur'an, it is not up to me to defend it. I refer it to the Mighty and Compelling One. If the intention is to destroy the regard in which I am held generally, to expunge undeserved fame, which is baseless and causes hypocrisy and destroys sincerity, then may God bless them! For I consider being held in regard by people generally and gaining a name among them to be harmful for people like me. Those who have dealings with me know that I do not want respect to be shown to me, indeed, I can't abide it. I have even scolded a valuable friend of mine perhaps fifty times for showing me excessive respect. If their intention in slandering me, belittling me in the eyes of the people, and defaming me is directed towards the truths of belief and the Qur'an of which I am the interpreter, it is pointless. For a veil cannot be drawn over the stars of the Qur'an. "One who closes his eyes only himself does not see; he does not make it night for anyone else."
FOURTH POINT
The answer to a number of suspicious questions:
T h e F i r s t : 'The worldly' say to me: "How do you live? What do you live on since you do not work? We don't want people in our country who sit around idly and live off the labour of others."
T h e A n s w e r : I live through frugality and the resulting plenty. I am not obliged to anyone other the One Who Provides for me and I have taken the decision not to become obliged to anyone else. Yes, someone who lives on a hundred para, or even forty para, does not become obliged to anyone. I do not want to explain this matter. To do so is most disagreeable to me, as it may make me feel a sort of pride or egotism. But since 'the worldly' ask about it suspiciously, I reply as follows: since my childhood, throughout my life, it has been a principle of my life not to accept anything from the people, even zakat, not to accept a salary -only I was compelled to accept one for one or two years in the Darü'l-Hikmeti'l-Islamiye on the insistence of my friends- and not to become obliged to people for a worldly livelihood. The people of my native region and those who have known me in other places know this. During these five years of exile, many friends have tried earnestly to make me accept their gifts, but I have accepted none of them. And so, if it is asked me, "So how do you manage to live?", I reply: I live through Divine bestowal and blessings. For sure, my soul deserves all insults and contempt, but as a wonder resulting from service of the Qur'an, I receive plenty and blessings which are a Divine bestowal in the matter of sustenance. In accordance with the verse,
But the bounty of your Sustainer rehearse and proclaim,4
I shall recall the bounties Almighty God has bestowed on me, and mention a few examples by way of thanks. But together with being thanks, I am frightened that it will induce hypocrisy and pride so that blessed plenty will be cut. For to make known a secret Divine gift of plenty causes it to cease. But what can I do, I am compelled to tell them.
And so, The First: This six months one bushel (kile)5 of wheat, consisting of thirty-six loaves of bread, has sufficed me. There is still some left, it is not finished. How much longer6 it will last, I do not know.
The Second: This blessed month of Ramadan I received food from only two houses, and both of them made me ill. I understood that I am prohibited from eating the food of others. The rest of the time, in the whole of Ramadan, three loaves of bread and one okka7 of rice sufficed me, as was witnessed and told by Abdullah Çavus, the owner of a blessed house and a loyal friend who saw my economizing. The rice even was finished two weeks after the end of Ramadan.
The Third: For three months on the mountain one kiyye8 of butter was enough for me and my guests, eating it every day together with bread. On one occasion even I had a blessed visitor called Süleyman. Both his bread and my bread were about to be finished. It was Wednesday. I told him to go and get some bread. For two hours' distance to every side of us there was no one from whom he could have got any bread. He said that he wanted to stay with me on the mountain on Thursday night so that we could pray together. Saying, Our reliance is on God, I told him to stay. Later, although it had no connection with this and there was no reason for it, we both began walking till we reached the top of mountain. There was a little water in the ewer, and we had a small piece of sugar and some tea. I said to him: "Brother! Make some tea!" He set about making it and I sat down under a cedar-tree overlooking a deep ravine. I thought regretfully to myself: we have a bit of mouldy bread which will only just be enough for us this evening. What shall we do for two days and what shall I say to this ingenuous man? While thinking this, I suddenly turned my head involuntarily and I saw a huge loaf of bread on the cedar-tree in among the branches; it was facing us. I exclaimed: "Süleyman! Good news! Almighty God has sent us food." We took the bread, and looking at it saw that no bird or wild animal had touched it. And for twenty or thirty days no one at all had climbed to the top of that mountain. The bread was sufficient for us for the two days. While we were eating and it was about to be finished, righteous Süleyman who had been the most loyal of loyal friends for four years, suddenly appeared from below with more bread.
The Fourth: I bought this sack coat that I'm wearing seven years ago second-hand. In five years I have spent only four and a half liras on clothes, underwear, slippers, and stockings. Frugality and Divine mercy and the resulting plenty have sufficed me.
Thus, there are numerous things like these examples and numerous sorts of Divine blessings. The people of this village know most of them. But do not suppose I am mentioning them out of pride, I have been forced to, rather. But do not think they were due to my goodness. These instances of plenty were either bestowal to the sincere friends who have visited me, or a bestowal on account of service to the Qur'an, or an abundance and benefit resulting from frugality, or they have been sustenance for the four cats I have which recite the Divine Names "O Most Compassionate One! O Most Compassionate One!", which comes in the form of plenty and from which I benefit too.
Yes, if you listen carefully to their mournful miaowings, you will understand that they are saying, "O Most Compassionate One! O Most Compassionate One!" We have arrived at the subject of cats and it has recalled the hen. I have a hen. This winter every day almost without exception she brought me an egg from the treasury of Mercy. Then one day she brought me two eggs and I was astonished. I asked my friends "How can this be?" They replied: "Perhaps it is a Divine gift." The hen also has a young chick she hatched in the summer. It started to lay at the beginning of Ramadan and continued for forty days. Neither I nor those who assist me have any doubt that, being both young, and in winter, and in Ramadan, this blessed situation was a Divine gift and bestowal. And whenever the mother stopped laying, it immediately started, not leaving me without eggs.
S e c o n d S u s p i c i o u s Q u e s t i o n : 'The worldly' ask: How can we be confident that you will not interfere in our world? If we leave you free, perhaps you may interfere in it. Also, how do we know that you are not being cunning? How do we know that it is not a stratagem, showing yourself to have abandoned the world and not taking things from the people openly, but secretly?
T h e A n s w e r : My attitude and situation in the Court Martial and in the period before the proclamation of the Constitution, which are known by many, and my defence in the Court Martial at that time called The Testimony of Two Schools of Misfortune, show decisively that the life I lived was such that I would not resort to the tiniest wiles, let alone cunning and subterfuge. If trickery had been resorted to in this last five years, application would have been made to you in sycophantic manner. A wilely man tries to ingratiate himself. He does not hold back; he always tries to deceive and hoodwink. Whereas I have not condescended to lower myself by responding to the severest attacks and criticisms levelled at me. Saying, I place my trust in God, I turned my back on 'the worldly.' Moreover, one who discovers the reality of this world and knows the hereafter, is not sorry if he is sensible; he does not turn back to the world and struggle with it again. Someone after the age of fifty who has no connection with anything and is alone, will not sacrifice eternal life for one or two years of the chatter and deception of this world. If he does so, he is not cunning, but foolish and crazy. What can a crazy lunatic do so that anyone should bother with him? As for the suspicion of outwardly abandoning the world while inwardly seeking it, in accordance with the verse,
Nor do I absolve my own self [of blame]; the [human] soul is certainly prone to evil,9
I do not exonerate my soul, for it wants everything bad. But in this fleeting world, this temporary guest-house, during old age, in a brief life, it is not reasonable to destroy eternal, everlasting life and eternal happiness for a little bit of pleasure. Since it is not profitable for the reasonable and the aware, my soul has willy-nilly had to follow my reason.
T h e T h i r d S u s p i c i o u s Q u e s t i o n : 'The worldly' say: Do you like us? Do you approve of us? If you do like us, why are you stand-offish and have nothing to do with us? If you do not like us, that means you object to us, and we crush those who object to us.
T h e A n s w e r : Not you, if I had loved your world, I would not have withdrawn from it. I don't like either you or your world. But I do not interfere with them. For I have different goals, different points have filled my heart; they have left no place in my heart to think of other things. Your duty is to look to the hand, not to the heart. For you seek your government and your public order. So long as the hand does not interfere, what right do you have to interfere in the heart and say, "the heart should love us too," although you are in no way worthy of it? Yes, just as I desire and long for the spring during this winter, but I cannot will it nor attempt to bring it, so too, I long for the world to be righted and I pray for it and I want the worldly to be reformed, but I cannot will these things, because I do not have the power. I cannot attempt them in fact, because it is neither my duty, nor do I have the capacity.
F o u r t h S u s p i c i o u s Q u e s t i o n : 'The worldly' say: we have experienced so many calamities, we no longer have confidence in anyone. How can we be certain that given the opportunity you won't interfere like you want to?
T h e A n s w e r : The previous points should give you confidence. In addition, since I did not interfere in your world while in my native region among my students and relatives, in the midst of those who heeded me and of exciting events, for someone who is alone in exile, with no one, a stranger, weak, powerless, turned with all his strength towards the hereafter, cut off from all social intercourse and correspondence, who has only found a few friends from far afield who are also turned to the hereafter, and who is a stranger to everyone else and whom everyone else regards as a stranger-for such a person to interfere in your fruitless and dangerous world would surely be a compounded lunacy.
FIFTH POINT
This concerns five small matters.
T h e F i r s t : 'The worldly' ask me: Why do you yourself not practise the principles of our civilization, our style of life, and our manner of dressing? Does this mean you oppose us?
M y r e p l y : Sirs! What right do you have to propose to me the principles of your civilization? Yet as though casting me outside the laws of civilization, you have wrongfully forced me to reside in a village for five years prohibited from all social intercourse and correspondence. While you left all the exiles in the town with their friends and relations, then gave them the papers granting them an amnesty, without reason you isolated me and did not allow me to meet with anyone from my native region with one or two exceptions. That means you do not count me as a member of this nation and a citizen. How can you propose to me that I apply your civil code to myself? You have made the world into a prison for me. Such things cannot be proposed to someone in prison. You closed the door of the world on me, so I knocked on the door of the hereafter, and Divine mercy opened it to me. How can the confused customs and principles of the world be proposed to someone at the door of the hereafter? Whenever you set me free and return me to my native region and restore my rights, then you can require me to conform to your principles.
S e c o n d M a t t e r : 'The worldly' say: "We have an official department for instructing in the precepts of religion and truths of Islam. With what authority do you publish religious works? Since you are a convicted exile, you have no right to mix in these matters."
T h e A n s w e r : Truth and reality cannot be restricted. How can belief and the Qur'an be restricted? You can restrict the principles and laws of your world, but the truths of belief and Qur'anic principles cannot be forced into the form of worldly dealings, being given an official guise and in return for a wage. Those mysteries which are Divine gifts, those blessings, come rather through a sincere intention and giving up the world and carnal pleasures. Moreover, that official department of yours accepted me and appointed me as a preacher while I was in my home region. I accepted the position, but rejected the salary. I have the document in my possession. With the document I can act as an imam and preacher everywhere, because my being exiled was unjust. Also, since the exiles have been returned, my old documents are still valid.
Secondly: I addressed the truths of belief which I have written directly to my own soul. I do not invite everyone. Rather, those whose spirits are needy and hearts wounded search out and find those Qur'anic remedies. Only, to secure my livelihood I had printed a treatise of mine about the resurrection of the dead before the new script was introduced. And the former governor, who was unfair to me, studied the treatise, but did nothing against it since he could find nothing in it to criticize.
T h i r d M a t t e r : Some of my friends remain apparently aloof from me because 'the worldly' consider me with suspicion and in order to appear favourable to 'the worldly,' indeed, they criticize me. But the cunning 'worldly' attribute their aloofness and avoiding me not to their loyalty to 'the worldly' but to a sort of hypocrisy and lack of conscience, and they look on those friends of mine unfavourably.
So I say this: O my friends of the hereafter! Don't stand aloof from my being a servant of the Qur'an and run away. Because, God willing, no harm will come to you from me. Suppose some calamity is visited on you or I am oppressed, you cannot be saved by avoiding me. By doing that you will make yourselves more deserving of calamity and a blow. And what is there, that you should have these groundless fears?
F o u r t h M a t t e r : I see during this time of my exile that certain boastful people who have fallen into the swamp of politics regard me in a partisan manner, with rivalry, as though I am connected with the worldly currents like they are.
Sirs! I am in the current of belief. Before me is the current of unbelief. I have no connection with other currents. Perhaps some of those who work for a wage see themselves as excused to a degree. But to take up a position opposed to me in rivalry for no wage in the name of patriotism, and harass me, and oppress me, is a truly grievous error. For as was proved above, I have no connection at all with world politics. I have dedicated and vowed all my time and my life to the truths of belief and the Qur'an. Since it is thus, let the one who torments and harasses me in rivalry think that such treatment of his is similar to causing harm to belief in the name of atheism and unbelief.
F i f t h M a t t e r : Since this world is transitory, and since life is short, and since the truly essential duties are many, and since eternal life will be gained here, and since the world is not without an owner, and since this guest-house of the world has a most Wise and Generous director, and since neither good nor bad will remain without recompense, and since according to the verse,
On no soul does God place a burden greater than it can bear10
there is no obligation that cannot be borne, and since a safe way is preferable to a harmful way, and since worldly friends and ranks last only till the door of the grave, then surely the most fortunate is he who does not forget the hereafter for this world, and does not sacrifice the hereafter for this world, and does not destroy the life of the hereafter for worldly life, and does not waste his life on trivial things, but considers himself to be a guest and acts in accordance with the commands of the guest-house's Owner, then opens the door of the grave in confidence and enters upon eternal happiness..11
The Addendum to the Sixteenth Letter
In His Name!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.
Without reason 'the worldly' became suspicious of a powerless stranger like myself, and imagining me to have the power of thousands of people, put me under numerous restrictions. They did not give permission for me to stay one or two nights in Bedre, a district of Barla, or on one of the mountains of Barla. I heard that they say: "Said has power equal to that of fifty thousand soldiers, we cannot therefore set him free."
So I say: You unhappy people whose view is restricted to this world! How is it that you do not know the matters of the world, despite working for the world with all your strength, and govern it like lunatics? If it is my person you fear, it is not fifty thousand soldiers, one soldier even could do more than me. That is, he could be posted at the door of my room and tell me: "You can't go out!"
But if it is my profession and my being herald of the Qur'an and the moral strength of belief that you fear, then you are wrong, it is not fifty thousand soldiers, you should be aware that in respect of my profession I have the strength of fifty million! For through the strength of the All-Wise Qur'an, I challenge all Europe including your irreligious people. Through the lights of belief I have published I have razed the sturdy bastions they call the physical sciences and Nature. I have cast down lower than animals their greatest irreligious philosophers. If all Europe was to gather, of which your irreligious people are a part, through God's assistance, they could not make me recant a single matter of that way of mine. God willing, they could not defeat me....
Since the matter is thus, I do not interfere in your world, so don't you interfere in my hereafter! If you do, if it will be of no avail.
What is determined by God cannot be turned by force;
A flame that if lit by God, cannot be extinguished by puffing.
'The worldly' are exceptionally and excessively suspicious of me; quite simply, they are frightened of me. Imagining things non-existent in me, which even if they were existent would not constitute a political crime and could not be the cause of accusation, like being a shaykh, or of significant rank or family, or being a tribal leader, and influential, and having numerous followers, or meeting with people from my native region, or being connected with the affairs of the world, or even entering politics, or even the opposition; imagining these things in me, they have been carried away by groundless fears. At a time even that they are discussing pardoning those in prison and outside, that is, those that according to them cannot be pardoned, they have quite simply barred me from everything. A bad and ephemeral person wrote the following good and enduring words:
If tyranny has cannon, shot, and forts,
Right has an untwistable arm, a constant face.
And I say:
If the worldly have rule, power, and strength,
Through the Qur'an's effulgence, its servant
Has unfaltering knowledge, an unsilenceable voice;
He has an unerring heart, an unquenchable light.
Many friends, as well as a military commander under whose surveillance I was, repeatedly asked: "Why don't you apply for the release papers and put forward a petition?"
T h e A n s w e r : I do not apply and I cannot apply for five or six reasons:
The First: I did not interfere in 'the worldly's' world so that I should have been convicted and apply to them. I was convicted by Divine Determining; my faults are before it, and I apply to it.
The Second: I believe and have certain knowledge that this world is a swiftly changing guest-house. Therefore, it is not the true homeland and everywhere is the same. Since I am not going to remain permanently in my homeland, it is pointless to struggle for it; it is not worth going there. Since everywhere is a guest-house, if the mercy of the guest-house's Owner befriends one, everyone is a friend and everywhere familiar. Whereas if it does not befriend one, everywhere is a load on the heart and everyone hostile.
The Third: Application is within the framework of the law. But the way I have been treated these six years has been arbitrary and outside the law. The Exiles' Law was not applied to me. They looked on me as though I had been stripped of all the rights of civilization and even of all worldly rights. To apply in the name of the law to those whose dealings with me have been thus outside the law is meaningless.
The Fourth: This year, the local official applied in my name for me to stay for a few days in the village of Bedre, which is like a district of Barla, for a change of air. How can those who reject such an unimportant need of mine be applied to? If they are applied to, it would be a futile and degrading abasement.
The Fifth: To claim a right before those who claim a wrong to be right, and to apply to them, is a wrong. It is disrespectful towards right. I do not want to perpetrate such a wrong and show disrespect for right. And that is that.
The Sixth: The distress and difficulty 'the worldly' have caused me has not been due to politics, because they know I do not meddle in politics and flee from it. Rather, knowingly or unknowingly, they torment me on account of aggressive atheism because I am bound to religion. In which case, to apply to them has the meaning of regretting religion and flattering the cause of aggressive atheism.
Moreover, Divine Determining, which is just, would punish me through their tyrannical hand on my applying to them and having recourse to them, for they oppress me because of my being bound to religion. As for Divine Determining, from time to time it represses me due to my hypocrisy before 'the worldly,' because of my deficiency in religion and in sincerity. Since this is so, for the time being I cannot be saved from this distress. If I apply to the worldly, Divine Determining would say: "Hypocrite! Pay the penalty for applying!" And if I do not apply, 'the worldly' say: "You don't recognize us, go on suffering difficulties!"
The Seventh Reason: It is well-known that an official's duty is to give harmful individuals no opportunity to cause harm and to assist those who are beneficial. Whereas the official who took me into custody approached me, an elderly guest at the door of the grave, when I was expounding a subtle aspect of belief contained in There is no god but God as though I was perpetrating some misdemeanour, although he had not been to me for a long time previously. He caused the sincere unfortunate who was listening to be deprived, and me to be angry. There were certain people here, and he attached no importance to them. Then when they acted discourteously in a way that would poison the life of the village, he started to be gracious and appreciative towards them.
Furthermore, it is well-known that someone in prison who has committed a hundred crimes can meet with the person who supervises him whether the official be of high or low rank. But in this last year, although two important people in the national government charged with supervising me have passed by my house several times, they have absolutely neither met with me nor asked after my condition. At first I supposed that they did not come near to me due to enmity, then it became clear that it was due to their fearful suspicions; they were fleeing from me as though as I was going to gobble them up. Thus, to recognize a government whose members and officials are like those men and have recourse to it and apply to it, is not sensible, but a futile abasement. If it had been the Old Said, he would have said, like 'Antara:
The very water of life becomes Hell through abasement,
Whereas Hell with dignity becomes a place of pride.
The Old Said no longer exists, and the New Said considers it meaningless to talk with 'the worldly.' Let their world be the end of them! They can do what they like. He is silent, saying, we shall be judged together with them at the Last Judgement.
The Eighth Reason for my not applying: According to the rule, "The result of illicit love is merciless torment," Divine Determining, which is just, torments me through the tyrannous hand of 'the worldly,' because I incline towards them, since they are not worthy of it. And saying, I deserve this torment, I am silent. For in the Great War I fought and strove as a Commander of a volunteer regiment. Applauded by the Commander-in-Chief of the army and Enver Pa_a, I sacrificed my valuable students and friends. I was wounded and taken prisoner. Returning from captivity, I cast myself into danger through works like The Seven Steps, aiming them at the heads of the British, who had occupied Istanbul. I assisted those who hold me without reason in this torment and captivity. As for them, they punish me in this way for that help. Those friends here cause me in three months the hardship and distress I suffered in three years as a prisoner-of-war in Russia. And the Russians did not prevent me from giving religious instruction, although they regarded me as a Kurdish Militia Commander, a cruel man who had slaughtered Cossacks and prisoners. I used to instruct the great majority of my ninety fellow officer prisoners. One time, the Russian commander came and listened. Because he did not know Turkish, he thought it was political instruction, and put a stop to it. Then later he gave permission. Also, in the same barracks, we made a room into a mosque, and I used to lead the prayers. They did not interfere at all. They did not prevent me from mixing, or from communicating, with the others. Whereas my friends here, my fellow citizens and co-religionists and those for whose benefits in the form of religious belief I have struggled, have held me in a tortuous captivity not for three years, but for six, for absolutely no reason and although they know I have severed all my relations with the world. They have prevented me mixing with others. They have prevented me from giving religious instruction, despite my having a certificate, and even from giving private instruction in my room. They have prevented me from communicating with others. They have even barred me from the mosque which I repaired and where I acted as prayer-leader for four years, although I had the necessary certificate. And now, to deprive me of the merit of performing the prayers in congregation, they do not accept me as prayer-leader even for three private individuals, my permanent congregation and brothers of the hereafter.
Furthermore, if, although I do not want it, someone is to call me good, the official who holds me in surveillance is jealous and angry. Thinking he will destroy my influence, he entirely unscrupulously takes precautions, and pesters me in order to curry favour with his superiors.
To whom can someone in such a position have recourse other than God Almighty? If the judge is also the claimant, of course he cannot complain to him. Come on, you say! What can we say to this? You say what you like, I say this: there are many dissemblers among these friends of mine. A dissembler is worse than an unbeliever. For that reason they make me suffer what the infidel Russian did not make me suffer.
And so, you unfortunates, what have I done to you and what I am doing? I am trying to save your belief and am serving your eternal happiness! It means that my service is not sincere and purely for God's sake so that it has the reverse effect. In return, you torment me at every opportunity. For sure, we shall meet at the Last Judgement. I say:
God is enough for us and the best of protectors.12 * The best of lords and the best of helpers.13
The Enduring One, He is the Enduring One!
S a i d N u r s i
FOOTNOTES
1. Qur'an, 3:173.
2. Qur'an, 20:44.
3. Qur'an, 40:44.
4. Qur'an, 93:11.
5. 36.5 lbs. (Tr.)
6. It lasted a year.
7. About 2.8 lbs. or 1,300 grammes. (Tr.)
8. About 2.8 lbs. (Tr.)
9. Qur'an, 12:53.
10. Qur'an, 2:286.
11. The reason for these 'sinces' is this: I take no notice of the wrongs and tyranny perpetrated against my person and give them no importance. I say, "They are not worth worrying about," and I do not interfere in the world.
12. Qur'an, 3:173.
13. Qur'an, 8:40.
The Seventeenth Letter
[The Addendum to the Twenty-Fifth Flash]
A LETTER OF CONDOLENCE ON THE DEATH OF A CHILD
And in His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.
My Dear Brother of the Hereafter, Hafiz Halid Efendi!
In the, Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
And give good news to the patient, Those who when afflicted with calamity say: To God do we belong and to Him is our return.
My brother, your child's death saddened me. But, the command is God's, contentment with the Divine decree and submission to Divine Determining, is a mark of Islam. May Almighty God grant you all patience. And may He make the deceased a supporter and intercessor for you in the Hereafter. I shall explain Five Points which are truly good news and real consolation for you and pious believers like you:
FIRST POINT
The meaning of the phrase, immortal youths in the All-Wise Qur'an is this: with this phrase, the verse indicates and gives the good news that the children of believers who die before reaching maturity will remain perpetually as eternal, lovable children in a form worthy of Paradise; that they will be an everlasting means of happiness in the embrace of their fathers and mothers who go to Paradise; that they will be the means for ensuring for their parents the sweetest of pleasures like loving and caressing children; that all pleasurable things will be found in Paradise; that the statements of those who say that since Paradise is not the place for reproduction, there will be no loving and carressing of children are not correct; and that gaining millions of years of pure, painfree loving and caressing of eternal children in place of a short time like ten years of loving children mixed with sorrows in this world is a great source of happiness for believers.
SECOND POINT
One time, a man was in prison. They sent one of his lovable children to him. The unhappy prisoner suffered both his own sorrows, and since he could not make the child comfortable, he was grieved also at his hardship. Then the compassionate judge sent a man to him with a message which said: "For sure this child is yours, but he is my subject and of my people. I shall take him and look after him in a fine palace." The man wept in anguish. He said: "I won't give you my child who is my solace!" His friends said to him: "Your grief is meaningless. If you pity the child, he will go to a spacious and happy palace in place of this dirty, stinking, distressing dungeon. If you are grieved for yourself and are seeking your own benefits, if your child remains here, you will suffer much distress and pain at the child's difficulties in addition to your single dubious, temporary benefit. If he goes there, there will be a thousand advantages for you, for it will be cause of attracting the king's mercy and will be like an intercessor for you. The king will want to make you meet with him. For sure, he will not send him to the prison so that you can see him; he will release you from the prison, summon you to the palace, and allow you to meet with the child there. On condition that you have confidence in the king and you obey him...."
My dear brother, like this comparison, you must think as follows, like other believers when their children die: the child was innocent, and his Creator is All-Compassionate and All-Generous. He has taken him to His most perfect grace and mercy in place of my deficient up-bringing and compassion. He has released him from the grievous, calamitous, difficult prison of this world and sent him to the gardens of Paradise. How happy for the child! If he had stayed in this world, who knows what form he would have taken. Therefore, I do not pity him, I know him to be fortunate. There remains the benefits for myself, and I don't pity myself for those, and I do not grieve and be sorrowful. For if he had remained in the world, he would have secured ten years of a child's temporary love mixed with pains. If he had been righteous and if he had been capable in the matters of the world, perhaps he would have helped me. But with his death, he has become like an intercessor who is the means to ten million years of a child's love in eternal Paradise and to everlasting happiness. Most certainly, one who loses some dubious, immediate benefit and gains a thousand certain, postponed benefits does not display grief and sorrow, he does not cry out in despair.
THIRD POINT
The child who dies was the creature, possession, servant, and together with all his members, the artefact of a Most Compassionate Creator, and belonging to Him was a friend of his parents whom had been given to their supervision temporarily. He made the father and mother servants to the child. In return for those services of their's, He gave them pleasurable compassion as an immediate wage. Now, if, as the requirement of mercy and wisdom, that All-Compassionate Creator, Who owns nine hundred and ninety-nine shares out of a thousand of the child, takes the child from you and puts an end to your service, to cry out in grief and despair due to that apparent single share in the face of the true owner of the thousand shares in a manner that recalls complaint, does not befit a believer; it befits rather the people of neglect and misguidance.
FOURTH POINT
If the world had been eternal, and man was to have remained in it eternally, and separation had been eternal, grievous sorrow and despairing woe would have had some meaning. But since this world is a guesthouse, wherever the dead child has gone, you, and we too, shall go there. Moreover, this death is not particular to him, it is a general highway. And, since separation is not for ever, in the future, both in the Intermediate Realm and in the Hereafter he will be met with. One must say, the command is God's. He gave him and He Look him away. One must say, "All praise be to God for every situation," and offer thanks in patience.
FIFTH POINT
Compassion, one of the most subtle, beautiful, agreeable, and sweet manifestations of Divine mercy is a luminous elixir. It is much sharper than passionate love. It swiftly becomes the means of union with Almighty God. Just as metaphorical love and worldly love are transformed into true love with the greatest difficulty, and find Almighty God, so too compassion binds the heart to Almighty God in a shorter, purer fashion - and without difficulty. Both father and mother love their child more than all the world. When their child is taken from them, if they are fortunate and if they are true believers, its turns their faces from the world and finds the True Bestower of Bounties. It says: "Since the world is transitory, it is not worthy of the heart's attachment." Wherever the child has gone an attachment forms with that place, and gains for a person great spiritual rank.
The people of neglect and misguidance are deprived of the happiness and good news of these Five Points. You can see from the following how grievous their situation is: they see their only child in the throes of death and due to their imagining the world to be eternal and as a result of their heedlessness and misguidance, they think death is non-existence and eternal separation. They think of him in the earth of his grave in place of his soft bed, and due to their heedless or misguidance, they do not think of the Paradise of mercy and heaven of bounty of the Most Compassionate of the Compassionate; you can compare just what despairing sorrow and grief they suffer. Whereas belief and Islam say to the believer: his All-Compassionate Creator will take this child of yours who is in the throes of death from this dirty world and take him to Paradise. He will make him both an intercessor for you, and an eternal child. Separation is temporary, do not worry.
Say, the command is God's. To God do we belong and to Him shall we return,
and bear it patiently.
The Enduring One, He is the Enduring Oner
Said Nursi
***
The Eighteenth Letter
In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.
[This Letter consists of 'Three Important Matters.']
THE FIRST IMPORTANT MATTER
Famous saints like Muhyi'l-Din al-'Arabi (May his mystery be sanctified), the author of al-Futuhat al-Makkiya, and Sayyid 'Abd al-Karim (May his mystery be sanctified), the author of a well-known book entitled Insan-i Kamil, speak of the seven levels of the globe of the earth and the white earth beyond the 'Kaf' mountain, and strange things which in Futuhat are called 'mashmashiya.' Are these true? But these places do not exist on the earth. Furthermore, these things that they say are not accepted by geography and science. And if they are not true, how can they be saints? How can people who say things contrary to reality and the truth in this way be 'people of reality'?
T h e A n s w e r : They are the people of truth and reality. They are also saints and those who witness the realities. They saw correctly what they saw, but since they were not correct in declarations they made while in the state of illumination and witnessing, which is without comprehension, and in their interpretations of their visions, which were like dreams, they were partially incorrect. People of illumination and witnessing of that sort cannot interpret their own visions while in such a state, just as a person cannot interpret his own dream while dreaming it. Those who can interpret them are the exact scholars of the legacy of prophethood, called 'the purified ones.' For sure, when they rise to the rank of the 'purified ones,' the people of witnessing of that group understand their errors through the guidance of the Qur'an and the Sunna, and they correct them; and they did correct them.
Listen to this story which is the form of a comparison and will illustrate this truth. It is like this:
One time, there were two shepherds who were from among those who approach reality with their hearts. They milked their sheep into a wooden pail and put the pail beside them. They laid their shepherd's pipe on the pail, then one of them stretched out, overcome by sleep. He slept for a while. The other shepherd was watching him carefully when he saw something like a fly emerge from the sleeping man's nose, look at the pail of milk, enter the pipe at one end, emerge from the other, then disappear into a hole under a bush. Some while later the thing emerged again, passed down the shepherd's pipe, entered the sleeping man's nose, whereupon he awoke. He exclaimed: "I had an extraordinary dream!" His friend replied: "May God make good come of it. What was it?" The other man said: "I saw a sea of milk stretching over which was a strange bridge. The upper part of the bridge was closed and contained windows. I passed through the bridge. I saw a grove of oaks, the tops of which were all pointed. Beneath them was a cave; I entered it, and I saw some treasure full of gold. How can this be interpreted, I wonder?"
His alert friend said to him: "The sea of milk you saw was this wooden pail, and the bridge, our shepherd's pipe. The pointed oak trees were this bush, while the cave was this small hole. Get the pickaxe and I'll show you the treasure." He brought the pick and they dug under the bush, and there they found gold enough to make them both prosperous in this world.
Thus, what the sleeping man dreamt was right, and what he saw, correct, but because he had no comprehension while dreaming and no right to interpret the dream, he could not distinguish between the physical world and the non-material world and his assertions were partially wrong; he said: "I saw an actual physical sea." But since the man who was awake could distinguish between the physical world and the World of Similitudes, he had the right to interpret the dream; he said: "What you saw in the dream was right, but it wasn't an actual sea; our milk pail appeared to your imagination as a sea, and our pipe as a bridge, and so on." That means the physical and spiritual worlds have to be distinguished from one another. If they are combined, the assertions appear wrong.
For example, you have a small room the four walls of which have been covered with four large mirrors. When you enter it, you see the small room to be as broad as a large arena. If you say, "I see my room to be as large as a broad arena," what you say is correct. But if you assert, "My room is as large as a broad arena," you would be wrong, for you are confusing the World of Similitudes with the actual world.
Thus, not having weighed them on the balances of the Book and Sunna, certain of the people of illumination's descriptions of the seven levels of the globe do not comprise only its physical state from the point of view of geography. For instance, they said that one of the earth's levels is that of the jinns and demons, and that it has a breadth of thousands of years. Whereas those strange levels are not situated on our globe, which revolves every one or two years. But if we suppose the globe to be like a pine-seed in the World of Meaning, the World of Similitudes, the Intermediate Realm, and the World of Spirits, the similitude of the tree that would be formed from it would be like a huge pine-tree in relation to the seed. Thus, in their spiritual journeyings, some of the people of witnessing have seen some of the earth's levels in the World of Similitudes to be extremely extensive; they have seen them to stretch over a distance of thousands of years. What they saw was right, but because superficially the World of Similitudes resembles the physical world, they saw the two worlds blended together, and interpreted them thus. When they returned to the world of sobriety, since they lacked balance, and since they wrote exactly what they witnessed, it has been considered to be contrary to reality.
Like the similitudes of a large palace and large garden are situated in a small mirror, so similitudes and non-material realities of the extensiveness of thousands of years are situated in a single year's distance of the physical world.
Conclusion: It is understood from this matter that the degree of 'witnessing' is much inferior to that of belief in the Unseen. That is to say, the uncomprehending illuminations of some of the saints relying only on 'witnessing' do not attain to the statements about the truths of belief of the purified and exact scholars, who are the people of the legacy of prophethood and who rely on the Qur'an and Revelation, not on 'witnessing' - which are about the Unseen but are lucid, comprehensive, and right. That is to say, the balance of all illumination, mental states, visions, and witnessings are the Book and Sunna. And their touchstone are the sacred principles of the Book and Sunna, and the conjectural rules of the purified and exacting scholars.
SECOND IMPORTANT MATTER
Q u e s t i o n : The Unity of Existence is considered by many people to be the most elevated station. But the way of the Unity of Existence in this form was not seen explicitly in the Companions and foremost the four Rightly-Guided Caliphs, who were at the level of 'the greatest sainthood,' or in the Imams of the Prophet's Family and foremost the five 'People of the Cloak,' or the great interpreters of the Law and the generation following the Companions and foremost the founders of the four Schools of Law. So did those who emerged subsequently to them advance further than them? Did they find a better highway on which to proceed?
T h e A n s w e r : God forbid! Nobody at all has the ability to advance further than those purified ones who were the stars and heirs closest to the Sun of Prophethood; the highway is indeed theirs.
As for the Unity of Existence, it is a way and a state, but it is a deficient degree. However, because it is illuminating and pleasurable, most of those who have reached that degree on their spiritual journeyings have not wanted to leave it; they have remained there and supposed it to be the ultimate degree.
Thus, if one who takes this way is a spirit who is divested of materiality and intermediaries and has rent the veil of causes, and is immersed in a state of witnessing, then an experiential -not pertaining to knowledge- unity of existence which arises not from the Unity of Existence but from the Unity of Witnessing, may obtain for him a certain attainment, a spiritual station. He may even reach the degree of denying the universe for the sake of God. But if he is submerged in causes and preoccupied with materiality, the term Unity of Existence may go so far as meaning denying God on account of the universe.
Yes, the great highway is the highway of the Companions, those that followed them, and the Purified Ones. Their universal rule is, "The reality of things is constant." And in accordance with the sense of There is nothing that resembles Him,1 Almighty God has absolutely nothing that resembles Him. He is utterly beyond being comprehended in place or class and being divided into parts. His relation with beings is Creativity. Beings are not imaginings or fancies as those who follow the way of the Unity of Existence said. Visible things too are Almighty God's works. Everything is not 'Him,' everything is 'from Him.' For events cannot be pre-eternal. We shall bring this matter closer to the understanding with two comparisons:
T h e F i r s t : For example, there is a king. Through his name of Just Judge he has a Ministry of Justice which shows the manifestation of that name. Another of his names is Khalifa, and the Shaykh al-Islam's Office and learned institution are the manifestations of that name. He has also the name of Commander-in-Chief, through which all the offices of the army display activity; the army is the manifestation of that name. Now, if someone was to appear and say: "The king is only the Just Judge, he has no office or ministry other than that of justice," then the attributes and states of the religious scholars in the Shaykhul-Islam's Office would have to be applied -not actually but theoretically - to the officials of the Ministry of Justice; a secondary and shadowy Shaykh al-Islam's Office would have an imaginary existence within the actual Ministry of Justice. And again in hypothetical fashion, the dealings and states of the Army Office would be supposed in the officials of the Judiciary, an unreal Army Office would be imagined there, and so on. And so, in this situation, the king's true name and true sovereignty is the name Just Judge and his sovereignty in the Ministry of Justice. His names like Khalifa, Commander-in-Chief, and Sultan are not actual, but hypothetical. However, the nature of kingship and reality of sovereignty demand all the names in actuality. And actual names require and necessitate actual offices.
Thus, the sovereignty of Divinity necessitates in actuality numerous sacred Names like All-Merciful, Provider, Bestower, Creator, Doer, Munificent, and Compassionate. And those true and actual Names require actual mirrors. Now, since the people of the Unity of Existence say: "There is no existent but He," they reduce the reality of beings to the level of imagination. Almighty God's Names of Necessary Existent, Existent, One, and Single have true manifestations and spheres of application. For sure, if their mirrors and spheres of application were not real and were imaginary and non-existent, it would not harm them. And perhaps if there was no colour of existence in the mirror of true existence, they would be purer and more brilliant, but the manifestations of Names like Merciful, Provider, Subduer, Compeller, and Creator would not be real, they would be hypothetical. However, those Names are realities like the Name of Existent, they cannot be shadows; they are essential, not secondary.
Thus, the Companions and great interpreters of the Law and Imams of the Family of the Prophet said: "The reality of things is constant;" Almighty God has a manifestation through all His Names in actuality. Through His creativity, all things have an accidental existence. For sure, in relation to the Necessarily Existent's existence their existence is an extremely weak and unstable shadow, but it is not imagination, it is not fancy. Almighty God gives existence through His Name of Creator and He continues that existence.
S e c o n d C o m p a r i s o n : For example, on the four walls of this house are four full-length mirrors. However much the house is depicted together with the other three mirrors in all the mirrors, each holds the things in itself in accordance with it own make-up and colour; it is like the similitude of the house particular to itself. Now, two men enter the house. One of them looks at one of the mirrors and says: "Everything is within it." When he hears of the other mirrors and images within them, he applies what he hears to a tiny corner of the one mirror whose contents are shadows twice over, whose reality has shrunk and has changed. He also says: "I see it thus, in which case reality is thus." The other man says to him, "Yes, you see it like that and what you see is true. But in actuality and reality the true form of reality is not like that. There are other mirrors besides the one you looked at; they are not the shadow of shadows and as tiny as you saw."
And so, each of the Divine Names requires a different mirror. And, since Merciful and Provider, for example, are real and fundamental, they require beings worthy of them who are needy for sustenance and compassion. Just as All-Merciful requires real beings with spirits needy for sustenance in a real world, so too, All-Compassionate requires a Paradise which is thus real. If only the Names of Existent, Necessarily Existent, and Single One of Unity are held to be real and the other Names considered to be shadows within them, it is a sort of injustice towards those other Names.
It is due to this mystery that the great highway is surely the highway of the Companions, the Purified Ones, the Imams of the Prophet's Family, and the great interpreters of the Law and founders of the four schools of law, who possessed 'greater sainthood', and were directly the first class of the Qur'an's students.
Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise.2
O our Sustainer! Do not cause our hearts to swerve now that You have guided us, and bestow mercy on us from You; for You are the Bestower of Gifts.3
O God! Grant blessings to the one whom You sent as a Mercy to all the worlds, and to all his Family and Companions.
AN ADDENDUM TO THE SECOND MATTER
Q u e s t i o n : Muhyi'l-Din al-'Arabi considered the Unity of Existence to be of the highest level. Likewise, some of the great saints who took the path of love followed him. However, you say that this matter is not of the highest level, and is not real; that it is rather the way, to a degree, of those who become intoxicated and immersed in the Divine, and of the people of love and ecstasy. So what, briefly, is the high level of the affirmation of Divine Unity pointed out by the clear verses of the Qur'an, through the mystery of the legacy of prophethood? Can you explain it?
T h e A n s w e r : It is a hundred times beyond the ability of an utterly powerless unfortunate like myself to judge these elevated stations with his limited thought. I shall just explain one or two extremely brief points proceeding from the effulgence of the All-Wise Qur'an. Perhaps they will be useful in understanding the matter.
FIRST POINT
There are numerous reasons for the way of the Unity of Existence, and for becoming enmeshed in it; one or two of them shall be described:
The First Reason: Because they could not squeeze into their brains the maximum degree of the creativity of dominicality, and could not entirely establish in their hearts that everything, through the mystery of Divine Oneness, is held directly in the grasp of dominicality and that all things have existence through Divine power, choice, and will, those who took that way were obliged to say that everything is either Him, or does not have existence, or is imaginary, or is His manifestation or emanation.
The Second Reason: The mark of passionate love is to want never to be separated from the beloved and to flee desperately from such separation; to tremble at the thought of parting, to fear distance from the beloved as though fearing Hell, and to abominate transience; to love union with the love of one's own spirit and life, and to yearn for closeness to the beloved with the longing for Paradise. Thus, through adhering to a manifestation of Divine immediacy in all things, those who took the way of the Unity of Existence disregarded separation and distance; supposing union and meeting to be permanent, they said: "There is no existent but He;" through the intoxication of love and as demanded by the ecstasy of permanence, meeting, and union, they imagined that in the Unity of Existence was a most pleasurable way of illumination whereby they could be saved from the dreadfulness of separation.
That is to say, the source of the first reason was the hand of the intellect being unable to reach up to some of the truths of belief, which were extremely broad and elevated; its being unable to comprehend them, and not having developed completely in regard to belief. While the source of the second reason was the extraordinary unfolding of the heart from the point of view of love, and its wondrous expansion and breadth.
However, the supreme level of Divine Unity the Purified Ones-who were the people of sobriety and great saints of the legacy of prophethood -saw through the explicit expositions of the Qur'an is both extremely elevated, and shows both the maximum level of dominicality and creativity, and that all the Divine Names are real. It preserves its bases and does not spoil the balance of the decrees of dominicality. For they say that together with the Oneness of His Essence and His being free of space, with His knowledge, Almighty God encompasses and determines directly all things together with all their attributes, and through His will He chooses and specifies them, and through His power He creates them. He creates and directs the whole universe as though it were a single being.
He creates the huge spring with the same ease as creating a flower. Nothing can be an obstacle to anything else. There is no fragmentation in His regarding things; He is present everywhere at the same instant through the disposal of His knowledge and power. There is no division or distribution in His disposal. This mystery has been expounded and proved completely in the Sixteenth Word and in the Second Stopping-Place of the Thirty-Second Word. Since, according to the rule, "Comparisons are incontestible," attention is not paid to defects in comparison and allegory, I shall set forth a very faulty comparison so that the difference between the two ways may be understood to a degree.
For example, let us imagine a huge, matchless, and wondrously adorned peacock which can fly from east to west in an instant, and opens and closes its wings, which stretch from north to south, are adorned with hundreds of thousands of fine patterns, and in every single feather of which are included brilliant arts. Now, there are two men observing it; they want to fly with the wings of the intellect and heart up to the elevated qualities of this bird; to its wondrous decorations. One looks at the peacock's state and form and the marvellous inscriptions of power on all its feathers; he loves it with extreme passion and ardour; he in part abandons his attentive reflective thought, and adheres to love. But then he sees that every day those lovable decorations change and are transformed. Those objects of his love, which he worships, disappear and are lost.
While he should have said that through true Divine Unity, which he could not encompass with his mind, and absolute dominicality and the Oneness of the Divine Essence, they were the artistic decorations of an Inscriber possessing universal creativity, he said instead -in order to console himself- that the spirit of the peacock was so sublime that its maker was within it, or that the peacock had become Him, and that since its spirit had become one with its being, and its being combined with its outward appearance, its spirit's perfection and being's exaltedness displayed those manifestations, showing a different inscription and beauty every moment; it was not a true creation through its will, but rather a manifestation, an emanation.
As for the other man, he said that those harmonious and well-ordered decorations so full of art definitely required will, choice, intention, and purpose. It was not possible for there to be a manifestation without will, an emanation without choice.
Yes, the peacock had a beautiful and elevated nature, but it could not be the doer; it was passive. It could not become one with the active agent. Its spirit was fine and exalted, but it could not be the creator and disposer, only receptive and a means. For observedly in each of its feathers was an art performed with infinite wisdom and an inscription and decoration made through an infinite power. And these could not occur without will and choice. These arts showing perfect wisdom within perfect power, and perfect dominicality and mercy within perfect wisdom were not the work of some sort of manifestation. The scribe who had written that gilded notebook could not be inside it and be united with it. The notebook rather only had contact with the nib of the scribe's pen. In which case, the wondrous decorations of the similitude of the peacock known as the universe were a gilded missive of the peacock's Creator.
Now, look at the peacock and read the missive. Say to its Scribe: "What wonders God has willed! Blessed be God! Glory be to God!" One who supposes the missive to be the scribe, or the scribe to be inside the letter, or fancies the missive to be imagination, has surely hidden his reason in the veils of love, and been unable to see the true form of reality.
Among the varieties of passionate love, the one most giving rise to the way of the Unity of Existence, is love of this world. When it turns into true love, love of this world, which is metaphorical, is transformed into the Unity of Existence. A person loves a personal beloved with metaphorical love. Then, unable to accept with his heart his beloved's transience and ephemerality, he consoles himself saying that he is a mirror to the True Object of Love and Worship, and attaches himself to a reality, so acquiring permanence for him through true love.
In the same way, when the strange love of one who takes the huge world and the universe in its totality as his beloved is transformed into true love through the constant blows of death and separation, he seeks refuge in the way of the Unity of Existence, in order to save that great beloved of his from death and separation. If he has extremely strong and elevated belief, it becomes a pleasurable, luminous, acceptable level, like with those resembling Muhyi'l-Din al-'Arabi. However, there is the possibility of falling into abysses, embracing materiality, and becoming submerged in causes. As for the Unity of Witnessing, it is harmless; it is an exalted way of the people of sobriety.
O God, show us what is indeed the truth, and make us follow it!
Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise.4
THIRD MATTER
An important matter that has not been solved by philosophy and reason.
Every day in [new] splendour does He [shine]!5 * Indeed, your Sustainer is Doer of what He will.6
Q u e s t i o n : What is the reason for and wisdom in the astonishing unceasing activity in the universe? Why do these fleeting beings not stop, but continuously change and are renewed?
T h e A n s w e r : To explain the wisdom in this would require a thousand pages. And so we shall leave aside a full explanation and squeeze an extremely brief summary of it into two pages.
If a person performs a natural function or social duty and works enthusiastically to do so, one who observes him carefully will certainly understand that there are two things that make him perform the duty:
The First are the benefits, fruits, and advantages which result from the duty, which are called 'the ultimate cause.'
The Second: There is a love, a desire, a pleasure, which cause the duty to be performed enthusiastically, and these are called the 'necessitating cause and reason.'
For example, eating food; the pleasure and longing arising from appetite drive a person to eat, and afterwards, the result of eating is nourishing the body and perpetuating life. In the same way, And God's is the highest similitude,7 based on two sorts of Divine Names, the awesome and astonishing endless activity in the universe is for two vast instances of wisdom, each of which is also infinite:
T h e F i r s t : Almighty God's Most Beautiful Names have incalculable sorts of manifestations. The variety in creatures arises from the variety of the manifestations. The Names require to be manifested in a permanent fashion; that is, they want to display their embroideries; that is, they want to see and display the manifestations of their beauties in the mirrors of their embroideries; that is, they want every instant to renew the Book of the Universe and missives of beings; that is, they necessitate the continuous meaningful writing, and to display each missive to the study and gaze of the the Most Pure and Holy Essence, the One signified, as well as to all conscious beings; they require to make each of the missives read.
T h e S e c o n d R e a s o n a n d I n s t a n c e o f W i s d o m : Just as activity in creatures arises from an appetite, a desire, a pleasure, and there is a definite pleasure in all activity, rather, all activity is a sort of pleasure; so too, in a suitable way and form appropriate to His essential self-sufficiency and absolute riches and in a manner fitting for His absolute perfection, the Necessarily Existent One has boundless sacred compassion and infinite holy love. And He has a boundless sacred ardour arising from that sacred compassion and holy love, and an endless holy joy arising from that sacred ardour, and, if one may say so, an infinite sacred pleasure arising from the sacred joy. And pertaining to that Merciful and Compassionate One, is, if the term is permissible, a boundless sacred gratification and infinite holy pride arising from the boundless feeling of compassion that springs from the sacred pleasure, sacred gratification and pride which arise from the gratitude and perfections of creatures which result from their abilities emerging from the potential to the actual and their developing within the activity of power. It is these which necessitate in boundless fashion, an endless activity.
Thus, it is because philosophy, science, and natural philosophy do not know this subtle instance of wisdom that they have confused unconscious Nature, blind chance, and lifeless causes in this utterly knowing, wise, percipient activity, and falling into the darkness of misguidance, have been unable to find the light of reality.
Say, "God [sent it down];" then leave them to plunge in vain discourse and trifling.8
O our Sustainer! Do not cause our hearts to swerve now that You have guided us, and bestow mercy upon us from Yourself; indeed, You are the Bestower of Gifts.9
O God! Grant blessings and peace to the Solver of the talisman of Your universe to the number of atoms of beings, and to his Family and Companions, so long as the earth and the heavens persist.
The Enduring One, He is the Enduring One!
S a i d N u r s i
FOOTNOTES
1. Qur'an, 42:11.
2. Qur'an, 2:32.
3. Qur'an, 3:8.
4. Qur'an, 2:32.
5. Qur'an, 55:29.
6. Qur'an, 11:107.
7. Qur'an, 16:60.
8. Qur'an, 6:91.
9. Qur'an, 3:8.
The Nineteenth Letter
THE MIRACLES OF MUHAMMED (PBUH)
This treatise describes more than three hundred miracles. And as it describes the Prophethood of Muhammed (PBUH), itself a miracle, so is it itself a wonder in three or four respects, proceeding from the miracle of his prophethood.
The First: Although it is more than a hundred pages long, and is based on traditions and narrations, it was written in an unusual fashion - in the mountains and the countryside, completely from memory, and without referring to any book. It was completed, moreover, in a few days by working two or three hours every day, or a total of twelve hours.
The Second: Despite its prolixity, this work did not cause tedium to its writer, nor does it lack a pleasant fluency for the reader. In fact, it aroused such ardor even in my apathetic scribes that in these hard and distressing times, as many as seventy copies were handwritten in this neighborhood within a single year[*]. Those aware of this property of the treatise concluded that this must be a wonder deriving from the miraculousness of his messengership, peace, and blessings be upon him.
The Third: Before any tawafuk had occurred to us, in the copies of this treatise written by nine scribes who did not see each other while writing and who were inexperienced and were unaware of what tawafuk[**] means the words referring to the gracious Messenger were unintentionally arranged beneath one another throughout the whole treatise. This was the same for the words referring to the Qur'an in the fifth part. Anyone who is fair to the slightest degree will not consider this tawafuk a mere coincidence. In fact, whoever observed this tawafuk definitely concluded that it was a wondrous sign and a marvel derived from the miraculousness of Muhammad (ASW).
The Essentials explained at the beginning of this treatise have extreme importance. As for the narrations related, they are accepted as authentic by the authorities on narrations, and they report the most established fact of the messengership of Muhammad (ASW). Now to enumerate the merits of this treatise, another treatise of the same length as this one would be needed; we therefore invite those who desire to discover its merits to read it, if only once. A Reminder: In this work, I have related many narrations, although I have no books on narrations to refer to. Should there be any errors in the wording of the narrations, I request that they either be corrected, or be considered as paraphrases of narration. For, according to the prevailing opinion, "the paraphrase of narrations is permissible," in which case the narrator puts the meaning of the narration into his own words. This being the case, narrations with possible errors of wording should be regarded as paraphrases.
Said Nursi.
[*]At the time this treatise was written, it was a crime to use the Islamic alphabet (as still is), to publish or write a single religious book, because of the despotic rule of the then government, which was known for its hostile attitude toward Islam. For this reason these treatises could then be secretly multiplied only by handwriting using the Qur'anic letters. The author and his close students spent many of those years in different prisons, and others, in exile.
[**]Tawafuk: the unintentional arrangement of the same words on a vertical line in a page, or in the same place of different pages. This kind of arrangement also appears in the words referring to Allah (J.J.) in the copies of the Qur'an written by his nearest student Ahmed Husrev Efendi (RA) and his appointed successor. This aspect has been explained by Said Nursi (RA) in this Nineteenth Letter as the Eighteenth Essential. All of this shows the actuality of tawafuk as a work of an unseen hand.
The Miracles of Muhammed (PBUH)
In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.
In the Name of the God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
He it is Who has sent His Prophet with guidance and the religion of truth to make it supreme over all religion: and sufficient is God as a Witness. * Muhammed is the Prophet of God... [to the end of the verse]
{Qur'an, 48:28-9}
[Since the Nineteenth and Thirty-First Words concerning the prophethood of Muhammed (Upon whom be blessings and peace) prove it with decisive evidence, we assign the verification of that side of the subject to those Words. As a supplement to them we will merely show here, in Ninenteenth Signs, some of the flashes of that great truth.]
FIRST SIGN:
The Owner and Master of this universe does everything with knowledge, disposes every affair with wisdom, directs everything all-seeingly, treats everything all-knowingly, and arranges in everything with His will and wisdom such causes, purposes and uses that are apparent to us. Since the One who creates knows, surely the One who knows will speak, since He will speak, surely He will speak to those who have consciousness, thought, and speech. Since He will speak to those who have thought, surely He will speak to humankind, whose make-up and awareness are more comprehensive of all conscious beings. Since He will speak to humankind, surely He will speak to the most perfect of mankind and those most worthy of address and highest in morality, and who are qualified to guide humanity; then He will certainly speak to Muhammad (SAW), who, as friend and foe alike testify, is of the highest character and morality, and who is obeyed by one fifth of humanity, to whose spiritual rule half of the globe has submitted, with the radiance of whose light has been illumined the future of mankind for thirteen centuries, to whom the believers, the luminous segment of humanity, renew their oath of allegiance five times a day, for whose happiness and peace they pray, for whom they call down Allah's blessings and bear admiration and love in their hearts.
Certainly, He will speak to Muhammad (SAW), and Indeed He has done so; He will make him the Messenger, and Indeed He has done so; He will make him the guide for the rest of humanity, and Indeed He has done so.
SECOND SIGN:
The Noble Messenger (SAW) declared His prophethood, and presented to humanity a decree as the Glorious Qur'an and manifest miracles which number, according to the scholars, one thousand. The occurrence of those miracles in their entirety is as certain as the fact that He declared himself prophet. In fact, as a shown by the words of the most obstinate unbelievers quoted in various places of the Wise Our'an, even they could not deny the occurrence of His miracles, but only called them -hasha wa kella!-(Allah forbid) sorcery, in order to satisfy themselves, or to deceive their followers. The miracles of Muhammad (SAW) have the certainty of confirmation by consensus of Ulema (scholars of Islam) to the hundreth degree. The Miracle is the conformation by the CREATOR of the universe of His declaration of Prophethood; it has the effect of the words,'You have indeed spoken the truth!' Suppose that you said in the assembly of a ruler, while being observed by Him, 'The true ruler has appointed me to such and such position.' At a time when you were asked to prove your claim, the word 'Yes' uttered by the ruler would sufficiently support you. Or, if the ruler changed his usual practice and attitude at your request, this would confirm your claim even more soundly and more definitely than would the word 'Yes.' In the same way, ALLAH's Most Noble Messenger claimed: 'I am the envoy of the CREATOR of this universe. My proof is that He will change His unbroken order at my request and my prayer. Now look at my fingers: He makes them run like a fountain with five spigots. Look at the moon: by a gesture of my finger, He splits it in two. Look at that tree: to affirm me, and to bear witness to me, it moves and comes near to me. Look at this food: although it is barely enough for two or three men, it satisfies two or three hundred. 'Further he shows hundreds of similar miracles. However, the evidences of the veracity of this high being and the proofs of his prophethood are not restricted to his miracles. All his deeds and acts, his words and behavior, his moral conduct and manners, his character and appearance prove to the attentive his truthfulness and seriousness. Indeed, many people such as Abdullah b. Salam, the famous scholar of the Children of Israel, came to belief merely by seeing him, and said, 'No lie can hide in this face, nor can any fraud be found in it!' Although many of the researchers have concluded that the proofs of the prophethood of Muhammad and his miracles number about one thousand, there are thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of proofs of his prophethood. And hundreds of thousands of truth-seeking men (muhakkikiin) with varying opinions have affirmed his prophethood in an equal number of ways. The Wise Our'an alone demonstrates thousands of the proofs of his prophethood, in addition to its own forty aspects of miraculousness. Since prophethood is as a phenomenon of humanity, and hundreds of thousands of individuals who claimed prophethood and performed miracles have lived and passed away; then, the prophethood of Muhammad (SAW) is of a certanity superior to that of the prophethood of all the others. For whatever evidences, qualities and attributes became the means of the prophethood and messengership of all the messengers such as Jesus (AS) and Moses (AS), they are all owned in a more perfect and comprehensive fashion by Muhammad (SAW). And since the causes and means of prophetic authority exist more perfectly in the person of Muhammad (SAW), this authority is to be found in him with more certanity than all the other prophets.
THIRD SIGN:
The miracles of Muhammad (SAW) are extremely varied. Because his messengership is universal, he has been distinguished by miracles that relate to almost all species of creation. Just as the supreme aide of a renowned ruler, arriving with many gifts in a city where various people live, will be welcomed by a representative of each people who acclaims him and bids him welcome in his own language so, too, when the supreme messenger of the Monarch of Pre- and Post-Eternity (Ezel and Ebed Sultani) honored the universe by coming as an envoy to the inhabitants of the earth, and brought with him the light of truth and spiritual gifts sent by the Creator of the universe and derived from the realities of the whole universe, each species of creation -from water, rocks, trees, animals and human beings to the moon, sun and stars- welcomed him and acclaimed his prophethood, each in its own language, and each bearing one of his miracles. Now it would require a voluminous work to mention all his miracles. As the punctilious scholars have written many volumes concerning the proofs of His prophethood, here we will briefly point out only the general category into which fall fhe miracles that are definite and accepted as accurate reports.
The evidences of the prophethood of Muhammad (SAW) fall into two main categories:
The first is called irhasat and includes the paranormal events that happened at the time of his birth, or before his declaration of prophethood.
The second group pertains to all the remaining evidences of the prophethood, and contains two subdivisions:
1) Those wonders that were manifested after his departure from this world in order to confirm his prophethood, and
2) Those that he exhibited during the era of his prophethood. The latter has also two parts:
2.1) The evidences of his prophethood that became manifest in his own personality, his inner and outer being, his moral conduct and perfection, and
2.2) The miracles that: related to substantial matters. The last part again has two branches:
2.2.1) Those concerning the Qur'an and spirituality, and
2.2.2) Those relating to matter and creation. This last branch is again divided into two categories:
2.2.2.1) The first involves the paranormal happenings that occured during his mission either to break the stubbornness of the unbelievers, or to augment the faith of the belivers. This category has twenty different sorts, such as the splitting of the moon, the flowing of water from the fingers, the satisfying of large numbers with a little food, and the speaking of trees, rocks and animals. Each of these sorts has also many instances, and thus has, in meaning, the strength of confirmation by consensus.
2.2.2.2) As for the second category, this includes events lying in the future that occured as he had predicted upon Allah (SWT)'s instructions. Now starting from the last category, we will summarize a list of them.[*]
[*] Unfonunately, I could not write as I had intended without choice, I wrote as my mind dictated, and I could not completely conform to the order of this classification.
FOURTH SIGN:
There is no limit to the tidings of Muhammad, upon whom be peace and blessings, gave from the Unseen through the instruction of the Knower of the Unseen. As we have mentioned the types of these tidings in the Twenty-Fifth Word, which concerns the miraculousness of the Qur'an, and to a degree explained and given evidence of them, we now again to that Word the explanation of the information he gave from the Unseen about past times and prophets, as well as truths concerning Divinity, the cosmos and the hereafter and will point out a few of the many correct predictions God's Messenger brought concerning his Companions, his Family and his nation. But first, for a complete understanding of the subject, we will state Six Essentials as a prelude.
First Essential
All the states and acts of God's Most Noble Messenger bear witness to his veracity and prophethood, but not each of them need be miraculous. For God Almighty sent him in the form of a human being so that he might be a guide and leader to human beings in their social affairs, and the acts and deeds by means of which they attain happiness in both worlds; and so that he might disclose to human beings the wonders of God's art and His disposive power that underly all occurrences and are in appearance customary, but in reality miracles of Power. If, then, he had abandoned the human state in his acts and become paranormal in all aspects, he could not have been a leader, or have instructed human beings with his acts, states and aspects. He was, indeed, honored with paranormal phenomena in order to prove his prophethood to obstinate unbelievers, and, in case of need, occcasionally performed miracles. But his miracles never occurred in such an obvious fashion as would have compelled everyone to believe, whether willingly or unwillingly. For, in accordance with the purpose of the tests and trials that man is to undergo, the way must be shown to him without depriving him of his free will: the door of the intelligence must remain open, and its freedom must not be snatched from its hand. But if miracles had occurred in so apparent a way, intelligence would have had no choice; Abu Jahl would have believed as did Abu Bakr, coal would have had the value of diamonds, and no purpose would have remained for testing and accountability. It is a source of amazement that while thousands of men of different character came to believe through observing a single miracle of his, a single proof of his prophethood, or a word of his, or through merely seeing his face, some wretches are nowadays going astray, as if those thousands of proofs of his prophethood were not sufficient evidence, although they all have come down to us through authentic transmission and with certain proofs, and have caused many thousands of discerning men to accept faith.
Second Essential:
Allah's Most Noble Messenger SAW is a human being; hence he acts like a human being. He is also a messenger, and from this point of view he is an interpreter and an envoy of Almighty Allah His message is based upon revelation, which falls into two categories: The first is explicit revelation. In this case, the Most Noble Prophet is merely an interpreter and announcer, and has no share in the content. The Qur'an and some Sacred arrations are included in this kind of revelation. The second is implicit revelation. The essence and summary of this is also based on revelation or inspiration, but its explanation and description are left to the Messenger (SAW). When he explains and describes such revelation, sometimes he again relies on the other revelations or inspirations, or sometimes he speaks in terms of his own insight. And, when he resorts to his own interpretation, he either relies on the perceptive power given him on account of his prophetic mission, or he speaks as a human being and conformably to the usage, custom, and level of common comprehension. Thus, all the details of every prophetic narration are not necessarily derived from pure revelation, nor should the lofty signs of messengership be sought in such thoughts and transactions of his as required by his human state. Since some truths are revealed to him in a brief and abstract form, and he himself describes them in the light of his insight and according to common comprehension, the metaphors and allusions in his descriptions sometimes may need explanation, or even interpretation. There are indeed some facts that the human mind can grasp or by way of comparison. For example, once in the presence of the Prophet (SAW), a loud noise was heard. The Prophet (SAW) said, "This is the noise of a rock that has been rolling down for seventy years and has now reached the lowest depths of Hell.' An hour later the news came: a famous hypocrite who had recently turned seventy years old had died and gone to Hell. This report showed the Interpretation of the eloquent analogy of the Prophet (SAW).
Third Essential:
If any related tradition is in the forn of tawatur[*] it is indisputable. There are two kinds of tawatur. One is 'pure tawatur,' the other is 'tawatur in meaning.' The latter (tawatur in meaning) is also of two kinds: The first includes those which are 'agreed upon by silence. For example, if a man relates an incident in front of his community, and the listeners do not contradict him, that is, they respond to him by keeping silent, this implies their acceptance of the report. In particular, if that community consists of extremely truthful and honest individuals in such a degree that they would reject any error, consider any lie as reprehensible, criticize any wrong-doing and in addition show an interest in the reported incident, the silence of that community strongly testifies to the incident having indeed occurred.
[[*]Translator's note: Tawatur is the kind of report or narration of the Messenaer of Allah (SWT) that is transmitted by numerous authorities and about which there is no room for doubt. ]
The second kind of 'tawatur in meaning' is that which occurs when, for example, different people relate a certain incident in different accounts but are unanimously agreed on the occurrence of the incident. This also becomes tawatur in meaning, and the actual occurrence of the incident is not harmed by differences in detail. But apart from this there are also cases when a report supplied by even a single person may be regarded as definite, with the degree of tawatur under some certain conaitions: when supported by evidences instead of (many) narrators such a narration also becomes definite.
Most of the reports concerning the miracles and the evidences of the prophethood of Allah's Most Noble Messenger (SAW) fall into the three categories of tawatur as mentioned above. As for the others, although they are transmitted through the report of only one person, they also have the certainty of tawatur since they have received the acceptance of the meticulous authorities on tradition. Of such meticulous authorities were those geniuses who were called Al-Hafiz, who had committed to memory at least 100,000 narrations, offered for fifty years their morning-prayer with the ablution of the night-prayer, and produced the Six Accurate Books of narration headed by those of Bukhari and Muslim. [ Other 4 books are Sunens of Ebu Davud, Tirmizi, and Nesai, Muvatta of Imam Malik. (RA ecmain (May Allah Please with them all.)) ] Without doubt any report scrutinized and accepted by them cannot fall short of the definitiveness or tawatur. For they acquired such intimacy with the traditions of Allah's Most Noble Messenger (SAW), became so familiar with his exalted style and manner that they could at first sight spot a single false narration among several hundred reports, and would reject it, saying, "This cannot be a prophetic narration; it does not have his (SAW) wording.' Since they were able to recognize the precious qualify of the prophetic narration, like an expert jeweller, there was no possibility of their confusing any other word with that of the Prophet (SAW). Some researchers, however, such as Ibn al-Jawzi, went to such extremes in their criticism as to regard many accurate narrations as false (mevzu). Nevertheless, this does not mean that the meaning of every false (mevzu) wording is wrong; rater it means that the wording itself is not that of the Prophet (SAW).
Question: What is the benefit of citing the chain of transmission of a narration at such a degree that even if it is not needed in the case of a well-known, famous incident they still say,'So-and-so informed so-and-so, etc.'?
Answer: Its benefits are many. One is that the citing of the chain shows the concurrence of the truthful, reliable, and exacting narration-scientists and the unanimity of the discerning authorities whose names are included. This is as if each and every one of those scholars and authorities puts his signature on the accuracy of the tradition, and places his seal on it.
Question: Why were the miraculous events not transmitted in the form of tawatur and in as many ways (channels) and with as great emphasis as the basic injunctions (commands) of the Sacred Law (the Sharia):
Answer: Because the majority of the commands of the Sacred Law are always needed by the majority of people for they all are applicable to each individual. But every one need not know every miracle; even if he does, it suffices him to hear it only once. It is, in fact, like the kind of obligation the observance of which some will absolve the rest; it is quite enough for miracles to be known only to some. For this reason, even if the occurrence and reality of a miracle is established to a degree ten times greater than an injunction of the Sacred Law, it will still come to us through one or two narrators, whereas the injunction is narrated by ten or twenty persons.
Fourth Essential
The future events that Allah's Most Noble Messenqer [SAW] predicted were not isolated incidents; instead he predicted general and recurring events in a particular way. That is, in each such report, he displayed a different aspect of one phenomenon out of several. This is why when the narrator combines these different aspects, they may seem at variance with realty. There are, for example, varying narrations concerning the Mahdi, each with different details and descriptions. However, as was explained in a section of the Twenty-Fourth Word, Allah's Messenger (SAW) gave the tidings, relying on revelation, of a Mahdi who would come in every century to preserve the faith of the Muslims, help them not to fall into despair in the face of disasters, and link the hearts of the believers with the people of the Prophet's Family (RA) that constitute a luminous chain in the world of Islam. Similar to the Great Mahdi (AS) who is promised to come at the end of time, one or more Mahdis from the Prophet's Family (RA), have been found in every century. Indeed, one of them, was among the Abbasid Caliphs who were the descendants of the Prophet's Family, and had many of the characteristics of the Great Mahdi. The reason, then, for the apparent variance between the different narrations (concerning Mehdis) is that the qualities of the Great Mahdi (AS) were confused with those of the revivalists (muceddids) who precede him.
Fift Essential:
Since none other than Allah knows the Unseen, Allah's Messenger too could not know it himself. Instead, Allah Almighty communicated to him the tidings of the Unseen, and he transmitted them. And since Allah Almighty is All-Wise and Most Merciful, His Wisdom and Mercy require that most of the matters of the Unseen be veiled or obscure. For in this world events disagreeable to human beings are numerous; prior knowledge of their happening would be painful. It is for this reason that death and the appointed hour of death are left obscure, and the mishaps that are to befall human beings remain behind the veil of the Unseen.
Again, as a result of His Wisdom and Mercy, Allah Almighty did not entirely or in detail inform His Messenger about the awesome events that would befall his Family and Companions after his demise, in order not to hurt his extremely tender compassion for his nation and his firm affection for his Family.[*]
[*] For example, he was not made to know about Aisha's taking part in the battle of the Camel so that his deep love and affection toward her, with whom Allah be pleased, would not be hurt. He said, in fact, to his wives, "I wish I knew which one of you will be involved in that incident." Later he was apparently made aware of it to a slightly greater extent, as he once said to Ali, with whom Allah be pleased, "Some event will take place between you and Aisha." For certain divine purposes, He made some of these significant events known to him, but not in all their awesomeness. As for pleasant events, He communicated them to His Prophet sometimes in outline and sometimes in detail, and the Prophet in turn made them known to his Companions. Thus those tidings were accurately transmitted to us by the traditionists who were at the height of piety, justice and truthfulness, and who feared very much the warning of the prophetic tradition,
Whoever knowingly tells a lie concerning me should prepare for a seat in Hell,
and that of the Qur'anic verse,
Who, then does more wrong than the one who utters a lie concerning Allah? [Qur'an 39:32]
Sixth Essential:
Although some qualities and aspects of Allah's Most Noble Messenger have been described in books of history and biography, most of those qualities relate to his humanness. But in reality, the spiritual personality and the sacred nature of this blessed being are so exalted and luminous that the qualities described in books fall short of his high stature. For, according to the rule, "The cause is like the doer," everyday, even at this moment, the amount of the prayers performed by all his nation is being added to the record of his perfections. He is also everyday the object of the countless invocations of his vast nation, in addition to being the object of infinite Divine Mercy in an infinite fashion and with an infinite capacity to receive. He is, indeed, the result and the most perfect fruit of creation, the interpreter and the beloved of the Creator of the cosmos. Hence, his true nature in its entirety, and the truth of all his perfections, cannot be contained in the human qualities recorded in books of history and biography. Certainly, the stature of a blessed being with the Archangels Gabriel and Michael as two aides-de-camp at his side in the battle of Badr, is not to be found within the shape of a person bargaining with a Beduin at the market place over the price of a horse, bringing forth Hudhayfa as his sole witness.
In order not to proceed in error, one should raise his mind beyond the ordinary qualities of the Prophet that pertain to his participation in the human state, and behold instead his true nature and luminous stature that pertain to the rank of Messengership. Otherwise, One will either show him irreverence, or instil doubts in oneself. Heed the following comparison for an understanding of this mystery.
Suppose that a date pit was planted under the earth, has sprouted and become a large, fertile tree, and is still continuing to grow taller and broader. Or that the egg of a peacock was incubated, a chick was hatched from it and became a beautifully adorned peacock with the imprint of Power all over it, and is still growing bigger and prettier. Now there exist qualities, properties and precisely balanced elements that belong to the pit and the egg, but are not as great and significant as those of the tree and the bird that emerge from them. So, while describing the qualities of the tree and the bird together with those of the pit and the egg, one should turn one's attention from the pit to the tree, and from the egg to the bird, so that one's intellect may find the description acceptable. Otherwise, if you claim, "I have obtained thousands of dates from a pit, " or "This egg is the king of all birds," you will invite others to contradict and deny your words.
The humanness of Allah's Messenger may be likened to that pit or egg, and his essential nature, illumined with the prophetic mission, to the Tuba tree of Paradise, or to the birds of Paradise. His essential nature is, moreover, continually moving to greater perfection. That is why, when you think of the man who disputed at the market with a Beduin, you should also turn the eye of imagination to that luminous being who, riding the Rafraf, leaving Gabriel behind, reached the Distance of Two Bowstrings.[*] Otherwise you will either be disrespectful toward him, or fail to convince the imperious soul.
[*] The distance that separated the Prophet from the Divine Presence at the end of his ascension.
FIFTH SIGN
We will cite in this Sign a few examples of prophetic traditions concerning the matters of the Unseen.
It has come down to us in the form of tawatur and through an authentic narration that Allah's Messenger declared from the pulpit in the presence of his companions, "This grandson of mine, Hasan, is a master of men by means of whom Allah will reconcile two great groups." Forty years later, when the two largest armies of Islam met each other, Hasan made peace with Mu'awiya, and thus proved the prophecy of his noble grandfather, upon whom be peace and blessings.
According to another authentic narration, the Prophet said to Ali, "You will fight the perfidious, the just and the deviator," thus predicting the battles of the Camel and Siffin and that fought against the Kharijites.
He again said to Ali, when he was displaying love for Zubayr, "He will fight against you, but will be in the wrong." He also said to his wives, "One amoung you will take charge of a rebellion; many around her will be killed; and the dogs will bark all around her."
All these certain and authentic traditions are the proven predictions of the struggles of Ali against Aisha, Zubayr and Talha during the battle of the Camel, against Mu'awiya at Siffin, and against the Kharijites at Harawra and Nahruwan.
The Prophet also informed Ali about a man who would stain Ali's beard with the blood of his own head. Ali knew that man; it was Abdurrahman b. Muljam the Kharijite.
He also mentioned a man marked with a peculiar sign, Dhul-Thadia. When that man was found among the dead of the Kharijites, Ali showed him as a proof of the rightness of his cause, declaring at the same time the miracle of the Prophet. According to another authentic tradition related by Umm Salama and others, Allah's Messenger also predicted that Husain would be killed at Taff (Kerbala). Fifty years later the painful event took place as predicted. He also repeatedly predicted that after his demise, his Family would face death, calamities and exile, and gave some details. What he had predicted later came true exactly.
In this connection, A QUESTION may be asked: Although Ali, with his extraordinary bravery and profound knowledge in addition to his kinship to Allah's Messenger, greatly deserved to be Caliph, why did he not precede others in holding the Caliphate, and why did Islam experience such disorder during his caliphate?
ANSWER:
A great saint from the Prophet's Family is reported as saying, "Allah's Messenger had desired the caliphate of Ali, but it was made known to him from the Unseen that the will of Allah Almighty was different. He then abandoned his desire, submitting himself to Allah's will." One of the reasons why Allah's will was different could have been that after the demise of Allah's Messenger, when the Companions were more than ever in need of alliance and unity, if Ali had taken the leadership, this would most probably have aroused in many persons and tribes a tendency to compete, because of his pious, fearless, dignified, heroic and independent personality and his widely known courage -as was indeed the case during his caliphate- and divisions among the believers would have resulted. Another reason for the delay of Ali's caliphate is the following: at the time of his caliphate, the Muslim community, which had rapidly developing through the intermingling of many tribes and peoples, possessed such traits as reflected the opinions of the seventy-three sects that Allah's Messenger had predicted would evolve in due time.
Therefore, in the face of such disturbances, someone was needed with the wondrous strength, courage, respectability and sagacity of Ali, someone having the force of the respected Hashimites and the Prophet's Family, so that he could resist such hardships. And indeed he did so, in a fashion conformable to the prediction of the Prophet, who had said to him, "I have fought for the revelation of the Qur'an; you will fight for its explanation. " A further reason for this delay is that without Ali, the magnificence of sovereignty would most probably have caused the Umayyad dynasty to go completely astray. However, having to cater to the opposition of Ali and the Prophet's Family, and to preserve their prestige before the Muslims, the leaders of the Umayyad dynasty, willingly or unwillingly but in any case with full vigor, worked for at least encouraged their subjects and followers to do so- for the protection and propagation of the truths of faith and Islam and the Qur'anic order. Thus, thousands of punctilious expounders of the Islamic law, distinguished traditionists, saints and men of purity emerged during their reign. Had it not faced the strong religiosity, sainthood and virtuousness of Ali and of the Prophet's Family, the Umayyad dynasty would from the very beginning have pursued its own course, as happened at the end of its rule and that of the Abbasid dynasty.
It might also be asked, 'Why did the Islamic Caliphate not remain in the Prophet's Family, since they were the most deserving and fitted for it?"
ANSWER:
Worldly sovereignty is deceptive, and the Prophet's Family had been appointed to protect the Qur'anic order and the truths of Islam. Not to be deceived by the magnificence of sovereignty or the Caliphate, one should be as sinless as a prophet, or as pious and purehearted as the Four Caliphs, Omar b. Abdul-Aziz or the Mahdi of the Abbasids. In fact, the Fatimid dynasty that was established in Egypt in the name of the Prophet's Family, the rule of the Almohads in Africa and that of the Safavids in Persia, all show that worldly sovereignty is not suitable for the Prophet's Family, for it causes them to neglect their primary duty, the protection of religion and the service of Islam. When, on the other hand, they refrained from sovereignty, they brilliantly and most succesfully served Islam and the Qur'an. Now see: of the poles of sainthood decsending from Hasan -especially the Four Poles [*] and above all
[*] The four poles of sainthood, namely, Abdul Qadir Gilani, Ahmad Rufa'i, Ahmad Badawi and Ibrahim Dasuqi.
Abdul Qadir Gilani- and those imams from the lineage of Husain especially Zayn al Abidin and Jafar as Siddiq- each became a revivalist in his own right, dispelled the darkness of wrongdoing, spread the light of the Qur'an and the truths of faith, and in so doing that he was a true heir of his noble ancestor.
It may be asked, "What was the Divine Wisdom lying behind the awesome and bloody disturbances that befell the blessed Companions and sacred Islam, for they did not deserve such deep sorrow and losses?"
ANSWER:
Just as a heavy spring rainstorm activates and improves the various dispositions inherent in various vegetables, seeds and trees, making them bloom and flourish each in its own fashion, so to the disturbances that befell the Companions and their successors activated their various talents. It gave every group of them the fear that Islam was in danger, made them hurry to the protection of Islam, so that everyone within his means shouldered a function from among the various duties in the Muslim community and strove in atmost earnest. Each group fullfilled a different function, some working for the preservation of the prophetic traditions, some for the maintanence of the Qur'an and the truths of faith, and so on. Thus did they strive fervently in performing Islamic duties, thus did the flowers of different colors blossom forth, and thus were the seeds planted in the vast regions of the Muslim world and half of the globe changed into rose gardens. Sadly, with those roses, came the thorns of the deviant sects.
It was as if the Hand of Power had shaken that era with wrath, rotated it with intense vigor, electrified the men of zeal. And electrified by the centrifugal force of that movement, a great many enlightened expounders, luminous traditionists, gifted scholars, men of purity and poles of sainthood emigrated to the remote corners of the Muslim World. By causing this to come about, the Hand of Power inspires all the Muslims, from the East to the West, with enthusiasm, and awakened them to the treasures of the Qur'an. Now we return to our subject.
There are thousands of events that Allah's Messenger predicted and that happened as he predicted. Here we will mention a few of them. The majority of those we will cite are agreed upon by the six well known and most authentic tradition books, particularly by Bukhari and Muslim. And many of them are classified as tawattur in meaning, while some others, on account of being verified by meticulous researchers, may also be considered to have the certainity of tawattur.
According to an authentic narration, Allah's Messenger said to his companions, "You will be victorious over all your enemies, will succeed in the conquest of Mecca, Khaybar, Damascus, Iraq, Persia and Jaresulam, and will share among yourselves the treasures of the rulers of the greatest empires, the Byzantine and the Persians." He did not say this as a matter of conjecture or personal opinion; he said it as if he had seen it, and what he said came true as perdicted, despite the fact that at the same time he had to migrate to Madina with a handfull of followers, with the rest of the world, including the environs of the Madina, hostile to him!
He also repeatedly declared, according to authentic and certain narrations, that Abu Bakr and Umar would outlive him and be his Calips, that they would act for Allah's sake and within the bounds of the pleasure of Allah and that of the prophet, that Abu Bakr's reign would be short,and that Umar would remain longer to succed in many conquests. Thus he said, "Incumbent upon you is following the path of those who come after me, Abu Bakr and Umar."
He also declared, "The earth was laid out before me, and its eastern and western extremities were displayed to me. The realm of my nation shall extend over whatever was laid out before me." And his words proved to be true.
Again, according to an authentic and certain narration, he informed his companions about what was happening in the celebrated battle of Muta, near Damascus -at a distance of one month's journey from where he was- as if he were seeing his companions fighting in the battle, and said, "Zayd has taken the banner and been hit; now Ibn Rawaha has taken the banner and been hit; now Jafar has taken the banner and been hit; now one of Allah's swords [i.e., Khalid] has taken it." Two to three weeks later Ya'la b. Munabbih returned from the battle front. In his presence, Allah's Messenger described the details of the battle, and Ya'la swore by Allah that what had taken place at the battle was exactly the same as the prophet had described.
According to an authentic and certain narration, Allah's Messenger said, "After me, the Caliphate will last thirty years then it will be rapacious monarchy. The beginning of this affair is prophethood and mercy; then it will be mercy and caliphate; then it will be rapacious monarchy; then it will be arrogance and tyranny." He thus predicted the sixth month long caliphate of Hasan, the period of four Chaliphs, and following that, the transition of Caliphate to monarchy and monarchy's being beset by intrigues and tyranny. This is exactly what later occured.
Again, according to an authentic narration, he declared, "Uthman will be killed while reading the Qur'an, and it may be that Allah will cause him to be dressed in a shirt at that time. His deposal may also be sought." These events, too, all took place exactly as predicted. Again, according to an authentic narration, he foretold the characteristics of the Umayyad dynasty and the tyrannical rule rule of many of its monarchs, including Yazid and Walid, and Muawiya's taking the leadership of Muslims. He advised justice and gentleness, and said, "When ruling, act with forebearence." He predicted that the Abbasid dynasty would emerge after the Umayyads to remain in power for a long time, and said, "The Abbasids will come forth with black banners and rule for many times more than they [the Umayyads] rule." All these predictions proved to be true.
According to an authentic narration, Allah's Messenger also said, "Woe to the Arabs for the evil that has drawn near," suggesting the dreadful disorders to be caused by Jenghiz and Hulagu, and their destruction of the Abbasid dynsty. All this proved to be true. According to an authentic narration, when Sa'd b. Abi Waqqas was gravely ill, the Prophet said to him, "It may be that you will be spared so that some may bebefit by you, and others be harmed by you," thus predicting that he would be a great commander winning many victories, that many peoples would benefit from him by entering the fold of Islam, while others would be destroyed by him. His words proved to be true; Sa'd led the Muslim armies, wiped out the Persian Empire, and caused many people to reach guidance, the path of Islam.
Also according to an authentic narration, when the Negus, the Ethiopian ruler, who had accepted faith earlier, died in the seventh year of Hijra, Allah's Messenger informed his companions about it; he even performed funeral prayers for him. One week later came the news confirming the death of the Negus on the very same as the Prophet had seen it.
According to an authentic narration, when Allah's Messenger was with his closest four companions on the top of Mount Uhud (or Hira), the mountain began to tremble. He said "Steady! For on you are a prophet, a siddiq [title given to Abu Bakr meaning 'veracious'] and three martyrs." He thus foretold the martyrdom of Umar, Uthman and Ali. It too proved to true.
Now O unfortunate, heartless, wretched man who says that Muhammad was only a wise person and then closes his eyes to that sun of truth! Of all his fifteen different kinds of miracle, you have thus far heard only the hundredth part of one kind, that relating to his predictions which has in effect the certainty of tawatur. To discover future events with one's own sagacity and thus succeed even in one hundredth part of the Prophet's predictions, one would have to be of the highest genius. Even if we merely called him a genius as you call him, could such a man with the sagacity of a hundred geniuses have ever perceived anything false? Or could he have ever stooped to giving false information? Not to heed the word of such a hudredfold genius concerning happiness in both worlds is therefore the sign of a hundredfold madness.
SIXTH SIGN
[Miracles Related to the Predictions of Prophet Muhammad SAW]
According to an authentic narration, Allah's Messenger said to Fatima, "You will be the first of my family to join me (after my death). "Six months later, what he said took place. He also told Abu Dharr, "You will be expelled from here [Medina], will live alone, and will die alone." All this came true twenty years later. Once, as he awakened in the house of Anas b. Malik's aunt, Umm Haram, he similingly said, "I saw my nation waging war on the seas like kings sitting on thrones." Umm Haram requested, "Pray that I too will be with them." He said, 'You shall be." Forty years later she accompanied her husband, Ubada b. Samit, on the conquest of Cyprus. She died there, and her grave has since been visited by the believers. Thus, what the Prophet foretold proved to be true. Also according to an authentic narration, he declared, "From the tribe of Thaqif, a liar will claim prophethood, and a bloodthirsty tyrant will appear. "With this, he gave tidings of the infamous Mukhtar who claimed prophethood, and of the barbarous Hajjaj who killed a hundred thousand people.
According to an authentic narration, he said, "Istanbul will be conquered, and blessed are the ruler and the troops that will conquer it. "He thus gave tidings that Istanbul would be conquered by Muslim hands, and that Mehmed the Conqueror would attain a high spiritual rank. His prediction again proved to be true. He also said, according to an authentic narration "Were religion to be hung on the Pleiades, men from Persia would reach and lay hold of it," indicating that matchless scholars and saints like Abu Hanifa would emerge from Iran. In addition, he foretold Imam Shafi'i, saying, "A scholar from Quraish who will fill all regions of the earth with learning."
According to an authentic narration he said "My nation will be divided into seventy-three sects, and only one among them will attain salvation He was asked, "Who are they?" He replied, "Those who follow me and my Companions," meaning the People of the Sunna and Community.
He also declared, "The Qadariyya are the Magians of this nation", foretelling the emergence of the Qadariyya sect that would be divided into different branches and reject Destiny.
He also foretold the Rafizis who would produce various offshoots. Again, according to an authentic narration, he said to Ali: "As was true of Jesus, two groups of people will perish on your account: one because of excessive love, the other because of excessive enmity. Christians, on account of their deep love for Jesus, transgressed the limits and called him 'the son of God,' Allah forbid! while the Jews, because of their, hostility, went to another extreme by denying his message and virtue. Similarly, some will also incur loss through their exaggerated affection toward you. For them is the insulting name Rafiziyya. And certain others will be excessively hostile to you. They are the Kharijites and the extremist partisans of the Umayyads who will be called Nasiba."
A QUESTION may be asked here: Affection for the Prophet's Family is a command of the Qur'an and is greatly encouraged by the Prophet. The affection of the Shi'is may therefore serve as an excuse for them, since deep affection may be likened to intoxication whis is a state of unawareness. Why,then, can the Shi'is, especially the Rafizis, not benefit from their affection, and why is their affection described by the Prophet as transgression?
ANSWER:
Love is of two kinds: the first means to love Ali, Hasan, Husain and the Prophet's Family on account of Allah SWA and His Messenger SAW. This kind of love augments the love of the Prophet, and becomes a means to love Allah Almighty. Thus, it is permissible, and its excess is not harmful or aggressive, nor does it call for reproach and hostility for others.
The second kind of love takes the means as the object. In it, one does not think of the Prophet, but devotes one's love to Ali on account of his bravery, and to Hasan and Husain on account of their greatness and lofty qualities no matter if one knows the Prophet or recognizes Allah SWA. This love is not a means of love for Allah SWA and His Messenger SAW; besides, when excessive, it results in censure and enmity for others. It is on account of this kind of love that such people withdrew themselves at a distance from Abu Bakr and Umar, and fell into loss. Their negative love, indeed, is the source of misfortune.
According to an authentic narration, Allah's Most Noble Messenger declared, "When Persian and Roman girls serve you, then calamity and misfortune will be with you, and your struggles will be among each other, with the wicked preying on the virtuous." Thirty years later, his predictions came true.
Again, according to an authentic narration, he declared, "-The fortress of Khaybar will be conquered by Ali's hand." As a miracle of his prophethood and beyond all expectation, the following day Ali ripped off the gate of the fortress of Khaybar, used it as a shield, and seized the fortress. When he threw it aside after the conquest, eight strong men-or, according to another version, forty tried to lift it, but could not do so.
Allah's Most Noble Messenger SAW also predicted the battle of Siffin between Ali and Mu'awiya, saying. "-the hour shall not come until two parties with a single claim fight each other."
He also declared that a group of rebels would kill Ammar. When Ammar was killed in the battle of Siffin. Ali cited this as a proof that Mu'auwiya's followers were rebellious; but Mu'awiya interpreted it differently, and also Amr b. As said. "The rebels are his murderers, not all of us."
Allah's Messenger SAW also said. "As long as Umar is alive, no mischief will emerge among you." And so it happened. Before accepting faith, Sahl b. Amr was once captured in a battle. Umar said to Allah's Messenger SAW. "Allow me to pull out his teeth, for he, with his eloquent speech, incited the polytheist Quraish to wage war against us." Allah's Messenger SAW replied. "It may be that he will assume a stance pleasing to you. O Umar." In fact, at the time of the Prophet's demise that caused panic and agitation, Sahl, with his well-known eloquence, calmed and comforted the Companions in Mecca with an address; while Abu Bakr in Medina, with his great firmness, was also giving a very important address to comfort the Companions. Surprisingly, the wordings of the two addresses show similarity to one another.
To Suraqa, the Prophet once said, "You will be wearing the two bracelets of the Chosroes." The Chosroes was destroyed during the caliphate of Umar. When the jewelry of the Chosroes arrived, Umar put the bracelets on Suraqa, saying. "Praise be to Allah Who took these of the Chosroes and put them on Suraqa." This confirmed the report of the Prophet.
Allah's Messenger SAW also declared. "Once the Chosroes is gone, there will be no other Chosroes." He once said to the envoy of the Chosroes "Chosroes has now been killed by his son Shirviya Parviz." Upon investigating and finding out that he had indeed been murdered at that very time, the envoy accepted Islam. The name of the envoy occurs in some narrations as Fayrouz.
According to an authentic narration, Allah's Messenger once mentioned a secret letter that Hatib b. Baltaa had sent to the Quraish. He said to Ali and Miqdad, "There is a person at such and such a location bearing such and such a letter. Go and bring the letter." They did so, and the Prophet SAW summoned Hatib and asked him why he had done that. Hatib apologized, and the Prophet SAW pardoned him.
At the conquest of Mecca, as is also related in an authentic narration, Revered Bilal Habashi went up on the roof of Ka'ba and called the adhan (call to prayer) while Abu Sufyan, Attab b. Asid and Harith b. Hisham from among the leaders of Quraish were sitting together nearby. Attab said, "My father was fortunate enough not to witness this moment" Harith said, "Could Muhammad not have found someone other than this black crow to make the muadhdhin (caller to prayer)?" and bilittled Revered Bilal Habashi. Abu Sufyan said "I am afraid to say anything. I will not utter a thing. Even if nobody around, the rocks of this Batha [Mecca] will inform him. He [Muhammad] will come to know [whatever we would say]." Indeed, a little later Allah's Messenger SAW encountered them and repeated to them their conversation word for word. That very moment Attab and Harith became Muslims.
O wretched heretic! O heartless one who does not recognize the Prophet! See that two stubborn leaders of the Quraish came to believe upon hearing a single report of his from the Unseen, and imagine how your heart has been spoiled so that you are still not content with the thousands of miracles like these that came by tawatur. However, let us go back to our subject.
According to an authentic narration, Abbas was captured by the Companions in the battle of Badr. When he was asked for ransom, he said he did not have money. Allah's Most Noble Messenger SAW said to him, "You and your wife Umm Fadl hid that much money [he gave the exact amount] in such and such a place." Abbas confirmed this, saying, "This was a secret that only two of us knew," and became a Muslim.
Also according to an authentic narration, a dangerous Jewish sorcerer named Labid once concocted a strong and effective spell to annoy the Prophet. He wrapped hair and thread around a comb, bewitched it, and threw it into a well. Allah's Messenger SAW told his Companions including Ali to go and bring the spell in the well, which they did, locating it exactly as described. As they unwrapped the hair, the Prophet's discomfort lessened.
Again, according to an authentic narration, Allah's Messenger SAW once gave the news of the awesome fate of an apostate to a group that included such important persons as Abu Hurayra and Hudhayfa, saving, "One among you will be in fire with a tooth bigger than Mount Uhud" Abu Hurayra related, "I was much afraid, as later only two remained from that group, including me. Finally, the other man was killed in the battle of Yamama as one of the followers of Musaylima." The truth of the Prophet's prediction was thus confirmed.
It is related through an authentic narration that Umayr and Safwan, before they became Muslims, once decided to kill the Prophet for a handsome reward that had been offered them. When Umayr arrived in Medina with this intention, Allah's Messenger summoned him, and, putting his hand on Umayr's chest, told him about that which he had planned with Safwan. Umayr answered, "Yes," and became a Muslim.
Like those mentioned above, many predictions that Allah's Messenger SAW gave from the Unseen have been recorded in the six best-known, authentic books of tradition, together with the chains of the narrators. As for the occurrences related in this work, they are definite in effect to the degree of tawatur, being related in Bukhari and Muslim (which are accepted as the most authentic sources after the Qur'an), Tirmidhi, Nasa'i, Abu Dawud, Musnad al-Hakim, Musnad al-Hamid, Ibn Hanbal and Dalail al-Bayhaqi.
Now then, O bewildered heretic, do not remain blind to this fact [that Muhammed (ASW) is the Messenger of Allah (SWT), a fact certainity of which is established firmly by the miracles he performed by the leave of Allah (SWT)], and do not attempt to explain it by simply saying, "Muhammad was a wise man"! Because the accurate informations of Muhammad (ASW) concerning the Unseen cannot be explained except in one of these two ways: you will either suppose that this blessed person has such a keen sight and such a broad genius that he sees and knows the past and the future and all the world; gazes upon the East, the West and the whole universe; and discovers that which happened in the past and that which is to happen in the future. Such a quality cannot be found in a human being, but if it is, it must be a wonder bestowed on him by the Creator of the universe, which would itself be the greatest of miracles. Or you will believe this blessed person to be an official instructed by a Being under Whose governing and observation everything stands, under Whose command are all ages and all species of the universe, in Whose ledger is everything recorded, so that He shows and communicates information to him whenever He wishes. Thus, Muhammad (ASW) instructs others as he himself is instructed by the Lord of Eternity. It is related in an authentic narration that when the Prophet (ASW) appointed Khalid b. Walid (RA) to fight against Ukaydir, the head of Dawmat al-Jandal, he informed Khalid that he would find Ukaydir on a wild ox hunt, and that he would be captured without resistance. Khalid captured Ukaydir in exactly this way. According to an authentic narration, when the Quraish hung up on the wall of Ka'ba a leaf on, which were written words against the Bani Hashim, the Prophet (ASW) said to them. "Worm have eaten the leaf, except the parts bearing the Names ot Allah." They examined the leaf to find it in the same condition as had been described. According to an authentic narration, Allah's Messenger (ASW) said, "There will be a big epidemic during the conquest of Jerusalem." When Jerusalem was conquered during the caliphate of Umar (RA), a widespread epidemic caused the death of about seventy thousand people in three days. Again, according to an authentic narration, the Prophet (ASW) predicted that Basra and Baghdad would come into existence, that the treasures of the world would enter Baghdad, and that Arabs would fight against the Turks and the people living on the shores of the Caspian Sea, many among whom would enter the fold of Islam and establish rule among Arabs. He said, "The Persians (nonarabs, acems) will almost predominate among you, consuming your booty and striking off your heads." He also said, "The ruin of my nation will be by the hands of the wicked ones from Quraish," suggesting the mischief of the wicked leaders of the Umayyads, such as Walid and Yazid. He furthermore informed that apostasy would take place in such certain areas as Yamama. In the famous battle of Khandaq, he declared "From now on, I will make assaults on the Quraish and their confederates, not they on me." This was also verified later.
According to an authentic narration, he (ASW) said a few months prior to his demise. "One of Allah's bondsmen has been given a choice, and he chose that which is with Allah."
About Zayd b. Suwahan (RA), he said, "One of his limbs will precede him to Paradise." In the battle of Nihawand, one of Zayd's hands was martyred and in effect reached heaven first.
The incidents we have so far mentioned concerning information relating to the Unseen comprise only one out of his ten different kinds of miracle. Yet of this kind alone, we have not even mentioned one tenth.
In addition to what is mentioned here, four general kinds of miracle concerning information about the Unseen have been dwelt upon in the TwentyFifth Word, which concerns the miraculousness of the Qur'an. If you consider them altogether, you will see how conclusive, indisputable, sound and brilliant is the evidence of his messengership (ASW). Indeed, anyone whose heart and mind are not corrupted will of a surety believe that Muhammad is the Messenger of, and receives knowledge from, a Glorious One Who is the Creator of everything and the Knower of the Unseen.
SEVENTH SIGN
[Miracles Related to the Abundance of Food and Water]:
We will give in this Sign a few examples from among the Prophet's Miracles (ASW) that relate to his effecting the increase in food and that are definite to the degree of tawatur in meaning. But before going into the subject, some introductory comments will be appropriate.
Introductory Comments:
Each of the following examples of miracles is transmitted through various -sometimes as many as sixteen- channels. Having occurred in the presence of large assemblies, they were narrated by many persons of truth and good repute from among those who were present. For example, from among the seventy men who were satiated with four handfuls of food, one relates the incident, and the others do not contradict him. Their silence, in fact, indicates their conformation. This is especially true for the truthful, straightforward and honest Companions of that era of truth and veracity, who would immediately contradict and reject anything false to the slightest degree. But the incidents that we will be citing were narrated by many, and when reported, the others who had witnessed them remained silent. Thus, each of these incidents has the certainty of tawatur in meaning.
Furthermore, books of history and the Prophet's (ASW) biography bear witness that, next to the preservation of the Qur'an and of its verses, the Companions concentrated all their efforts on the accurate preservation of knowledge concerning the deeds and utterances of Allah's Messenger (ASW), and especially those relating to miracles and the injunctions of the Sacred Law. They never neglected even the most insignificant act or state of his, as is confirmed by the books of tradition. During the era of the Prophet (ASW), his traditions concerning the details of the Sacred Law and his miracles were put into writing, in particular by the Seven Abdullahs -notably among them Abdullah b. Abbas, known as "the interpreter of the Qur'an," and Abdullah b. Amr b. As (RAE).
Some thirty to forty years later, thousands of researchers among the generation that followed the Companions recorded the miracles and traditions, which were later preserved and transmitted by the following thousands of discerning traditionists, including the Four imams.
Two hundred years after the Hijra, the authors of the six esteemed narration books, including Bukhari and Muslim, shouldered the duty of recording and preserving the traditions. In the meantime, many severe critics such as Ibn al-Jawzi identified the false reports that had been produced by heretics, or ignorant and careless people. And in later years the precious traditions were distinguished from fabrications and distortions by discerning scholars, such as Jalaladdin as-Suyuti who seventy times was honored in a waking state (yakaza) by the spiritual-presence and conversation of Allah's Messenger (ASW), as confirmed by those given spiritual sight (Ehl-i Keshf).
Thus did the miracles we will mention below come to us through numerous, safe and strong hands, may Allah (SWT) reward them abundantly. For this reason, one's mind should be free from the notion that these incidents could have been distorted or confused in any way from that time onward.
FIRST EXAMPLE of miracles concerning the Prophet's (ASW) inducing the increase of food through his blessing: The six accurate books of tradition, Bukhari and Muslim included, unanimously relate that during the feast on the occasion of the Prophet's marriage to Zaynab, Anas's mother, Umm Sulaym, prepared a dish by frying two handfuls of dates and sent it with Anas (RAE) to the Prophet. Allah's Messenger (ASW) told him, "Go and invite so and so [naming some persons], and also invite whoever you encounter on your way." Anas invited those named and those he met. About three hundred Companions came and filled the Prophet's (ASW) room and the anteroom. Then the Prophet (ASW) said, "Make circles of ten." He placed his blessed hand on that little amount of food, uttered supplications, and told them to start eating. All of them ate, being fully satisfied. Afterwards the Prophet (ASW) asked Anas to remove the food. Anas (RA) later related, "I could not tell if there was more of it when I set it down, or when I removed it."
SECOND EXAMPLE: Abu Ayyub al-Ansari (RA), the host of the Prophet (ASW), relates that when Allah's Messenger honored his home, he had made a meal for two, which would suffice the Prophet (ASW) and Abu Bakr (RA). But the Prophet (ASW) told him, "Invite thirty men from among the distinguished ones of the Ansar." Abu Ayyub (RA) says: "Thirty men came and ate. He then said, 'Invite sixty men,' which I did, and they also came and ate. The Prophet (ASW) said again, 'Invite seventy more.' I invited them; they came, and when they finished eating, there was still food left in the bowls. All who came embraced Islam, and took the oath of allegiance after witnessing that miracle. There were one hundred and eighty men who ate that food which was enough for two."
THIRD EXAMPLE: It is reported by various channels from Umar b. Khattab, Abu Hurayra, Salama b. Aqwa, Abu Amrat al-Ansari and others (RAE) that during a battle, they referred themselves to Allah's Messenger (ASW). He told them, "Gather whatever food is left in your bags." Everyone brought a few dates and put them on a mat. The largest amount anyone could contribute was four handfuls. Salama related, "I estimated the amount of the whole thing as the size of a goat lying down." Then Allah's Messenger announced, "Everyone may bring his dish." They rushed forward, and no one in the whole army remained with an empty dish. After all the dishes had been filled, there was even some left over. One of the Companions later said, "I realized from the way that that abundance was obtained that if the whole world had come , the food would have sufficed them all."
FOURTH EXAMPLE: As recorded in all the Six Books including Bukhari and Muslim, Abdurrahman b. Abu Bakr Siddiq (RA) relates: "We, one hundred and thirty Companions, were with the Allah's Messenger on an expedition. Dough was prepared for the amount of about four handful, a goat was slaughtered and cooked, and its liver and kidneys were roasted. I swear by Allah that from that roasted meat [liver and kidneys] the Prophet gave a small piece to each and put the cooked meat into two large bowls. After we had all eaten until we were satisfied, there was still some left over, which I loaded onto a camel."
FIFTH EXAMPLE: As is recorded in the Six Books, Jabir al-Ansari (RA) related under an oath: "During the battle of Ahzab on the celebrated day of Khandaq, about a thousand people ate from four handfuls of rye bread and a young cooked goat; yet food was still left over. The food had been cooked in my dwelling, and after the one thousand people had left, the pot was still boiling with meat in it, and bread was being made from the dough; for the Prophet had wetted that dough and that pot with his blessed mouth, supplicating for abundance." Since this miracle of abundance was announced by Jabir with an oath while those thousand men (RAE) were present, it can be regarded as having been related by one thousand men.
SIXTH EXAMPLE: According to an authentic narration from Abu Talha (RA), the uncle of Anas who served the Prophet (ASW), the Prophet fed seventy to eighty men with a small amount of rye bread that Anas had brought under his arm. The Prophet (ASW) ordered, "Break the bread into small pieces," and prayed for abundance. Because there was not enough room for all people, only ten ate at a time, leaving all full and satisfied.
SEVENTH EXAMPLE: It is related as authentic in accurate books such as Shifa ash-Sharif and Muslim that Jabir al-Ansari (RA) narrates: "Once a man asked Allah's Messenger for food for his household. Allah's Messenger gave him a half load of barley. For a long time he and his family ate from it. When they noticed that it was not being exhausted, they measured it to see by what amount it had been reduced. After that, the blessing of abundance was gone, and the barley began to dwindle rapidly. Then the man came back to Allah's Messenger and related what happened. Allah's Messenger replied, "If you had not measured it, it would have sufficed you for a lifetime." "
EIGHT EXAMPLE: According to accurate books such as Tirmidhi, Nasa'i, Bayhaqi and Shifa ash-Sharif, Samura b. Jundub (RA) relates that a bowl of meat was brought to Allah's Messenger (ASW). From morning to evening, many groups of men came and ate from it. Considering the explanation that we cited in the introduction to this section, this is not the narration of Samura alone, since Samura narrated this incident on behalf, and with the approval of, all those present.
NINTH EXAMPLE: It is also related by highly trusted and reliable researchers such as the author of Shifa ash-Sharif, Ibn Abi Shayba and Tabarani, that Allah's Messenger (ASW) ordered Abu Hurayra (RA), "Invite those poor Muhajirin who are using the hall of the Masjid as their home." They were, in fact, more than a hundred. Abu Hurayra searched and summoned them all. A plate full of food was placed in front of them, so that they ate as much as they wished. As they rose, the plate was as full as it had been when first placed before them. The fingermarks on the food were the only signs of their eating. This incident is related by Abu Hurayra not on his own, but in the name of the People of the Suffa and relying on their approval. Hence, the incident is as definite as if all the People of the Suffa had related it. Otherwise, is it ever possible that those men of truth and perfection would have remained silent and not contradicted it, had the narration been untrue?
TENTH EXAMPLE: According to an authentic narration by Ali (KAW), Allah's Messenger (ASW) once gathered the Bani Abdulmuttalib. They were about fourty, including some who would eat a young camel and drink a gallon of milk in one meal. Yet for them he had prepared only a handful of food. All ate and were satisfied, and the food remained just as it had been before. Later he brought milk in a wooden cup that would have been sufficient for only three or four persons. They all drank and were full. Here is a miracle of abundance as definite as the valor and loyalty of Ali (KAW)!
ELEVENTH EXAMPLE: According to an authentic narration, on the occasion of the marriage of Ali (KAW) to Fatima az-Zahra (RA), Allah's Messenger (ASW) ordered Bilal (RA), "Have bread made from a few handfuls of flour; also slaughter a young camel." Bilal relates: "I brought the food, and he put his hand over it for blessing. Later the Companions arrived in groups, ate, and left. From the remaining food, he sent a full bowl to each of his wives, saying that they should eat and feed from it whoever is nearby." Such a blessed abundance was indeed necessary for such a blessed marriage!
TWELFTH EXAMPLE: Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (RA) from his father Muhammed al-Baqir (RA), from his father Zayn al-Abidin (RA), from Ali (KAW) related that Fatima az-Zahra (RA) prepared some food that would be enough only for herself and Ali (KAW). She then sent Ali (KAW) to invite Allah's Messenger (ASW) to come and eat with them. Allah's Messenger (ASW) came, told them to send a dish of food to each of his wives, and then remaining food was spared for himself, Ali, Fatima and their children. Fatima (RA) says, "When we took away the pot, it was still full to the brim. By Allah's will, we ate from it for quite a long time." Why do you [the denier] not believe this miracle of abundance just as if you had witnessed it with your own eyes, since it comes through such a luminous and glorious line of narrators? Certainly, even Satan cannot dispute against this !
THIRTEENTH EXAMPLE: Veracious authorities, such as Abu Dawud, Ahmad b. Hanbal and Bayhaqi, narrated from Jarir, from Dukayn al-Ahmas b. Sa'id al-Muzayn, from Jarir and from Nu'man b. Muqarrin al-Ahmasi al-Muzayn, who, with six brothers, (RAE) was honored with being a Companion of the Prophet (ASW), the following incident that was originally related by Umar b. Khattab (RA) and transmitted by various channels: Allah's Messenger (ASW) once ordered Umar, "Give food and grain to the four hundred horsemen of the Ahmasi tribe for their journey." Umar (RA) replied, "O Messenger of Allah, all the provision put together is not more than the size of a young camel sitting down." The Prophet (ASW) said, "Give it to them." Out of a half load of dates, Umar gave them an amount enough for four hundred men. After he had given that amount to them, as he later related, everything was the same as before, without any decrease. This miracle of abundance took place in relation to four hundred men, especially to Umar (RA); these are the people supporting the narration, and their silence is but a confirmation of the report. Do not ignore these narrations because they are related by a few individuals only, for the conditions under which the incident took place provide it with the certainty of 'tawatur in meaning', even if it is reported by a single individual.
FOURTEENTH EXAMPLE: All the accurate books of tradition, Bukhari and Muslim included, narrate that Jabir's father died when he was heavily in debt to Jews. Jabir (RA) gave all his father's possessions to the creditors, but they did not accept them. The fruits that his orchard yielded were also not sufficient to defray his debt for many years. Allah's Messenger (ASW) said, "Pick all the fruits in the orchard and heap them up." So they did. Allah's Messenger (ASW) walked about the pile of fruit and prayed, and then Jabir gave from the fruits the amount corresponding for his father's debt. What was left was as much as the annual yield of the orchard (according to another narration, it was equal to the amount he gave to the creditors). This astounded the creditor Jews greatly. Again, this manifest miracle of abundance is not the kind of information given by only Jabir (RA) and a few more narrators; its certainty is equivalent to that of 'tawatur in meaning', as it was related on behalf of many.
FIFTEENTH EXAMPLE: Various discerning researchers such as Tirmidhi and Bayhaqi transmitted through an authentic narration from Abu Hurayra (RA) that in a battle (the battle of Tabuk, according to another narration) the army ran out of food. Allah's Messenger (ASW) asked, "Is there anything at all ?" Abu Hurayra (RA) relates: "I said I had a few dates left in my bag [in one narration there were fifteen]. The Prophet told me to bring them, which I did, and he put his blessed hand in the bag, took out a handful of dates, and uttered prayers as he put them onto a plate. Then he called the men in groups of ten. After they had all eaten, he said, 'Eat what you brought, hold it, and do not turn it upside down.' I put my hand in the bag; there were in my hands as many dates as I had brought. Later, during the time of the Prophet (ASW), and also the time of Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman (RAE), I ate from those dates." According to another narration, Abu Hurayra (RA) said, "I gave many loads of it for Allah's sake. Then, when Uthman (RA) was assassinated, the dates were plundered together with the container." Abu Hurayra (RA) was a constant and very important student and disciple at the Suffa -the school of the Teacher of the universe and the Pride of creation- in addition the Prophet (ASW) had prayed for the strength of his memory. The miracle of abundance that he related to have taken place in the battle of Tabuk, in the presence of a large number of people, should therefore be as sound and certain as the word of the whole army.
Some useful information from Narrators: Ansar: those of the Companions who hosted the migrants from Mecca in their homes in Medina. Muhajirin: those among the Companions who migrated together with the Prophet leaving their homes in Mecca, and settled in Medina. The people of the Suffa: those among the Muhajirin as described in the words of the Prophet cited above, who were using the hall of the Masjid (called suffa), who devoted their lives to the preservation and dissemination of the prophetic narrations, and whose livelihood was provided by the Prophet (ASW). They were so much occupied with their service that they would not even get married, and those who became married and thus left the group would immediately be replaced by other Companions.
SIXTEENTH EXAMPLE: Bukhari included, accurate books relate, through an authentic narration, that once Abu Hurayra (RA) was hungry, so he followed Allah's Messenger (ASW) into his home. There they saw that a cup of milk had been brought as a gift. The Prophet ASM said to him, "Call all the People of the Suffa." Abu Hurayra relates: "I said to myself, 'I could drink that whole container of milk myself !,' as I was most in need of it. But since it was the order of the Prophet, I fetched the People of the Suffa, who were more than a hundred. The Prophet told me to offer the milk to them. I gave the cup to each, one by one, and each drank until satisfied. At the end, the Prophet told me, 'The rest is for me and you.' As I drank, the Prophet kept telling me to drink more, until I said,' I swear by the Glorious One Who has sent you with the truth that I am too full to drink any more.' Then the Prophet drank the rest, invoking the name of Allah and thanking Him." Let it be blessed for him a hundred thousand times ! This manifest miracle of abundance, as pure, indubitable and sweet as milk itself, is related by all the six accurate books of tradition, above all by Imam Bukhari, who committed to memory five hundred thousand narrations. Moreover, it is narrated by a celebrated, loyal and brilliant student of the Prophet's (ASW) blessed school of Suffa , namely Abu Hurayra who also cited as witnesses -indeed represented- all the other students of Suffa (RAE). Therefore, for not regarding such a report as having the certainty of tawatur, either one's heart should be rotten, or one's brain be destroyed! Is it at all possible that such a truthful person as Abu Hurayra (RA), who devoted all his life to the narrations of the Prophet (ASW) and to the religion, and who heard and himself transmitted the prophetic narration; "Whoever knowingly tells a lie concerning me should prepare for his seat in hellfire," should have related an unfounded incident ? Or would not any error in his saying be rejected by the People of Suffa, and harm the accuracy of all the other traditions he had memorized? Allah forbid! O Allah (SWT): for the sake of blessings You have bestowed upon Your Most Noble Messenger, bestow the blessings of abundance upon the favors and nourishments with which You have provided us!
An Important Point: It is well known that once assembled together, weak things become strong. Once fine threads are twisted, they become a strong rope; once strong ropes are wound together, no one can break them. In this Seventh Sign, we presented only one miracle from among fifteen different kinds which related to the blessings of abundance, and the sixteen examples we have given constitute barely a fifteenth of this one kind. Furthermore, each of the examples mentioned is a proof on its own with enough strength to prove prophethood. Even if some of them -supposing the impossible- were to be regarded as weak, they could still not properly be called as such, since whatever is united with the strong also becomes strong. Once considered altogether, the sixteen examples given above constitute a great and strong miracle, with the strength, in effect, of a definite, indisputable tawatur. And, when this miracle is joined by fourteen other miracles of abundance that have not been mentioned, it manifests a supreme miracle that is as unbreakable as strong ropes. Now add this supreme miracle to the fourteen other kinds of miracle, and see what a definite, decisive and irrefutable proof they provide together for the prophethood of Muhammad (ASW)! Thus, the pillars of Muhammad's (ASW) prophethood, formed by such a unity, have the strength of a mountain. Now you can realize how unreasonable it is to regard this firm and sublime firmament as deficient or weak on account of doubts stemming from improper understandings. Certainly, those miracles concerning the blessings of abundance illustrate that Muhammad (ASW) is such an honored servant, and such a beloved envoy, of the Merciful and Munificent One Who provides his sustenance and creates the sustenance of all beings, that He changes His own custom for his sake and sends for him in case of need such banquets from the Unseen as He created from nothingness. As is known, the Arabian peninsula is a place of scarcity of water and agriculture; its people, therefore, and especially the Companions in the earliest age of Islam, were exposed to scarcity of water and agriculture; its people, therefore, and especially the Companions in the earliest age of Islam, were exposed to scarcity of food, in addition to lack of water that would arise quite frequently. Because of these prevailing conditions, the miracles of great importance were concerned with food and water. Rather than being direct miracles or evidences for the claim of prophethood, these wonders were responses to due needs as a Divine kindness, a gift, and a banquet provided by the Most Compassionate One, because those who witnessed such miracles were already convinced of the truth of the prophethood. Nonetheless, as miracles took place, their faith was augmented and became even more luminous.
EIGHT SIGN
[Miracles Concerning Water]
Introduction: It is known that when such events taking place among groups of people are related individually and not contradicted by others, this indicates the veracity of the reports. For by virtue of his nature, man is inclined to call a lie a lie. In particular, if the people in question were the Companions who were more intolerant of lies than anyone else, if the incidents concerned Allah's Messenger (SAM), and if the narrator was a renowned Companion, then certainly the narrator gives his report on behalf of all who witnessed the incident.
Furthermore, each of the miracles involving water that we will cite below was transmitted through various channels, entrusted by many Companions to thousands of discerning ones among the following generation, who in turn transmitted them to the authorities of the next century. They, too, with great care and respect, passed them into the safekeeping of the scholars of succeeding centuries. Thus the traditions have reached our time, passing through thousands of reliable hands in each century. In fact, the texts of traditions that were written at the time of the Prophet (ASW) were safely handed over to brilliant scholars of the science of narration such as Bukhari and Muslim, who, through punctilious examination and classification, collected the undoubtedly authentic traditions, presented and taught them to us. May Allah SWT reward them abundantly!
The running of water from the auspicious fingers of Allah's Messenger (ASW) and many men's drinking from it has therefore the certainty of tawatur. It was reported by a group of men whose agreement upon a lie is most improbable; besides, it recurred three times in the presence of three vast assemblies. A great many people of discernment, primarily Bukhari, Muslim, Malik, Imam Shu'ayb and Qatada, declared, through definitely authentic narrations from well-known ones among the Companions, especially Anas (who served the Prophet), Jabir and Ibn Mas'ud, that abundant water had run from the fingers of the Prophet (ASW) and that a whole army had drunk from it (RAE). >From numerous narrations of this kind of miracle, we will cite here only nine examples.
FIRST EXAMPLE: Accurate books of tradition, in particular Bukhari and Muslim, report through an authentic narration from Anas: "About three hundred of us were together with Allah's Messenger in the place named Zawra'. He ordered us to perform ablution for the afternoon prayer, but we could not find water. He then told us to bring a little water, which we did, and he dipped his auspicious hands into it. I saw water running from his fingers like a fountain. His three hundred men performed ablution with that water and drank from it." Anas relates this incident in the name of three hundred men. Is it possible that those three hundred people should not have confirmed him, or that none of them should have repudiated him if they had not agreed with him?
SECOND EXAMPLE: As narrated in accurate books, in particular Bukhari and Muslim, Jabir b. Abdullah al-Ansari says: "We, fifteen hundred people, had become thirsty during the battle of Hudaibiya. Allah's Messenger performed ablution from a leather water bag called qirba and then dipped his hand into it. I saw that water was running out of the bag like a fountain. Fifteen hundred people drank from it and filled their water bags." Once Salim b. Abil-ja'd asked Jabir, "How many of you were there." He said, 'Water would have sufficed even if there had been a hundred thousand, but we were fifteen hundred." Since this decisive miracle was witnessed by fifteen hundred Companions of the Prophet, its informants in effect number fifteen hundred, for human nature has a tendency to reject lies. As for the Companions (RAE) of the Prophet (ASW), who sacrificed their tribes and persons, their fathers and mothers, their lives and all that they possessed for the sake of truth and veracity, they could not have remained silent in the face of a lie, especially in the light of the warning given by the narration, "Whoever knowingly tells a lie concerning me should prepare for his seat in hellfire." Since they remained silent concerning this report they accepted it, joined Jabir, and confirmed his words.
THIRD EXAMPLE: As related in the accurate books of narration, including Bukhari and Muslim, Jabir reported: "During the battle of Buwat, Allah's Messenger commanded, 'Call for ablution.' They said there was no water. He said, 'Then try to find a little.' We fetched a very small amount of water. He kept his hand over the surface of the water while reciting something that I could not hear, and then commanded, 'Bring the big trough of the caravan.' They brought it to me, and I placed it in front of Allah's Messenger. He put his hands in the trough and opened his fingers, while I poured that very small amount of water onto his auspicious hands, I saw that abundant water ran from his blessed fingers and filled the trough. Then I summoned those who needed water. When they had all performed ablution with that water and drunk from it, I told Allah's Messenger that there was no one else. He lifted his hands, leaving the trough full to the brim This miracle of the Prophet has the certainty of tawatur in meaning, because Jabir (RA) announces it on behalf of the others. As he occupied the first place in the incident in serving the Prophet, it was his right to speak first. However, at the same time Ibn Mas'ud says, "I saw that water was running like a fountain from the fingers of the Prophet." If a truthful and well-known group of the Companions of the Prophet including Anas, Jabir and Ibn Mas'ud says, "We have seen," is it possible that they might not have seen? When these three reports are joined together, they prove the incidence of the running of water from the fingers of the Prophet (ASW) to be explicit tawatur. Put these three examples together and see how sound and definite a miracle this is. Indeed, even Moses' (AS) making water run from twelve different points of a stone cannot be equivalent to water's running from the ten fingers of Muhammad (ASW), for water might gush out of a stone -since examples of this can be found among ordinary events- but there is no parallel for water running in abundance from flesh and bone !
FOURTH EXAMPLE: Imam Malik, in his well-known book 'Muwatta', relates through Mu'adh b. Jabal -a famous Companion: "During the battle of Tabuk, we found a spring that was barely running in the thickness of a thin piece of string. Allah's Messenger ordered, 'Collect a little water.' They put a little water into his palms. Allah's Messenger washed his face and his hands with the water, which he then put in the spring. Suddenly the outlet of the spring widened and water began to well out, which sufficed the whole army." Another informant, Ibn Ishaq, reports: 'The fountain ran with a noise under the earth like that of thunder. Allah's Messenger said to Mu'adh, 'You will see, if your lifetime suffices, that this miraculous water will transform these places into gardens.' And so it did."
FIFTH EXAMPLE: Bukhari from al-Bara', Muslim from Salama b. Aqwa', and other authentic books from other informants, unanimously relate: "During the battle of Hudaibiya, we found a well. There were four hundred of us, and the water was barely sufficient for fifty people. We drew out all the water and left nothing in the well. Then came Allah's Messenger, sat down beside the well, and asked for a bucketful of water, which we gave him, and he put some wetness from his auspicious mouth into the bucket while praying, and then poured the water into the well. Water rose and gushed at once, until the well brimmed. The whole army and their animals drank from the water until they were satiated; they also filled up their water bags."
SIXTH EXAMPLE: Accurate books, including those of brilliant authorities in the science of narration such as Ibn Jabir at-Tabari, relate through an authentic narration from Abu Qatada: "We were going for help, as the commanders had been martyred in the battle of Muta. I had a water bag with me. Allah's Messenger commanded, 'Keep your water bag carefully; there will be great need for it.' Soonafter thirst prevailed. We were seventy-two [three hundred, according to Tabari]. Allah's Messenger said, 'Bring me your water bag.' I did, he took the bag and brought its brim to his lips. I do not know whether he blew into it or not. Then seventy-two men came and drank out of the bag and filled their bags. When I had it back, it was full to the brim just as it had been before." Now, look at this decisive miracle of Muhammad (ASW), and say, "O Allah ! Bestow upon him peace and blessings as many as there are drops of water!"
SEVENTH EXAMPLE: Accurate books of narration, including above all Bukhari and Muslim, narrate through Imran b. Husain: 'In a battle, we, together with Allah's Messenger, ran out of water. He said to me and Ali, 'There is a woman in such and such a place, riding her beast that is laden with two water bags. Go and fetch her.' Ali and I went to find her in exactly the same place as described, and brought her to the Prophet. He ordered, 'Pour a little water into a vessel,' which we did, and he prayed for blessing. He then commanded that everyone should come to fill his water bag. All the people came, drank, and filled their bags. Afterwards he gave an order to collect something for the woman, and they filled her skirt." lmran says, 'I imagined that the two water bags were constantly filling. Allah's Messenger told the woman, 'You can go now. We did not take water from you; rather Allah gave us from His treasure.'"
EIGHT EXAMPLE: Narration scholars, primarily Ibn Huzam in his Sahih, report from Umar: "We ran out of water during the battle of Tabuk. Some of us had to slaughter their camels to drink what was inside. Abu Bakr as-Siddiq requested that Allah's Messenger should pray. Allah's Messenger raised his hands, and hardly had he lowered them when the clouds gathered and heavy rain began to fall. After we had filled our vessels, the clouds withdrew immediately. In fact, it was only our area that received the rain; it did not fall outside of it." Thus, no chance was involved in the incident; it was purely a miracle of Muhammad (ASW).
NINTH EXAMPLE: Related through an authentic narration from Amr b. Shu'ayb, who was the grandson of Abdullah b. Amr b. As, and upon whom the Four Imams relied in explaining narrations: 'Before his prophethood, Allah's Messenger once came by camel to the place called DhulHijaz, near Arafat, with his uncle Abu Talib. Abu Talib said he was thirsty. Allah's Messenger dismounted from the camel and struck the ground with his foot, so that water welled out and Abu Talib drank of it." One of the researchers, however, stated that this incident is to be considered in the category of irhasat [*] because it occurred before his prophethood; but it can also be considered a wonder of his, because for a thousand years later the spring of Arafat was found at the same place. Similar to these nine examples, ninety different narrations -if not ninety instances- have reported miracles concerning water. The first seven examples are as sound and definite in meaning as tawatur.
[*] Irhasat: The miraculous events that took place before the Prophethood of Muhammad ASW like the downfall of Kisra Palace, the stopping of the fire of the fire-worshippers, the downfall of the idles in Ka'ba.
Although the informants which support the last two narrations are not numerous and do not form a strong chain, authentic books of tradition, including Beyhaqi and al-Hakim, report another miracle as narrated by Umar supporting and confirming the incident mentioned in the eighth example: 'Umar requested from the Messenger of Allah that he should pray for rain. Allah's Messenger raised his hands, and at the same moment clouds gathered, rain came and poured down sufficient water for the army. Then the clouds went away.' The clouds seemed to have been charged with the delivery of water to the army; they came and delivered it, and then went away. Just as this narration proves the eighth example, Ibn al-Jawzi, an exacting researcher who rejected a great many authentic traditions describing them as false, says, "This event took place during the battle of Badr, which was made clear by the verse,
"And He caused rain to descend on you from heaven to clean you therewith." [Al Qur'an 8:11]. Since this verse describes the incident, there is no room for doubt about it. Besides, the pouring down of rain as a result of the prayer of the Prophet (ASW) even before he lowered his hands occurred many times and became a tawatur on its own. It is also reported through tawatur that there were times when he raised his hands while in the pulpit, and rain began before he had lowered them.
NINTH SIGN
[Miracles Related to Trees]:
One of the various kinds of miracles of Allah's Messenger (ASW) is that trees, like human beings, obeyed his orders and came near him. This miracle is also mutawatir in meaning, like that of water running from his fingers; there are numerous examples of it, and it has been reported in various channels. In fact, trees leaving their places and coming toward him can be considered explicit tawatur, because the best-known men among the Companions of the Prophet such as Ali, Ibn Abbas, Ibn Mas'ud, Ibn Umar, Ya'la b. Murra, Jabir, Anas b. Malik, Burayda, Usama b. Zayd and Ghaylan b. Salama (RAE) reported the same miracle with certainty. Hundreds of scholars among the generation that followed the Companions received their reports from each of them, each with a different channel, and transmitted them to us in the shape of multiple tawatur. This miracle has therefore, decisively and indisputably, the certainty of tawatur in meaning. We will now cite only a few examples of this great miracle, although it was repeated many times.
FIRST EXAMPLE: Narrated by Ibn Maja, adDarimi and Bayhaqi from Anas b. Malik and Ali, and by Bazzaz and Bayhaqi from Umar: The Messenger of Allah was disturbed at the denial of unbelievers. He prayed, "O Lord! Give me a sign, so that I will no longer see anyone who contradicts me." According to Anas, Gabriel was also present, upon whose instruction Allah's Messenger called to a tree that was at the side of the valley. It came near to him. He then told the tree to go back; it went back and settled down in its place.
SECOND EXAMPLE: In Shifa ash-Sharif, Qadi lyad, the foremost scholar of the Maghrib, relates from Abdullah b. Umar through an exalted and sound chain of narrators: "In the course of an expedition, a Beduin came to Allah's Messenger. The Messenger asked him, 'Where are you going?' He said, 'To my family.' Allah's Messenger asked, 'Don't you want something better than that?' The Beduin said, 'What is it?' Allah's Messenger replied, 'To bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, with no partner, and that Muhammad is His servant and messenger.' The Beduin asked again, 'Who is your witness to your testimony?' The Messenger said, 'This tree beside the valley will bear witness.' " Ibn Umar says, "The tree cleft the earth shaking and came near to Allah's Messenger. He asked the tree three times to testify; each time it testified to his truthfulness. When Allah's Messenger ordered, it went back and settled down in its place." According to the authentic narration of Ibn Sahib al-Aslami, Burayda reports: "When we were together with Allah's Messenger on an expedition, a Beduin came and asked for a miracle. Allah's Messenger said, 'Tell that tree that Allah's Messenger summons her.' Then, when the Prophet pointed at a tree, it swayed and brought itself out with its roots, came to the presence of the Prophet saying, 'Peace be on you, O Messenger of Allah !' The Beduin said, 'Now let it go to its place again.' He commanded and it went. Then the Bediun said 'Allow me to prostrate myself before you.' The Messenger replied, 'No one is permitted to do that.' The Bediun said, 'Then I will kiss your hands and feet.' That the Prophet permitted."
THIRD EXAMPLE: Accurate books of narration, including Muslim, report from Jabir: 'We were together with the Messenger of Allah on an expedition when he searched for a place to answer the call of nature, but there was not a single hidden place. He then went to two trees, pulled one of them holding its branches, brought it near to the other. The tree was like an obedient camel being pulled by its halter. He addressed them, 'Join together over me with the permission of Allah.' The two trees joined together and formed a screen. After relieving himself behind them, he ordered them to go back, and they went back to their places." According to another narration Jabir says, 'The Messenger commanded me, 'Tell those trees to join together for the relief of Allah's Messenger.' I told them to do so, and they did. A little later Allah's Messenger came when I was waiting for him. He nodded to the right and to the left, and the two trees went back to their places.
FOURTH EXAMPLE: Usama b. Zayd, one of the brave commanders and servants of Allah's Messenger, reports in an authentic narration: 'We were together with Allah's Messenger on an expedition. No private place could be found for answering the call of nature. He asked, 'Can you see any trees or rocks?' 'Yes, I can,' I said. He commanded, 'Speak to them, and tell them to join together for the relief of Allah's Messenger; also tell the rocks to gather as a wall. Allah's Messenger, after relieving himself, commanded again, 'Tell them to separate.' I swear by Glorious Allah in whose hand is my soul that tree and the rocks separated and went back to their places." These two incidents that were narrated by Jabir b. Usama were also reported by Ya'la b. Murra, Ghailan b. Salama ath-Thaqafi and Ibn Mas'ud, referring to the battle of Hunayn.
Translator's Note: Call of nature was a necessity for the Messenger of Allah (ASW) as he was made human. He did share these kinds of humanly states since he was an complete exemplar, teacher, and leader of all humanity. We should realize one point here: Allah SWT would have not let his Messenger to experience such uncomfortable urgency which to some might sound improper for the Messenger ASW. However, instead, the importance of privacy and requirement of a hidden-place for this human need was shown by being subject to Prophets' miracle. Yes, without the prophets (AS) we know nothing !
FIFTH EXAMPLE: Reported by Imam Ibn Fawraq, known as 'the foremost scholar of his time' and 'Shafi'i the Second' for his excellence in interpretation: "Allah's Messenger felt sleepy while travelling on horseback one night during the battle of Ta'if. On his way, a lote tree appeared in front of him. To make the way for him and not to hurt his horse, the tree split in two, and Allah's Messenger passed between the two parts of the tree on the back of his horse." That tree has remained as two trunks in that honored position up to our time.
SIXTH EXAMPLE: Ya'la b. Murra relates in an authentic narration: "During an expedition, a tree (called either talha or samura) came, walked around Allah's Messenger as if circumambulating, and went back to its place. Allah's Messenger said, 'It asked for Allah's permission to salute me (i.e., to give salam to me.)' ."
SEVENTH EXAMPLE: Narration scholars report from Ibn Mas'ud through an authentic narration: "When the jinn of Nusaybin came to Batn an-Nakhl to be converted to Islam, a tree informed the Messenger of their coming." Concerning this incident, Imam Mujahid also reports from Ibn Mas'ud, "When the jinn asked for a proof of his prophethood, Allah's Messenger gave an order to the tree so that it came to him and went back again." That single miracle sufficed the jinn. If a man who has heard of thousands of miracles like these does not believe, will he not be more of a devil than those who were described by the jinn as "SOME FOOLISH ONES AMONG US" ? [QUR'AN 72:4]
EIGHTH EXAMPLE: Tirmidhi reports from Ibn Abbas through an authentic narration: "The Messenger of Allah asked a Beduin, 'Will you testify that I am the Messenger of Allah, if a branch of that tree comes to me when I call to it?' 'Yes,' he replied, and Allah's Messenger called to the branch. It broke off and jumped over near to him. It again jumped back to the tree when he told it to do so." Like these eight examples, there are many others related through various chains of transmission. Seven or eight strands of rope form a strong cable when they come together. Similarly, those miracles that were reported on the authority of the best-known Companions in various chains certainly have the strength of tawatur in meaning, or even in reality. In fact, they take on the form of tawatur when passed on by the Companions to the following generation. In particular, the accurate books of narration such as Bukhari, Muslim, Ibn Hibban and Tirmidhi have made and kept the chain leading back to the age of the Prophet (ASW) so sound that reading a narration, say in Bukhari, is equivalent to hearing it directly from the Companions. If trees, as seen in these examples, recognize the Prophet (ASW), testify to his messengership, visit and salute him, and obey his orders; and those heartless and brainless beings who call themselves human beings do not know and believe in him, will they not be more trifling than a piece of wood and worthy of hellfire?
TENTH SIGN:
[Reenforcing Miracles Concerning Trees]
One other narration reinforcing the miracles related to trees and reported in the form of tawatur is the miracle of the moaning of the pole. The pole's moaning in the Prophet's mosque before a vast crowd because of its temporary separation from the Prophet (ASW) both confirms and consolidates the instances of miracles that relate to trees because the pole was also made of wood and was hence of the same substance as a tree. This miracle is itself mutawatir whereas the others are mutawatir as a group in one class, but most of them individually or separately do not attain the degree of tawatur. Allah's Messenger (ASW) used to lean against a pole made from a palm tree when he delivered a sermon. But after the pulpit had been built, he began to deliver sermons from the pulpit. Once, while he was delivering a sermon from the pulpit, the whole audience heard the pole moaning like a camel. Only when the Messenger (ASW) came and consoled it by putting his hand on it, did the pole stop moaning. This miracle is widely known and its narration attains the degree of tawatur, for it was transmitted by an illustrious group of the Companions in fifteen different ways, and was narrated by hundreds of authorities of succeeding centuries. Eminent scholars among the Companions of the Prophet (ASW) and leading narration scholars such as Anas b. Malik and Jabir b. Abdullah al-Ansari (both servants of the Prophet ASW), Abdullah b. Umar, Abdullah b. Abbas, Sahl b. Sa'd, Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, Ubayy b. Ka'b, Burayda, and the Mother of the Believers, Umm Salama, (RAE) reported this miracle to the nation of the Prophet (ASW), each of them by a different channel. The accurate books of prophetic narrations, above all Bukhari and Muslim, also transmitted this great mutawatir miracle to the following centuries through different chains of transmission. As related in the report of Jabir, before the pulpit of the mosque was built the Messenger (ASW) used to lean against the pole called "palm-trunk" when delivering a sermon. When he started his sermon from the pulpit, the pole, because of separation from him, began to moan like a pregnant camel. Anas says, "It moaned like a water buffalo and caused the mosque to tremble." Sahl b. Sa'd says, "After this incident, weeping increased among people." Ubayy b. Ka'b says, "It wept so much that it split." According to another report, the Messenger (ASW) said, "Its weeping is because of separation from the recitation of the Names of Allah that are uttered in the sermon." Still another narration reports that Allah's Messenger (ASW) said, "If I had not embraced and consoled it, it would have cried until the Doomsday at its separation from the Messenger of Allah." Burayda reports, "When the pole began to moan, Allah's Messenger put his hand on it and said, 'If you wish, I will restore you to the grove whence you were taken; your roots will grow, your stature flourish, and your fruits will be renewed. Or if you wish, I will plant you in Paradise, and Allah's friends, the salihin, will eat of your fruit.' He then listened to it. The people behind Allah's Messenger could hear the pole as it spoke, saying, 'Plant me in Paradise where there is no decay, so that the beloved ones of Allah will eat of my fruit.' Allah's Messenger said, 'I will,' and added, 'It has preferred the world of eternity to that of transience.'" Abu Ishaq Isfarani, one of the great authorities on Islam, reports, "Allah's Messenger did not go to the pole, but it came to him upon his order. He then ordered it to go back, which it did." Ubayy b. Ka'b says, "After this marvellous incident, the Messenger ordered that the pole should be kept under the pulpit. It was put under the pulpit and kept there until the pole was demolished for the restoration of the mosque." Then Ubayy b. Ka'b took it and kept it until it decayed. The famous scholar Hasan al-Basri would weep whenever he related this marvellous miracle to his students and would say, "A piece of wood demonstrates such love and longing for the Messenger of Allah (SWA). You need to feel this love more than a piece of wood does." As for us, we say "Yes, and loving him can be achieved by obedience to his luminous Sunna and his illustrious Sacred Law."
An Important Question: Why were the other miracles that were demonstrated in relation to food and water -fully satisfying a thousand men with four handfuls of food in the battle of Khandaq, and another thousand men with water running from the auspicious fingers of the Prophet (ASW)- not reported as widely and in as many ways as the miracle of the moaning of the pole, although the former two miracles occurred in the presence of larger crowds?
Answer Miracles are of two kinds. Some of them become manifest in the hands of the Prophet (ASW) to assert his messengership. The moaning of the pole is of this kind; it was demonstrated as a proof of his messengership. Its purpose was to increase the belief of the believers, to urge hypocrites to sincerity, and to convert unbelievers to faith. This is why everyone, learned or unlearned, witnessed it, and great attention was paid to its broadcasting. Those miracles related to food and water, however, were wonders rather than miracles, or favors rather than wonders, or even more than favors; they were banquets mercifully provided because of need. Although they were miracles and evidences for the cause of messengership, their real significance was that Allah Almighty, out of a little food, provided a banquet for an army of a thousand men suffering from hunger, in the same way that He creates thousands of dates from a single pit; and that He satisfied a thirsty army with abundant water from the fingers of the greatest commander (ASW). For this reason, each instance of the miracles concerning food and water individually does not attain the degree of the miracle of the moaning of the pole. However, the various examples of these two kinds of miracles are, in their entirety, numerous and strong as mutawatir as the moaning of the pole. Another reason for the wider broadcasting of the latter miracle was that in the former case each individual present could see only the effects of the miracle (concerning him only), but not the overall blessing of the food and the running of water from the fingers of the Prophet (ASW), while the moaning of the pole could be heard by everyone.
It May be Asked: Each act and mode of behavior of the Prophet (ASW) was recorded and transmitted by his Companions with extreme care. Such great miracles should therefore have been narrated in a hundred chains of transmission. Why, then, were they related only in ten or twenty chains? And why did Abu Bakr and Umar narrate few traditions, while Anas, Jabir and Abu Hurayra reported many (RAE)?
Answer: The answer to the first part of the question has been given in the Third Essential of the Fourth Sign. Regarding the second part, just as a patient goes to a doctor to be healed, mathematicians are consulted on mathematical problems, and religious questions are asked of a mufti, and so on so forth, some scholars among the Companions of the Prophet (ASW) were entrusted with instructing succeeding generations in the narrations, devoting their entire lives to the study of narrations. For example, Abu Hurayra (RA) devoted himself to the memorization of narrations, while Umar (RA) was occupied with political matters and the problems of the Caliphate. Umar (RA) therefore narrated very few narrations, having confidence in others such as Abu Hurayra, Anas and Jabir, (RAE) to impart narrations to the umma. There remains the fact that when a well-known man from among the truthful, sincere, honest and trusted Companions (RAE) reports an incident through one chain, this is regarded as sufficient, and another narration by a different person is not needed. This is why some significant events were transmitted through only one or two channels.
THE ELEVENTH SIGN
< [Miracles Concerning Rocks]:
As the Tenth Sign explained miracles of the Prophet (ASW) related to trees, this Eleventh Sign will describe how solid objects, rocks, and mountains also were subject to prophetic miracles. Here we cite a few out of numerous instances.
FIRST EXAMPLE: Qadi lyad (RA) in his Shifa ash-Sharif, with a celebrated chain of narrators, and great imams like Bukhari report through an authentic narration from Ibn Mas'ud, the servant of the Prophet (ASW), "We could hear food glorifying Allah as we ate with the Messenger."
SECOND EXAMPLE: Accurate books of narration report from Anas (RA) through an authentic narration: "We were next to the Messenger when he took small stones in his palm and they began to praise Allah. He put them in Abu Bakr's palm; they continued reciting." Abu Dharr al-Ghifari says, "He then put them in Umar's hand; they continued. He put them on the ground; they stopped. He again took them and put them in Uthman's palm, and they started." Anas and Abu Dharr (RAE) say, "He put them in our hands, and they stopped."
THIRD EXAMPLE: Reported through authentic narrations from Ali, Jabir, and Aisha as-Siddiqa (RAE): "Rocks and mountains would say to Allah's Messenger, 'Peace be on you, O Messenger of Allah!'" Ali (KAW) says, "Whenever we went for a walk in the early times of his prophethood, trees and rocks would say, "'Peace be onto you, O Messenger of Allah!' as they appeared in front of us." Jabir says, "When Allah's Messenger met with trees and rocks, they would prostrate themselves, and say, 'Peace be on you, O Messenger of Allah!'" According to another report from Jabir, Allah's Messenger said, "I know a rock that offers me greeting." Some said that the sacred black stone in Ka'ba was meant by these words of the Prophet (ASW). According to a narration transmitted on the authority of Aisha (RA), the Messenger of Allah (ASW) said, "Since Gabriel brought me the message, it began to happen that I would never pass by a rock or a tree without it saying,'Peace be upon you, 0 Messenger of Allah!'"
FOURTH EXAMPLE: Reported through an authentic narration from Abbas (RA): Allah's Messenger covered Abbas and his four sons (Abdullah, Ubaydullah, Fadl and Qusam) with a piece of cloth named mula'at, praying, "O my Lord, this is my uncle; protect through me these, his sons and veil them from the fire as I veil them with this cloth." The roof, the door, and the walls of the house joined this prayer at once, saying, "Amen, amen!"
FIFTH EXAMPLE: Accurate books, notably Bukhari, Ibn Hibban, Dawud and Tirmidhi, unanimously report from Anas, Abu Hurayra, Uthman b. Affan and Sa'd b. Zayd, from among the ten Companions who were given the glad tidings of Paradise (RAE): "The Messenger of Allah, together with Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman, climbed Mount Uhud. The mountain, either because of their majesty or because of its joy, trembled. Allah's Messenger said, 'Steady! For on you are a prophet, a siddiq and two martyrs.'" This narration is a report from the Unseen, indicating that Umar and Uthman (RAE) would become martyrs. As a supplement to this tradition, it is also reported that when Allah's Messenger (ASW) migrated from Mecca being pursued by unbelievers, he climbed the mountain called Sabir. The mountain said, "Leave me, O Messenger of Allah; I am afraid that Allah will punish me if they smite you on me." Then Mount Hira called to him, "Come to me, O Messenger of Allah!" For this reason, men of intuition feel fear on Sabir, and a sense of safety on Hira. As can be understood from this example, those vast mountains are not idle and useless. They are individual worshipers and glorifiers, performing their duties; they know the Prophet (ASW) and love him.
SIXTH EXAMPLE: Reported through an authentic narration from Abdullah b. Umar (RA): "While delivering a sermon at the pulpit, Allah's Messenger recited the verse,
"No just estimate have they made of Allah, such as is due to Him: on the day of Judgment the whole of earth will be but His handful, and the heavens will be rolled up in His right hand," and said,
'Allah the Almighty is glorifying Himself; He says:
"I am the Almighty, I am the Almighty, I am the Greatest and Most Exalted."'
As he said this, the pulpit trembled so much that we feared that Allah's Messenger would fall down."
SEVENTH EXAMPLE: Reported through authentic narrations from Ibn Abbas, known as "the Scholar of the Ummah" and "the Inter-preter of the Qur'an," and Ibn Mas'ud, the servant of the Prophet (ASW) and a great scholar among his Companions: "There were 360 idols around the Ka'ba, fixed with lead to the stone. On the day of the conquest of Mecca, Allah's Messenger pointed at them one by one with a curved stick, saying,
"Truth has arrived and falsehood perished; verily falsehood is ever bound to perish."[Al-Qur'an 17:81] Whichever one he pointed to, it fell down. If he pointed to the face of the idol, it fell backwards; otherwise it fell on its face. In the end they all toppled over."
EIGHT EXAMPLE: The famous story of the monk Bahira. Before the beginning of his prophethood, Allah's Messenger went to Damascus for business with his uncle Abu Talib and some members of Quraish. They stopped when they came near to the church of the monk Bahira. As they sat down, Bahira, who never had social relations with other people, came out unexpectedly. When he saw Muhammad the Trustworthy (ASW) among them, he told the convoy, "This is the chief of the creation; he will be a prophet." The Quraish asked, "How is it that?" The blessed monk replied, "I saw a little cloud over the caravan as you were coming. When you sat down, the cloud moved toward his side and cast its shadow over him. I also saw trees and rocks prostrate themselves before him, which they do only before prophets."
There are at least eighty examples of the same kind as these eight instances. When they come together, these eight instances form such a chain that no doubt can break. Taken as a whole, this sort of miracle, i.e. the speaking of inanimate objects in order to testify to the prophethood, expresses the same certainty as does tawatur in meaning. Each example receives some strength from the whole, which is more than its own strength. Yes, a thin pillar is fortified when it comes together with thick columns, and a weak man, when joined to an army, receives such strength and authority that he can challenge even a thousand men.
THE TWELVTH SIGN:
The following three significant examples are connected to THE ELEVENTH SIGN [Miracles Concerning Rocks].
FIRST EXAMPLE:
"When you threw, it was not your act, but Allah's." [Al Qur'an 8:17]
As established through the researches of all interpreters and the reports of all narration scholars, this verse refers to the following incident. At the battle of Badr, Allah's Messenger (ASW) threw a handful of earth and small stones at the army of the unbelievers, saying, 'May your faces be deformed!" That handful of earth penetrated into the eyes of each unbeliever, as the words 'May your faces be deformed!" was heard by every one of them; they became preoccupied with the dust in their eyes and had to retreat, although they were the ones attacking. Narration scholars, including -above all- Muslim, report that at the battle of Hunayn, as well as at Badr, Allah's Messenger (ASW) again threw a handful of earth at the enemy, saying, 'May your faces be deformed!" By Allah's permission, each one of them was hit with a handful of earth and had to retreat, being preoccupied with the earth in his eyes. As these extraordinary incidents are beyond the ability of man and of material causes, the Qur'an declares,
"When you threw, it was not your act, but Allah's." [Al Qur'an 8:17] SECOND EXAMPLE: Narrated in accurate books of narration, primarily Bukhari and Muslim: During the battle of Khaybar, a Jewess roasted a goat and poisoned it with a very strong poison, and then sent it to the Messenger of Allah (ASW). When his Companions began to eat it, the Prophet (ASW) suddenly said, "Raise your hands! It tells me that it is poisoned." Everyone withdrew from the table. But Bishr b. al-Baira', who had eaten only a morsel of it, died from the effect of the poison. Allah's Messenger (ASW) sent for the Jewess, whose name was Zaynab, and asked her why she had done so. The inauspicious woman said, "I considered that if you were a prophet it would not harm you; and if you were a king, I would save the people from you." According to some narrations, the Prophet (AW) did not have her put to death; according to others, he did. Some researchers have concluded that he did not have her put to death, but left her to the family of Bishr to be killed (i.e., according to the Law of Reciprocity (Kisas) He left the decision to the family). Now examine a few points that demonstrate the miraculousness of this extraordinary incident:
FIRSTAccording to one narration, some Companions also heard the goat speaking.
SECONDAccording to another report, Allah's Messenger (ASW) said, "Say Bismillah (in Allah's Name), then eat; poison will not affect you." Although Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani does not accept this report, others do.
THIRDAlthough those treacherous Jews tried to harm Allah's Messenger (ASW) and his close Companions, the warning of the Prophet (ASW) proved true, and their plot was uncovered and brought to naught. And when that blessed being, the Prophet (ASW), from whom the Companions never heard an untrue statement, said, ''This goat tells me that..., " everyone believed in him with such a sure conviction that as if they themselves had heard the goat.
THIRD EXAMPLE:Three instances of another miracle that resembles the white hand and the staff of Moses.
FIRST Imam Ahmad b. Hanbal (RA), after amending, reports from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (RA): Allah's Messenger gave Qatada b. an-Nu'man (RA) a stick on a dark, rainy night, saying, ''This stick will light up your surroundings. When you arrive home, you will see a black shadow, which will be Satan. Drive him away." Qatada went home with the stick emitting light like the white hand of Moses. There he saw the described person and drove him away.
SECONDUkkasha b. Muhassin al-Asadi (RA) had his sword broken while fighting in the great battle of Badr, which was itself a source of wonders. Allah's Messenger (ASW) gave him a stick in place of his broken' sword and told him to fight with it. All at once, by Allah's permission, the stick became a long, white sword. He fought with it, and kept it on him until he was martyred at the battle of al-Yamama. This incident is certain, because, throughout his lifetime, he was proud of this sword, and the sword was widely known as "the aid."
THIRDAmended and reported by Ibn Abd alBarr (RA), a celebrated scholar known as "the Scholar of the Century ": At the battle of Uhud, Abdullah b. Jahsh (RA), a cousin of Allah's Messenger (ASW), had his sword broken. Allah's Messenger (ASW) gave him a stick, which turned in his hands into a sword. He fought with it, and after the battle, it remained a sword as a product of miracle. Ibn Sayyid an-Nas (RA) reports that Abdullah some time later sold it to a man called Bugha at-Turki for two hundred liras. Thus these two swords were the results of miracles like the staff of Moses (AS). Although the staff of Moses (AS) did not retain its miraculous properties after the death of Moses (AS), these miraculously produced swords remained as swords.
THIRTEENTH SIGN:
[Miracles related to the healing of the ill].
Another kind of miracle of Muhammad (ASW), a mutawatir one with various examples, is the healing of ill and wounded people by his auspicious breath. This kind of miracle of the Prophet (ASW) is, as a whole, mutawatir in meaning. Certain single events of this kind are also regarded as mutawatir in meaning; as for the rest, although they are separate incidents, they have been amended and related by discerning leaders of the science of prophetic narration. Out of many, we will mention here only a few examples of this kind.
FIRST EXAMPLE:As reported in Shifa ash-Sharif of Qadi lyad (RA) by numerous channels and with an exalted chain of transmitters from Sa'd b. Abi Waqqas (RA, one of the ten Companions given the glad tidings of Paradise, a servant and a military commander of the Prophet (ASW), the commander-in-chief of the Muslim army during the reing of Umar (RA), and the conqueror of Iran): "I was beside Allah's Messenger in the battle of Uhud. He shot arrows until his bow was broken. Then he began giving his arrows to me. Each time he gave me a featherless arrow, he ordered me to shoot it, which I did, and it flew just like one with feathers, piercing an unbeliever's body. In the course of this, Qatada b. an-Nu'man was hit by an arrow, and one of his eyeballs poked. Allah's Messenger, with his auspicious blessed hand, placed the eyeball back in its socket. The eye healed at once, as if nothing had happened to it, and became even better than the other one. " This incident became so famous that when one of the grandsons of Qatada came to Umar b. Abdul-Aziz (RA), he presented himself with the following words in poetic form: "I am the son of that person whose poked eyeball was placed in its socket by the Messenger of Allah and became the best eye. " This is also reported through an authentic narration: In the battle of Yawm az-Ziqarad, Abu Qatada (RA) was hit in the face with an arrow. Allah's Messenger (ASW) wiped his face with his auspicious hand. Abu Qatada says, "I never felt the pain, nor did the wound fester. "
SECOND EXAMPLE: Reported in accurate books, above all Bukhari and Muslim: Allah's Messenger (ASW) had appointed Ali (RA) b. Abi Talib as the flag-holder at the battle of Khaybar, but Ali (RA) had been suffering severely from sore eyes. Allah's Messenger (ASW) applied his healing saliva to his eyes, and at the same moment, the pain ceased and his eyes became much better. The following morning, Ali (RA) conquered Khaybar using the very heavy iron gate of the citadel that he had torn away as a shield. In the same battle, Salama b. al-Aqwa (RA) had his leg cut by a sword, and Allah's Messenger (ASW) healed it by breathing on him.
THIRD EXAMPLE: Authorities on the Prophet's biography, above all, Nasa'i, report from Uthman b. Hunayf (RA): "A blind man came to the Messenger of Allah and said, 'Pray for my eyes to open. ' Allah's Messenger said, 'Go, make ablution, and then pray two rek'ats, and say, [O Allah, I ask Thee, while turning toward Thee, for the sake of the Prophet Muhammad, the Prophet of Mercy. O Muhammad, I turn toward your Lord, for your sake and through you, asking that He (Allah swt) uncover my sight. O Allah, make him my intercessor.] ' He departed to do what he had been told. When he came back, his eyes had already been opened. "
FOURTH EXAMPLE: Ibn Wahab (RA), one of the great imams, reports: When Mu'awwidh b. Afra' (RA), one of the fourteen martyrs of the battle of Badr, was fighting with Abu Jahl. The accursed Abu Jahl cut off one of his hands. Mu'awwidh took his cut-hand in the other and came to Allah's Messenger (ASW), who stuck it to his wrist, applied his blessed saliva to it and healed it. He then turned back to battle and fought until he was martyred. Also reported by Imam Jalil b. Wahab: In the same battle, Hubayb b. Yasaf (RA) received such a sword blow on the shoulder that it seemed as if his shoulder had been divided into two. Allah's Messenger (ASW) stuck his arm to his shoulder, breathed on him, and the wound healed. Although these two incidents are separate and individually reported, they can be regarded as having definetely occurred because they have been amended by such an imam like Ibn Wahab (RA), and taken place in a battle that itself was a spring of wonders.
Moreover, many similar events have occurred resembling these two incidents. In fact, there are a thousand examples that have been proved through authentic narrations, showing that the auspicious hands of the Messenger (ASW) healed all the wounds that they touched.
A Passage Worthy of Being Written in Gold and Diamonds: This has been mentioned before. The fact that small rocks glorify and praise Allah (SWT) in the Prophet's hand (ASW); that a little amount of soil and small stones become like cannon balls in his palm and put the enemy to rout through the mystery of
"When you threw, it was not your act, but Allah's." [Al Qur'an 8:17] ;
that he divides the moon into two with a gesture of his finger as related in the verse:
"And the moon split," [Al Qur'an 54:1] ;
that water runs like a fountain from the ten fingers of the same hand and satisfies an army; that the same hand becomes a cure for the ill and the wounded- all this shows how wondrous a miracle of Power his blessed hand is. For friends, the palm of this hand is, as it were, a little mosque of the Most Holy -even if stones enter it they praise and glorify Allah. For enemies, it is a miniature arsenal of the Lord in which soil and rocks become bombs in it. For the ill and the wounded, it is a little pharmacy of the Most Merciful and a cure for every wound it touches. When it rises with wrath, it divides the moon and give it the shape of hemispheres. When it gesticulates with grace, it resembles a fountain of Mercy with ten spigots giving abundant water. Since it is only the hand of this being (ASW) that is the object of such magnificent miracles, will it not be obvious how highly he is accepted in the sight of the Creator of the universe, how truthful he is in his cause, and how fortunate are those who have taken the oath of allegiance to the owner of that hand?
QUESTION: Although you describe many of these narrations as mutawatir, we have heard most of them for the first time. Would a mutawatir narration have remained unknown for so long ?
ANSWER: There are many mutawatir facts that are obvious to men of learning and unknown to others. There are also many narrations that are mutawatir to narration scholars, but may not even regarded as individual reports according to other persons. Authorities on a science explain theories and axioms; others (or laymen) either rely upon such explanations, or enter that science to make their own observations. As for the incidents that we report here, they have been regarded by narration scholars, authorities in the Sacred Law and most other classes of scholars, as mutawatir, either in reality or in meaning, or otherwise carrying the same certainty as tawatur. Since this is so, if the uneducated who are not aware of them, and those ignorant people who have shut their eyes to the truth, do not know these facts the fault is their own.
FIFTH EXAMPLE: Imam Baghawi (RA) amends and narrates: Ali b. al-Hakam (RA) had his leg broken by the blow of an unbeliever at the battle of Khandag. Allah's Messenger (ASW) stroked his leg, and it was healed at the same moment, so that he did not dismount from his horse again.
SIXTH EXAMPLE: Narration scholars, including Imam Bayhaqi, report that once Ali (RA) was so ill that he could not help moaning. As he was alone and praying for his cure, Allah's Messenger (ASW) came in and said, "O my Allah, heal him!" He then said to Ali, "Get up !" touching him with his foot. He was cured at once. Ali says, "Since then I have never caught the same illness."
SEVENTH EXAMPLE: This is the well-known story of Shurahbil al-Ju'fi (RA). He had a tumor in his palm that would not let him hold either his sword or the reins of his horse. After Allah's Messenger (ASW) stroked the tumor and massaged it with his blessed hand, it disappeared.
EIGHT EXAMPLE: Six children (and a woman), one by one, were honored with the miracles of the Prophet (ASW).
FIRSTIbn Abi Shayba (RA), a meticulous researcher and a well-known narration scholar, relates that a woman brought her son to Allah's Messenger (ASW). The boy was an idiot who could not even speak. Allah's Messenger rinsed his mouth with water and washed his hands and gave the water to the woman telling drunk the water. There was nothing left of his idiocy; his intelligence then surpassed that of even the brightest.
SECONDIbn Abbas (RA) reports in an authentic narration that one day an insane child was brought to Allah's Messenger. He put his hand on the child's chest, so that the child suddenly vomited a small, black object that resembled a cucumber. He was cured in the same breath.
SECONCBayhaki and Nasa'i (RA) report in an authentic narration that Allah's Messenger (ASW) healed a boy named Muhammad b. Khatib whose arm had been scalded with boiled water, by stroking his arm and applying his saliva to it.
FORTH A big but mute boy came to Allah's Messenger. When Allah's Messenger asked, "Who am I" he said, "You are the Messenger of Allah," and began to speak.
FIFTH Narrated by Jalaladdin Suyuti (RA), who was honored by conversing with Allah's Messenger (ASW) several times in a state of awakening: A baby who had just been born was taken to Allah's Messenger (ASW). When Allah's Messenger turned to him, the baby began to speak, and said, "I bear witness that you are the Messenger of Allah." Then Allah's Messenger said, "May Allah bless you!" After that, he never spoke again during his infancy. He later became famous as Mubarak al-Yamama (the blessed one of Yamama), for he had been honored by this miracle of the Prophet (ASW) and his supplication of "May Allah bless you."
SIXTHAn ill-natured boy interrupted Allah's Messenger by passing before him while he was praying. Allah's Messenger said, "O Allah, cut short his paces." After this, the boy was unable to walk as a punishment for his bad behavior.
SEVENTH A shameless woman who had the nature of a silly child asked for a bite of food that Allah's Messenger (ASW) was eating. He gave her one, but she insisted, "No, I want the one in your mouth." Allah's Messenger gave it to her. After eating that delicacy, she became the shyest, chaste woman in Medina. These eight examples are not the only ones belonging to these kind of miracles; there are perhaps eight hundred more, most of which have been related in the books of narration and of the Prophet's biography. Indeed, his auspicious hand resembles a pharmacy of Luqman (AS), his saliva the life-giving fountain of Khidr (AS), and his breath the salutary breath of Jesus (AS). As humanity is afflicted with various kinds of diseases, many people resorted to him: the sick, the young, the insane flocked to him, and all returned cured. As stated with certainty by Abu Abdurrahman al Yamani (one of the greatest scholars of the generation following the Companions, known as Ta'us, who made pilgrimage (hajj) forty times, performed the morning-prayer with the ablution of the night-prayer continually for forty years, and conversed with many of the Companions): "Whenever an insane person came to Allah's Messenger, he was cured as soon as Allah's Messenger put his hand on the chest of the ill person; there was no exception to this." Since an imam who reached back to the era of the Prophet (ASW) had such a definite and comprehensive conviction, there is no room for question that all who came to him were cured. As they were all cured, it is quite normal that thousands of people should have resorted to him.
FOURTEENTH SIGN
[Miracles as results of prayers]
A great number of the various miracles of Allah's Messenger (ASW) are comprised of those that became manifest as a result of his prayers. This kind of miracle is definite and mutawatir, having innumerable examples most of which reach the degree of tawatur or have become well-known as tawatur, while others have been related by such authorities that they bear the same certitude as 'well-known tawatur'. As examples, we will quote only some of the numerous instances of this kind of miracle that are very well known and nearest in degree to tawatur, giving some specifics of each instance.
FIRST EXAMPLE:
The fact that the Prayers of Allah's Messenger for rain were always accepted has been transmitted by narration scholars, primarily Bukhari and Muslim. There were times when he raised his hands to pray for rain at the pulpit, and before he lowered them rain began. As mentioned previously, whenever the water of the Muslim army was exhausted, clouds came to give them rain. In his childhood, the Prophet's grandfather Abdul-Muttalib would go to pray for rain with him, and rain would begin out of respect for Muhammad (ASW). This fact has become celebrated through a poem of Abdul-Muttalib. After the Prophet's demise, once Umar prayed, referring to the Prophet's uncle Abbas, "O Allah! This is the uncle of Thy well-beloved. Give us rain for his sake!" and it rained. Bukhari and Muslim report that once Allah's Messenger (ASW) was asked to pray for rain. He prayed, and such a rain descended that they had to request him to pray for it to cease. He prayed again and the rain stopped at the same moment.
SECOND EXAMPLE:
It is almost as well-known as tawatur that when the number of the believers was below forty, Allah's Messenger (ASW) prayed, "O my Allah! Give strength to Islam by means either of Umar b. Khattab or of Umar b. Hisham "Within a few days of his prayer, Umar b. Khattab was converted to the faith and became such a means of propagating and exalting Islam that the acquired the title of Faruq (discerner between the false and the truth).
THIRD EXAMPLE:
Allah's Messenger (ASW) prayed for various distinguished Companions for different purposes. His prayers were all accepted in so brilliant a way that the wonders of these prayers reached the degree of miracle. For example, as reported primarily by Bukhari and Muslim, he prayed for Ibn Abbas, "O my Allah! Give him knowledge in religion and teach him interpretation!" This prayer was accepted in such a way that Ibn Abbas acquired the high status of being an "Interpreter of the Qur'an" and "the Scholar of the Ummah." When he was very young, Umar (RA) allowed him to join in the meetings of the scholars and elders among the Companions. As reported in accurate books including Bukhari, the mother of Anas requested the Messenger (ASW) to pray for an abundance of descendants and wealth for Anas, who was his servant. The Prophet (ASW) prayed, "O Allah! Give abundance to his wealth and offspring, and bless that which You bestowed upon him!" Anas (RA) said in his old age, swearing by Allah (SWT), "I have buried a hundred of my children. As for wealth, no one has led such a happy life as I have. You see the abundance of my riches, which is the result of the blessing ot the Prophet's prayer." Narration Scholars, including Bayhaqi, report that Allah's Messenger (ASW) prayed that Abdurrahman b. Awf, one of the ten Companions who were given the glad tidings of Paradise, might have abundance and the blessings of wealth. Through the blessing of that prayer, he acquired such wealth that once he donated seven hundred camels with their loads to the cause of Allah (SWT). Now look at the blessings coming from the prayers of the Prophet (ASW), and say, "Great are Allah's blessings!" Again narration scholars, above all Bukhari report that Allah's Messenger (ASW) prayed that Urwa b. Abi Ja'da might profit in business. Urwa (RA) says "Sometimes I would go to Kufa market and come home in the evening having earned forty thousand." Bukhari says, "If he took a little earth in his hand, he would gain a profit from it."
Abdullah b. Ja'far, for whom Allah's Messenger (ASW) prayed for blessing, also acquired such wealth that he became famous for his riches. He was known for generosity too, which was another blessing of the Prophet's (ASW) prayer.
There are various instances of this kind of miracle. We consider, however, only the four that have been mentioned before as sufficient examples. Tirmidhi and other narration scholars report: Allah's Messenger (ASW) prayed that the prayers of Sa'd b. Abi Waqqas might be accepted, saying, "O Allah, accept his prayer!" After that, Sa'd (RA) became famous for his prayers, so that everyone feared his malediction.
On another occasion, Allah's Messenger (ASW) prayed that Abu Qatada (RA) might remain young, saying, "May Allah prosper thy face! O Allah, bless his hair and his skin!" When Abu Qatada died at seventy, he looked as young as fifteen.
The famous story of the poet Nabigha: Once he read a poem of his to Allah's Messenger (ASW) which ran as "Our glory and praise have reached to the skies; we want to ascend even higher." Allah's Messenger (ASW) asked, jokingly, 'To where beyond the skies?" Nabigha (RA) replied, 'To Paradise." He then read another poem, and then Allah's Messenger (ASW) prayed, 'May Allah not spoil your mouth!" It was through the blessing of this prayer of the Prophet (ASW) that he did not have a single tooth missing in his mouth when he was one hundred and twenty years old. Whenever he lost a tooth, another would appear in its place.
As reported through an authentic narration, Allah's Messenger (ASW) prayed for Ali (RA), "O Allah, protect him from heat and cold!" Through the benediction of this prayer, Ali (RA) wore summer clothing in winter, and winter clothing in summer. He said, "I never suffered from heat or cold."
Allah's Messenger (ASW) also prayed for Fatima (RA), "O Allah, do not give her the smart of hunger!" Fatima (RA) said, "Since then I have never suffered from hunger."
On another occasion, when Tufayl b. Amr (RA) asked for a miracle of Allah's Messenger (ASW) to show to his tribe, Allah's Messenger (ASW) said, "O Allah, illuminate him!" and a light appeared between his eyes, which was later transferred to the end of his staff. This is why he was known as Dhin-Nurayn (the possessor of two lights). These events are among well-known incidents that have acquired certainty. Abu Hurayra (RA) once complained to Allah's Messenger (ASW) about forgetfulness. Allah's Messenger (ASW) told him to spread out a piece of cloth on the ground. He then made some movements with his hands in the air as if taking some invisible objects and putting them on a piece of cloth, and after repeating this two or three times, said, "Now pick it up." Through this prayer of the Prophet (ASW), Abu Hurayra (RA) later stated swearing by Allah (SWT) that he never forgot anything again. This event is also among well-known narrations.
FOURTH EXAMPLE:
We will narrate a few events here regarding the maledictions of Allah's Messenger (ASW).
FIRST: The Persian Shah Parviz tore up the letter sent to him by the Prophet (ASW). When Allah's Messenger (ASW) heard of this, he prayed, "O Allah, rend him as he tore my letter!" As a result of this malediction, his son Shirviya cut him into pieces with a dagger, and Sa'd b. Abi Waqqas (RA) broke his empire apart, so that no trace of his sovereignty remained anywhere. The Emperor of Byzantine and the rulers of other empires did not perish, however, for they respected the letters of the Messenger (ASW).
SECOND: An event almost as well-known as tawatur that is pointed out by verses of the Qur'an: In the early days of Islam, when Allah's Messenger (ASW) was praying at the Ka'ba, the heads of Quraish gathered there and treated him very badly. Allah's Messenger (ASW) then called down curses of Allah (SWT) upon them. Ibn Mas'ud (RA) says, "I would have sworn that I saw the bodies of all of them after the battle of Badr."
THIRD: Allah's Messenger (ASW) prayed that Mudariyya, a large Arab tribe, be subjected to famine, for they had contradicted him. Rain stopped, draught and famine arouse. But later some people from the Quraish, who were derived from the Mudariyya, requested that Allah's Messenger (ASW) pray for rain. He prayed, then rain was sent, and draught and famine was ended. This incident is also well-known to the degree of tawatur.
FIFTH EXAMPLE:The fact that the maledictions of the Prophet (ASW) against specific persons were accepted and became reality in a fearful way is illustrated by several instances out of which we will relate three special ones.
FIRST: Allah's Messenger cursed Utba b. Abi Lahab, saying, O Allah, send one of Your dogs upon him. Some time later, when Utba was on a journey, a lion came, spotted him among the members of the caravan, and killed him. This incident is well-known, having been amended and reported by famous narration scholars.
SECOND: Allah's Messenger (ASW) had sent Amir b. Azbat (RA) to fight as the commander of a squadron. One of his men, Muhallim b. Jassama, killed Amir out of spite. When the news reached the Prophet (ASW), he was angered, and prayed, O Allah, do not forgive Muhallim. Muhallim died seven days later. His corpse was put into the grave, but the grave rejected it. Several attempts were made to bury the body, and every time the grave threw it out. A covering finally had to be built to house the corpse.
THIRD: Allah's Messenger (ASW) saw a man eating with his left hand. He warned him, "Eat with right hand." The man lied, "I cannot do it with my right hand." Then Allah's Messenger (ASW) said, "You will never use it again." After that he was never able to lift his right hand again.
SIXTH EXAMPLE: From among many wonders demonstrated through the Prophet's (ASW) prayer and his touch, we will relate a few incidents that have acquired certainty.
FIRST: Allah's Messenger (ASW) gave Khalid b. Walid (RA), known as "the Sword of Allah," a couple of his hairs, and prayed for him. Khalid (RA) kept the hairs in his turban, and, as a result of the blessing of that prayer and those hairs, he was victorious in each battle he fought.
SECOND: Salman al-Farisi (RA) was formerly a slave of Jews. His masters had asked for a very high ransom, saying, "You must plant three hundred date pulms, and after they bear fruit, you must give us forty okkas (1 okka = 1282 gr.) of gold in addition to the fruit in order to earn your freedom." He came to Allah's Messenger and explained his situation. Allah's Messenger himself planted the date palms somewhere near Medina; only one of them was planted by some other person. Within the same year, all three hundred trees bore fruit, with the exception of the one planted by the other person. Allah's Messenger (ASW) took it out and planted it again, and it too bore fruit. He then put his saliva on a piece of gold at the size of an egg, and gave it to Salman, telling him to give it to Jews. After he had given Jews forty okkas of gold out of it, it remained as it had been before. This miraculous incident, which is reported by respected and trusted authorities, was the most significant event in the entire life of Salman (RA).
THIRD: A woman named Umm Malik (RA) would offer Allah's Messenger (ASW) butter out of a leather bag known as ukka. In one occasion, when Allah's Messenger (ASW) was giving the ukka back to her, he prayed over it, and told her not to empty or to squeeze it. Later on, as a result of the benediction of the Prophet's prayer (ASW), butter was found whenever Umm Malik's children asked for it. This continued for a long time, until they squeezed the ukka, which resulted in the disappearance of the blessing.
SEVENTH EXAMPLE: There are also many example of water coming sweet and emitting pleasant odors, of which we will relate a few.
FIRST: Narration scholars, above all Bayhaqi, narrate that the water of a well called Quba would frequently disappear. After Allah's Messenger (SAW) poured it in some water that he had used for ablution, plenty of water was always found in the well.
SECOND: Narration Scholars, above all Abu Nu'aym in his Dala'il an-Nubuwwa (The Proofs of the Prophethood), report that when Allah's Messenger (SAW) ejected his saliva into the well of Anas, its water beame the sweetest in Medina.
THIRD: Ibn Maja (RA) reports that one day a bucket of water from the well of Zamzam was brought to Allah's Messenger (SAW). He took a little amount in his mouth, then emptied it into the bucket. The bucket gave forth a musk-like odor.
FOURTH: Ahmad b. Hanbal (RA) narrates that a bucket-full of water was taken from a well. Allah's Messenger (SAW) put his saliva into the bucket and poured the water into the well. The well began to give forth a musk-like odor.
FIFTH: Hammad b. Salama (RA), who was esteemed and relied upon by Muslim and the scholars of the Maghrib (RAE), reports: Allah's Messenger (SAW) filled a leather bag with water, breathed into it while praying, and then closed it and gave it to some Companions (RAE), saying, "Do not open it except when you perform ablution." When they opened it for ablution, they saw that there was milk inside, with cream of a finger's thickness. These five instances have been narrated by well-known and important authorities. Together with those that are not mentioned here, they prove the occurrence of this kind of miracle as definite as tawatur in meaning.
EIGHTH EXAMPLE: Sterile goats began to produce abundant milk through the touch and prayer of Allah's Messenger (SAW). This miracle also has various examples, but we will relate only a few decisive and well-known ones.
FIRST: As reported in all respected books on the biography of the Prophet, Allah's Messenger (SAW) and Abu Bakr (RA) stopped at the house of Umm Mabad (also called Atibat bint al-Huza'iyya), as they were emigrating from Mecca. There was a very thin, barren goat. Allah's Messenger (SAW) asked, "Does it not have milk", Umm Ma'bad (RA) replied, "It does not have blood in its veins, how will it have milk". Allah's Messenger (SAW) touched its loins, stroked its teats, prayed, and then said, "Bring a vessel and milk it." They did so, and the whole household, as well as Allah's Messenger (SAW) and Abu Bakr, drank the milk until they were fully satisfied. And the goat kept its newly acquired quality and productivity through the touch and the prayer of Allah's Messenger (SAW).
SECOND: The well-known story of Shat b. Mas'ud (RA): Before becoming a Muslim, Ibn Mas'ud was a shepherd. One day Allah's Messenger and Abu Bakr went to where he was. Allah's Messenger (SAW) asked him for some milk. He said, "The goats do not belong to me, but to someone else." Allah's Messenger (SAW) said, "Then bring me a barren goat." Ibn Mas'ud (RA) fetched a goat that had not mated for the past two years. Allah's Messenger (SAW) stroked her teats and prayed. Then they milked her and delicious milk came forth, which they drank. Ibn Mas'ud (RA) became a Muslim upon witnessing this miracle.
THIRD: The well-known story of Halima Sa'diya (RA), the foster mother of Allah's Messenger (SAW): Her tribe was suffering from famine. Their weak animals could not eat properly and thus could not produce milk. However, when Allah's Messenger (SAW) was sent to stay with her as his foster mother, her goats, unlike those of the others, and as a result of the blessing that came through him, would turn back in the evening fully satisfied, with their udders full of milk. There are other examples of this kind of miracle in the books of biography of the Prophet, but these are sufficient for the purpose.
NINTH EXAMPLE:A great many wonders became manifest through the Prophet's (ASW) stroking various people's heads and face, and through his prayers. We will relate a few well-known instances in this respect.
FIRST: He touched Umar b. Sa'd's head with his hand and prayed, so that Umar (RA) did not have a single white hair on his head when he died at the age of eighty.
SECOND: Allah's Messenger (ASW) put his hand on Qays b. Zayd's head, stroked it, and prayed. When Qays (RA) was one hundred years old, his head was covered with white hair except the area where Allah's Messenger (ASW) had put his hand.
THIRD: Abdurrahman b. Zayd b. Khattab was a small, unbeautiful man. Allah's Messenger (ASW) stroked his head and prayed, and through the blessing of that prayer, he acquired a very tall and handsome form.
FOURTH: A'iz b. Amr (RA) received a wound on his face during the battle of Hunayn. Allah's Messenger (ASW) wiped the blood on his face away with his hand. That part of his face shone and remained shining, in a manner described by the narration scholars as "shining like the whiteness on the forehead of a bay horse,"
FIFTH: Resul-u Ekrem (ASW) touched Qatada b. Salman (RA) on the face and prayed, and his face began to shine like a mirror.
SIXTH: When Zaynab (RA), the daughter of the Mother of the Believers (Umm Salama, RA) and the stepdaughter of Allah's Messenger (ASW), was a child, Allah's Messenger (ASW) sprinkled some of his ablution water on her face. With the touch of the water, her face acquired a wondrous beauty.
Similar to these examples, there are many more of the same kind, most of which have been narrated by the best-known narration scholars. Even if each of these instances is regarded as a separate report and is thus considered 'questionable', together they still represent a miracle of Muhammad (ASW) that has the certainty of tawatur in meaning. For, when an incident is reported in various ways, its having occurred becomes definite; those reports prove it true, even if they are separately questionable in their details. Suppose that a noise was heard. Someone says, "Such and such a house has collapsed," someone else says, 'No, another house," still another reports the collapse of a different house, and so on. Each report may be separately questionable and incorrect in one detail, but there is something certain: the collapse of a house, which is agreed on by all.
As regards to the six examples related above, they all are true, some having become quite well-known. Even if every one of them individually is assumed to be questionable, together they definitely prove the occurrence of a miracle of Muhammad (ASW), just as the collapse of a house is proved in the comparison-example.
The obvious miracles of Allah's Messenger (ASW) definitely exist as categories, and their particulars are the instances and examples. Just as the hands, fingers, saliva, breath and words of Allah's Messenger (ASW) are the sources of various miracles, so, too, his other members are the means of numerous wonders. The books of his biography and of history have related those wonders, demonstrating the fact that both his spiritual and physical qualities yield many proofs to the veracity of his prophethood.
THE FIFTEENTH SIGN:
[Miracles related to the testimony of the animal,dead, jinn and angel kingdoms to the Prophethood of Muhammad (ASW).]
Just as rocks, trees, the moon and the sun recognize him and testify to his prophethood, each demonstrating one of his miracle, so, too, the animal, the dead, the jinn and the angel kingdoms recognize this blessed being and bear witness to his prophethood. They prove this fact by becoming the object of his miracles. We will explain this Sign in three in three parts.
FIRST PART
The animal kingdom knows Allah's Messenger and demonstrate his miracle. This part has many instances; we will mention here, however, only a few that are well-known, certain as tawatur by meaning, agreed upon by discerning authorities, or accepted by the majority of the Ummah.
THE FIRST INCIDENT which has the reputation of tawatur by meaning: When Allah's Mesenger, together with Abu Bakr, took shelter in the cave of Hira in order to be safe from the unbelievers who were in pursuit of them, two pigeons stood guard at the entrance like two sentries, and a spider, like a doorkeeper, covered the entrance of the cave with a thick web. As Ubayy b. Khalaf, one of the heads of the Quraish who was killed by Allah's Mesenger in the battle of Badr, was examining the cave, his friends suggested that they should enter, but he replied, "This web seems to have been spun before Muhammad was born, and there are two pigeons standing there. Would they still be there if someone were in the cave?" In an instance similar to this one, a blesed pigeon cast a shadow upon Allah's Mesenger in the course of the conquest of Mecca, as has been related by Imam Jalil b. Wahab. Aisha as-Siddiqa also reports, through an authentic narration: "We had a pigeon in our house When Allah's Mesenger was home, it would stay quiet, but as soon as he left the house, the bird would start going to and from without stopping." Thus, the bird was obedient to the Prophet, remaining quiet in his presence.
THE SECOND INCIDENT is the story of the wolf, which is of the same certitude as tawatur by meaning, having been reported through various channels by well-known Companions such as Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, Salama b. al-Aqwa, Ibn Abi Wahab, Abu Hurayra, and Uhban (a shepherd who became involved in another event): A wolf snatched a goat from a herd, but the shepherd rescued the goat. The wolf said, "Don't you fear God? You have deprived me of my sustenance!" The shepherd muttered to himself, "How strange! Can a wolf speak?" The wolf replied, "Your state is strange! There is a prophet behind this hill inviting you to Paradise, but you don't know of him!" All reports agree on the wolf's speaking; in addition, Abu Hurayra who himself constitute a strong support reports that after this reply, the shepherd asked the wolf, "I will go then, but who will take care of my goats?" "I will," said the wolf, and the shepherd went to see Allah's Mesenger, leaving the herd to the care of the wolf. He was converted to faith and returned to find the wolf shepherding the herd with no loss. He then slaughtered a goat and offered it to the wolf, for it had become a teacher for him. In another incident, Abu Sufyan and Safwan, two of the chiefs of Quraish, saw a wolf going into the Ka'ba enclosure in pursuit of a gazelle. As it returned, the wolf spoke and bore witnes to the prophethood of Muhammad. They were surprised at this. Then Abu Sufyan said to Safwan, "Let us not tell this to anyone, for I fear that the whole of Mecca would flock to join the Muslims." To conclude, the miracle of the Prophet concerning the wolf is certain, and gives one the satisfaction of tawatur by meaning.
THE THIRD INCIDENT is the narrative of the camel, which was unanimously related through some five or six channels by famous Companions of the Prophet such as Abu Hurayra, Sa'laba b. Malik, Jabir b. Abdullah, Abdullah b. Ja'far and Abdullah b. Abi Awla. A camel came to Allah's Messenger, prostrated itself before him as if saluting him, and spoke to him. According to certain other narrations, this camel had gone wild and would attack whoever attempted to come near to it. When Allah's Mesenger appeared, it came to him, prostrated itself as a sign of respect, and knelt down beside him, so that Allah's Mesenger put a bridle on it. Then the camel complained to Allah's Messenger, "They have employed me in the heaviest work, and now they want to butcher me." Allah's Messenger asked its owner, "Is it true?" "Yes," he said. The Prophet had a camel named Adba, which, after his demise, did not eat or drink anything until it starved to death. As has been related by well- known authorities such as Abu Ishaq al-Isfarani, it had a talk with Allah's Messenger concerning a well-known story. In another instance, the camel of Jabir b. Abdullah became exhausted and reached the point of being unable to continue. Allah's Messenger prodded it slightly. Such joy and nimbleness did the camel receive from that prod that it could not be caught up with, nor could its reins be seized. This event is reported by Jabir.
THE FOURTH INCIDENT: Traditionists, above all Bukhari, report that it was rumored one night that the enemy was coming to attack Medina. Brave horsemen set out to investigate. On their way, they met Allah's Messenger. He said, "There is nothing." His blessed courage had impelled him to set out to investigate the report before everyone else did. He also said to Abu Talha, "I found your horse faster," although his horse had been a very slow one. However, after that night no horse could race against it. On another occasion, as related in an authentic narration, Allah's Messenger told his horse to stop, as he was going to pray. While he was praying, the horse did not make the smallest movement.
THE FIFTH INCIDENT: Safina, the servant of Allah's Messenger, was going to meet Mu'adh b. Jabal, the governor of Yemen, upon the order of the Prophet. When he met with a lion on his way,Safina said,"I am the servant of Allah's Messenger-" Then the lion made a sound as if saying something, and left him. According to another narration, it was when he had lost his way while coming back that he met with the lion. Not only did the lion not touch him, it even showed him the way. As reported by Umar, a Beduin came to Allah's Messenger with a lizard in his hand, saying, "If this animal testifies to your messengership, I will believe in you; otherwise I will not." When Allah's Messenger asked the lizard, it testified to his messengership clearly and fluently. The Mother of the Believers Umm Salama relates that once a gazelle spoke to Allah's Messenger and testified to his messengership. There are many examples like these; we have mentioned only a few renowned ones. We consequently say to those who do not recognize and obey him, "O man, take warning from these events! Since the wolf and the lion recognize Allah's Messenger and obey him, you must try not to fall behind them.
SECOND PART:
The fact that corpses, jinn and angels recognize Allah's Messenger is also illustrated by many instances. We shall first give a few examples pertaining to corpses; as for jinn and angels, the miracles concerning them are mutawatir, and examples of them can be numbered in the thousands.
FIRST: As has been related by Hasan al-Basri, a truthful student of Ali b. Abi Talib and the greatest among both the scholars and the mystics of the generation that followed the Companions, a man told Allah's Messenger, weeping, "I had a little daughter, who was drowned in such and such a stream, and I left her corpse in the stream." Allah's Messenger pitied him, and said, "Come, we will go there." When they reached the place where the girl had drowned, Allah's Messenger called to her. She replied at once, "I am present and answer your call gladly. Allah's Messenger asked, Do you want to be with your parents again?" "No," she said, "I have found a better place here."
SECOND: Certain outstanding imams such as Bayhaqi and Ibn Adiy relate from Anas b. Malik that the only son of an old woman had died. The pious woman was very much afflicted by this, and prayed, "O Allah, I have emigrated from home purely to obtain Thy pleasure, to take the oath of allegiance to Thy Messenger and to serve him, for the sake of Thy Messenger, give me back my only son, who was the only one to look after me." Anas says, "The dead man got up and ate with us." In the following verses from the celebrated poem Qasida al-Burda. Imam Busiri refers to this wondrous event: "Were his wonders to correspond to his virtue in greatness, Mere mention of his name would have animated decayed bones."
THIRD: Bayhaqi and others report from Abdullah b. Ubeydullah al-Ansari: "During the battle of Yamama, I was present at the burial of the martyred Thabit b. Qays b. Shammas. As he was being put into the grave, his voice was heard saying,'Muhammad is Allah's Messenger, Abu Bakr is siddiq, Umar martyred, and Uthman pious and merciful.' We opened the grave; he was dead." Thabit thus foretold the martydom of Umar before he became Caliph.
FOURTH: Tabarani and Abu Nu'aym report from Nu'man b. Bashir: "Zayd b. Kharija died suddenly at the market. We took his body home. That night, at some time between the evening and night prayers, while women were crying around him, he said, 'Silence, silence!' and continued quite clearly and fluently, 'Muhammad is Allah's Messenger; peace be on you, O Allah's Messenger!' He then spoke a little more. We examined him; he was quite dead." Certainly, while lifeless bodies testify to his messengership, if living men deny him, they are more dead than the dead and more lifeless than corpses! As regards angels appearing to Allah's Messenger and serving him, and jinn believing in and obeying him, these facts are mutawatir, having been proved by numerous verses of the Qur'an. For example, in the battle of Badr, five thousand angels served him as soldiers on the front line like the Companions and they acquired an honor among the angels like that of the Companions who had fought in the battle.
Two aspects are to be considered in this respect:
First, the existence of angels and jinn and their relationship with us. As this fact has been proved decisively in the Twenty-Ninth Word, we refer the reader to it.
Second, as a result of the miracles of Allah's Messenger, his Ummah's seeing them and conversing with them. For example, traditionists, including Bukhari and Muslim, unanimously report that once the Archangel Gabriel came to Allah's Messenger, as he sat with his Companions in the form of a man dressed in white, and asked, "What is Islam, and what is faith, and what is goodness?" While Allah's Messenger was describing them, the Companions both learned a lesson and also saw that person quite plainly. He appeared to be a traveller, but bore no sign of a journey. When he disappeared suddenly, Allah's Messenger said, "Gabriel did this in order to teach you a lesson." Traditionists also report, relying upon authentic narrations having the certanity of tawatur in meaning, that the Companions would see Gabriel together with Allah's Messenger in the form of Dihya, who had a pleasing face. As it is certain that this fact was reported by Umar, Ibn Abbas, Usama b. Zayd, Harith, Aisha and Umm Salama, is it ever possible that they should have said, "We have seen," without really seeing? Reported by Sa'd b. Abi Waqqas, the conqueror of lran and one of the ten Companions who were given the glad tidings of Paradise: "In the battle of Uhud, we saw two sentries dressed in white at the sides of Allah's Messenger. We understood that they were two angels, Gabriel and Michael. "When such a hero of Islam says that he has seen them, is it possible that he should not have seen?
Abu Sufyan b. Harith Abdulmuttalib, a cousin of the Prophet, reports in an authentic narration that in the battle of Badr, they saw horsemen dressed in white between the sky and the earth. One day Hamza told Allah's Messenger that he wanted to see Gabriel. Allah's Messenger showed Gabriel to him, but he could not bear it and fell unconscious.
All these incidents demonstrate a kind of miracle of Muhammad and show that even angels are moths around the light of his prophethood. As far as jinn are concerned, not only the Companions, but also ordinary individuals from among the Ummah converse with them. The most definite instance of such an event is the one reported by Ibn Mas'ud. He says, "I saw the Jinn in Batn an-Nakhl, on the night they were converted to faith. They resembled the tall men of the Sudanese tribe called Zut." Another well-known event accepted by traditionists is that of Khalid b. Walid. When the idol named Uzza was destroyed, a female jinn came out of it in the form of a black woman, and Khalid cut her in two with a stroke of his sword. Then Allah's Messenger said, They have been worshipping her in the idol of Uzza. From now on she will not be worshipped." Umar says in one of his well-known reports: "When we were with Allah's Messenger, a jinn named Haama appeared in the form of an old man with a stick in his hand, and was converted to faith. Allah's Messenger taught him a few short suras: he learned his lesson and left." Some traditionists have expressed doubt about this incident, but the most outstanding imams are agreed on its accuracy. In any case, there is no need for long explanations, since we have many examples in this respect. We will only add this: through the light of Allah's Messenger and his teaching and by following him, thousands of eminent men of piety -such as Abdul Qadir Gilani- have interviewed and conversed with angels and jinn. This fact has reached the degree of tawatur a hundred times through innumerable instances.
THIRD PART:
The protection of Allah's Messenger is an evident miracle, and many of its instances are included in the meaning of this Qur'anic verse;
"And Allah will defend you from men." [Qur'an; 5:70]
Indeed, once Allah's Messenger has been appointed by Allah (SWA), he did not face a single tribe or race or a few rulers or a particular religion, rather he challenged all rulers, all peoples, and all religions. With his uncle and his tribe as the greatest enemies, he was able to breath his last breath in his own bed and reach the highest place of the incorporeal abode after twenty-three years with neither guard nor means of protection in the face of numerous plots against him. This fact clearly shows how sound a truth the verse just quoted expresses and on how solid a footing it is based. We will relate a few specific events as examples in this connection.
FIRST: As reported unanimously by authorities on the Prophet's biography and traditions, the Quraish conspired to assassinate Allah's Messenger and upon the suggestion of a diabolic member of their group, they chose a man from each tribe, gathering nearly two hundred men, in order not to let any possibility of dispute arise among them. They surrounded the house of Allah's Messenger under the command of Abu Jahl and Abu Lahab. Allah's Messenger told Ali, who was with him that night, to stay in his bed, and, after the house was entirely surrounded by the Quraish, he left it, threw some earth upon them, and passed through them without being seen by any one of them. When he reached the cave of Hira, two pigeons and a spider guarded him against the whole of the Quraish.
SECOND: This is also a certain incident. As Allah's Messenger and Abu Bakr were going towards Medina after leaving the cave of Hira, the heads of Quraish sent a man named Suraqa to try to assassinate them, paying him a considerable amount of money. Allah's Messenger and Abu Bakr saw that Suraqa was coming. As Abu Bakr showed anixiety, Allah's Messenger said, as he had done in the cave,
"Do not be sad; Allah is certainly with us." [Qur'an; 9:40]
He then cast a glance at Suraqa, and his horse's feet became stuck in the sand. Some time later he slipped out of the sand and began to follow them anew, but he soon became stuck again and saw smoke coming out of where his horse's feet were thrust. Seeing that it was far beyond anyone's ability to lay hands on Allah's Messenger, he had to ask for help. Allah's Messenger freed him, saying, "Go back, and make sure no one else comes."
Another certain event is also reported in relation to this incident. When a shepherd saw Allah's Messenger and Abu Bakr, he immediately went to Mecca in order to inform the Quraish, but when he arrived there he forgot what he had come for. Tried as he might, he could not remember his intention, so he had to turn back. He later realized that he had been made to forget.
THIRD: It is reported through different channels that at the battle of Ghatfan and Anmar, the courageous head of a tribe named Ghuras stealthily approached Allah's Messenger, and holding his sword over the Prophet's head, asked,"Who will save you from me?" Allah's Messenger replied, "Allah!" and prayed, "O Allah, suffice me against him, If you will." In the same breath, Ghuras was fallen by a blow he received between his shoulders, and his sword slipped out of his hand. Allah's Messenger took the sword and asked him, "Now who will save you from me?" but he forgave him and allowed him to return to his tribe. His men were all surprised at such a courageous man having failed to do anything. They asked, "What happened to you, why couldn't you do anything?" He told them what had happenned, and added, "I am now coming from the presence of the best of men." In a fashion similar to this event, at the battle of Badr, a hypocrite stealthily approached Allah's Messenger. He had just lifted his sword when Allah's Messenger turned and glanced at him, causing him to tremble and drop the sword.
FOURTH: This incident has also acquired renown as tawatur in meaning and has been considered by most interpreters to be the occasion for the revelation of these verses:
Verily We have put yokes round their necks right up to their chins, so that their heads are forced up (and they cannot see). And We have put a bar in front of them and a bar behind them, and further, We have covered them up, so that they cannot see. [Our'an 36:8-9]
Abu Jahl took a big rock in his hand and said with an oath, "I will hit Muhammad with this rock, if I see him in prostration." He went and found him prostrating, and had just lifted the huge rock to hit the Prophet's head when his hands were fixed in the air. Not until Allah's Messsenger had finished his prayer and stood up did they become unbound, either by the permission of Allah's Messenger or because there was no longer any need for them to remain bound. In another similar incident, a man from the same tribe as Abu Jahl (Walid b. Mughira, according to one narration) went to the Ka'ba with a big rock in his hand to hit Allah's Messenger while he was in prostration, but his eyes were sealed and he could not see Allah's Messenger entering, nor was he able to see the people who had instructed him, being able only to hear their voices. When Allah's Messenger finished his prayer, his eyes were opened, for there was no longer any need for them to be closed.
In another incident that is reported from Abu Bakr through an authentic narration, after the Sura of Abu Lahab had been revealed, his wife Hammaalat al-Hatab (log carrier) Umm Jamil came to the Ka'ba with a rock in her hand. She saw Abu Bakr, who was sitting beside Allah's Messenger, and asked him, "Where is your friend? I hear that he has satirized me. If I see him, I will hit him in the mouth with this rock." Such a porteress of the logs of Hell could not, of course, have seen the one who was the object of the mystery of LAWLAK [*] and under Allah's protection, and could not have entered his presence. How could she have dared to do that?
FIFTH: As related through authentic reports, Amir b. Tufayl and Arbad b. Qays conspired to assassinate Allah's Messenger. Amir said, "I will keep him busy, and you hit him." They went to Allah's Messenger, but Arbad did not do anything. Amir asked later, "Why didn't you hit him?" Arbad answered. "How could I? Every time I intended to hit him, I saw you between us. Did you expect me to hit you?"
SIXTH: It is reported in an authentic narration that in either the battle of Uhud or Hunayn, Shayba b. Uthman al-Hajabayya, whose father and uncle had been killed by Hamza, approached Allah's Messenger creeping up quietly from behind in order to revenge his father and uncle. He lifted his sword, but it suddenly slipped out of his hand. Allah's Messenger turned to him, put his hand on Shayba's chest. When relating this event, Shayba said, "At that moment no one else could have been more beloved to me." He accepted faith at that very moment.
[*] Translator's Note: LAWLAK carries the meaning of a hadith in which Allah SWA says in meaning "I would not created the heavens, but for you."
SIXTH: It is reported in an authentic narration that in either the battle of Uhud or Hunayn, Shayba b. Uthman al-Hajabayya, whose father and uncle had been killed by Hamza, approached Allah's Messenger creeping up quietly from behind in order to revenge his father and uncle. He lifted his sword, but it suddenly slipped out of his hand. Allah's Messenger turned to him, put his hand on Shayba's chest. When relating this event, Shayba said, "At that moment no one else could have been more beloved to me." He accepted faith at that very moment. Then Allah's Messenger commanded him, "Now go and fight!" Shayba says, "I fought in front of Allah's Messenger. Had I met my own father, I would have killed even him." On the day of the conquest of Mecca, a man called Fadala came near to Allah's Messenger with the intention of shooting him. Allah's Messenger looked at him, and said, smiling, "What have you told yourself?" praying that he might be forgiven, and Fadala became a believer. Fadala later said, "No one in the world would have been more beloved than him at that moment."
SEVENTH: As related in an authentic narration, when some Jews were going to throw a huge rock at the Prophet's head from above, he disappeared suddenly as a result of Divine protection, bringing their plot to naught. There are many more instances of the same kind as these seven examples.
Traditionists, above all Bukhari and Muslim, report from Aisha that after the verse, "And Allah will defend you from men." [Qur'an; 5:70]
had been revealed, Allah's Messenger said to those who had guarded him from time to time: "O men, leave me! For Allah SWA, the Great and Mighty, protects me."
As this treatise has proved up to now, each species and each kind in this universe recognize Allah's Messenger and is connected with him; his miracles have become manifest through each of them. Thus he is the envoy and the Messenger of Allah who(ALLAH) is The Creator of the cosmos and the Lord of all beings. An important inspector appointed by a ruler is recognized by every department of the administration and is connected with each of them, because he has a duty to perform on behalf of the ruler. A judicial inspector, for example, is connected only with the Judicial Department; other departments may not know of him. Similarly, a military inspector is not recognized by the Civil Administration, and so on. Since all beings that exist in the departments of this Divine Kingdom, from angels to insects and spiders, know him, recognize him, or have been informed about him; he is the Messenger of the Lord of the worlds and the Seal of the prophets, with a messengership that is above that of all other prophets.
THE SIXTEENTH SIGN
The wonders that took place prior to his prophethood. They are called irhasat and also related to and evidences of his porphethood. Irhasat are three kinds.
The First Kind of Irhasat:
This kind of irhasat comprises, as stated by the indisputable truths of the Qur'an, the tidings of Muhammad's prophethood given by The Torah, The Indjil and The Zabur of David, and the pages revealed to certain other prophets. Since all these books are revelations and those who brought them are prophets, it is fitting that they should certainly have mentioned a being who would supersede their religions, change the shape of the universe, and illumine half of the world with his light. Is it possible that those books, which predict petty events, should not have mentioned the most significant phenomenon of humanity that is the Prophethood of Muhammad? Since it is then certain that the other books will mention Muhammad's prophethood, they will either denounce it as falsehood, in order to protect their religions from destruction and their books from abrogation, or they will affirm it so that, by means of this truthful being, their own religions will be kept free of superstition and corruption. Since friend and foe agree alike that none of the scriptures ever gave an indication of contradiction or of rejection, there is certainly affirmation in them concerning the Prophethood of Muhammad. And since there is certain affirmation, and a definite reason and a fundamental cause for such affirmation, we too will prove the existence of this affirmation by means of three definite evidences.
FIRST EVIDENCE: Allah's Messenger declares to the People of the Book by the tongue of the Qur'an, "Your scriptures describe and confirm me. In whatever I declare, I have the affirmation of your scriptures." He challenges them with verses such as:
"Say, 'Bring the Torah and read it, if you are men of truth'" [Qur'an; 3:93]
"Say, 'Come, let us gather together -our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves: then let us earnestly pray and invoke the curse of Allah on those who lie!'" [Qur'an 3:61]
Despite his casting such verse at their heads, neither the Jewish scholars nor the Christian priests could ever bring forth a single error of his. If they had been able to, those stubborn and envious unbelievers of whom there were excessive numbers at the time and the whole world of unbelief, would have advertised everywhere all that they found.
SECOND EVIDENCE: The wordings of the Old Testament, the Gospels of the New Testament and the Psalms do not have the miraculousness of the Qur'an. Moreover, they have been translated time after time: thus a great many alien words have become intermingled with them. In addition, the sayings of the interpreters and their wrong interpretations have been confused with the original verses, and the distortions of ignorant and hostile men were also incorporated. Thus alterations and corruptions were multiplied in the scriptures. Once the famous scholar Sheikh Rahmatullah Al-Hindi silenced the priests and the Christian and Jewish scholars by proving to them the changes made in thousands of places in those books. However, even now, after so many corruptions, the celebrated Husain Al-Jisri extracted from the previous scriptures one hundred and fourteen pieces of evidence concerning the prophethood of Muhammad (SAW), and included them in his Risala Al-Hamidiya. This treatise was translated into Turkish by the late Ismail Haqqi of Manastir; whoever wishes to see those evidences may refer to it. Many Jewish and Christian scholars acknowledged and admitted that the characteristics of Muhammad (SAW) were evident from their scriptures. The famous Roman Emperor Heraclius, who was a non-Muslim himself, said, "Yes, Jesus foretold Muhammad's coming." Another Roman ruler, Muqauqis, the governor of Egypt, and celebrated Jewish scholars such as Ibn Suriya, Zubayr b. Bativa, Ibn Ahtab and his brother Ka'b b. Asad, although remaining non-Muslim admitted, "lndeed, our books include his qualities." Coming from among the well-known Jewish scholars and Christian priests, those who broke that stubborness and accepted faith upon observing that the qualities mentioned in their books were possessed by Muhammad (SAW), silenced other scholars of their religions by showing them the references in the Old Testament and the Gospels of the New Testament. Among them were the famous Abdullah b. Salam, Wahb b. Munabbih, Abu Yasir, the two sons of Sa'ya, Asid and Tha'laba and Shamul. The latter entered faith at the time of Tubba', the ruler of Yemen, who accepted faith in absentia and prior to Muhammad's (SAW) declaration of prophethood. So did Shamul. A wise man named Ibn Hayaban was once visiting the tribe of Bani Nadr at a time prior to the declaration of prophethood. He said: "The emergence of a prophet is close, and this is the place to which he will emigrate," and died there. Later, when that tribe was figthting against the Prophet, Asid and Tha'laba -whose names were mentioned above- came out into the open and called to the tribe, "By God he is the one Ibn Hayaban promised you that he would come." But they did not heed the call and courted disaster. After observing the description of the Prophet in their own books, Ibn Bunyamin, Mukhayriq and Ka'b Al-Ahbar, from among the Jewish religious scholars, also embraced faith and silenced with their arguments those who were still in opposition. As for the incident concerning the famous Christian monk Bahira, Allah's Messenger was, at the age of twelve, on a journey with his uncle to Damascus. As they stopped nearby, the monk Bahira invited all the men of the Quraish in the caravan for Muhammad's (ASW) sake. As he noticed that a cloud providing shade for the caravan still remained at the same point, he said, "The one I am seeking must have remained there." He sent a man to fetch Muhammad (ASW), and, at the end, said, to Abu Talib, "Go back to Mecca. The Jews are very envious people, so they might resort to treachery against him, for his description is recorded in the Book." Nestor the Ethiopian and the ruler of that country, the Negus, accepted faith after seeing the description of the Prophet (ASW) in their book. A famous Christian scholar named Daghatr, after seeing the description of the Prophet (ASW), also entered the fold of Islam and was martyred when he announced his conversion to the Byzantines. From among the Christian leaders, Harith b. Abi Shumar al-Ghasani and the prominent rulers and religious leaders of Damascus such as Sahib al-ilba, Heraclius, Ibn Natur and al-Jarud entered the fold of Islam, after seeing the Prophet's description in their books. Of them, only Heraclius concealed his conversion for the sake of worldly kingship. Like these people, Salman al-Farisi was also formerly a Christian, who began searching for the Prophet (ASW) after seeing his description. A distinguished scholar named Tamim, as well as the Negus and the Christians of Ethiopia and the priests of Najran, all unanimously declared that they had seen in their books the description of the Prophet (ASW), and they came to believe in him.
THIRD EVIDENCE: Here we will point out from the New Testament (NT) and the Old Testament (OT) a few examples of verses concerning our Prophet (ASW).
FIRST:In the Psalms, there is this verse 'O Allah, send to us after the period between prophets one who will establish an exemplary model.' Here "one who will establish an exemplary model" refers to the Prophet Muhammad (ASW).
A verse from the NT says: "The Messiah said, 'I am leaving for my and your Father so that He may send you the Paraclete," that is, Ahmad Muhammad.
A second verse from the NT: "I ask from my Lord for the Paraclete that he may abide with you forever." Paraclete, meaning "the separator of good from evil," is the name of our Prophet (ASW) as mentioned in those books.
A verse from the OT says: "Verily Allah told Abraham that Hagar -the mother of Isma'il- will bear children. There will emerge from her sons one whose hand will be above all, and the hands of all will be opened to him in reverence."
Another verse from the OT: "And He said to Moses, "O Moses, verily I shall send them a Prophet like you, from the sons of their brothers (the children of Isma'il (AS)); I shall place My Word in his mouth, and shall punish whoever does not accept the words of the one who will speak in My Name."
A third verse from the OT: "Moses said, 'O Lord! Verily I have found in the Book the best of Ummahs that will emerge for the benefit of humanity, that will enjoin the good and forbid the wrong, and that will believe in Allah. Let it be my Ummah!' Allah said, 'That is the Ummah of Muhammad.' "
[A REMlNDER: In those books, the name Muhammad is given in Syriac form, such as Mushaffah, Munhamanna, Himyata which all mean Muhammad in Hebrew. Otherwise the name Muhammad is explicitly mentioned only in a few places, which were also altered by envious Jews.]
From among the Seven Abdullahs, Abdullah b. Amr b. As, who made extensive studies of the earlier scriptures, Abdullah b. Salam, who was the earliest to accept Islam from among the famous Jewish scholars, and the famous scholar Ka'b al-Ahbar from among the Children of Israel all pointed in the Torah, which was not then corrupted to its present extent, the following verse, which, after addressing Moses (AS), then addresses the Prophet yet-to-come: "O Prophet, verily We have sent you as a witness, a bearer of glad tidings, a warner and a protection for the unlettered. You are My bondsman, and I have named you 'the reliant on Allah.' You will not be harsh, stem and clamorous in the marketplaces, nor will you requite evil with evil, but instead pardon and forgive. Allah shall not take you unto Himself until you straightenest a crooked people by causing them to say, 'No god but Allah.' " Another verse from the OT:
"Muhammad is Allah's Messenger, his birthplace is Mecca, he will emigrate to Tayba, his rule will be in Damascus, and his Ummah will be constantly engaged in praise."
In this verse, a Syriac word meaning Muhammad is actually mentioned for the word Muhammad. Here is another verse from the OT:
"You are My bondsman and messenger, and I have named you 'reliant on Allah,' " addressed to a Prophet who is to come after Moses (AS), and is from the progeny of Isma'il, the brothers of Isaac (AS).
In the following verse from the OT,
"My chosen bondsman is not harsh or stem, " the meaning of Mukhtar (chosen) is the same as "Mustafa," another name of Muhammad (ASW).
In several places in the four books of NT, a Prophet who will come after Jesus (AS) is referred to as "the master of the world." Describing him, the Bible says,"With him is an iron staff with which he will fight,as will his people."
This verse indicates that a Prophet will come with a sword in order to wage jihad. Qadib al-hadid (literally, iron staff) means sword. In agrement with the Biblical verse mentioned above, and referring to it along with some other verses, the following Qur'anic verse at the end of Surat al-Fath also states that his Ummah, like him, will be commanded to wage jihad: [Q.48:29]
"And their similitude in the Indjil is: like a seed that sends forth its blade, then makes it strong; it then becomes thick, and it stands on its own stem, filling the sowers with wonder and delight. As a result, it fills the unbelivers with rage at them."
In the Thirty-Third Section of the Fifth Book of the Torah, there is the following verse:
"The Lord came from Sinai, rose up unto us from Seir, and shined forth from Mount Paran."
In this verse, with the phrase "the Lord came from Sinai," the prophethood of Moses (AS) is mentioned: with the phrase "rose up unto us from Seir" (Seir being a mountain near Damascus) the prophethood of Jesus (AS) is indicated. Finally the phrase
"He shined forth from Mount Paran" (the Paran mountains being the mountains of Macca), gives tidings of the prophethood of Muhammad (ASW), as all will agree in utter certainty.
Moreover, confirmed by the sentence, [Q. 48:29] "This is their similitude in the Torah."
is the following verse of the OT concerning the Companions of the Prophet (ASW) who would shine forth from the Paran mountains: "The flags of the blessed ones will be with him and they will be on his right." In this verse the Companions of the Prophet (ASW) are described as "the blessed ones," that is, his Companions are blessed, righteous men, the beloved ones of Allah.
In the Forty-Second Chapter of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, are the following verses:
"See My servant, whom I uphold; My Chosen One, in whom I delight. He will reveal justice to the nations of the world.... He will encourage the fainthearted, those tempted to despair. He will see full justice given to all who have been wronged. He will not be satisfied until the truth and righteousness prevail throughout the earth, nor until even distant lands beyond the seas have put their trust in him." Here, the verses manifestly proclaim the description ot Muhammad (ASW) who is clearly the Prophet for the last age.
In the Fourth Chapter of the Book of Micah, there are the following verses: "But in the last days it shall come to pass that the mountain of the house of Allah will be the most renowned one of all the mountains of the world, praised by all nations; people from all over the world will make pilgrimages there. "Come," they will say to one another, "let us go up to the mountain of Allah and the house of Allah." These verses obviously describe the most blessed mountain of the world, Mount Arafat, and the Umma of Muhammad (ASW) that will flock there from all countries, invoke Allah's Name and offer prayers there.
In the Seventy-Second Chapter of Psalms, there are the following verses: "And he will reign from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. The kings of Yemen and the Islands all will bring their gifts. And to him all the kings will prostrate themselves. All the nations will serve him... And he will live, and in his behalf prayer will be made constantly. All day long he will be praised. His name will prove to be time indefinite. It will continue as long as the sun. All will be blessed in him. All nations will praise him." These verses clearly describe the Glory of the World, Prophet Muhammad (ASW). Since Prophet David (AS), who other than Muhammad (ASW) has come to propagate his religion from East to West, to subject lands to pay tax in his name, to make many rulers obedient in deep adoration for him, and to earn everyday the prayers and remembrance of one fifth of the humanity (i.e., the Muslim Peoples) ? Is there anyone else but he?
Again, the Turkish translation of John's Gospel, Chapter Fourteen verse thirty, says; "I shall not speak with you for much longer, for the ruler of the world is coming, and I am nothing compared with him." Thus, the title Ruler of the World means Glory of the World. And the title of Glory of the World is one of the most famous of Muhammed the Arabian (upon whom be blessings and peace)'s titles.
Again, in John 16:7, we read the following: "But I am telling you the truth. My departure is but for your benefit. For, unless I depart, the Comforter will not come." Now, who else other than Muhammad (ASW) is to be the true Comforter for humanity? Certainly, he is the one who will save the transient humanity from eternal annihilation and thus comfort it, and he is the one whose coming to the earth has made the whole world proud and thankful.
Again, in John 16:8 is this passage: "When he comes, he will give the world convincing evidence concerning its sin, concerning goodness and concerning judgment." Who else other than Muhammad (ASW) has come to transform the world's mischief into goodness, save humanity from evil deeds and polytheism (also atheism), and revolutionize the politics and rule of the nations of the world?
Again, from John 16:11: "There is deliverance from judgment, because the Prince of the World has already been judged." Here "the Prince of the World" is certainly Muhammad (ASW), for he is known as the master of humanity. He is, indeed, such a prince that for thirteen hundred years (now fourteen), he has had at least 350 million subjects (now one billion) in almost every century. And such subjects are those who follow him so earnestly that they obey his commands with the utmost submission and everyday renew their allegiance to him by calling down Allah's blessings on him.
Again, from John 16:13: "But when he, the Spirit of Truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth, for he shall not speak of himself, whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak, and he will tell you things to come." Now this verse is undoubtedly clear. Who is, or who could be, that person other than Muhammad (ASW), who invited the whole of humanity to the truth, whose every statement was based on revelation, who announced whatsoever he received from Gabriel (AS), and who informed humanity in detail about Doomsday and the Hereafter?
The books of other prophets include names that correspond in Syriac and Hebrew to the various names of the Prophet (ASW) such as Muhammad, Ahmad and Mukhtar. For example, in the tablets of the Prophet Shu'ayb (AS), his name is Mushaffaf and means "Muhammad." In the Torah of Moses (AS), he is mentioned as Munhamanna, which again means "Muhammad," and as Himyata, which means "the Prophet of al-Haram." In the Psalms of David (AS), he is named al-Mukhtar. Again in the Torah of Moses (AS), the name is al-Hatam al-Khatam. Both in the Torah of Moses (AS) and in the Psalms of David (AS), it is Muqim as-Sunna. In the Tablets of Abraham (AS) and in the Torah of Moses (AS), he is mentioned as Mazmaz, and again in the Torah of Moses (AS) as Ahyad.
Allah's Messenger (ASW) said, "In the Qur'an, my name is Muhammad, in the Indjil Ahmad, and in the Tawrat Ahyad." In fact, the NT refers to him as "the possessor of the sword and the staff." Indeed, he is the greatest among the prophets who carried the sword, and was commanded to wage jihad together with his Umma (Muslim Peoples). The NT also describes him as "wearing a crown.' What is meant here is a turban, for in former days it was the Arabs who generally wore headcover with a wrapper around them. Hence, the description refers of a certainty to Muhammad (ASW). The term Paraclete in the NT, or Faraqlit, is defined in Biblical interpretation as "the one who distinguishes good from evil." It is and should be therefore the name of a messenger (Rasul) who will lead the humanity of future times to the right death. Since Jesus (AS) said that he would go and the Spirit of Truth would come, who else other than Muhammad (ASW) had come as the leader of humanity after Jesus (AS), distinguishing good from evil and guiding man? Jesus (AS) always gave his followers the good tidings that "One will come, and there will be no longer any need for me. I am a forerunner of his, and bring the good news of his coming." Confirming this is the following verse from the [Qur'an 61:6]:
"And remember, Jesus, the son of Mary, said, 'O Children of Israel! I am the messenger of Allah unto you, confirming that which was revealed before me in the Tawrat and bringing the good tidings of a messenger to come after me, whose name is Ahmad (the praised one)."
Certainly, Jesus (AS) gave in the Indjil the good news many times, the news that the most significant leader of humanity was to come, and he mentioned him with some names and titles in Syriac and Hebrew that mean, as scholars in the field confirmed, Ahmad, Muhammad, and Fariq (separating truth from falsehood).
[ [Note by B.S.N.:] At the site of the tomb of Sham'un as-Safa, the famous traveller Evliya Celebi came across the following verses from the Gospel of Jesus (AS) written on a gazelle hide: "A youth from the progeny of Abraham is to be a Prophet. He will not be a liar; his birthplace is Mecca: he will come with piety; his blessed name is Ahmad Muhammad;* those who obey him will flourish in this world." [note within note]
*Mavamit is an alteration of Mamad, and Mamad is the alteration of 'Muhammad.']
A QUESTION: Why is it that the other prophets only foretold the coming of Muhammad (ASW), while Jesus (AS) described it more strongly than any other Prophet did?
ANSWER: Muhammad (ASW) defends Jesus (AS) against the awesome denial and slanders of the Jews (AS) and saves Jesus's true religion from corruption. Furthermore, instead of the burdensome distorted religion of the Children of Israel who do not recognize Jesus (AS), he presents a feasible and all-encompassing religion that will complete the true religion of Jesus (AS). For this reason Jesus (AS) announced many times the joyful tidings of the coming of the world's leader. Now it is clear that in the Torah of Moses (AS), the Gospel of Jesus (AS), the Psalms of David (AS), and in the tablets of other prophets, there are numerous mentions of a Prophet promised to come at a later time, and these mentions include the various names of such a Prophet (ASW). Of these names we have pointed out only a few examples. Since this Prophet is repeatedly and with utmost emphasis mentioned in all the prophetic books, who else could he be, if not Muhammad (ASW), the Prophet of the last age?
The Second Kind:
The signs of prophethood that were manifested by way of irhasat also include those tidings of his coming given by the soothsayers and gnostics who lived during the time* between the prophethood of Jesus (AS) and that of Muhammad (ASW), and those who knew of Allah (SWT) and would be considered to a degree as awliya (the pious people who are close to Allah) of their time. They too gave tidings of Muhammad (ASW)'s coming, propagated their claims, and entrusted their records to later generations in the form of poetry. There are numerous examples in this respect, but we will cite only a few which are renowned and accepted as accurate by authorities on history and the biography of the Prophet (ASW).
[[*]This period is called 'Devr-i Fetret', and had many similarities with the present.]
FIRST: Among the rulers of Yemen, one named Tubba' saw the description of the Prophet (ASW) in the scriptures, believed in Muhammad (ASW), and proclaimed his belief with these words: "I bear witness to Ahmad, for he is a messenger from Allah, the Creator of man. Were I to live long enough to see him, I would be a minister and a cousin to him." That is, "I would be like Ali (RA) "
SECOND: Quss b. Sa'ida was the most renowned and most significant orator of the Arabs, a monotheist, and a man of enlightened mind. Before the Prophet (ASW) was sent, he announced Muhammad ASW's messengership with these verses: "Ahmad shall be sent forth among us, the best Prophet ever sent. Allah's blessings be upon him whenever a riding party sets out amidst cries!"
THIRD: Ka'b b. Luayy one of the forefathers of the Prophet (ASW), announced the prophethood of Muhammad (ASW) by way of inspiration as follows: "Suddenly will come the Prophet Muhammad. And will truthfully give true tidings."
FOURTH: Sayf b. Dhiyazan, the ruler of Yemen, learned the description of Allah's Messenger from the earlier scriptures and came to believe in him and longed for him. When Abdulmuttalib, the grandfather of Muhammad (ASW), went to Yemen with some other men from the Quraish, Sayf summoned them and said, "A child will be born in Hijaz, with a mark between his two shoulders that resembles a seal. He will be the leader of humanity." Then, in private he told Abdulmuttalib, "You are his grandfather." He thus gave, in a wondrous way, the tidings of Muhammad (ASW) before he came.
FIFTH: Waraqa b. Nawfal was the parental cousin of Khadija (RA). When the first revelation came to Muhammad (ASW) and he was deeply shaken by this, Khadija narrated the incident to Waraqa. He said, "Send him to me." When Allah's Messenger (ASW) told him about the occurrence of the first revelation, Waraqa said, "Good tidings to you, O Muhammad, and I bear witness to you, for you are the Prophet who has long been awaited and glad tidings of whom were given by Jesus (AS)."
SIXTH: Asqalan al-Himyari, a man with true knowledge of Allah (SWT), once asked the Quraish at a time prior to the prophethood of Muhammad (ASW), "Is there anyone among you who claims prophethood?" "No," they said. Later, after the proclamation of the prophethood, he again asked them the same question. They answered, "Yes, there is one claiming prophethood." Then he said, "That is the one the world is awaiting!"
SEVENTH: Ibn al-Ala, a renowned Christian scholar, gave tidings of Muhammad (ASW) before his mission had begun and without even seeing the Prophet (ASW). Later, when he met Allah's Messenger (ASW), he said, "By the One Who sent you with the truth, I have found your description in the Gospel of Jesus, and the son of Mary gave glad tidings of your coming."
EIGHTH: The Negus of Ethiopia, who has been mentioned previously, said, "I wish I were in Muhammad's service rather than being a sovereign king."
The signs of prophethood that were manifested by way of irhasat also include those tidings of Prophet Muhammad's (ASW) coming given by the foretellers that lived in the time between the prophethood of Jesus (AS) and that of Muhammad (ASW), and those who knew of Allah and would be considered to a degree as awliya (the pious people who are close to Allah) of their time. In addition to these men of deep learning who, through the inspiration from Allah (SWT), gave tidings of the Unseen, the foretellers who learned about the Unseen by means of the spirits and jinn also clearly foretold the coming of Allah's Messenger (ASW) and his prophethood. From among the numerous examples, we will mention only a few famous ones that are recorded in many books of the Prophet's (ASW) biography and of history and that have become mutawatir in meaning.
[Foretelling was practiced before the Qur'an, but not after. Editor]
FIRST: A famous foreteller named Shiqq, who looked very much like half a man with only one eye, one arm and one leg, repeatedly foretold the messengership of Muhammad (ASW), and his reports have been recorded in history books, with the certainty of tawatur in meaning.
SECOND: The famous foreteller of Damascus, Satih, was a monstrosity; he lacked bones, even limbs, had a face that looked like a part of his breast, and lived a very long life. He was highly reputed for his predictions. In fact, Chosroes, the Persian ruler, once sent him a learned man named Muyzan to ask for the interpretation of a strange dream of Chosroes and the meaning of the collapse of the fourteen pillars of his palace that had occurred on the night of Muhammad's (ASW) birth. Satih said, "Fourteen rulers will reign, and then your empire will be utterly destroyed. A man will come with a religion, and will abolish both your religion and empire." In this clear statement Satih predicted the arrival of the last Prophet (ASW).
Some other foretellers such as Sawad b. Qarib ad-Dawsi, Khunafir, Af'a Najran, Jizl b. Jizl al Kindi, Ibn Khalasat ad-Dawsi and Fatima bint an Nu'man an-Najariyya, as books of history and the Prophet's (ASW) biography have recorded in detail, also predicted that the last Prophet (ASW) would arrive, and that he would be Muhammad (ASW). Sa'd b. bint al-Kurayz, a relative of Uthman (RA), also learned the prophethood of Muhammad (ASW). At the very beginning of Islam, he told Uthman to go and accept faith. Uthman (RA) did so, and entered the fold of Islam at the very beginning. Here Sa'd relates this incident in a poem: "Through my words, Allah has guided Uthman to the source that yields righteousness; truly Allah guides to the truth!"
Like foretellers, those from among the jinn called hatif, who are not seen but whose voice can be heard, gave many times tidings of the coming of Allah's Messenger (ASW). For example, a hatif became the means for the turning to Islam of Zayab b. al-Haris and some others, by calling him, "O Zayab, O Zayab, listen to the oddest thing: Muhammad arrived with the Book, he is calling on Mecca, yet they do not accept him." Another hatif called out to Sami'a b. Qarrat al-Ghatafani, "The truth has come and risen forth, the false is destroyed and uprooted." Hearing this, some people accepted faith. Such messages of hatifs are well-known and numerous.
In addition to the foretellers and hatifs, idols and even the animals sacrificed for idols also proclaimed the messengership of Allah's Messenger (ASW). For example, in a well-known case, the idol of the Mazan tribe cried out to them, "This is the Prophet (ASW) who was to come; he has come with the truth that has been revealed to him." The famous incident that caused Abbas b. Mardas to enter Islam was that he had an idol called Dimar. Once a voice was heard from Dimar, saying. "Dimar was worshipped before the declaration of Prophet Muhammad; now Dimar's time is over."
Before his conversion to Islam, Umar (RA) had heard a sacrifice offered to the idols proclaiming, "O sacrificer, the means of success are at hand: an eloquent man is proclaiming, 'No god but Allah.' " There are many more incidents similar to those mentioned above, and they are all narrated as authentic reports in reliable sources. In addition to the predictions of foretellers, learned men, hatifs, idols and the sacrifices that caused some people to accept faith; some passages such as "Muhammadun Muslihun Amin (Muhammad, a worker of righteousness, a trustworthy one)." were found written in earlier scripts on some stones, grave sites, and graveyard stones. Through these some were converted to faith. Obviously, such passages written on the stones in earlier scripts refer to Allah's Messenger (ASW). For during the time preceding the Prophet (ASW) there were only seven Muhammads and no more, with none among them deserving the designation Muslihun Amin.
The Third Kind:
These are the irhasat including the wondrous events that occurred at the time of, and in conjunction with, Muhammad (ASW)'s birth. As for the other wonders that took place before the beginning of his prophethood, each of them is a miracle of his, and there are many incidents related to his birth. As examples, we will cite a few of those that became well-known and accepted by narration scholars, and are of verified authenticity.
FIRST: On the night of the Prophet (ASW)'s birth, his mother and the mothers of Uthman b. As and of Abdurrahman b. al-Awf saw a magnificent light. All three of them said, "Such a light did we see during his birth that it illuminated the East and the West for us."
SECOND: During that night many of the idols in the Ka'ba toppled over.
THIRD: During the same night the palace of the famous Chosroes shook and cracked, and its fourteen pinnacles collapsed.
FOURTH: On that night the sanctified lake of Sava sank into the soil. Again on that night, the fire that was worshiped by the Magians at Istakrabad and that had been kindled continuously for a thousand years without ever being extinguished, went out. These four incidents were all signs that the being who had just come into the world would abolish fire-worship, demolish the palace of the Persian royalty, and prohibit sanctification of things that Allah does not allow to be sanctified.
FIFTH: Although they do not coincide with the night of his birth, certain events that took place not long before it are also included in the irhasat of Muhammad (ASW). An example is the War of the Elephant, which is mentioned in the Qur'an in Chapter al-Fil. In order to destroy the Ka'ba, Abraha, the Emperor of Ethiopia, once led his forces with a huge elephant named Mahmudi marching ahead in front. When they came near Mecca, the elephant stopped. They could not find any way of making the elephant continue, so they retreated. On their way, a flight of birds attacked and routed them. This curious event is well-known and is recorded in detail in history books. It is also a sign of the prophethood of Muhammad (ASW), by means of which, at a time close to his birth, the holy Ka'ba, his home and birthplace, was saved in a miraculous way from the destruction of Abraha.
SIXTH: When Muhammad (ASW) was with Halima Sa'diya during his childhood, both Halima and her husband observed many times a small cloud over his head providing shade so that he would not be discomforted by the sun. They related this to the people, and the occurrence acquired an accurate renown. Similarly, when he went to the vicinity of Damascus at the age of twelve, Bahira the monk witnessed and pointed out to others that a small cloud above Muhammad (ASW) provided shade for him. Again, prior to his prophethood, Muhammad (ASW) once returned from a trading trip with Maysara, the servant of Khadija. Then Khadija noticed above Muhammad (ASW) two angels in the form of a cloud and mentioned it to Maysara. Maysara said, "I observed the same throughout the journey."
SEVENTH: As established by an authentic narration some time before the advent of his prophethood, Muhammad (ASW) once sat under a tree. Though the area was dry, it suddenly became green, and the branches of the tree provided shade by twisting around and bending over him.
EIGHTH: During his infancy, Muhammad (ASW) was living with Abu Talib. Whenever Abu Talib and his household ate with him, they would be fully satisfied. However, such was not the case when he was not present at the meal. This fact is also well-known and accurate. Umm Ayman, who looked after and served Muhammad (ASW) during his childhood said, "Never did he complain about hunger and thirst, neither when he was very little, nor when he grew up."
NINTH: It is another certain and well-known fact that the milk of the goats and the goods of his wet-nurse Halima Sa'diya were, unlike those of others in the tribe, very plentiful and abundant. Moreover, even flies did not bother him. They did not alight on his blessed body, nor on his clothing. One of his descendants, Sayyid Abdul Qadir Gilani (RA), also inherited this quality from his ancestor, for flies would not alight upon him either.
TENTH: After his arrival in this world, especially during the night of his birth, shooting stars became more frequent, which was, as proved with decisive argument in the Fifteenth Word, a sign that the access of Satan and jinn to information concerning the Unseen was to cease. Since Allah's Messenger (ASW) had appeared in this world with revelation, it was necessary to bar the knowledge concerning the Unseen that was transmitted by soothsayers and jinn and was inaccurate and mixed with falsehoods, so that their knowledge should not cause any doubt concerning revelation or resemble it. In fact, soothsaying was widespread before prophethood: the Qur'an brought it to an end. In the meantime, many soothsayers accepted Islam, for they could no longer communicate with their informers, as their means of communication had been terminated by the Qur'an. Now a new type of soothsaying has appeared in the form of mediums among the spiritualists of the West. However, we will not go into this now. To conclude, numerous individuals were known and many events became evident confirming, or causing others to confirm, his prophethood even before he declared his message. This is a privilege for a being who will be the spiritual leader of the world, who will change the inner structure of the world and make it a field to be cultivated for the other world, who will proclaim the high value of the beings of this world, who will rescue transitory man and jinn from eternal annihilation and show them the way to eternal bliss; who will disclose the wisdom of the creation of the world, its complexity and its mystery, who will know and make known the purposes of the Creator of the cosmos in creation, and who will recognize and demonstrate that Creator[*]. Certainly, everything, every species and every class of being will be filled with joy at the news of the arrival of such being and await him longingly. If all creatures are informed of it by the Creator, they will announce this news too, and will receive him with hearty acclamation as soon as he comes. This is indeed what every species of creation did, as we have seen in the previous Signs and Examples; each received him by demonstrating one variety of his miracles and thereby affirmed his prophethood.
[*] Indeed, he is the person addressed by the well-known Hadith-i Qudsi which says "But for you I would not have created the heavens,"[1] And such a leader is he that his sovereignty has been unceasing for fourteen centuries. After the first century, he has had at least 350 million followers in each century with half of the globe in the shade of his banner, his followers call down upon him everyday peace greetings and blessings of Allah SWT, obey his commands with utmost submission, and renew day after day their oath of allegiance.
[1] Since unless such a Messenger like Muhammad (ASW) chosen by Allah (SWT) to announce, teach, and show in his own worship the Purposes of Creation of the universe and the Names of Allah (SWT) enlightening the universe were not to be created, there was no use of creation. Indeed, by his utter devotion, complete submission, and worship to Allah (SWT), Prophet Muhammad (ASW) fulfilled the purpose of creation at the utmost limit possible, and with his supplication and prayer he wanted the opening of the everlasting realm where him and the whole creation would reside forever subject to the grace and bounties of Allah (SWT) who is Eternal and the Most Beautiful. All-knowing Allah (SWT), whose knowledge is absolute, accepted the prayers and worship of Muhammad (ASW) before even the time began, created the universe and His Most Beloved, Muhammed (ASW), addressed him with the Qur'an the Mighty Stature, made him His Messenger to the universe, and answered the prayers of His-Beloved by creating the hereafter. Editor. Comments are based on other writings of B. S. N.
SEVENTEENTH SIGN:
After the Qur'an, the greatest miracle of Allah's Messenger is his personality, comprising the highest moral virtues. Indeed, friend and foe were in unanimous agreement that he stood at the highest level of whatever is recognized as a laudable virtue. So much so that a man of great bravery Ali (RA), said again and again, "When the fighting became fierce, we would take refuge behind the Prophet (ASW) and maintain our stronghold." Likewise in all praiseworthy qualities he possessed the highest and unreachable degree. For this miracle of his, we refer the reader to Shifa ash-Sharif by Qadi Iyad in which the miraculousness of his praiseworthy virtues is beautifully explained and proven. Another great miracle of Muhammad (ASW) is, as affirmed by friend and foe, his supreme Sacred Law, the like of which never came before, nor will ever come after. For a partial explanation of this supreme miracle, we refer the reader to all our writings, and especially the thirty-three Words thirty-three Letters, thirty-one Flashes, and thirteen Rays. Among his greatest miracles, a certain and mutawatir one, is the splitting of the moon. This miracle was related through various channels, to the degree of tawatur, and by the foremost among the Companions such as Ibn Mas'ud, Ibn Abbas, Ibn Umar, Ali, Anas and Hudhayfa (RA). Moreover, the Qur'an also announced this supreme miracle to the whole world with the verse [Qur'an 54:1]:
"The Hour is nigh and the moon split."
To this verse, even the stubborn unbelievers of the time could not respond with denial; all that they said was, "It is magic." Thus, the splitting of the moon is certain even from the viewpoint of the unbelievers. More on this miracle is to be found in the 'Treatise on the Splitting of the Moon' that was written as an appendix to the Thirty-First Word.
As Allah's Messenger (ASW) showed the inhabitants of the earth the miracle of the splitting of the moon, so too, he showed the inhabitants of the heavens a still greater miracle of his, the 'Night Journey' or the 'Ascension.'
Referring this supreme miracle to the Thirty-First Word that is entitled the 'Treatise on the Night Journey' and demonstrates with clear evidence the occurrence sublimity and brightness of this miracle; we will merely touch upon another miracle that occurred in relation to the 'Night Journey' when the Quraish people asked the Prophet (ASW), following the night of the 'Night Journey' for the description of Masjid al-Aqsa, which was his point of departure for the Ascension. When the Prophet (ASW) informed the Quraish about his Ascension, they dismissed it as false, and said, "If you have really travelled to the Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem, then describe to us its doors, walls and condition." Allah's Messenger (ASW) later said, "I was annoyed by their question and denial in a way that had never happened to me before. Suddenly, Allah Almighty lifted the veil between me and the Masjid al-Aqsa and manifested it to me, so that I looked at it, saw it, and described it." Thus, the Quraish realized that he was giving the correct and complete description.
"The Hour (of Judgement) is near, and the moon split. But if they see a Sign, they turn away, and say, 'This is transient magic.' " [Al Qur'an 54:1-2]
On the Miracle of the Splitting of the Moon appendix to the ineteenth and Thirty-First Words Materialist philosophers and their absurd imitators, who attempt to cast a shadow over such a moon-like miracle of Muhammad (ASW) by vicious misgivings, say, "If the splitting of the moon had occurred, it would have been known to the whole world and narrated in all books of history."
OUR ANSWER: The splitting of the moon was demonstrated as an evidence of prophethood. It happened instantaneously before a particular group of deniers at night time when people were asleep. There were, at the same time, obstacles that prevented others from witnessing this event, such as fog, clouds, and time differences between parts of the world. Furthermore, science had not spread at the time, so that researchers were very limited. This miracle, therefore, was not intended to be witnessed all over the world and to be narrated by all historians. Now listen to the following Five Points that will clear the clouds of misgiving concerning the miracle of the splitting of the moon.
First Point: The extreme stubbornness of the unbelievers at that time was notorious. However, when the Most Wise Qur'an announced this occurrence through the verse,
"And the moon split ,"
none of them dared to contradict the event that was reported by this verse, although they were rejectors of the whole of the Qur'an. If this event had not been witnessed by the unbelievers, they would have denounced this verse and made use of this opportunity in their formidable attacks against the Prophet (ASW). Whereas neither the Prophet's (ASW) biography nor history reports a word of denial of the occurrence of this event from them. What has been narrated by history is, as the verse,
"They say, 'This is transient magic,' "
point to, that they called it 'magic.' They said, 'If the caravan at other places have witnessed this, it is true, otherwise it is magic." When the caravans coming from Yemen and other places told them the following morning that they had witnessed such an event, the deniers said -Ha Shaa (Allah forbid) - "the magic of Abu Talib's orphan has affected the heavens!"
Second Point: Most of the foremost scholars such as Sa'd ad-Din at-Taftazani have stated that "The occurrence of the splitting of the moon is mutawatir, just like the running of water from the fingers of the Prophet (ASW) and the drinking of a whole army from it, the weeping of a wooden pillar, against which the Prophet (ASW) would lean when delivering sermons, at the Prophet's separation and its being heard by a vast audience. This has been transmitted by one truthful group of people to another, forming together so vast a community as its collusion to lie is inconceivable. It is as certain as a famous comet having been seen a thousand years ago, or as the existence of the island of Ceylon that we have not seen." To express doubts about such certain and witnessed occurrences is unreasonable. For their not being impossible is enough reason for their acceptability; as for the splitting of the moon, it is quite as possible as a mountain's splitting with a volcanic eruption.
Third Point: Miracles take place in order to prove the claim of prophethood, to convince deniers, but not to force them to believe. This miracle was needed to convince those who had already heard of the prophethood of Muhammad (ASW). To let it be seen from other parts of the world, or to demonstrate it in an undeniably obvious way, therefore, would have been contrary both to the wisdom of the All-Wise Creator and to the purpose of man's function in the universe, which is to open the way for the mind without disabling the free will. If the All-Wise Creator had, in accordance with the whims of materialist philosophers, left the moon in the same condition for a few hours to show it to the entire world, and if this fact had thereby been recorded by all historians, it would have been treated among other astronomical incidents, without being restricted to the messengership of Muhammad (ASW) and without being considered a proof of his prophethood. Or, it would have been such an obvious miracle that it would have forced the minds to believe and deprived it of the free will. As a consequence, coal and diamonds (or Abu Jahl and Abu Bakr (RA)) would have been the same -the purpose of man's function in the universe would have been lost. This may have been the reason why this miracle was not shown to the entire world to be recorded in all books of history.
Fourth Point: Since this event took place instantaneously and at night time when people were asleep, it would not, of course, have been seen everywhere. Even if some people had seen it, they would not have believed their eyes; even if they had, such individual reports would not have constituted an inexhaustible theme for historians. Furthermore, and in addition to some other obstacles, it was sunset in Spain and England (which were then under the clouds of ignorance) when this incident happened, daytime in America, and morning in China and Japan; so it could not be observed in other parts of the world. Yet thoughtless rejectors say, "It did not occur, as it is not mentioned in the histories of such people as the Chinese, Japanese, and Americans." A thousand curses upon such bootlickers of the Western philosophers! On the other hand, the fabricated claim that the moon came down to earth after it had split into two parts has been rejected by scholars of consensus. It has been suggested that this claim is probably the work of a hypocrite, aimed at reducing the value of this manifest miracle.
Fifth Point: The splitting of the moon was not a product of chance, nor did it occur as a result of natural causes; the ordinary laws of creation are hence inapplicable to this case. In fact, the All-Wise Creator of the sun and the moon wonderfully brought it about as evidence to uphold the prophethood of His Messenger (ASW) and to throw greater light upon his course. The purpose of human obligation, the mystery of guidance and the wisdom of the prophetic message required its demonstration to certain people defined by Allah's wisdom. Those who were not intended and who had not yet heard about the message of Muhammad (ASW) were prevented from seeing this occurrence by means of many obstacles such as clouds, fog, and time differences. If it had been shown to all alike as a miracle of the Prophet (ASW), his prophethood would have been so manifest that everyone would have been compelled to accept it; nothing would have been left to the mind -whereas belief is to be acquired by the choice of the mind- and the motive of human obligation would have been lost. If, on the other hand, it had been shown to others as an astronomical incident, it would have had no peculiarity to and no relationship with the message of Muhammad (ASW). As the possibility of the happening of the splitting of the moon has clearly been demonstrated, and there remains no doubt about it, we will now point out six evidences of its occurrence out of many.
· The concurrence of the Companions of the Prophet (ASW), who are all men of justice,
· The agreement of all discerning interpreters on the explanation of the verse, "And the moon split,"
· Its having been narrated by all truthful narration scholars through various authentic channels,
· The testimony of all the men of truth and piety (awliya) -the men of inspiration and spiritual discovery (ahl-i kashf),
· The confirmation of theologians who widely vary in their outlooks and of profound scholars,
· The concurrence of the umma of Muhammad (ASW), who, as established by authentic narration, "never agree on error."
These are the six evidences that prove the splitting of the moon as brightly as the sun.
To conclude, our words up to now have been aimed at providing the occurrence of the miracle and the refutation of the objections to it. The words henceforth will be on behalf of truth and in the name of faith. So much for the proof; now the truth speaks:
The Seal of the Prophets and the brilliant moon in the heaven of messengership (ASW) showed through his Ascension the greatest wonder and the supreme miracle of his personal position of piety and devotion (wali-ness), one at the degree of the best beloved servant of Allah (SWT). This miracle was to conduct an earthly being through the heavens and show the inhabitants of the heavens and of the highest abodes his superiority to them and his belovedness of Allah. Similarly, such a miracle was demonstrated to the inhabitants of the earth as evidence of his messengership that the moon, which is set in the sky and bound to the earth, split into two upon the gesture of an earthly being. These two miracles of his messengership acting as two luminous wings -like the two luminous wings of the moon split into two- he flew to the heaven of perfection, to the Distance of Two Bowstrings, and became the glory of both the inhabitants of the earth and those of the heavens.
So many peace and blessings be upon him and his Family as to fill the earth and heavens. Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us: verily You are All-Knowing, All-Wise.
EIGHTEENTH SIGN:
The greatest miracle of Allah's Messenger (ASW), an eternal one, is the Most Wise Qur'an, one that includes hundreds of facts in evidence of his prophethood and a miraculousness of forty different aspects. The forty aspects of its miraculousness are briefly demonstrated in the one hundred and fifty pages of the Twenty-Fifth Word. We will therefore refer the reader to that Word about this spring of miracles, the greatest miracle itself, and will touch upon here a few significant considerations in this respect.
First Remark
It may be asked, "The miraculousness of the Qur'an lies in its eloquence. Every class of society has a share in the understanding of this miraculousness. How is it that only one discerning scholar among a thousand can comprehend its eloquence?"
ANSWER: The Most Wise Qur'an has a different kind of miraculousness corresponding to the understanding of each class; it indicates its miraculousness to each of them in a different way. To the men of rhetoric and eloquence, it exhibits the miraculousness of its extraordinary eloquence; to poets and orators, it shows its exalted, beautiful and peculiar style, one that pleases everyone, yet can be imitated by no one. Nor does it become old in the course of time; it is still fresh and it is always new -its rhythmical prose and fluent verse have great nobility and charm. To soothsayers and other communicators of hidden things, the Qur'an shows a different aspect of its miraculousness, one consisting of the reports it amazingly gives concerning the Unseen. To historians, it presents its miraculousness also, by giving information concerning events of the past ages, as well as the conditions and events of the future, of the intermediate world and the everlasting realm. As for social and political scientists, it shows them the miraculousness of its sacred rules that comprise the Supreme Sacred Law. To those seeking knowledge of the Creator and the truths of creation, it shows, or indicates, the miraculousness of the sacred truths that are included in the Qur'an. And to the men of spiritual advancement and piety it unfolds deep meanings in its miraculous verses that rise in successive motions like the waves of a sea. That is, with its forty different aspects, the Qur'an shows forty different classes of people its miraculousness by opening to each a different window. Even those masses who simply listen to the Qur'an and derive only a limited degree of meaning from it agree that the Qur'an does not sound like other books. Such a man says, upon listening to the Qur'an, "The Qur'an is either below the degree of all other books that we listen to -and this is a hundredfold impossibility and cannot be claimed by even its enemies- or above them all and thus is a miracle." Now, in order to help him a little more, we will elaborate on the kind of miraculousness that is perceived by such a common man who can judge only by what his ears hear.
When the Miraculous Qur'an emerged with a challenge to the whole world, it stirred up in people two kinds of feelings.
First: For friends, a desire to imitate it, to write and speak like their beloved Qur'an.
Second: For enemies, a passion to criticize and dispute, to compete with its style and to nullify its claim of miraculousness. With these two kinds of passion, millions of books have been written in Arabic, and they are still in existence. Whoever listens to even the most eloquent and profound ones among them will certainly say, "The Qur'an does not sound like any of them." Thus, the Qur'an is not of the same degree of other books; it is either below them all -an impossibility to the hundredth degree claimed by no one, not even by Satan" -or above all other books that have ever been written.
[If, supposing the impossible, the Qur'an was below an any given book, then it would be below all the books since Allah's Word would not be below any human work, and this would imply that the Qur'an claiming such connection to Allah Almighty would be uttering a great lie, to which the whole universe would have rejected by falsifying the information in it and Allah himself would have cursed it and not given so much success and glory. Editors.]
Another miraculous aspect of the Most Wise Qur'an that places it above all other books is that its recitation does not bore anyone, not even a common man who cannot comprehend its meaning. Indeed, such a person would say, "If I hear the most beautiful and famous couplet a few times, it starts to bore me. But this is not the case for the Qur'an: the more I listen to, the more pleasant it becomes. Thus, it cannot be the composition of man."
The Most Wise Qur'an has a miraculous aspect also directed to children engaged in its memorization. Despite its many similar verses and passages that might cause confusion and perplexity, children easily memorize it although they cannot retain long even a simple page with their delicate, little minds.
Even for the sick and those lying down half-conscious in the throes of death, who would normally be disturbed by conversations around them or even a slight noise, the recitation and sound of the Qur'an becomes as sweet and comforting as the water of Zamzam; thus the Qur'an conveys to them a different aspect of its miraculousness. To summarize, the Qur'an shows and implies the existence of its miraculousness to forty different classes of people in forty different aspects, without leaving anyone deprived. Even for those who can comprehend only what their eyes see and who have no ear to hear with, no heart to feel with, and no knowledge to judge with, the Qur'an has a sign of miraculousness.[*]
[*]Here the miraculousness of the Qur'an directed to those without ear, heart and knowledge, and who see only with their eyes, has been abbreviated and left unexpounded, even defective. Besides, we have a copy of Qur'an written in a style that will manifest this miraculous aspect. It will, Allah Willing, be printed by photographical methods someday, so that everyone will see this beautiful quality of the Qur'an. B. S. N. [Now, it is printed. Editor]
For example, in the copy of the Qur'an handwritten by the calligrapher Hafiz Osman (RA) and later printed, there are many related words that are situated at corresponding places on different pages. If the page is pierced with a needle beneath the word "dog" in the phrase "they were seven, the dog being the eighth" in Surat al-Kahf [18:22], with a slight deviation it will go through the word "Qitmir" in Surat al-Fatir [35:13], thus establishing the name of the dog. In a similar way. the words "they will be brought before us" occur twice in Surat al-Yasin [36:53 and 75], and both correspond to each other. The same words are again repeated twice in Surat as-Saffat [37:57 and 127]; these occurrences both correspond to each other and to those in Surat al-Yasin. Also the phrase "in pairs" toward the end of Surat as-Saba [34:46] corresponds to the same phrase at the beginning of Surat al-Fatir [35:1], and this cannot be a mere coincidence, because this phrase occurs only three times in the whole Qur'an. There are numerous examples of this kind in the Qur'an; in some cases, the very same word coincides, with a little deviation, in five or six places. I once saw a copy of the Qur'an in which were written in red ink similar passages facing each other on two facing pages. Then I mused, "This is an indication of a different kind of miracle." Later I noticed that on varying pages there are many more passages significantly facing each other. Since the form of writing of the Qur'an was arranged upon the Prophet (ASW)'s instruction and the printed copies are also the results of Allah's inspiration, its design and calligraphy bear the indications of a kind of miracle, for this result can neither be a mere coincidence nor the product of human thought. As for the existing slight deviations, they are in fact the results of human errors; if arranged properly, they would coincide perfectly.
Furthermore, in each page of the suras of great or medium length that were revealed in Medina, the word Allah is repeated, in a very novel manner, mostly five, six, seven, eight, nine, or eleven times on each page, and these repetitions coincide with one another both on the two sides of each sheet and on the two facing pages, thus displaying a beautiful and significant harmony and numerical proportion.
Note 1: Although the Qur'an has many qualities that capture the attention of the reader, such as its ornate and rhymed words and eloquent and artistic style; it provides, in uninterrupted fashion, for those praising Allah and supplicating to Him, a lofty earnestness, a tranquillity of mind and a remembrance of being in the presence of Allah. However, in other literary works that rhetoric and artistic wording, that rhythmical and poetic composition, usually disturbs with its elegance the peace of the mind, weakens seriousness and distracts attention. In fact, I have read very many times the famous supplication of Imam Shafi'i (RA), the most gracious and most esteemed one of its kind that has a unique poetic arrangement and once caused the end of dearth and famine in Egypt. As I read it, I observed that its rhymed and rhythmical wording interrupts the solemnity of supplication. Although I have been reading it continuously for some seven or eight years, I could not reconcile such a seriousness with its rhyme and poetic arrangement. From this, I deduced that there is a miraculousness contained in the genuine, natural and unique rhyme and rhythm of the Qur'an and in its virtues that preserve peace and solemnity. Those given to praise and remembrance will feel this miraculousness in their hearts, even if their minds do not realize it.
Note 2: Another miraculous aspect of the Qur'an concerning the Prophet (ASW) is that it shows his being the object of the manifestation of the Greatest Name of Allah and the excellence of his faith that is at the highest and brightest degree. It also details, like a sacred map, the lofty truths of the words of the hereafter and of the Lord's kingdom, and displays to us and instructs us in the sublime nature of the exalted, vast and comprehensive religion of truth. It conveys the address of the Creator to the cosmos as the Lord of all being, with all His glory and majesty. With this quality as its nature, the Qur'an certainly could not be challenged even if the whole intellect of humanity united and became of one mind. "Say, If the whole of mankind and jinn were to gather to produce the like of this Qur'an they could not produce its like." [Qur'an, 17: 88] How could they, since there is the same distance between them and the Qur'an as the distance between the earth and the Pleiades? Indeed, because of the three Essential aspects listed above, the Qur'an is inimitable; the like of it can never be produced.
Note 3: At the end of all the pages of the Qur'an the verses become complete, and with a very fine rhyme they come to an end. Since the verse called Mudayana [Qur'an, 2:292] provides the standard for pages and the suras Ikhlas and Kauthar for lines, this miraculous sign of the Qur'an becomes manifest in a beautiful fashion.
Note 4: Because of unfortunate haste, we had to content ourselves in this section with some slight indications and brief instances, and a very particular aspect of a highly important and magnificent wonder, one that has a beautiful, illuminating and encouraging aspect concerning the success of the Risale-i Nur. Now there are some five or six forms of tawafuq [*], this great truth and this beautiful wonder, and they comprise a chain of wonders related to the Risale-i Nur, the flashes of an evident kind of miraculousness of the Qur'an, and a source of the signs explaining the Qur'anic miracles concerning the information about the Unseen. Later we had a copy of the Qur'an written, one that shows in gold a miraculous flash of the Qur'an stemming from the correspondence of the words referring to Allah. We have also written eight small treatises entitled the Eight Ciphers in the explanation of some signs of the indicative (ishari) meanings of the Qur'an, and a delightful correlation resulting from the correspondence of its letters. Also written by us are the Wonders of Ghauth al-Gilani (RA), three treatises on the Wonders of Ali (RA) and another treatise entitled the Indications of the Qur'an, all of which explain some wonders that become manifest in the form of tawafuq and indicate an appreciation and commendation of the Risale-i Nur by those great personalities. Thus, this great truth had been briefly felt in the writing of the Miracles of Muhammad (SAW). Unfortunately the author had then perceived and demonstrated only a glimpse of this truth, and, without looking profoundly, hastened away. B. S. N.
[*] Tewafuk: The unintentional arrangement of the same words on a vertical line in a page, or in the same position of different pages. Editors.
Second Remark
As the art of magic was widespread at the time of Moses (AS), the important miracles that appeared with him were of appropriate nature; and the practice of medicine was prevalent at the time of Jesus (AS), the miracles prevailing then were of the same kind. Similarly, four crafts were in great popularity at the time of Prophet Muhammad (ASW): first, eloquence and fluency in writing; second, poetry and oratory; third, soothsaying and divination; and fourth, knowledge about the events of the past and the facts of cosmology.
When the Qur'an came, it challenged at the same time the experts in these four fields. First, it made the men of eloquence bow down before it. They all listened to it with amazement. Second, it stunned the poets and orators so that they bit their fingers in astonishment. Their most beautiful poems written in gold were given a blow, and the famous Seven Poems that were placed on the walls of the Ka'ba as an object of pride were brought down. Third, It also silenced the soothsayers and magicians, made them forget about their discoveries of hidden knowledge, resulted in the expulsion of the jinn from the heavens, and brought the process of divination to a certain end. Fourth, It rescued from myth and fabrications those who were cognizant of the events of bygone times and the facts of cosmology, teaching them the real story of past events and the illuminating knowledge of the facts of creation. Thus did those four groups bow down before the Qur'an in astonishment and respect and become its students. None of them ever dared dispute with a single verse of it.
If you were to ask, "How do we know that none was able to dispute with the Qur'an, or that such a dispute was totally impossible?" our answer would be this: Had any possibility of such dispute ever existed, undoubtedly it would have been attempted, for there was extreme need for it. After all, the religion of the Quraish, their properties, lives and households were all in danger, and could have been saved with a successful dispute. If any attempt had been made to dispute, the unbeliever and hypocrites would have taken the same side, and by taking the issue for themselves, they would have advertised it widely, as they were in great numbers -just as they spread all sorts of malicious propaganda against Islam. If they had mounted any successful dispute, this would have been recorded with splendor in the books of history. Now all the books of history are out in the open: none contains anything other than a few anecdotes of the false prophet, Musaylima the Liar. Certainly, they never dared dispute, although the Most Wise Qur'an challenged them continuously for twenty-three years in a way that irritated them and incited their stubborn reaction, saying in effect: "Bring the like of this Qur'an by means of an unlettered person like Muhammad (ASW)! If you cannot do that, let it be not an unlettered person, but the most learned and literary one. If you cannot do that, let it not be one person, but gather all your learned and eloquent ones and let them help each other. Also invoke the aid of your gods in whom you place trust. This too you cannot do: so make use of all the books of the highest eloquence that have ever been written and those that are still to be written, ask for their aid, and produce the like of the Qur'an. Still you cannot produce an equal to the whole Qur'an; so let it be the like of only ten suras of it. If you cannot match any ten suras truly and in all respects, then make them up from baseless stories and imaginative tales, and bring about something that will match only the poetry and eloquence of the Qur'an. If you still cannot succeed, then bring the like of only one sura, and not a long one; the equal of any short sura will suffice! Otherwise your religion, your lives and properties will be at stake both in this world and in the hereafter!" With these eight alternatives, the Qur'an has challenged and silenced men and jinn, not for twenty-three years, but for more than thirteen centuries. [Now fourteen centuries, Editor's Note]
Nonetheless, those unbelievers did not have recourse to the easiest way, that is, open debate, but chose from the beginning the most dreadful way, to wage war, putting in danger their lives and properties and their households. Thus, dispute must certainly have been impossible. Otherwise no man of wisdom, especially those of the Arabian peninsula of that time and especially those intelligent men of the Quraish, would have had resorted to this most difficult way, if any literary man among them had been able to produce the like of a single sura of the Qur'an and thus save them from the attacks of the Qur'an. In summary, as the famous Jahiz put it, "Dispute by words was impossible, and they had to resort to struggle by the sword."
Question: "Some discerning scholars said, 'Not a sura of the Qur'an, nor a verse, nor a sentence, nor even a word can be disputed. Nor has such a thing ever happened.' This claim is too hard to accept; it sounds like an exaggeration. For many words of man have a similarity to those in the Qur'an. How do you explain this?"
Answer: There are two different opinions:
First (Prevailing) Opinion: According to the prevailing opinion, the reason for the Qur'an being inimitable is that the elegance inherent in the eloquence of the Qur'an and the virtues in its meaning are beyond human capacity.
Second Opinion: Although any attempt of dispute against a sura of the Qur'an is humanly possible, Allah Almighty prevented it as a miracle of Muhammad (ASW). For example, if the Prophet (ASW) said to a man, who was normally able to stand up, "You will not be able to stand up," and the man could not then stand up, this would be a miracle of the Prophet (ASW). This second way is called Sarfa, and from its point of view, Allah Almighty prevented men and jinn from opposing even one sura of the Qur'an: if He had not, they could have opposed [regardless of success]. So according to this view, the words of the scholars quoted above are quite right. For, prevented by Allah Almighty on account of the miraculousness of the Qur'an, they could not even open their mouths for dispute: even if they had, they could not have uttered a word without the permission of Allah (SWT).
The claim of the scholars, however, has also a subtle point from the viewpoint of the first and prevailing opinion. For the segments and words of the Qur'an are all interrelated, there are times when one word is related to ten other places. Thereby bearing ten different relationships and furnishing ten aspects of eloquence. Our Qur'anic commentary, the Signs of Miraculousness, showed some examples in this respect drawn from some passages of Surat al-Fatiha and from the ayats,
Alif Laam Miim. This is the Book;in it is guidance sure, without doubt. [Qur'an 2:1-2]
Consider, for example, an ornate palace: to place a gem that will form the knot of a wall-pattern in the most convenient location with respect to the different designs on the walls of the palace is possible only by knowing the whole design exactly. Similarly, to place the pupil of the eye in its correct place in a man's head is possible only by knowing the complete function of the whole body and its complex organization, as well as its relationship to the functioning of the eye. So, too, the most advanced among men of truth (muhakkikiin) have shown the relationship between the words of the Qur'an and their aspects that gaze upon one another. Those who expound on letters and derive meaning from them have gone even further, and made pages long explanations of meanings contained in a single letter of the Qur'an.
Furthermore, since the Qur'an is the word of the Creator of all beings, every word of it may be considered as a heart with an ideal body of meanings dressed around it, or a seed which flourishes to an ideal glamorous tree. Thus, it may be possible that there might exist some words of man similar to those of the Qur'an, but properly placing them in the most purposeful and meaningful way taking into account of all such relationships as in the case of the Qur'anic wording calls for an all-comprehending knowledge.
Third Remark A very brief reflection on the miraculous exposition of the Qur'an was once inspired in my heart by the grace of Allah. Now I will give a translation of that Arabic passage:
The six sides of the Qur'an are luminous and brilliant; neither doubt nor misgiving can penetrate it. Its back is supported by the throne of Allah; there it has the light of revelation. Its front and its goal is the happiness of the two worlds; it lays its hand upon eternity, the hereafter, and there it has the luminosity of Paradise and eternal bliss. Above it shines the seal of miraculousness, beneath it lie the pillars of proof and evidence, inside it is the pure guidance. With the phrases like "Will they not understand?" its right causes the mind to affirm its truth. With the spiritual pleasures it bestows upon the heart, its left makes the conscience testify to its miraculousness. >From which side or aspect could then the perpetrators of suspicion infringe upon such a miraculous exposition?
The Miraculous Qur'an briefly includes the books of all the prophets and all the men of tawhed, the methods, circumstances, and temperaments of whom were all different. That is, in spite of their different aspects, all men with truth-seeking heart and intelligence, affirmed the laws and fundamentals of the Qur'an in their own books, and each became one of the roots of a celestial tree the seed of which is the Qur'an.
The Most Wise Qur'an is not that it is 'based' on revelation, but it actually is revelation. The Glorious One Who revealed it demonstrated through the miracles of Muhammad (ASW) that it is revelation; the Qur'an itself shows with its miraculousness that it is coming from the throne of Allah; the anxiety of Allah's Messenger at the beginning of revelations, his half-conscious state when receiving revelation and his most sincere respect toward the Qur'an, exceeding that of everyone else- all give evidence that the Qur'an is revelation, derived from pre-eternity and entrusted to the Prophet (ASW).
The Qur'an is manifestly pure guidance, for its opposite is observably the misguidance of unbelief. It is necessarily the source of the light of belief, for its opposite is certainly darkness, as we have clearly explained in the Words [Body of writings by the same scholar. Editor's Note.]
The Qur'an is surely the spring of truths; no illusion and no superstition can enter it. The truthful world of Islam that it organized, the well-founded Sacred Law that it presented, and the highest virtues it displayed all testify that its mention of the matters of the Unseen -as well as that of the matters of the manifest world- is of pure truth, and there is no room in it for falsehood. The Qur'an undoubtedly shows the way to happiness in both worlds and urges man towards it. For whoever doubts this, it will suffice to read the Qur'an once and heed what it says.
The fruits it produced are the ripest and life-giving ones. Then, too, its roots are embedded in truth and true life, for the life of the fruit indicates the life of the tree. Now look: how many perfect, vigorous and luminous fruits it has borne in each century, such as the men of tawhed and piety!
The Qur'an is, with a conviction derived from endless indications, so esteemed and sought after by men, jinn and the angels that whenever the Qur'an is read, they gather around it as the ants gather around bread.
[Editors' Note: Unfortunately, most of the men of this century are blinded with materialism and devoured by his selfish desires and pharoah-like ego. They cannot see nor hear nor understand the most appealing, the most truthful, the most convincing call of the Qur'an.]
Besides being revelation, the Qur'an is also corroborated and fortified with rational evidence, as is unanimously agreed upon by the most profound men of thought and reason. In fact, geniuses of philosophy such as Avicenna (Ibn Sina) and Averroes (Ibn Rushd) and religious scholars have unanimously demonstrated the truth of the fundamentals of the Qur'an with sound reasoning. The Qur'an is also affirmed by the human conscience and nature. Human nature will affirm that is not defective and alien. Therefore, contentment of conscience and tranquility of heart are to be had only with the light of the Qur'an. Then, unspoiled human conscience ultimately affirms it with contentment, and says to the Qur'an,
"We have no meaning, no prosperity, no happiness without you!" This fact has been explained in detail in the rest of the Risale-i Nur. The Qur'an is, obviously and observably, a permanent and eternal miracle; it constantly unfolds its miraculousness. Never does it extinguish like other kinds of miracles, nor does it ever come to an end.
It is at such a vast degree of guidance that Gabriel (AS) and a young child listen to it shoulder to shoulder, both receiving their shares. And a brilliant genius like Avicenna receives his lessons from the Qur'an knee to knee with an ordinary reciter; that ordinary man might indeed benefit, by virtue of the purity and strength of his faith, more than Avicenna.
Such a sight is contained in the exposition of the Qur'an that it sees and takes into consideration the whole cosmos like the pages of a book, and then expounds on its spheres and heavens. In this function, the Qur'an is very much like a watchmaker opening, showing, and describing his watch [*]. Indeed, it is the Glorious Qur'an that says,
"Know and be certain that there is no god but Allah,"
and declares Tawhed.
O Allah, make of the Qur'an our companion in this world and our confidant in the tomb, our intercessor in the hereafter and our light on the Bridge of Sirat; a veil and a protection against the fire, a friend in Paradise, and a guide and leader to all that is good.
O Allah, enlighten our hearts and our tombs with the light of faith and the Qur'an, and illumine the proof of the Qur'an for the sake of him (the Messenger of Allah) to whom You sent down the Book, and upon whom Your peace and blessings be, O the Compassionate and the Most Generous One. Amen. [end of eighteenth sign.]
[*] Indeed, a document coming from the Throne of the Creator of the universe in which no sign of negligence can be found, from the minute wing of a bee to the giant stars, certainly, will declare that Complete Ownership of such creation solely belongs to His Sender. In such a document, Allah as the Owner of the Worlds will give authentic information about His Laws with which He puts everything under His rule and dominion; He declares what He does. If any book attributed to Allah has a faulty information about the facts of the universe, then that book is not authentic. The Book of Allah should necessarily be so Glorious and so Miraculous in the exposition of the seen and unseen worlds that it should in a way interpret the book of the universe so adequately and precisely; and such a Book is the Qur'an. Editors.
NINETEENTH SIGN
Muhammad (ASW) himself IS the Proof: In the previous (eighteen) Signs, it has been shown in an indubitably certain way that Muhammad (ASW) is the Messenger of Allah Almighty. With his messengership supported by thousands of decisive evidences, he himself is the brightest sign and the most definite proof of the Oneness of Allah and the existence of eternal felicity. In this Sign, we will give a very brief description of this shining sign, this truth-speaking proof. Since he is the proof, and his end-purpose is to transmit the knowledge of Allah through evidences, we certainly need to recognize the proof first, and to come to recognize the qualities that make him the proof. Therefore, we will here briefly expound on those qualities and show their authenticity.
Like the very existence of this universe, the very person of Allah's Messenger (ASW) also gives evidence to the existence and oneness of the Creator of the universe. In addition, he is the one who announces the nature of his own evidence and those of all other beings declared by their innate language. Now we will point in Fifteen Essentials to the evidence, steadfast direction, authenticity and correctness of this proof.
First Essential: Prophet Muhammed (ASW), who gives evidence of the Maker of the universe in his person, word, act and disposition, is both himself truthful and also affirmed by the tongue of creation. This is expected because it is just a requirement of wisdom that the testimony of all beings that attest to the Oneness of Allah is also an affirmation of the words of Muhammed (ASW) who announces the Oneness of the Creator. Thus, he has in his claim the support of all creation. Moreover, his declaration of the Oneness of Allah which is the absolute perfection and the eternal happiness which is the pure blessing entirely agrees with the beauty and perfection of all the facts observed in the universe; therefore, he is certainly correct in his mission. Yes, Allah's Messenger (ASW) is an articulate and truthful proof for the Oneness of Allah and eternal felicity, and his truthfulness is attested by all creation.
Second Essential: This truthful and verified proof is the head of all prophets since he has thousands of miracles excelling those of all other prophets, together with a Sacred Law that will never be abrogated and a message that embraces all men and jinn. Therefore, he essentially gathers as his support the miracles of all earlier prophets and their concurrence in his message of Tawhed. Thus, the concurrence of all the prophets and the testimony of all their miracles constitute a support for his honesty and correctness. He is, at the same time, the leader and master of all men of piety and purity who have acquired high merits with his teaching and guidance and with the light of his Sacred Law. Thus he essentially gathers as his support their wonders, their unanimous affirmation and the combined strength of their detailed investigations of the truth. Since the way they follow is the one opened and left open by him, and they thus attained truth, all their wonders and conclusions and their concurrence in his message comprise a proof for the honesty and correctness of their exalted teacher.
As has been verified by the past Signs, this proof of Oneness of Allah is equipped with such certain, evident and definite miracles, wondrous irhasat, and irrefutable evidences of his prophethood that their affirmation could not be disputed, even were the whole universe to unite against him.
Third Essential: This possessor of evident miracles, this proclaimer of the Oneness of Allah (SWT) and herald of eternal happiness has such lofty virtues in his blessed personality, such illustrious qualities in his messengership and such precious merits in the religion and Sacred Law that he brought that even his most fanatical enemies cannot but admit them and cannot find strength to deny him.
Since he combines in his nature, duty and religion the highest, loftiest, most perfect, most beautiful, most esteemed and most precious virtues, he is the personal example, representative, and the master of all perfection and of all the lofty virtues of creation. And the perfect state that he reached in his blessed person, his duty of messengership and religion, is such a sound proof for his honesty and correctness that there is no chance of its being shaken in any way.
Fourth Essential: This announcer of the Oneness of Allah (SWT) and felicity, this spring of perfection and teacher of high morality is not speaking on his own, rather he is being made to speak by the Creator of the universe. He first receives instruction from his Pre-Eternal Master, and then instructs others. With the thousands of proofs of his prophethood, which were partly mentioned in the previous Signs, and by creating all those miracles through his hand, the Creator of the universe showed that he does speak on His behalf and delivers His Word.
The Qur'an that was revealed to him gives evidence with its forty kinds of miracles that he is the interpreter of Allah Almighty. He, in his person, also demonstrates with his complete sincerity, piety, seriousness, trustworthiness and with all his other acts and states that he is not propagating his own ideas for his sake but is speaking on behalf of His Creator.
In addition, all men of truth who listened to him have also affirmed through profound study and inspired discovery, and have come to believe with the certainty of true knowledge that it is the Creator of all being Who causes him to speak, Who teaches him, and makes him a teacher. Thus, his honesty and correctness are supported by the concurrence of these four aspects of extreme soundness.
Fifth Essential: This interpreter of the Pre-Eternal Word sees spirits, converses with angels, and guides jinn and men alike. His learning far exceeds not only that of the whole jinn and human kingdoms, but also that of all the inhabitants of the incorporeal abode and the angels. He has access to and a relationship with the realms that lie beyond theirs. The miracles that we have mentioned and the story of his life that has the authenticity of tawatur all give evidence to this fact. The reports he gives from the Unseen, therefore, do not resemble those of soothsayers; no one else can become mingled with his reprints-no man, no jinn, no spirit, no angel, not even any of the Archangels with the exception of Gabriel (AS). Even Gabriel (AS), his friend and companion, most of the time falls behind him.
Sixth Essential: Muhammad (ASW) being the master of angels, jinn and mankind, is the most luminous and most perfect fruit of the tree of creation, the representation of the Mercy of Allah, the example of Rabb's Love, the most brilliant proof of the Truth, the brightest light of truth, the key to the hidden facts of the universe, the discoverer of the mystery of creation, the commentator on the purpose of the universe, the announcer of Allah's Sovereignty, the describer of the beauties of Rabb's Art, and, by virtue of his comprehensive innate potential, the most excellent exemplar of all the perfections of creation. These qualities together with his spiritual personality indicate, or even demonstrate, that he is the cause for the creation of the cosmos. That is, the Creator of the universe knew him ahead of time, and created the universe. It may be said that if Allah had not created him, He would not have created the universe as well. Indeed, the truths of the Qur'an and the light of faith that he brought to man and jinn, and the lofty virtues and illustrious perfection that are observed in his being, are the decisive proofs of this fact.
Seventh Essential: This truthful proof and light of truth has presented such a religion and law that they contain all the means needed for happiness in both worlds. They also declare in perfect correctness the truths of the universe and its functions, as well as the Names and Attributes of the Creator of the universe. The religion of Islam and its Sacred Law are so excellent, so comprehensive and so well in describing the Creator and the whole of creation that anyone who reflects on that religion certainly realizes that it is the declaration of the One Who made this beautiful universe describing both the universe and Himself. Just as a constructor of a palace would write a suitable description in order to display his skills; so, too, the religion and the Sacred Law of Muhammad (ASW) show such a comprehensiveness, sublimity and accuracy that it proves to be the work of the Pen of the One Who creates and sustains this universe. The One Who beautifully arranges this universe is the One Who also beautifully arranges this religion; indeed, that most excellent order certainly calls for the most beautiful versification [of the Qur'an] !
Eighth Essential: Endowed with the qualities mentioned, standing on unshakeable ground, turned to the visible world, Muhammad the Arab (ASW) announces in the name of the Unseen to men and jinn, and addresses all peoples and nations behind the coming centuries with such a strong voice that all men and jinn of all times and places hear him. And so do we!
Ninth Essential: He makes his address with such strength and loftiness that all times listen to him, and every century hears the echo of his voice.
Tenth Essential: His manner reveals that he sees, and conveys that which he sees. For even at the most perilous times, he speaks with the utmost firmness and without the least hesitation or anxiety. At times, he being alone challenges the whole world.
Eleventh Essential: He calls with all his vigor. Indeed, his call is such a mighty one that he has caused the half of the globe and one fifth of humanity to say "Labbayk. We have heard and we have obeyed."
Twelfth Essential: He invites humanity with such seriousness and educates them with such soundness that he leaves the permanent impress of his principles on the forehead of all centuries, on the stones of all lands, and on the faces of all ages.
Thirteenth Essential: He invites [all] and speaks with such trust and confidence in the soundness of the decrees he is transmitting that even if the whole world had united, it could not make him retract or regret a single one of his principles. The witness to this fact is the whole history of his life and his exalted biography.
Fourteenth Essential: With such certainty and assuredness does he invite and summon that he never seeks the aid of anyone and never shows anxiety under any circumstances. With utmost sincerity and purity, he announces the laws he has brought, and he accepts and practises before anyone else. The witnesses to this fact are--as is known by friend and foe alike--his piety, contentment, and disdain toward the transient allurements of the world.
Fifteenth Essential: His obedience to the religion he brought, his worship to his Creator, and his piety in refraining from the prohibited things far more than anybody else clearly shows that he is the envoy and announcer of the Sovereign of Pre-and Post-Eternity, His most sincere servant and the interpreter of the Pre-Eternal Word.
The conclusion of the above Fifteen Essentials is that this great person, endowed with the virtues mentioned, repeatedly and continually declared, "There is no god but Allah," throughout his life and proclaimed the Absolute Oneness and Uniqueness of Allah (SWT).
O Allah, grant him and his Family peace and blessings to the number of the good deeds of his community. Glory be unto Thee! We have no knowledge save that which Thou hast taught us: verily Thou art All-Knowing, All-Wise.
A DIVINE GIFT AND A MARK OF DOMINICAL FAVOUR
In the hope of complying with the meaning of the verse,
But the favour of your Sustainer, rehearse and proclaim,
I shall mention a mark of Almighty God's favour and mercy which was apparent in the writing of this treatise, so that those who read it may understand its importance.
I had no intention of writing this treatise, for the Nineteenth and Thirty-First Words about the prophethood of Muhammed (PBUH) had been written. Then suddenly I felt a compelling impulse to write it. Also my power of memory had been extinguished due to the calamities I had suffered. Moreover, in accordance with my way, I had not taken the path of narrative, that is, "he said that," "it was said that," in the works I had written. Furthermore, I had no books of Hadith or the Prophet's biography available to me. Nevertheless, saying: "I place my trust in God," I began. It was extremely successful, and my memory assisted me in a way that surpassed even that of the Old Said. Thirty to forty pages were written at speed every two or three hours. Once fifteen pages were written in a single hour. It was mostly narrated from such books as Bukhari, Muslim, Bayhaqi, Tirmidhi, Shifa al-Sharif, Abu Nuaym, and Tabari. My heart was trembling, because if there had been any error in relating them - since they are Hadiths - it would have been a sin. But it was clear that Divine favour was with us and there was need for the treatise. God willing, what has been written is sound. If perhaps there are any errors in the wording of some of the Hadiths or in the names of the narrators, I request that my brothers will look on them tolerantly and correct them.
Said Nursi
Ustad Said Nursi, our master, dictated and we wrote the first draft. He had no books with him, nor did he refer to any. He would suddenly dictate at great speed, and we wrote. We would write thirty, forty, and sometimes more, pages in two or three hours. We formed the conviction that this success was itself a wonder proceeding from the miracles of the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH).
Abdullah Cavus
His student in permanent attendance on him. Suleyman Sami
His scribe of rough drafts in permanent attendance on him. Hâfiz Halid
His scribe of rough drafts in permanent attendance on him. Hâfiz Tevfik
His scribe of rough and final drafts.
The First Addendum to the Miracles of Muhammed (PBUH)
[The Nineteenth Word about the Prophethood of Muhammed (PBUH) and the Miracle of the Splitting of the Moon have been included here due to their `station.']
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
Also being the Fourteenth Flash, this Word consists of Fourteen Droplets.
FIRST DROPLET
There are three great and universal things which make known to us our Sustainer. One is the Book of the Universe, a jot of whose testimony we have heard from the thirteen Flashes together with the Thirteenth Word of the Risale-i Nur. Another is the Seal of the Prophets (Upon whom be blessings and peace), the supreme sign of the Book of the Universe. Now, we must become acquainted with the Seal of the Prophets (Upon whom be blessings and peace), who is the second and Articulate Proof, and must listen to him.
Indeed, look at the collective personality of this proof: the face of the earth has become his mosque, Mecca, his mihrab, and Medina, his pulpit. Our Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him), this clear proof, is leader to all the believers, preacher to all mankind, the chief of all the prophets, lord of all the saints, the leader of a circle for the remembrance of God comprising all the prophets and saints. He is a luminous tree whose living roots are all the prophets, and fresh fruits are all the saints; whose claims all the prophets relying on their miracles and all the saints relying on their wonder-working confirm and corroborate. For he declares and claims: There is no god but God! And all on left and right, that is, those luminous reciters of God's Names lined up in the past and the future, repeat the same words, and through their consensus in effect declare: "You speak the truth and what you say is right!" What false idea has the power to meddle in a claim which is thus affirmed and corroborated by thousands?
SECOND DROPLET
Just as that luminous Proof of Divine Unity is affirmed by the unanimity and consensus of those two wings, so too, do hundreds of indications in the revealed scriptures, like the Torah and Bible, and the thousands of, signs that appeared before the beginning of his mission, and the well-known news of the voices from the Unseen and the unanimous testimony of the soothsayers, the indications of the thousands of his miracles, like the Splitting of the Moon, and the justice of Shari'a all confirm and corroborate him. So too, in his person, his laudable morals, which were at the summit of perfection; and in his duties, his complete confidence and elevated qualities, which were of the highest excellence, and his extraordinary fear of God worship seriousness, and fortitude, which demonstrated the strength of his belief, and his total certainty and his complete steadfastness, all show as clearly as the sun how utterly faithful he was to his cause.
THIRD DROPLET
If you wish, come! Let us go to Arabian Peninsula, to the Era of Bliss! In our imaginations, we shall see him at his duties and visit him. Look! We see a person distinguished by his fine character and beautiful form. In his hand is a miraculous Book and on his tongue, a truthful address; he is delivering a pre-eternal sermon to all mankind, indeed, to man, jinn, and the angels, and to all beings. He solves and expounds the strange riddle of the mystery of the world's creation; he discovers and solves the abstruse talisman which is the mystery of the universe; and he provides convincing and satisfying answers to the three awesome and difficult questions that are asked of all beings and have always bewildered and occupied minds: "Where do you come from? What are you doing here? Where are you going?"
FOURTH DROPLET
See! He spreads such a Light of truth that if you look at the universe as being outside the luminous sphere of his truth and guidance, you see it to be like a place of general mourning, and beings strangers to one another and hostile, and inanimate beings to be like ghastly corpses and living creatures like orphans weeping at the blows of death and separation. Now look! Through the Light he spreads, that place of universal mourning has been transformed into a place where God's Names and praises are recited in joy and ecstasy. The foreign, hostile beings have become friends and brothers. While the dumb, dead inanimate creatures have each taken on the form of familiar officials and docile servants. And the weeping, complaining orphans are seen to be either reciting God's Names and praises or offering thanks at being released from their duties.
FIFTH DROPLET
Also, through his Light, the motion and movement of the universe, and its variations, changes and transformations, cease being meaningless, futile, and the playthings of chance and rise to the level of being Dominical missives, pages inscribed with the signs of creation, and mirrors to the Divine Names, and the world itself, a book of the Eternally Besought One's wisdom. And while man's boundless weakness and impotence make him inferior to all other animals and his reason, the means of transmitting grief, sorrow, and sadness, makes him more wretched, when he is illumined with that Light, he rises above all animals and all creatures. Through his illuminated impotence, want, and reason, through entreaty he becomes a petted monarch and through lamenting, a spoiled vicegerent of the earth. That is to say, if it was not for his light, the universe and man, and all things, would be nothing. Yes, certainly such a person is necessary in such a wondrous universe; otherwise the universe and firmaments should not be in existence.
SlXTH DROPLET
Thus, that Being announces and brings the good news of eternal happiness; he is the discoverer and proclaimer of an infinite mercy, the herald and observer of the beauties of the sovereignty of Dominicality, and the discloser and displayer of the treasures of the Divine Names. If you regard him in that way, that is in regard to his being a worshipful servant of God, you will see him to be the model of love, the exemplar of mercy, the glory of mankind, and the most luminous fruit of the tree of creation. While if you look in this way, that is, in regard to his prophethood, you see him to be the proof of God, the lamp of truth, the sun of guidance, and the means to happiness. And look! His Light has lighted up from east to west like dazzling lightening, and half the earth and a fifth of mankind has accepted the gift of his guidance and preserved it like life itself. So how is it that our evil-commanding souls and satans do not accept with all its degrees the basis of all One such as that claimed. that is, "There is no god but God?"
SEVENTH DROPLET
Now, consider how, eradicating in no time at all their evil and savage customs and habits to which they were fanatically attached, he decked out the various wild, unyielding peoples of that broad peninsula with all the finest virtues, and made them teachers of all the world and masters to the civilized nations. See, it was not an outward domination, he conquered and subjugated their minds, spirits, hearts, and souls. He became the beloved of hearts, the teacher of minds, the trainer of souls, the ruler of spirits.
EIGHTH DROPLET
You know that a small habit like cigarette smoking among a small nation can be removed permanently only by a powerful ruler with great effort. But look! This Being removed numerous ingrained habits from intractable, fanatical large nations with slight outward power and little effort in a short period of time, and in their place he so established exalted qualities that they became as firm as if they had mingled with their very blood. He achieved very many extraordinary feats like this. Thus, we present the Arabian Peninsula as a challenge to those who refuse to see the testimony of the blessed age of the Prophet. Let them each take a hundred philosophers, go there, and strive for a hundred years, I wonder if they would be able to carry out in that time one hundredth of what he achieved in a year?
NINTH DROPLET
Also, you know that an insignificant man of small standing among a small community in a disputed matter of small importance cannot tell a small but shameful 1ie brazenfaced and without fear without displaying anxiety or disquiet enough to inform the enemies at his side of his deception. Now look at that Being; although he undertook a tremendous task which required an official of great authority and great standing and a situation of great security, can any contradiction at all be found in the words he uttered among a community of great size in the face of great hostility concerning a great cause and matters of great significance, with great ease and freedom, without fear, hesitation, diffidence, or anxiety, with pure sincerity, great seriousness, and in an intense, elevated manner that angered his enemies? Is if at all possible that any trickery should have been involved? God forbid! It is naught but Revelation inspired. The truth does not deceive, and one who perceives the truth is not deceived. His way which is truth is free of deception. How could a fancy appear to one who sees the truth to be the truth, and deceive him?
TENTH DROPLET
Now, look! What curiosity-arousing, attractive, necessary, and awesome truths he shows and matters he proves.
You know that what impels man most is curiosity. Even, should it be said to you: "If you give half of your life and property, someone will come from the Moon and Jupiter and tell you all about them. And will also tell you correctly about your future and what will happen to you," if you have any curiosity at all, you would give them. Whereas that Being tells of a Monarch Who is such that in His realm, the Moon flies round a moth like a fly, and the moth, the earth, flutters round a lamp, and the lamp, the sun, is merely one lamp among thousands in one guest-house out of thousands of that Monarch.
Also, he speaks truly of a world so wondrous and a revolution that is such that if the earth was a bomb and exploded it would not be all that strange. Look! Listen to Suras like, When the sun is folded up. * When the sky is cleft asunder. * [The Day] of Noise and Clamour, which he recites.
Also, he speaks truly of a future that is such that the future in this world is like a tiny mirage in comparison. And he tells most seriously of a happiness that is such that all worldly happiness is like a fleeting flash of lightening in comparison to an eternal sun.
ELEVENTH DROPLET
For sure, wonders await us under the apparent veil of the universe which is thus strange and perplexing. And one thus wonderful and extraordinary, a displayer of marvels, is necessary to tell of its wonders. And it is apparent from that Being's conduct that he has seen them, and sees them, and says that he has seen them. And he instructs us most soundly concerning what the God of the heavens and the earth, Who nurtures us with His bounties, wants and desires of us. And so, while everyone should leave everything and run to and heed this Being who teaches numerous other necessary and curiosity-arousing truths like these, how is it that most people are deaf and blind, and mad even, so that they do not see this truth, and they do not listen to it and understand it?
TWELFTH DROPLET
Thus, just as this Being is an articulate proof and true evidence at the degree of the truth of the Unity of the Creator of beings, so too is he a decisive proof and clear evidence for the resurrection of the dead and eternal happiness. Indeed, just as with his guidance he is the reason for eternal happiness coming about and is the means of attaining it, so too, through his prayers and supplications, he is the cause of its existence and means of its creation. We repeat here this mystery, which is mentioned in the Tenth Word, due to its `station.'
See! This Being prays with a prayer so supreme that it Is as if the Arabian Peninsula and indeed the earth performs the prayers through his majestic prayer, and offers entreaties. See, he also entreats in a congregation so vast that it is as if all the luminous and perfected members of mankind from the time of Adam till our age and until the end of time, are following him and saying "Amen" to his supplications. And see! He is beseeching for a need so universal that not only the dwellers of the earth, but also those of the heavens, and all beings, join in his prayer, declaring: "Yes! O our Sustainer! Grant it to us! We too want it!" And he supplicates with such want, so sorrowfully, in such a loving, yearning, and beseeching fashion that he brings the whole cosmos to tears, making them join in his prayer.
And see! He prays for a such a purpose and aim that it raises man and the world, and all creatures, from the lowest of the low, from inferiority, worthlessness, and uselessness to the highest of the high; that is, to having value, permanence, and exalted duties. And see! He seeks and pleads for help and mercy in a manner so elevated and sweet that it is as if he makes all beings and the heavens and the earth hear, and bringing them to ecstasy, to exclaim: "Amen, O our God! Amen!" And see! He seeks his needs from One so Powerful, Hearing, and Munificent, One so Knowing, Seeing, and Compassionate, that He sees and hears the most secret need of the most hidden living being and its entreaties, accepts them, and has mercy on it. For He gives what is asked for, even if through the tongue of disposition. And He gives it in so Wise, Seeing, and Compassionate a form that it leaves no doubt that that nurturing and regulation is particular to the All-Hearing and All-Seeing One, the Most Generous and Most Compassionate One.
THIRTEENTH DROPLET
What does he want, this pride of the human race, who taking behind him all the eminent of mankind, stands on top of the world, and raising up his hand, is praying? What is this unique being, who is truly the glory of the cosmos, seeking? Listen! He is seeking eternal happiness. He is asking for eternal life, and to meet with God. He wants Paradise. And he wants all the Sacred Divine Names, which display their beauty and decrees in the mirrors of beings. Even, if it were not for reasons for the fulfillment of those countless requests, like Mercy, Grace, Wisdom, and Justice, a single of that Being's prayers would have been sufficient for the construction of Paradise, the creation of which is as easy for Divine Power as the creation of the spring. Yes, just as his Prophethood was the reason for the opening of this place of examination and trial, so too his worship and servitude to God was the reason of the opening of the next world.
Would the perfect order observed in the universe, which has caused scholars and the intelligent to pronounce: "It is root possible for there to be anything of greater originality in existence than what exists," and would the faultless beauty of art within mercy, the incomparable beauty of Dominicality, permit the ugliness, the cruelty, the lack of order of its hearing and responding to the least significant, the least important desires and voices, and its considering unimportant thc most important, the most necessary wishes, and its not hearing, understanding, and carrying them out? God forbid! A hundred thousand times, God forbid! Such a beauty would not permit such an ugliness; it would not become ugly.
And so, my imaginary friend! That is enough for now, we must return. For if we remain a hundred years in this age in the Arabian Peninsula, we still would only completely comprehend one hundredth of the marvels of that Being's duties and the wonders that he carried out, and we would never tire of watching him.
Now, come! We shall look at the centuries, which will turn above us. See how each has opened like a flower through the effulgence it has received from that Sun of Guidance! They have produced millions of enlightened fruits like Abu Hanifa, Shafi'î, Abu Bayezid Bistamî, Shah Gilanî, Shah Naqshband, Imam Ghazzali and Imam Rabbanî. And postponing the details of our observations to another time, we must recite some benedictions for that displayer of miracles and bringer of guidance, which indicate a number of his certain miracles:
Peace and blessings be upon our master Muhammed thousands and thousands of times, to the number of good deals of his community, to whom was revealed the All-Wise Criterion of Truth and False hood, from One Most Merciful, Most Commpassionate, from the Subline Throne; whose Prophethood was foretold by the Torah and Bible, and told by wondrous signs, the voices of jinn, saints of man, and soothsayers; at whose indication the moon split; our master Muhammed! Peace and blessings be upon him thousands and thousands of times, to the number of the breaths of his community; at whose beckoning came the tree, on whose prayer rain swiftly fell, and whom the cloud shaded from the heat; who satisfied a hundred men with his food; from between whose fingers three times flowed water like the Spring of Kauthar; and to whom God made speak the lizard, the gazelle, the wolf, the torso, the arm, the camel, the mountain, the rock, and the clod; the one who made the Ascension and whose eye did not waver; our master and intercessor, Muhammed! Peace and blessings be upon him thousands and thousands of times, to the number of the letters of the Qur'an formed in the words represented with the permission of the Most Merciful in the mirrors of the airwaves at the reciting of all the words of the Qur'an by all reciters from when it was first revealed to the end of time. And grant us forgiveness and have mercy on us, O God, for each of those blessings. Amen.
[I have described the Evidences for the Prophethood of Muhammed (PBUH) which I have here indicated briefly in a Turkish treatise called Shuaât-i Marifetü'n-Nebi and in the Nineteenth Letter (The Miracles of Muhammed). And there too aspects of the All-Wise Qur'an's miraculousness have been mentioned briefly. Again, in a Turkish treatise called Lemeat and in the Twenty-Fifth Word (The Miraculousness of the Qur'an) I have explained concisely forty ways in which the Qur'an is a miracle, and indicated forty aspects of its miraculousness. And of those forty aspects, only the eloquence in the word order, I have written in forty pages in an Arabic commentary called, Isharatu'l-I'jaz. If you have the need, you may refer to those three works.]
FOURTEENTH DROPLET
The All-Wise Qur'an, the treasury of miracles and supreme miracle, proves the Prophethood of Muhammed (PBUH) together with Divine Unity so decisively that it leaves no need for further proof. And we shall give its definition and indicate one or two flashes of its miraculousness which have been the cause of criticism.
The All-Wise Qur'an, which makes known to us our Sustainer, is thus: it is the pre-eternal translator of the great Book of the Universe; the discloser of the treasures of the Divine Names concealed in the pages of the earth and the heavens; the key to the truths hidden beneath these lines of events; the treasury of the favours of the Most Merciful and pre-eternal addresses, which come forth from the World of the Unseen beyond the veil of this Manifest World; the sun, foundation, and plan of the spiritual world of Islam, and the map of the worlds of the Hereafter; the distinct expounder, lucid exposition, articulate proof, and clear translator of the Divine Essence, attributes, and deeds; the instructor, true wisdom, guide, and leader of the world of humanity; it is both a book of wisdom and law, and a book of prayer and worship, and a book of command and summons, and a book of invocation and Divine knowledge - it is book for all spiritual needs; and it is a sacred library offering books appropriate to the ways of all the saints and veracious, the purified and the scholars, whose ways and paths are all different.
Consider the flashes of miraculousness in its repetitions, which are imagined to be a fault: since the Qur'an is both a book of invocation, and a book of prayer, and a book of summons, the repetition in it is desirable, indeed, it is essential and most eloquent. It is not as the faulty imagine. For the mark of invocation is illumination through repetition. The mark of prayer, is strengthening through repetition. The mark of command and summons is confirmation through repetition. Moreover, everyone is not capable of always reading the whole Qur'an, but mostly is able to read one Sura. Therefore, since the most important purposes of the Qur'an are included in most of the longer Suras, each is like a small Qur'an. That is to say, so that no one should be deprived, certain of its purposes like Divine Unity, the resurrection of the dead, and the story of Moses, have been repeated. Also, like bodily needs, spiritual needs also are various. Man is need of some of them each breath; like the body needs air, the spirit needs the word Hu (He). Some he is in need of each hour, like "In the Name of God." And so on. That means the repetition of verses arises from the repetition of need. And it makes the repetition in order to point out the need and awaken and incite it, and to arouse desire and appetite.
Also, the Qur'an is a founder. It is the basis of the Clear Religion, and the foundation of the world of Islam. It changed human social life, and is the answer to the repeated questions of its various classes. Repetition is necessary for a founder in order to establish things. Repetition is necessary to corroborate them. Confirmation, repetition, and repeating are necessary to strengthen them.
Also, it speaks of such mighty matters and minute truths that numerous repetitions are necessary in different forms in order to establish them in the hearts of everyone. Nevertheless, they are apparently repetitions, but in meaning each verse has numerous meanings, numerous benefits, and many aspects and levels. In each place they are mentioned for a different meaning, benefit, and purpose.
Also, the Qur'an's being unspecific and concise in certain matters to do with cosmos is a flash of miraculousness for the purpose of guidance. It cannot be the cause of criticism and is not a fault, like some atheists imagine.
If you ask: "Why does the All-Wise Qur'an not speak of beings in the same way as philosophy and science? It leaves some matters in brief form, and some it speaks of in a simple and superficial way that is easy for the general view, does not wound general feelings, and does not weary or tax the minds of ordinary people. Why is this?"
By way of answer we say: Philosophy has strayed from the path of truth, that's why. Also, of course you have understood from previous Words and what they teach that the All-Wise Qur'an speaks of the universe in order to make known the Divine Essence, attributes, and Names. That is, it explains the meanings of the Book of the Universe to make known its Creator. That means it looks at beings, not for themselves, but for their Creator. Also, it addresses everyone. While philosophy and science look at beings for themselves, and address in particular scientists. In which case, since the All-Wise Qur'an makes beings evidences and proofs, the evidence has to be superficial so that it will be quickly understood in the general view. And since the Qur'an of Guidance addresses all classes of men, the ordinary people, which form the most numerous class, want guidance which is concise with unnecessary things beings vague, and which brings subtle things close with comparisons, and which does not change things which in their superficial view are obvious into an unnecessary or even harmful form, lest it causes them to fall into error.
For example, it says about the sun: "The sun is a revolving lamp or lantern." Because it does not speak of the sun for itself and its nature, but because it is a sort of spring of an order and centre of a system, and order and system are mirrors of the Maker's skill. It says:
The sun runs its course.
that is, the sun revolves. Through calling to mind the well-ordered disposals of Divine power in the revolutions of winter and summer, and day and night with the phrase, The sun revolves, it makes understood the Maker's tremendousness. Thus, whatever the reality of this revolving, it does not affect the order, which is woven and observed, and which is the purpose. It also says,
And set the sun as a lamp.
Through depicting through the word lamp the world in the form of a palace, and that the things within it are decorations, necessities, and provisions prepared for man and living beings, and that the sun also is a subjugated candleholder, it makes known the mercy and bestowal of the Creator. Now look and see what this foolish and prattling philosophy says:
"The sun is a vast burning liquid mass. it causes the planets which have been flung off from it to revolve around it. Its mass is such-and-such. It is this, it is that." It gives to the spirit no perfection of knowledge apart from a terrible dread and fearful wonder. It does not speak of it as the Qur'an does. You may understand from this the value of the matters of philosophy, whose inside is hollow and outside, ostentatious. So do not be deceived by its glittering exterior and be disrespectful towards the most miraculous expositions of the Qur'an!
[NOTE: The Six Drops of the Fourteenth Droplet in the Arabic Risale-i Nur, and especially the Six Points of the Fourth Drop, explain fifteen of the approximately forty sorts of miraculousness of the All-Wise Qur'an. Deeming those to be sufficient, we have limited the discussion here. If you wish, refer to them, and you will find a treasury of miracles...]
O God! Make the Qur'an healing, for us, the writer of this and his peers, from all ills, and a companion to us and to them in our lives and after our deaths, and in this world, and in the grave, and at the Last Judgement an intercessor, and on the Bridge a light, and from the Fire a screen and shield, and in Paradise a friend, and in all good deeds a guide and leader, through Your grace. and munificence and beneficence and mercy, O Most Munificent of the Munificent and Most Merciful of the Merciful! Amen.
O God! Grant blessings and peace to the one to whom was revealed the All-Wise Qur'an, the Distinguisher between Truth and Falsehood, and to his Family and Companions, all of them. Amen. Amen.
The Enduring One, He is the Enduring One!
Said Nursi
* * *
About the Miracle of the Splitting of the Moon
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
The Hour is nigh, and the moon is split. * But if they see a sign, they turn away, and say: "This is evident magic." 1
Philosophers and their unreasoning imitators, who want to eclipse with their vicious delusions the Splitting of the Moon, which is a miracle of Muhammed (PBUH) that shines like the moon, say: "If the Splitting of the Moon had occurred, it would have been known to the whole world and would have been related throughout the subsequent history of man."
The Answer: Since the Splitting of the Moon was demonstrated as an evidence of prophethood, and happened instantaneously, at night when people were asleep, and before a gathering who, although they witnessed such an evidence, denied it; and since there were obstacles hindering the sighting of it such as mist, clouds, and time-differences between different parts of the world; and since at that time science and civilization were not widespread, and observation of the skies was very limited, and the event itself was exceptional, there was, therefore, nothing to necessitate that it should have been seen all over the world and passed into the general histories. For now, listen to Five Points out of many that will scatter those clouds of delusion concerning the Splitting of the Moon.
FIRST POINT
The extreme stubbornness of the unbelievers there at that time is well-known and is recorded in history. And yet, when the All-Wise Qur'an announced this event to the whole world through saying:
And the moon is split,
not one of those unbelievers, who denied the Qur'an, spoke up to give the lie to this verse; that is, not one of them denied the event it was announcing. If the event had not been considered as a definite fact by the unbelievers at that time, they would have taken the verse as a pretext, denied it in a most fearsome manner, and tried to attack and overthrow Muhammed's (PBUH) claim to prophethood. However, the biographies of the Prophet and histories mentioning the event relate nothing to suggest that the unbelievers denied it. The only thing that history relates is, as the verse:
And [they] say, "This is evident magic",
points out, the unbelievers who saw the event declared it to be magic, and said that if the caravans in other places had seen it, it was true, otherwise he had bewitched them. The caravans arriving the following morning from the Yemen and other places announced that they had seen such a happening. So the unbelievers then said of the Pride of All the Worlds (PBUH) that, God forbid, the magic of Abu Talib's orphan had affected the heavens.
SECOND POINT
The majority of the most illustrious scholars, like Sa'd al-din Taftazani, declared that like the Prophet had satisfied the thirst of a whole army with water flowing from his fingers, and the whole congregation had heard a dry wooden post against which Muhammed (PBUH) had leant while delivering the sermon weep on being separated from him, the Splitting of the Moon, too, was Mutawatir, that is, had been transmitted by numerous authorities. That is to say, these events had been passed down from group to group forming such a vast congregation that a conspiracy to lie would have been impossible. Like the appearance of the famous Haley's Comet a thousand years ago had been unanimously reported, and the existence of the island of Ceylon was certain due to unanimous reports, although we had not seen it.
And so, it is unreasonable to foster baseless doubts in such certain, witnessed matters. It is enough that they are not impossible. And as for the Splitting of the Moon, it is quite as possible as a mountain's splitting with a volcanic eruption.
THIRD POINT
Miracles are for proving claims to prophethood and for convincing those who deny those claims, they are not for compelling people to believe. Therefore, miracles have to be manifested to those who hear claims to prophethood at a degree that will persuade them. Just as it would be contrary to the All-Wise and Glorious One's wisdom to display them all over the world or in so self-evident a manner that all would be compelled to believe, so would it also be contrary to the mystery of man's responsibility. For this responsibility requires "opening the door to the reason and not removing the power of choice." If the All-Wise Creator had left the moon split for one or two hours in order to show it to the whole world as the philosophers wished, and it had been recorded in all the general histories of man, then it would have been like all other occurrences in the heavens and would not have been an evidence to Muhammed's (PBUH) claim to prophethood and been special to it. Or else it would have been such a self-evident miracle that it would have removed the reason's power of choice, and compelled the reason to accept it; willy-nilly, it would have had to assent to his prophethood. Someone with a coal-like spirit like Abu Jahl would have remained at the same level as someone with a diamond-like spirit like Abu Bakr the Veracious; the mystery of man's responsibility would have been lost. It was due to this mystery that, being both instantaneous, and at nighttime, and at a time of sleep, and time differences, mist, and cloud and other obstacles concealing it, it was not shown to the whole world and did not pass into the histories.
FOURTH POINT
Since this event occurred instantaneously at night while everyone was sleeping, of course it was not seen all over the world. Even if some people had seen it, they would not have believed their eyes. And even if it had made them believe, such a significant event would not have become a permanent source for future histories through isolated individual reports.
In some books it is written that after the moon split into two halves, it fell to earth, but veracious scholars have rejected such additions, saying that they were perhaps added by dissemblers with the intention of reducing to nothing the value of this evident miracle.
And, for example, just as the same time in England and Spain, which were then enveloped in mists of ignorance, would have been just after sunset, in America daytime, and in China and Japan morning, so too in other places there would have been other obstacles preventing it from being seen. Now consider these unreasoning objectors who say that the histories of peoples like the English, Chinese, Japanese, and Americans do not mention it, and that therefore it did not occur. A thousand curses be on the heads of those who toady to Europe and repeat such things.
FIFTH POINT
The Splitting of the Moon happened neither of its own accord in consequence of certain causes, nor as a result of chance, nor was it a natural event that occurred through the ordinary laws of nature. Rather, the All-Wise Creator of the Sun and the Moon caused it to happen as something out of the ordinary in order to confirm His Messenger's prophethood and to illuminate his claim.
As the mystery of guidance, the mystery of human responsibility, and the wisdom of prophethood required, it was demonstrated as a convincing proof to certain people specified by Dominical wisdom. The mystery of wisdom required that it was not shown to people in every region of the world, who had not yet heard of Muhammed's (PBUH) claim to prophethood. Numerous obstacles prevented them, therefore, such as mist, cloud, and time-differences, and the fact that in some countries the moon had not risen, and in others the sun had risen, while in others it was morning, and in yet others the sun had just set.
If it had been shown to all and sundry, it would have been shown as a result of the Sign of Muhammed (PBUH), and a miracle of prophethood, in which case his prophethood would have been so manifest that everyone would have been compelled to affirm it. No choice would have remained for the reason. And belief is attained through the reason's power of choice. The mystery of human responsibility would have been lost. And if it had been shown merely as an occurrence in the heavens, its connection with Muhammed's (PBUH) prophethood would have been severed, and it would have retained no peculiarity to him.
To Conclude: There is no longer any doubt concerning the possibility that the Splitting of the Moon occurred; it has been proved decisively. And now we shall mention six of the many evidences pointing to its occurrence.
The concurrence of the Companions of the Prophet, who were all men of justice, on its occurrence.
Their agreement in expounding the verse, And the moon is split of all exacting commentators on the Qur'an.
The fact that, relying on numerous different chains of authorities and lines of transmission, all the scholars of the Prophetic Traditions and transmitters of the sound narrations narrated the event.
The testimony of all the saints and the veracious, those who receive inspiration, and uncover the mysteries of the creation.
The confirmation of learned scholars and theologians, whose ways differ greatly from one another.
The fact that the Community of Muhammed (PBUH) accepted its occurrence, which, on an established principle, never agrees upon error.
These six evidences prove the Splitting of the Moon as clearly as the sun.
CONCLUSION
Up to here this Addendum has been in the name of establishing the truth, and for the sake of silencing those enemies who deny it. Its concluding sentences will now be in the name of the truth and for the sake of belief. Indeed, establishing the truth spoke as above, now the truth speaks.
The Seal of the Office of Prophethood, who was the luminous moon of its heaven, proved his sainthood through his Ascension. This was the greatest wonder and supreme miracle of sainthood, achieved through his worship, which was so elevated as to make him God's beloved. That is to say, by travelling with his earthly body through the heavens, his superiority and his being God's beloved were demonstrated to the dwellers of the heavens and inhabitants of the lofty worlds. So too, through the moon, which is bound to the earth and suspended in the heavens, being split into two halves at the sign of an inhabitant of the earth, a miracle indicating to that earth-dweller's prophethood was displayed to the other inhabitants of the earth. Thus, the person of Muhammed (PBUH) flew to the very summit of perfections on the two luminous wings of prophethood and sainthood - like the two luminous unfolded wings of the moon; he ascended to the distance of two bow-lengths; he became the cause of pride of both the inhabitants of the heavens and the inhabitants of the earth....
Upon him and upon his Family be blessings and peace such as will fill the earth and the heavens.
Glory be unto You! we have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise.
* * *
The Third Addendum to the Miracles of Muhammed (PBUH)
[This concerns the Prophethood of Muhammed (PBUH) and is the answer, in concise index-like form, to the first of the three questions and difficulties in the Third Principle of the Thirty-First Word, about the Ascension of Muhammed .]
Question: Why is this mighty Ascension special to Muhammed the Arabian (Upon whom be blessings and peace)?
The Answer to your First Difficulty: It has been analyzed in detail in the first thirty Words. So here we shall set out a concise list briefly indicating to the perfections of Muhammed (PBUH), to the signs of his prophethood, and to the fact that he was the most worthy to make the Ascension. It is as follows.
Firstly: Despite numerous corruptions in the texts of Holy Scriptures like the Torah, Gospels, and Psalms, in recent times even, an exacting scholar like Husayn Jisri extracted one hundred and fourteen good tidings indicating the prophethood of Muhammed (PBUH), which he set forth in his Risale-i Hamidiya.
Secondly: It has been proved historically that there were many predictions accurately forecasting the prophethood of Muhammed (PBUH), like those of the two soothsayers Shiqq and Satih, which, a while previously to his prophethood, gave news of it and the fact that he was to be the final prophet.
Thirdly: There were hundreds of extraordinary happenings, famous in history, called irhasat, that is, signs forewarning men of a coming prophet, like, for example, on the night of Muhammed's (PBUH) birth, the idols in the Ka'ba fell from their places and the famous palace of Khosroes the Persian was rent asunder.
Fourthly: History and the Prophet's biographies show that he satisfied the thirst of an army with water flowing from his fingers, that in the presence of a large congregation in the mosque, the dry wooden support against which Muhammed (PBUH) was leaning moaned like a camel and wept on being separated from him when he ascended the pulpit, and that he was distinguished by close on a thousand miracles attested to by the verses of the Qur'an, such as,
And the moon split,
referring to the splitting of the moon, and verified by those who investigated them.
Fifthly: Anyone who considers the facts and is fair and just cannot hesitate to agree that, as is unanimously agreed by friend and foe alike, good moral qualities were to be found at the highest degree in his personality, and that, in accordance with the testimony of all his dealings and actions, attributes and character of the greatest excellence were apparent in the way he performed his duties and proclaimed Islam, and, in accordance with the fine qualities and conduct enjoined by the religion of Islam, laudable virtues of the highest order were to be found in the law he brought.
Sixthly: As is alluded to in the Second Indication of the Tenth Word, it is a requirement of wisdom that Divinity be manifested. And this desire of Divinity to be manifested is met at the greatest level and in the most brilliant fashion by the comprehensive worship performed by Muhammed (PBUH) in the practice of his religion. Also, wisdom and truth require that the Creator of the world displays His beauty in its utter perfection through some means. And the one who met that wish, and displayed and described His beauty in the most perfect fashion was self-evidently the person of Muhammed (PBUH).
And it was also clearly Muhammed (PBUH) who, in response to the desire of the world's Maker to exhibit and attract attentive gazes towards His perfect art within infinite beauty, heralded that art with the loudest voice.
And again it was necessarily Muhammed (PBUH) who, in response to the desire of the Sustainer of All the Worlds to proclaim His Unity in the levels of multiplicity, announced all the degrees of Unity, each at the greatest level of Unity.
And, as is indicated by the utter beauty in beings and as is required by truth and wisdom, the world's Owner desires to see and display in mirrors, His infinite essential beauty and the subtleties and qualities of His exquisiteness. And again it was self-evidently Muhammed (PBUH) who, in response to that desire, acted as a mirror and displayed that beauty in the most radiant fashion, and loved it and made others love it.
And, in response to the desire of the Maker of the palace of this world to exhibit and display His hidden treasuries, which are filled with the most wonderful miracles and priceless jewels, and through them to describe and make known His perfections, it was again self-evidently Muhammed (PBUH) who exhibited, described, and displayed them in the most comprehensive fashion.
And, since the Maker of the universe has made it in such a way that He adorns it with different varieties of wonders and embellishments and has included conscious creatures in it so that they mighty make tours and excursions and ponder over it and take lessons, wisdom requires that He should desire to make known the meanings and value of the works of art to those who observe and ponder over them. And it was again self-evidently Muhammed (PBUH) who, in response to this desire of the universe's Maker, by means of the All-Wise Qur'an, acted as a guide in the most comprehensive fashion to jinn and man, indeed, to spirit beings and angels.
Also, the All-Wise Ruler of the universe wishes, by means of an envoy, to cause all conscious beings to unravel the obscure talisman containing the aim and purpose of the change and transformations in the universe and to solve the riddle of the three perplexing questions: "Where do beings come form?", "Where are they going?", and, "What are they?" And again it was self-evidently Muhammed (PBUH) who, in response to this wish of the All-Wise Ruler, by means of the truths of the Qur'an, unravelled the talisman and solved the riddle in the clearest and most comprehensive fashion.
Also, the All-Glorious Maker of the universe desires to make Himself known to conscious beings by means of all His fine artefacts and to make them love Him through all His precious bounties, and, most certainly, to make known to them by means of an envoy the Divine wishes and what will please Him in return for those bounties. And again it is self-evidently Muhammed (PBUH) who, in response to this desire of the All-Glorious Maker, by means of the Qur'an, expounded those wishes and things that please Him by word and deed in the most exalted and perfect fashion.
Also, since the Sustainer of All the Worlds has given to man, who is the fruit of the universe, a comprehensive disposition which encompasses the universe and has prepared him for universal worship, and since, because of his faculties and senses, multiplicity and the world afflict man, the Sustainer desires to turn man's face from multiplicity to Unity, from transience to permanence. And again it is self-evidently Muhammed (PBUH) who, in response to this desire, by means of the Qur'an, acted as a guide in the most comprehensive and complete fashion, and in the best way, and carried out the duty of prophethood in the most perfect manner.
Thus, among beings the most superior are animate beings, and among animate beings the most superior are conscious beings, and among conscious beings the most superior are true human beings, and among true human beings the one who carried out the above-mentioned duties at the most comprehensive level and in the most perfect form, would, of a certainty, rise through an all-embracing Ascension to the distance of two bow-lengths, knock at the door of eternal happiness, open the treasury of Mercy, and see the hidden truths of belief. Again it would be him.
Seventhly: As is plain to see, beings are made beautiful with the utmost degree of fine embellishment and adornment. And such an embellishment and adornment clearly demonstrate that their Maker possesses an extremely strong will to make beautiful and intention to adorn. And the will to make beautiful and adorn demonstrates that the Maker necessarily possesses a strong desire and holy love towards His art. And among beings the one who displayed altogether in himself the most comprehensive and subtle wonders of art, and knew them and made them known and himself loved, and who appreciated the beauties to be found in other beings, declaring: "What wonders God has willed!", and was most beloved in the sight of his Maker, Who nurtures and loves His art, would most certainly be him.
Thus, the one who, declaring: "All glory be to God! What wonders God has willed! God is most Great!" in the face of the fine and exquisite qualities that gild beings and the subtle perfections that illuminate them, causes the heavens to ring out, and who, through the strains of the Qur'an, causes the universe to reverberate, and through his admiration and appreciation, his contemplation and display, and his mentioning of the Divine Names and affirmation of Divine Unity, brings land and sea to a state of ecstasy, is again self-evidently that one (PBUH).
And so, according to the meaning of 'the cause is like the doer', it is pure truth and sheer wisdom that the one in whose scales shall be found the equivalent of all the good deeds performed by his community, and whose spiritual perfections draw strength from the benedictions of all his community, and who, as a result of the duties he discharged in his prophethood, received immaterial recompense and boundless emanations of Divine Mercy and love, should advance by the stairway of the Ascension as far as Paradise, the Lote-tree of the farthest limit, the Divine Throne, and the distance of two bow-lengths.
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The Fourth Addendum to the Miracles of Muhammed (PBUH)
[The Sixteenth Degree, on the Prophethood of Muhammed (PBUH), from the Supreme Sign.]
Then that traveler through the world addressed his own intellect saying: "Since I am seeking my Master and Creator by means of the creatures of the cosmos, I ought before all else to visit the most celebrated of all these creatures, the greatest and most accomplished commander among them, according to the testimony even of his enemies, the most renowned ruler, the most exalted in speech and the most brilliant an intellect, who has illuminated fourteen centuries with his excellence and with his Qur'an, Muhammad the Arabian Prophet (May God's peace and blessings be upon him)." In order thus to visit him and seek from him the answer to his quest, he entered the blessed age of the Prophet in his mind, and saw that age to be one of true felicity, thanks to that being. For through the light he had brought, he had turned the most primitive and illiterate of peoples into the masters and teachers of the world.
He said too to his own intellect, "Before asking him concerning our Creator, we should first learn that value of this extraordinary being, the veracity of his words and the truthfulness of his warnings." Thus he began investigating, and of the numerous conclusive proofs that he found we will briefly indicate here only nine of the most general ones.
· THE FIRST
All excellent qualities and characteristics were to be found in that extraordinary being, according to the testimony even of his enemies. Hundreds of miracles were made manifest at his hands, according to explicit Qur'anic verses or traditions enjoying the status of tawatur.
Examples of these miracles are his splitting of the moon - And the moon split - with a single indication of his finger; his casting of a handful of dust into the eyes of his enemies, causing them to flee - It was not your act when you threw, hut God's - and his giving his thirsting army to drink from the water that flowed forth from his five fingers like the Spring of Kawthar. Since some of those miracles, numbering mare than three hundred, have been set forth with decisive proofs in the remarkable and wondrous work known as The Miracles of Muhammad (the Nineteenth Letter), we leave discussion of the miracles to that book, and permit the traveller to continue speaking:
"A being who in addition to noble characteristics and perfections has all these luminous miracles to demonstrate, must certainly be the most truthful in speech of all men. It is inconceivable that he would stoop to trickery, lies and error, the deeds of the vile."
· THE SECOND
He holds in his hand a decree from the Lord of the universe, a decree accepted and affirmed in each century by more than three hundred million people. This decree, the Qur'an of Mighty Stature, is wondrous in seven different ways. The fact that the Qur'an has forty different aspects of miraculousness and that it is the ward of the Creator of all beings has been set forth in detail with strong proofs in the Twenty-Fifth Word - The Miraculousness of the Qur'an, a celebrated treatise that is like the sun of the Risale-i Nur. We therefore leave such matters to that work and listen to the traveller as he says, "There can never be any possibility of lying on the part of the being who is the conveyor and proclaimer of this decree, for that would be a violation of the decree and treachery toward the One Who issued it."
· THE THIRD
Such a Sacred Law, an Islam, a code of worship, a cause, a summons, and a faith did that being bring forth that the like of them does not exist, nor could it exist. Nor does a more perfect form of them exist, nor could it exist. For the Law appearing with that unlettered being has no rival in its administration of one fifth of humanity for fourteen centuries, in a just and precise manner through its numerous injuctions. Moreover the Islam that emerged from the deeds, sayings and inward states of that unlettered being has no peer, nor can it have, for in each century it has been for three hundred million men a guide and a refuge, the teacher and educator of their intellects and the illuminator and purifier of their hearts, the cause for the refinement and training of their souls, and the source of progress and advancement of their spirits.
The Prophet is similarly unparalleled in the way in which he was the foremost in practicing all the forms of worship found in this religion, and the first in piety and the fear of God; in his observing the duties of worship fully and with attention to their profoundest dimensions, even while engaged in constant struggle and activity; in his practice of worship combining in perfect fashion the beginning and end of worship and servitude to God without imitation of anyone.
With the Jawshan al-Kabir, from among his thousands of supplicatory prayers and invocations, he describes his Sustainer with such a degree of gnosis that all the gnostics and saints who have come after him have been unable, with their joint efforts, to attain a similar degree of gnosis and accurate description. This shows that in prayer too he is without peer. Whoever looks at the section at the beginning of the Treatise on Supplicatory Prayer which sets forth some part of the meaning of one of the ninety-nine sections of the Jawshan al-Kabir will say that the Jawshan too has no peer.
In his conveying of the message and his summoning men to the truth, he displayed such steadfastness, firmness and courage that although great states and religions, and even his own people, tribe and uncle opposed him in the most hostile fashion, he exhibited not the slightest trace of hesitation anxiety or fear. The fact that he successfully challenged the whole world and made Islam the master of the world likewise proves that there is not and cannot be anyone like him in his conveying of the message and summons.
In his faith, he had so extraordinary a strength, so marvellous a certainty, so miraculous a breadth, and so exalted a conviction, illumining the whole world, that none of the ideas and beliefs then dominating the world, and none of the philosophies of the sages and teachings of the religious leaders, was able, despite extreme hostility and denial, to induce in his certainty, conviction, trust and assurance, the slightest doubt, hesitation, weakness or anxiety. Moreover, the saintly of all ages, headed by the Companions, the foremost in the degrees of belief, have all drawn on his fountain of belief and regarded him as representing the highest degree of faith. This proves that his faith too is matchless. Our traveler therefore concluded, and affirmed with his intellect, that lying and duplicity have no place in the one who has brought such a unique sacred law, such an unparalleled Islam, such a wondrous devotion to worship, such an extraordinary excellence in supplicatory prayer, such a universally acclaimed summons to the truth and such a miraculous faith.
· THE FOURTH
In the same way that the consensus of the prophets is a strong proof for the existence and Unity of God, so too it is a firm testimony to the truthfulness and messengerhood of this being. For all the sacred attributes, miracles and functions that indicate the truthfulness and messengerhood of the prophets (Upon whom be peace) existed in full measure in that being according to the testimony of history. The prophets have verbally predicted the coming of that being and given good tidings thereof in the Torah, the Gospels, the Psalms, and the pages; more than twenty of the most conclusive examples of these glad tidings, drawn from the scriptures, have been set forth and proven in the Nineteenth Letter. Similarly, through all the deeds and miracles associated with their prophethood they have affirmed and - as it were - put their signature to the mission of that being which is the foremost and most perfect in the tasks and functions of prophethood. Just as through verbal consensus they indicate the Divine Unity, through the unanimity of their deeds they bear witness to the truthfulness of that being. This too was understood by our traveller.
· THE FIFTH
Similarly, the thousands of saints who have attained truth, reality, perfection, wondrous deeds, unveiling and witnessing through the instruction of this being and following him, bear unanimous witness not only to the Divine Unity but also to the truthfulness and messengerhood of this being. Again, the fact that they witness, through the light of sainthood, some of the truths he proclaimed concerning the World of the Unseen, and that they believe in and affirm all of those truths through the light of belief, either with knowledge of certainty, or with the vision of certainty, or with absolute certainty. He saw that this too demonstates like the sun the degree of truthfulness and rectitude of that great being, their master.
· THE SIXTH
The millions of purified, sincere, and punctilious scholars and faithful sages, who have reached the highest station of learning through the teaching and instruction contained in the sacred truths brought by that being, despite his unlettered nature, the exalted sciences he invented and Divine knowledge he discovered - they not only prove and affirm, unanimously and with the strongest proofs, the Divine Unity which is the foundation of' his mission, but also bear unanimous witness to the truthfulness of this supreme teacher and great master, and to the veracity of his words. This is a proof as clear as daylight. The Risale-i Nur- too with its one hundred parts is but a single proof of his truthfulness.
· THE SEVENTH
The Family and Companions of the Prophet - who with their insight, knowledge, and spiritual accomplishment are the most renowned, the most respected, the most celebrated, the most pious and the most keen-sighted of men after the prophets - examined and scrutinized, with the utmost attention, seriousness and exactitude, all the states, thoughts and conditions of this being, whether hidden or open. They came to the unanimous conclusion that he was the most truthful, exalted, and honest being in the world, and this, their unshakable affirmation and firm belief, is a proof like the daylight attesting the reality of the sun.
· THE EIGHTH
The cosmos indicates its Maker, Inscriber, and Designer, Who creates, administers, and arranges it, and through determining its measure and form and regulating it, has disposal over it as though it was a palace, a book, an exhibition, a spectacle. And so too it indicates that it requires and necessitates an elevated herald, a truthful unveiler, a learned master, and a truthful teacher who will know and make known the Divine purposes in the universe's creation, teach the Dominical instances of wisdom in its changes and transformations, give instruction in the results of its dutiful motions, proclaim its essential value and the perfections of the beings within it, and express the meanings of that mighty book; it indicates that he is certain to exist. Thus, the traveller knew that it testified to the truthfulness of this being, who performed these functions better than anyone, and to his being a. most elevated and loyal official of the universe's Creator.
· THE NINTH
There is behind the veil One Who wishes to demonstrate with these ingenious and wise artifacts the perfection of His talent and art; to make Himself known and loved by means of these countless adorned and decorated creations; to evoke praise and thanks through the unnumbered pleasurable and valuable bounties that he bestows; to cause men to worship Him with gratitude and appreciation in the face of His Dominicality, through His solicitous and protective sustenance of life, and His provision of nurture and bounty in such manner as to satisfy the most delicate of tastes and appetites; to manifest His Divinity through the change of seasons, the alternation of night and day, and through all His magnificent and majestic deeds, all His awe-inspiring and wise acts and creativity, and thereby to cause men to believe in his Divinity, in submission, humility and obedience; and to demonstrate His justice and truthfulness by at all times protecting virtue and the virtuous and destroying evil and the evil, by annihilating with blows from heaven the oppressor and the liar. There will of a certainty be at the side of this Unseen Being His most beloved creature and most devoted bondsman, who, serving the purposes that have just been mentioned, discovers and unravels the talisman and riddle of the creation of the universe, who acts always in the name of that Creator, who seeks aid and success from Him, and who receives them from Him - Muhammad of Quraish (Peace and blessings be upon him!)
The traveller further said, addressing his own intellect: "Since these nine truths bear witness to the truthfulness of this being, he must be the source of glory of mankind and the source of honor for the world. If we therefore call him the Pride of the World and Glory of the Sons of Adam, it will be fitting. The fact that the awesome sovereignty of that decree of the Compassionate One, the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition that he holds in his hand, has conquered half the world, together with his individual perfections and exalted virtues, shows that he is the most important personage in the world. The most important word concerning our Creator is that which he utters."
Now see: the foundation of the summons of this extraordinary being and the aim of all his life, based on the strength furnished by his hundreds of decisive and evident and manifest miracles, and the thousands of exalted, fundamental truths contained in his religion, was to prove and bear witness to the existence of the Necessary Existent, His Unity, attributes and Names, to affirm, proclaim and announce Him. He is therefore like a sun in the cosmos, the most brilliant proof of our Creator, this being whom we call the Beloved of God. There are three forms of great and infallible consensus each of which affirms, confirms, and puts its signature to the witness he bears.
The First: the unanimous affirmation made by that luminous assembly known and celebrated throughout the world as the Family of Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him) including thousands of poles and supreme saints of penetrating gaze and ability to perceive the Unseen, such Imam Ali (May God be pleased with him), who said, "Were the veil to be lifted, my certainty would not increase," and Abd al-Qadir al-Gilani, the Ghauth al-A'zam (May his mystery be sanctified), who saw the Supreme Throne and the awesome form of Israfil while yet on the earth.
The Second: the confirmation made with a strong faith that men to sacrifice their lives and their property, their fathers and tribes, by the renowned assembly known as the Companions, who found themselves among a primitive people and in an unlettered environment, devoid of all social life and political thought, without any scripture and lost in the darkness of a period between prophets; and who in a very brief time came to be the masters, guides, and just rulers of the most civilized and politically and socially advanced peoples and states, and to rule the world from east to west in universally approved fashion.
The Third: the confirmation provided with unanimous and certain knowledge by that lofty group of punctilious and profound scholars of whom in each age thousands spring forth, who advance in wondrous fashion in every science and work in different fields.
Thus, the testimony brought by this being to thc Divine Unity is not particular and individual, but general and universal and unshakable. If all the demons that exist were to unite, they could not challenge it. Such was the conclusion reached by the traveller.
In reference to the lesson learned in the School of Light by that traveller from the world, that wayfarer in life, when he visited in his mind the blessed age of the Prophet, we said at the end of the Sixteenth Degree of the First Station:
There is no god but God, the Necessary Existent, the One, the Unique, the Necessity of Whose Existence in Unity is indicated by the Pride of the World and the Glory of the Sons of Adam, through the majesty of the sovereignty of his Qur'an, the splendor of the expanse of his religion, the multiplicity of his perfections, and the exaltedness of his characteristics, us confirmed even by the testimony of his enemies. He bears witness and brings proof through the strength of his hundreds of manifest and evident miracles, that both testify to truth and are themselves the object of true testimony; and through the strength of the thousands of luminous and conclusive truths contained in his religion, according to the consensus of all the possessors of light, the agreement of his illumined Companions, and the unanimity of the scholars of his community, the possessors of proofs and luminous insight.
The Enduring One, He is the Enduring One!
Said Nursi
The Twentieth Letter
In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but its glorifies Him with praise.
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
There is no god but God, He is One, He has no partner; His is the dominion and His is the praise; He alone grants life, and deals death, and He is living and dies not; all good is in His hand, He is powerful over all things, and with Him all things have their end.
[This sentence expressing Divine Unity, which is recited following the morning and evening prayers, possesses numerous merits and according to an authentic narration, bears the degree of the Greatest Name. It contains eleven phrases, in each of which are both some good news and tidings, and a degree in the affirmation of the Unity of God's Dominicality, and an aspect of the grandeur and perfection of Divine Unity from the point of view of a Greatest Name. Referring the explanation of these great and elevated truths to other parts of the Risale-i Nur, in fulfillment of a promise we shall for now write a brief, index-like summary of them in two Stations and an Introduction.]
INTRODUCTION
Be certain of this, that the highest aim of creation and its most important result are belief in God. And the most exalted rank in humanity and its highest degree are the knowledge of God contained within belief in God. And the most radiant happiness and sweetest bounty for jinn and human beings are the love of God contained within the knowledge of God. And the purest joy for the human spirit and the sheerest delight for man's heart are the rapture of the spirit contained within the love of God. Indeed, all true happiness, pure joy, sweet bounties, and untroubled pleasure lie in knowledge of God and love of God; they cannot exist without them.
One who knows and loves God Almighty is potentially able to receive endless bounties, happiness, lights, and mysteries. While one who does not truly know and love him is afflicted spiritually and materially by endless misery, pain, and fears. Indeed, even if such an impotent and miserable person owned the whole world, it would be worth nothing for him, for it would seem to him that he was living a fruitless life among the vagrant human race in a wretched world without owner or protector. Everyone may understand just how wretched and bewildered is man among the vagrant human race in this bewildering fleeting world if he does not know his Owner, if he does not discover his Master. But if he does discover and know Him, he will seek refuge in His mercy and will rely on His power. The desolate world will turn into a place of recreation and pleasure, it will become a place of trade for the Hereafter.
FIRST STATION
Each of the eleven phrases of the above-mentioned sentence affirming Divine Unity contains some good news. And in the good news of each lies a cure, and in each of those cures a spiritual pleasure may be found.
THE FIRST PHRASE: 'There is no god but God.'
The good news in this phrase is such that the human spirit, subject as it is to countless needs and the attacks of innumerable enemies, finds a place of recourse, a source of help. This opens for it the door of a treasury of mercy that will guarantee all its needs, and provides it with a point of support and Strength which shows it its Master and Owner; just as it makes known to it its Creator and True Object of Worship, Who possesses an absolute power that will secure it from the evil of all its enemies. Through pointing this out, the phrase saves the heart from utter desolation and the spirit from aching sorrow; it ensures an eternal joy, a perpetual happiness.
THE SECOND PHRASE: 'He is One.'
This phrase announces the following good news, which is both healing and a source of happiness:
Man's spirit and heart, which are connected to most of the creatures in the universe and reach the point of being overwhelmed in misery and confusion on account of this connection, find in the phrase 'He is One' a refuge and protector that will deliver them from all the confusion and bewilderment.
That is to say, it is as if 'He is One' is saying to man: "God is One. Do not wear yourself out having recourse to other things; do not demean yourself and feel indebted to them; do not flatter them and fawn on them and humiliate yourself; do not follow them and make things difficult for yourself; do not fear them and tremble before them; because the Monarch of the universe is One, the key to all things is with Him, the reins of all things are in His hand, everything will be resolved by His command. If you find Him, you will be saved from endless indebtedness, countless fears."
THE THlRD PHRASE: 'He has no partner.'
Just as in His Divinity and in His sovereignty He has no partner, God is One and He cannot be many, so too in His Dominicality and in His actions and in His creating He has no partner. It sometimes happens that a monarch is one, having, no partner in his sovereignty, but in the execution of His affairs his officials act as his partners; they prevent everyone from entering his presence, saying: "Have recourse to us."
However, God Almighty, the Monarch of Pre-Eternity and Post-Eternity, has no partner in His sovereignty, and so too He has no need for partners or helpers in the execution of His Dominicality. If it were not for His command and will, His strength and power, not a single thing could interfere with another. Everyone can have recourse to Him directly. Since He has no partner or helper, it may not be said to someone seeking recourse, "It is forbidden, you may not enter into His presence."
This phrase, therefore, delivers the following joyful announcement to the human spirit: the human spirit which has attained to faith may, without let or hindrance, opposition or interference, in any state, for any wish, at any time and in any place, enter the presence of the Possessor of Beauty and Glory, the One of power and perfection Who is the Pre-Eternal and Post-Eternal Owner of the treasuries of mercy, the treasuries of bliss, and may present its needs. And finding His mercy, relying on His power, it will attain perfect ease and happiness.
THE FOURTH PHRASE: 'His is the dominion.'
That is to say, ownership is altogether His. And as for you, you are both His property, you are owned by Him, and you work in His property. This phrase announces the following joyful and healing news:
"O mankind! Do not suppose that you own yourself, for you have no control over any of the things that concern you; such a load would be heavy. Also, you are unable to protect yourself, to avoid disasters, or to do those things that you must. In which case, do not suffer pain and torment without reason, the ownership is another's. The Owner is both All-Powerful and All-Merciful; rely on His power and do not cast aspersions on His mercy! Leave grief behind, be joyful! Discard your troubles and find serenity!"
And it also says: "The universe, which you love, to which you are connected and which grieves you by its confusedness and which you are unable to put right, is the property of an All-Powerful and Merciful One. So hand over the property to its Owner, leave it in Him. Attract His pleasure, not His harshness. He is both All-Wise and All-Merciful. He has free disposal over His property and administers it is He wishes. Whenever you take fright, say like Ibrahim Hakki: 'Let's see what the Master does; whatever He does, it is best;' see it well, and do not interfere!"
THE FIFTH PHRASE: 'His is the praise.'
Praise, laudation, and acclaim are proper to Him, are fitting for Him. That is to say, bounties are His; they come from His treasury. And as for the treasury, it is unending. This phrase, therefore, delivers the following good news:
"O mankind! Do not suffer and sorrow when bounties cease, for the treasury of mercy is inexhaustible. And do not dwell on the fleeting nature of pleasure and cry out with pain, because the fruit of the bounty is the fruit of a boundless mercy. And since its tree is undying, when the fruit finishes it is replaced by more. If you thankfully think that within the pleasure of the bounty itself is a merciful favour a hundred times more pleasurable, you will be able to increase the pleasure a hundredfold.
"Within an apple an august monarch presents to you is a pleasure superior to that of a hundred, rather a thousand, apples because it is he that has bestowed it on you and made you experience the pleasure of a royal favour. In the same way, through the phrase `His is the praise' will be opened to you the door of a spiritual pleasure a thousand times sweeter than the bounty itself. For this phrase means to offer praise and thanks; that is to say, to perceive; the bestowal of bounty. This in turn means to recognize the Bestower, which is to reflect on the bestowal of bounty, and so finally to ponder over the favour of His compassion and His continuing to bestow bounties."
SIXTH PHRASE: 'He alone grants life.'
That is, the giver of life is He. And the one who causes life to continue by means of sustenance is again He. And the supplier of the necessities of life is also He. And the exalted aims of life pertain to Him and its important results look to Him and ninety-nine out of a hundred of its fruits are His. Thus, this phrase calls out to ephemeral and impotent man in this way, it makes this joyful announcement:
"O man? Do not trouble yourself by taking the heavy responsibilities of life onto your own shoulders. Do not think of the transience of life and start grieving. And do not see only its worldly and unimportant fruits and regret that you came to this world. Rather, the life-machine in the ship of your being belongs to the Ever-Living and Self Subsistent One, and it is He Who provides for all its expenses and requirements. Also, your life has a great many aims and results and they pertain to Him, too.
"As for you, you are just a helmsman on the ship, so do your duty well and take the wage and pleasure that come with it. Think just how precious is the life-ship and how valuable its benefits; then think just how Generous and Merciful is the Owner of the ship. So, rejoice and give thanks and know that when you perform your duty with integrity, all the results the ship produces will in one respect be transferred to the register in which your actions are recorded, that they will secure an immortal life for you, will endow you with eternal life."
THE SEVENTH PHRASE: 'And deals death.'
That is, the one who causes death is He. He discharges you from the duty of life, changes your abode from this transitory world, and releases you from the labour of service. That is, He takes you from a transient life to an immortal one. This phrase, then, shouts out the following to ephemeral jinn and man:
"Here is good news for you! Death is not destruction, or nothingness, or annihilation; it is not cessation, or extinction; it is not eternal separation, or non-existence, or a chance event; it is not authorless obliteration. Rather, it is being discharged by the Author Who is All-Wise and All-Compassionate; it is a change of abode. It is being despatched to eternal bliss, to your true home. It is the door of union to the Intermediate Realm, which is where you will meet with ninety-nine per cent of your friends."
THE EIGHTH PHRASE: 'And He is living and dies not.'
That is to say, the Possessor of a beauty, perfection, and munificence that are infinitely superior to the beauty, perfection, and munificence to be seen in all the creatures of the universe, and that arouse love, and an Eternal Object of Worship, an Everlasting Beloved, one single manifestation of Whose beauty is sufficient to replace all other beloveds, has an enduring life through pre-eternity and post-eternity - a life free from any trace of cessation or ephemerality and exempt from any fault, defect, or imperfection. Thus, this phrase proclaims to jinn and man, to all conscious beings, and the people of love and ardor:
"Here is good news for you! There is an Everlasting Beloved Who will cure and bind your wounds caused by countless separations from the ones you love. Since He exists and is undying, whatever may happen do not fret over the others. Furthermore, the beauty and generosity, virtue and perfection in them, which are the cause of your love, are, passing through many veils, the shadows of the palest of shadows of the manifestation of the Ever-Enduring Beloved's ever-enduring Beauty. Do not grieve at their disappearance, for they are mirrors of a sort. The changing of the mirrors renews and embellishes the manifestation of the Beauty's radiance. Since He exists, everything exists."
THE NINTH PHRASE: 'All good is in His hand.'
Every good action you perform is transferred to His register. Every righteous deed you do is recorded with Him. Thus, this phrase calls out to jinn and mankind with the following good news:
"O you wretched ones! When you journey to the grave do not cry out in despair, 'Alas! Everything we owned is destroyed, all our efforts wasted; we have left the beautiful broad earth and entered the narrow grave,' for everything of yours is preserved, all your actions written down, every service you have rendered recorded. One of Glory in Whose hand is all good and Who is able to bring all good to fruition, will reward your service: drawing you to Himself, He will keep you only temporarily under the ground. Later, He will bring you to His presence. What happiness for those of you who have completed their service and duty; your labour is finished, you are going to ease and mercy! Service and toil are over, you going to receive your wage!
"Indeed, the All-Powerful One of Glory preserves seeds and grains, which are the pages of the register of last spring's deeds and the depositboxes of its services, and preserves and publishes them the following spring in glittering fashion, indeed, in a manner a hundred times more plentiful than the originals. He is, then, preserving the results of your life in the same way, and will reward your service in a truly abundant fashion,"
THE TENTH PHRASE: 'And He is Powerful over all things.'
That is, He is One, He is Unique, He has Power over everything. Nothing at all is difficult for Him. To create the spring is as easy for Him as to create a flower, and He creates Paradise with as much ease as He creates the spring. The innumerable artifacts which He continuously creates every day, every year, every century, witness with numberless tongues to His boundless power. Thus, this phrase too delivers good news:
"O man! The service you have offered and the worship you have performed are not for nothing. A realm of reward, an abode of bliss, has been prepared for you. An unending Paradise is awaiting you in place of this fleeting world of yours. Have faith and confidence in the promise of the Glorious Creator Whom you know and Whom you worship, for it is impossible for Him to break His promise. In absolutely no respect is there any deficiency in His power; impotence cannot interfere in His works. Just as He creates your tiny garden, so too is He able to create Paradise for you, and He has created it and promised it to you. And because He has promised, He shall, of course, admit you to it.
"Since we see through observation that every year on the face of the earth Ho gathers together and disperses with perfect order and balance, with perfect timing and ease, more than three hundred thousand species and groups of animals and plants, most certainly such an All-Powerful One of Glory is capable of carrying out His promise. And being thus Absolutely Powerful He creates samples of the resurrection and Paradise in thousands of forms every year.
"And since, promising eternal bliss through all His revealed Books, He gives the glad tidings of Paradise; and since all His actions and functions are carried out with truth, veracity, and seriousness; and since, through the testimony of all His works of art, all perfections point to and testify to His infinite perfection, there being in absolutely no respect any defect or fault in Him; and since the breaking of a promise, lying, falsehood, and deception are the ugliest of qualities, besides being defects and faults, then most decidedly and most certainly will that All-Powerful One of Glory, that All-Wise One of Perfection, that All-Merciful One of Beauty carry out His promise: He will open the gate to eternal bliss; He will admit you, O people of faith, to Paradise, which was the original home of your forefather Adam."
THE ELEVENTH PHRASE: 'And with Him all things have their end.'
That is, human beings are sent to this world, which is the realm of trial and examination, with the important duties of trading and acting as officials. After they have concluded their trading, accomplished their duties, and completed their service, they will return and meet once more with their Generous Master and Glorious Creator Who sent them forth in the first place. Leaving this transient realm, they will be honoured and elevated to the presence of grandeur in the realm of permanence. That is to say, being delivered from the turbulence of causes and from the obscure veils of intermediaries, they will meet with their Merciful Sustainer without veil at the seat of His eternal majesty. Everyone will find his Creator, True Object of Worship, Sustainer, Lord, and Owner and will know Him directly. Thus, this phrase proclaims the following joyful news, which is greater than all the rest:
"O mankind! Do you know where you are going and to where you are being impelled? As is stated at the end of the Thirty-Second Word, a thousand years of happy life in this world cannot be compared to one hour of life in Paradise. And a thousand years of life in Paradise cannot be compared to one hour's vision of the sheer loveliness of the Beauteous One of Glory. And you are going to the sphere of His mercy, and to His presence.
"The loveliness and beauty in all the creatures of this world and in those metaphorical beloveds by which you are so stricken and obsessed and for which you are so desirous, are but a sort of shadow of the manifestation of His beauty and of the loveliness of His Names; and all Paradise with all of its subtle wonders, a single manifestation of His mercy; and all longing and love and allurement and captivation, but a flash of the love of the Eternal Worshipful One and Everlasting Beloved. And you are going to the sphere of His presence. You are being summoned to Paradise, which is an eternal feasting place. Since this is so, it is not with weeping that you enter the grave, but smiling with expectation."
The phrase announces this good news as well: "O mankind! Do not be apprehensive imagining that you are going to extinction, non-existence, nothingness, darkness, oblivion, decay, and dissolution, and that you will drown in multiplicity. You are going not to extinction, but to permanence. You are being impelled not to non-existence, but to perpetual existence. You are going to enter not darkness, but the world of light. And you are returning to your true owner, to the seat of the Pre-Eternal Monarch. You will not drown in multiplicity, you will take your rest in the sphere of Unity. You are bound not for separation, but for union."
SECOND STATION
[The Second Station consists of a brief indication proving Divine Unity at the level of the Greatest Name.]
THE FIRST PHRASE: "There is no god but God.'
In this phrase is an affirmation of the Unity of Divinity and of the True Object of Worship. An extremely powerful proof of this degree in the affirmation of Divine Unity is as follows:
A most orderly activity is apparent on the face of the universe, especially on the page of the earth. And we observe there a most wise creativity. And we clearly see a most systematic unfolding; that is, the opening up and giving of an appropriate shape and form to everything. And, furthermore, we see a most compassionate, generous, and merciful munificence and bountifulness. Since this is so, it of necessity proves, indeed provokes awareness of, the necessary existence and Unity of an Active, Creative, Opening, Munificent Possessor of Glory.
Indeed, the constant disappearance and renewal of beings demonstrate that those beings are the manifestations of the sacred Names of an All-Powerful Maker, and are shadows of the lights of His Names; that they are works of art resulting from His actions, and impressions and pages inscribed by the pen of Divine Determining and Power; that they are mirrors reflecting the beauty of his perfection.
Just as the Owner of the universe proves this mighty truth and exalted degree in the affirmation of His Unity with ail the scriptures and sacred Books which He has revealed, so too have all the people of truth and the perfected members of the human race proved this same degree through all their investigations and discoveries. And the universe, too, points to this same degree in the affirmation of Divine Unity through the unceasing witnessing of the miracles of art, wonders of power, and treasuries of wealth that it displays, despite its impotence and poverty. That is to say, the Pre-Eternal Witness, through His scriptures and Books, and the people of witnessing through all their investigations and unveilings, and the Manifest World bearing witness through all its orderly states and wise qualities, agree unanimously on this degree in the affirmation of Divine Unity.
Those who do not accept the Single One of Unity, therefore, must either accept innumerable gods, or else like the foolish Sophists, deny both their own existence and that of the universe.
THE SECOND PHRASE: 'He is One.'
This phrase demonstrates an explicit degree in the profession of Divine Unity. A convincing argument proving this degree comprehensively is as follows:
When we open our eyes, when the universe fastens our gaze on its face, the first thing to attract our attention is a universal and perfect order; we see that there is a comprehensive and sensitive equilibrium. Everything exists within a precise order and delicate balance and measure.
When we look a little more carefully, a continual ordering and balancing strikes our eye. That is to say, someone is changing the order with regularity and renewing the balance with measuredness. Everything is a model and is clothed in a great many well-ordered and balanced forms.
And when we study it even more closely, a wisdom and justice appear behind the ordering and balancing. A purpose and benefit are considered, a truth, a usefulness are followed in the motion of everything, even the minutest particles.
And when we study it with even greater attention, what strikes the gaze of our consciousness is the demonstration of a power within an extremely wise activity, and the manifestation of a most comprehensive knowledge which encompasses all the attributes of all things.
That is to say, this order and balance which are in all beings show us plainly a universal ordering and balancing, and the ordering and balancing, a universal wisdom and justice; and the wisdom and justice in turn show us a power and knowledge. That is, One Powerful over all things and with Knowledge of all things, reveals Himself to the mind behind these veils.
Furthermore, we look to the beginning and end of all things, and we see, particularly in animate creatures, that their beginnings, origins, and roots are such that it is as if their seeds contain all the systems and members of those creatures, each in the form of an instruction sheet and timetable. And again, their fruits and results are such that the meanings of those animate creatures are filtered and concentrated in them; they bequeath their life histories to them. It is as if their seeds are collections of the principles according to which they are created, and their fruits and results a sort of index of the commands of their creation. Then we look to the outer and inner faces of those animate creatures: the free disposal of an utterly wise power and the fashioning and ordering of an utterly effective will are apparent. That is, a strength and power creates; a command and will clothes with form.
Thus, when we study all beings carefully, we observe that their beginnings are instruction sheets prepared by One Possessing Knowledge, and that their ands are plans and manifestos of a Maker; that their outer faces are most skillful and beautifully proportioned dresses of artistry devised by One Who Chooses and Wills, and their inner faces, the most well-ordered machines of an All-Powerful One.
This situation therefore, necessarily and self-evidently proclaims that no time and no place, absolutely nothing, can be outside the grip of power of one single Glorious Maker. Each thing and all things, together with all of their attributes, are organized and directed within the grip of power of an All-Powerful Possessor of Will; and they are made beautiful through the ordering and graciousness of a Merciful and Compassionate One; and they are embellished with the adorning of a Loving Benefactor.
Indeed, for anyone who is conscious and has eyes in his head, the order and equilibrium, and ordering and adorning that there are in the universe and in the beings within it, demonstrate, in the degree of Unity, One Who is Single, Sole, Solitary, Unique, All-Powerful, Possessing of Will, All-Knowing, and All-Wise.
Assuredly, there is a unity in everything; and as for unity, it points to one. For example, the whole world is illuminated by one lamp, the sun; in which case, the Owner of the world is One as welt. And, for example, all the animate creatures on the earth are served by air, fire, and water, which are the same. Since this is so, the One Who employs them and subjugates them to us is also One.
THE THIRD PHRASE: 'He has no partner.'
Since the First Station of the Thirty-Second Word has proved this phrase in a most cogent and brilliant fashion, we refer you to that. It cannot be more clearly elucidated; there is no need for further explanation.
THE FOURTH PHRASE: 'His is the dominion.'
That is, every creature from the face of the earth to the Divine Throne, from the ground to the Pleiades, From the minutest particles to the heavenly bodies, everything from pre-eternity to post-eternity, the heavens and the earth, this world and the Hereafter, belongs to Him. His is the highest degree of ownership in the form of the greatest affirmation of Divine Unity. A mighty proof of this highest degree of ownership in the form of the greatest affirmation of Divine Unity was imparted to this powerless one's mind in Arabic at a pleasant time and in pleasant circumstances. For the sake of that pleasant memory we shall note down those same phrases and then write their meanings:
His is the dominion because: the macrocosm is similar to the microcosm; what is fashioned by His power is a missive expressing His determining; His creating the macrocosm makes it as a place of prostration, while His giving of existence to the macrocosm makes it as prostrating; His bringing the, former' into being makes it as a property while His giving of existence to the latter makes it as owned His art in the former displays it as a book while His colouring in the latter shines through speech; His power in the former reveals His majesty while His mercy in the latter arrays His bounty; His majesty in the former testifies that He is One, while His bounty in the latter proclaims that He is Single, Undivided; His stamp on the former is on all things, universal and particular, while His seal on the latter is on the body and on the limbs.
F i r s t S e c t i o n : 'The macrocosm is similar to the microcosm what is fashioned by His power is a massive expressing His determining.' That is, the macrocosm, which is called the. universe, and the. microcosm, which is its miniature specimen and is called man, point to evidences of Divine Unity, both within man's self and without it, that arc written by the pens of Divine Power and Divine Determining.
There is within man the sample, on a very small scale, of the well-ordered art which is in the universe. And, just as the art which is in the vast sphere testifies to the Single Maker, so too the microscopic art which is on a tiny scale in man points to the Maker and demonstrates His Unity. Moreover, just as man is a most meaningful missive inscribed by his Sustainer, and a well-composed ode written by Divine Determining, so too is the universe a well-composed ode of Divine Determining written by that same pen, but on a vast scale.
Is it at all possible that anything other than the Single One of Unity could have a hand in placing the stamp of uniqueness on men's faces, which, although they resemble one another, all have their distinguishing marks; and have a hand in setting the seal of Unity on the universe, all of whose creatures cooperate, helping and supporting one another? Could anything else interfere in this?
S e c o n d S e c t i o n : 'His creating the macrocosm makes it as a place of prostration, while. His giving of existence to the microcosm makes it as prostrating.' It has this meaning: the All-Wise Maker created the macrocosm in such a novel, wonderful form, inscribing on it the signs of His grandeur, that He transformed it into a mighty mosque. And He created man in this way: giving him intellect and causing him to prostrate in wonderment with it at those miracles of His art and at His wondrous power, He caused him to read the signs of His grandeur. And thus girding him ready for worship in that mighty mosque, He created him as a prostrating slave.
Is it all possible that the true object of worship of those prostrating worshippers in this mighty mosque could be other than the Maker, the One of Unity and Oneness?
T h i r d S e c t i o n : 'His bringing the former into being makes it as a property, while His giving of existence. to the latter makes it as owned.' It has this meaning: the Glorious Lord of All Dominion created the macrocosm, and especially the face of the earth, in such a form that it is like countless concentric circles or spheres. Every sphere is like an arable field where, minute by minute, season by season, century by century, He sows, reaps, and harvests crops. He continuously administers His property, causing it to work.
He has made the world of minute particles, which is the largest sphere, into a field. With His power and with His wisdom, He unceasingly sows crops in to the extent of the universe, and reaps and harvests them. He despatches them from the Manifest World to the World of the Unseen, from the sphere of power to the sphere of knowledge.
Next He has made the face of the earth, which is a medium sphere, a place of cultiviation in exactly the same way, where, season by season, He plants worlds, species, and reaps and harvests them. And His immaterial crops too He sends to the immaterial worlds, to the Worlds of the Unseen, and the Hereafter, and the World of Similitudes.
A garden, too, which is a smaller sphere, He fills hundreds and thousands of times with power and empties with wisdom. And from the even smaller sphere of an animate creature, a tree or a human being, for example, He harvests crops which are a hundred times greater than the being itself. That is to say, the Glorious Lord of All Dominion creates all things, great and small, universal and particular, as a model, and clothes them in hundreds of ways in the weavings of His art, which are embroidered with continuously renewed inscriptions; He displays the manifestations of His Names, the miracles of His power. He has created everything in His property as a page; He writes meaningful letters in hundreds of ways on each page; He displays His wisdom, His signs, and He invites conscious creatures to read them.
Together with bringing this macrocosm into being in the form of a cultivated property, He has also created man and has given him such tools and abilities, senses, feelings, and especially such a soul, such desires, needs, appetities, greed and claims, that in that extensive property He made him like a creature totally owned and needy for the property.
Is it therefore at all possible that anything apart from the Glorious Lord of All Dominion Who makes everything, from the vast world of minute particles to a fly, as a field and cultivated property, and makes insignificant man a spectator, an inspector, a tiller, a merchant, a herald, a worshipper, and a slave in that vast property and takes him as an honoured guest and beloved addressee of Himself - could anything apart from Him have. free disposal over the property, be lord over the totally owned slave?
F o u r t h S e c t i o n : 'His art in the former displays it as a book, while His colouring in the latter shines through speech.' Its meaning is this: the Glorious Maker's art in the macrocosm is so meaningful that because it is manifest in the form of a book, thus making the universe like a huge volume, the human intellect has extracted the library of true natural science and philosophy from it and has written the library according to It. And that book of wisdom is bound to reality and draws assistance from reality to such a degree that it has been proclaimed in the form of the All-Wise Qur'an, which is a copy of that huge manifested book.
Moreover, just as His art in the universe is in the form of a book, describing its perfect orderedness, so too His colouring and the inscription of His wisdom in man has opened the flower of speech. That is, the art is so meaningful, sensitive, and beautiful that it has caused the components of that animate machine to speak, as though they were gramophones. While the art has given man such a Dominical colouring in his 'fairest of forms' that the flower of speech and expression, which is immaterial, insubstantial and living, has opened in his material, corporeal and solid head. And it has equipped the power of speech and expression, which is situated in man's head, with such exalted tools and abilities that it has caused it to develop and progress to a degree where man becomes the addressee of the Pre-Eternal Monarch. That is, the Dominical colouring in man's essential nature has opened the flower of Divine address.
Is it at all possible that anything other than the Single One of Unity could interfere in the fashioning of that art in creatures, which is in the form of a book, and in that colouring, in man whereby he attains to the station of speech and address? God forbid!
F i f t h S e c t i o n : 'His power in the former reveals His majesty, while His mercy in the latter arrays His bounty.' It has this meaning: Divine power in the macrocosm demonstrates the majesty of His Dominicality, whereas Dominical mercy arrays His bounties in man, who is the microcosm. That is, the Maker's power, in the degree of grandeur and Glory, creates the universe in the form of a palace so magnificent that its sun is a mighty electric light, its moon, a lamp, and its stars, candles, gilded fruits and scattered lights. And the face of the earth is a laden table, an arable field, a garden, a carpet; and its mountains, each a store, house, a mast, a fortress; and so on.
In the same way that He demonstrates in a brilliant manner the majesty of His Dominicality by providing all things on a vast Scale, in the form of the huge palace's necessities, His mercy too in the degree of Beauty, has bestowed on all creatures with spirits, and even on the most minute animate beings, the different varieties of His bounties. He has ordered their beings with these. Adorning them from head to toe with bounties, He embellishes them with kindness and generosity. He has counterpoised the Beauty of His mercy and that Glorious majesty, those microscopic tongues and that vast tongue.
That is, while the huge heavenly bodies like the suns and constellations are saying with the tongue of majesty: "O Glorious One! O Mighty one! O August One!", those tiny animate creatures, like flies and fishes are also declaring" but with the tongue of mercy: "O Beautiful One! O Compassionate One! O Generous One!"; they are adding their gentle songs to that great orchestra, sweetening it.
Is it at all possible that anything other than the All-Glorious One of Beauty and All-Beauteous One of Glory could interfere in any way in the creation of the macrocosm and microcosm? God forbid!
S i x t h S e c t i o n : 'His majesty in the former testifies that He is One, while His bounty in the latter proclaims that he is Single, Undivided.' Its meaning is this: just as the majesty of Dominicality, which is manifest in the totality of the universe, proves and demonstrates Divine Unity, so too Dominical bounty, which bestows on the members of animate creatures their regular provisions, proves and demonstrates Divine Oneness.
As for Unity, it is to say that all those creatures belong to One and they look to One and they are the creation of One. Whereas by Oneness is meant that most of the Names of the Creator of all things are manifest in all beings. For example, the light of the sun may be seen as analogous to Unity by reason of its comprehending the face of the earth. While the fact that its light and heat, the seven colours in its light and some sort of shadow of it are found in each transparent object and drop of water makes them analogous to Oneness. And, the fact that most of the Maker's Names are manifested in each thing, especially in each animate creature, and above all in man, points to Oneness.
Thus, this section indicates that the majesty of Dominicality, which has total disposal over the universe, makes the huge sun as a servant, lamp, and a stove for animate creatures on the face of the earth; and makes the mighty earth a cradle, a hostel, and place of trade for them; and fire, a cook and friend present everywhere; and clouds, strainers and wet-nurses; and mountains, storehouses and treasuries, and the air, a fan for animate creatures, for breathing in and out; and water, a nurse who suckles new arrivals to life and a seller of sweet drinks who supplies animals with the water of life this Divine Dominicality demonstrates Divine Unity in a most lucid manner.
Indeed, who other than the One Creator could subjugate the sun so that it is a servant to the inhabitants of the earth? And who other than the Single One of Unity could take the wind in His hand entrusting it with a great many duties and employing it as a swift and agile servant on the face of the earth? And who apart from the Single One of Unity would dare to make fire a cook, and to cause a tiny flame the size of a match-head consume thousands of tons of goods? And so on. Every single thing, every single element, every single heavenly body, points to the All-Glorious One of Unity, in the degree of the majesty of Dominicality.
Thus, just as Divine Unity is, apparent in the degree of Glory and majesty, so too bounty and munificence proclaim Divine Oneness in the degree of Beauty and mercy. This is because, within this all-embracing art, there are in animate creatures, and especially in man, faculties and abilities with which to understand, accept, and desire infinite varieties of bounties, and which reflect all the Divine Names manifested in the whole universe. Simply, like a point of focus, man displays all the Beautiful Names together by means of the mirror of is essence, and through it, proclaims God's Oneness.
S e v e n t h S e c t i o n : 'His stamp on the former is on all things, universal and particular, while His seal on the latter is on the body and on the limbs.' Its meaning is this: just as the Glorious Maker has a mighty stamp on the macrocosm as a whole, so too He has put a stamp of Unity on each of its parts and species. And, just as he has set the seal of Unity on the face and body of each human being, the microcosm, so too on each of their limbs is a seal of His Unity.
Indeed, the All-Powerful One of Glory has placed on everything, on universals and on particulars, on stars and on particles, a stamp of Unity which bears witness to Him. On each he has set a seal of Unity which points to Him. Since this greatest of truths has been elucidated and proved in most brilliant and decisive fashion in the Twenty-Second Word, the Thirty-Second Word, and the Thirty-Three Windows of the Thirty-Third Letter, we refer you to those, and cutting short the discussion, conclude it here.
THE FIFTH PHRASE: 'His is the praise.'
Since the perfections found in all beings and are the cause of acclaim and tribute are His, praise too belongs to Him. Acclaim and laudation, from whomever to whomever it has come and will come, from pre-eternity to post-eternity, all of it belongs to Him. For bounty and munificence, which are the causes of acclaim, and all things, which are perfection and beauty and the means of praise, are His, they pertain to Him. Indeed, as the Qur'an signifies, praise is worship, glorification, prostration, supplication, and acclaim; it comes from all beings, rising continuously, unceasingly to the Divine Court. The following is a comprehensive proof which sets forth this truth affirming Divine Unity.
When we look at the universe, it appears to us in the form of a park set with gardens, its roof gilded with lofty stars, its ground inhabited by ornamented beings. And when we see it thus, we see that the well-ordered, luminous, lofty heavenly bodies and purposeful and ornamented earthly beings in this park are saying all together, each in its particular tongue: "We are the miracles of power of an All-Powerful One of Glory; we testify to the Unity of an All-Wise Creator arid an All-Powerful Maker."
And we look at the globe of the earth within the park of the universe and we see it in the form of a garden in which hundreds of thousands of varieties of multicolored and beautifully adorned flowering plants have been laid out and through which hundreds of thousands of different species of animals have been scattered. And so, in this garden of the earth, all these adorned plants and ornamented animals proclaim through their well-ordered forms and balanced shapes: "We are each of us a miracle, a winder of art, created by a Single All-Wise Artist, and each of us is a herald, a witness, to his Unity."
Moreover, looking at the trees in the garden, we see fruits and flowers in various forms which have been made knowingly, wisely, generously, subtly, and beautifully to the utmost degree. And these are all proclaiming with one tongue: "We are the miraculous gifts of a Compassionate One of Beauty, a Merciful One of Perfection; we are wondrous bounties."
And so, the heavenly bodies and beings in the park of the universe, and the plants and animals in the garden of the earth, and the blossom and fruits on its trees and plants, testify and proclaim with an infinitely resounding voice: "Our Creator and Fashioner, the All-Powerful One of Beauty, the Peerless All-Wise One, the All-Generous Granter of Favours, Who bestowed us as gifts, is powerful over all things. Nothing at all is difficult for Him. Nothing at all is outside the sphere of His power. In relation to His power minute particles and stars are equal. A universal is as simple as a particular. A particular is as valuable as a universal. The largest is as easy as the smallest in relation to His power. The small is as full of art as the large, rather, as far as art is concerned the small is greater than the large.
"All the occurrences of the past, which are wonders of His power, testify that the Absolutely Powerful One is also powerful over the wonders of the contingencies of the future. Just as the one who brought about yesterday will bring about tomorrow, the All-Powerful One Who created the past will also create the future. The All-Wise Maker Who made this world, will also make the Hereafter.
"Indeed, the only one truly deserving, of worship is the All-Powerful One of Glory; the one deserving of praise is again Him. As worship is exclusively His, so are praise and laudation special to Him."
Is it at all possible that an All-Wise Maker Who created the heavens and the earth would leave without purpose human beings, who are the most important result of the heavens and the earth and the most perfect fruit of the universe? Is it at all possible that He would hand them over to causes and chance, that He would transform His self evident wisdom into futility? God forbid! And is it at all possible that the One Who is All-Wise and All-Knowing, having planned and then formed a tree, giving it the utmost importance, and having administered it and sustained it with the greatest wisdom, would ignore the fruits, which are the aim and benefit of the tree? Is it all possible that He would attach no importance to them; that He would leave them either to the ands of thieves or to rot scattered on the ground? Of course, it could not be that He would ignore them or attach no importance to them. It is because of the fruit that importance is given to the tree.
The universe's conscious being, therefore, and its most perfect fruit, result, and aim is man. Is it possible that the All-Wise Maker of the universe would give to others the praise and worship, thanks and love, which are the fruits of those conscious fruits, and thus cause His self-evident wisdom to be nullified, His absolute power transformed into impotence, and His all-encompassing knowledge converted into ignorance? God forbid! A hundred thousand times!
Since conscious creatures are the pivot of the Dominical aims in the palace of the universe, and man is the most eminent of conscious creatures, is it at all possible that the thanks and worship which he manifests in response to the bounties he receives should go to one other than the Maker of the palace? And that the Glorious Maker would permit the thanks and worship due to Him, which are the ultimate aim of man's creation, to go to another?
Moreover, is it at all possible that He would make Himself loved by conscious beings through the endless varieties of His bounties, and that He would make Himself known to them through the innumerable miracles of His art, and then, attaching no importance to them, abandon to causes and Nature their thanks and worship, their praise and love, their recognition and gratitude. Is it at all possible that He would make His absolute wisdom denied and the sovereignty of His Dominicality nullified? God forbid! A hundred thousand times, God forbid!
Is it at all possible that one who cannot create a spring, and cannot create all fruits, and cannot create all the apples on earth, the stamp on which is the same, could create one apple, which is a miniature specimen of all of them, and give it to someone to eat as a bounty? Is it possible that he should claim thanks for it, and thus share in the praise duo to one absolutely deserving of praise? God forbid! For whoever creates one apple is the one who creates all the apples produced in the whole world; for their stamp is the same.
Moreover, whoever creates all the apples is again the one who creates all the seeds and fruits in the whole world, which are the means of food. That is to say, the one who gives a most insignificant bounty to a most insignificant animate creature is directly the Creator of the universe and its Glorious Provider. Since this is so, thanks and praise belong directly to Him. And since this is so, the reality of the universe says unceasingly with the tongue of truth: "His is the praise from every single being from pre-eternity to post-eternity."
THE SIXTH PHRASE: 'He grants life.'
That is, the one who gives life, is He alone, in which case, it is also He alone Who creates all things. For the spirit, light, leaven, fundament, result, and summary of the universe is life, so whoever grants life must also be the Creator of the whole universe. The one who grants life, then, is certainly He; it is the Ever-Living and Self-Subsistent One. And so we point out the mighty proof of this degree in the profession of Divine Unity as follows.
As has been explained and proved in another Word, we see before us the truly magnificent army of animate beings with their tents pitched on the plain of the face of the earth. Indeed, every spring we see a new army emerging From the World of the Unseen freshly mobilized; one army of the innumerable armies of the Ever-Living and Self-Subsistent One. Looking at this army, we see within it more than two hundred thousand assorted and different nations from the plant families, and again more than one hundred thousand from the animal tribes. Although the uniforms of each tribe and family, as well as their provisions, drill, discharge, arms, and period of service arc all different, anyone who has eyes in his head will see, and having seen will be unable to deny, that a commander-in-chief provides all these different needs, with perfect orderliness and precise balance, at exactly the right time. And that He does this through His infinite power and wisdom, His boundless knowledge and will, His unending mercy, His inexhaustible treasuries, without forgetting a single one of them, or confusing or mixing-up or delaying any of them.
Is it at all possible, then, that anything could meddle, interfere, and have a share in this giving of life and administering, in this nurturing and sustaining, other than one who has an a11-comprehensive knowledge which encompasses the army together with all of its attributes, and one who has absolute power with which to administer the army and all of its necessities? God forbid! A hundred thousand times?
It is obvious that if there are ten tribes in one battalion, because the difficulty in equipping them all separately will amount to that of ten battalions, impotent human beings would be compelled to equip them in a single fashion. Whereas the Ever-Living and Self-Subsistent One provides the different equipment necessary for the life of the more than three hundred thousand tribes within that magnificent army. Moreover, He provides it with no trouble or difficulty, in a light and easy manner, most wisely and maintaining orderliness. And He causes the mighty army to declare with one tongue: "It is He Who gives life " and causes the vast congregation in the mosque of the universe to recite:
God, there is no god save Him, the Ever-Living and Self-Subsistent One. Neither slumber overtakes Him nor sleep. His is all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth. Who is there that could intercede with Him, except by His leave? He knows all that lies open before men and all that is hidden from them, whereas they cannot attain to ought of His knowledge save that which He wills. His Throne extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no weariness in preserving them. And He alone is Truly Exalted, Tremendous.
THE SEVENTH PHRASE: 'And deals death.'
That is, the one who gives death is He. It is He Who grants life, so also the one who takes life and grants death is He. Indeed, death is not only destruction and extinction that it can be attributed to causes or Nature. Just as a seed superficially dies and rots while inside it a shoot is being kneaded and is coming to life, that is, it is passing from the particular life of a seed to the universal life of a shoot, so too although death seems apparently to be disintegration and banishment, in reality, for human beings it is the title, introduction, and starting point of perpetual life. In which case, the Absolutely Powerful One Who grants and administers life must certainly be the One Who creates death. The following Points to a mighty proof of this the greatest degree in the profession Divine Unity, contained in this phrase.
As was explained in the Twenty-Fourth Window of the Thirty-Third Letter, through Divine will, all beings are flowing. At its Sustainer's command, the universe is in continuous motion. With Divine permission, all creatures are unceasingly following in the river of time; they arc being sent from the World of the Unseen; they are being clothed with external existence in the Manifest world; then they are being poured in orderly fashion into the World of the Unseen, and it is there that they alight. And, at their Sustainer's command, they continuously come from the future stop by in passing pausing for a breath, and are poured into the past.
This flood of creatures is being made from top to bottom with instances of wisdom, benefits, results, and aims within the sphere of the most wise mercy and munificence; as is this constant traveling, within the sphere of the most knowledgeable wisdom and orderliness; and this current, within the sphere of the most compassionate solicitude and equilibrium. That is to say, an All-Powerful One of Glory, an All-Wise One of Perfection is continuously giving life to and employing the families of beings, and the individuals within each family, and the worlds which those families form. Then, with His wisdom He discharges them, manifests death and despatches them to the World of the Unseen. He transfers them from the sphere of power to the sphere of knowledge.
And so, is it at all possible that one who does not have the ability to administer the universe in its totality, whose authority does not stretch throughout time, whose power is not sufficient to make the world manifest life and death like a single individual, who cannot bestow life on the spring as though it was a single flowers attach it to the face of the earth and then pluck it from it with death and gather it up, could such a one be the owner of death and the granter of death? Yes, the death of the most insignificant animate being, even, like its life, must necessarily occur according to the law of One of Glory in Whose hand are all the truths of life and varieties of death, and with His permission, and at His command, and through His power, and with His knowledge.
THE EIGHTH PHRASE: 'And He is living and dies not.'
That is, His life is perpetual, it is pre-eternal and post-eternal. Death and evanescence, non-existence and cessation, cannot befall Him. He Who is pre-eternal must certainly be post-eternal. He Who is sempiternal must certainly be eternally enduring. He Who is necessarily existent, must certainly be without beginning or end. How could non-existence touch a Life of which all existence, in all its varieties, is its shadow? Non-existence and ephemerality and cessation could in no way encroach on a Life through the manifestation of which all lives continuously come into being, and on which all the stable truths of the universe are dependent, and through which they subsist.
Indeed, one flash of the manifestation of that Life accords a unity to the multiplicity of things, all of which are subject to ephemerality and decease, and makes them display permanence; it saves them from dispersal, preserves their existence, manifests in them a sort of continuance. That is, life accords a unity to multiplicity; it makes it permanent. If life departs, the unity disintegrates, it ceases. Most certainly, ephemerality and transience cannot approach that necessary Life one manifestation of which are all those innumerable flashes of life.
Decisive witnesses to this truth are the transience and ephemerality of the universe. That is, just as beings bear witness and point to the Life of the Undying Every-Living One and to the necessary existence of His Life through their existence and lives, so too do they bear witness and point to the perpetuity of His Life and its eternity through their deaths, through their ephemerality. For the fact that after beings have perished, others follow after them, manifesting life like them and taking their places, demonstrates that there is an unceasingly living being who continuously renews the manifestation of life.
Bubbles on the surface of a flowing river sparkle in the sun and disappear. Troop after troop of bubbles appear, following on one after another. They display the same sparkle, are extinguished and disappear. Through this state of extinction and sparkling, they point to the continuance of an elevated and enduring sun. And so, in the same way, do the change and alternation of life and death in these constantly moving beings testify to the continuance and perpetualness of an Ever-Living Ever-Enduring One.
These beings a re mirrors. And in the same way that darkness is the mirror to light, and however intense the darkness is, to that degree it will display the brilliance of the light, these beings too act as mirrors in many respects by reason of the contrast of opposites. For example, just as beings act as mirrors to the Maker's power through their impotence, and are mirrors to His riches through their poverty, so do they also act as mirrors to His everlastingness through their ephemerality. The poverty of trees and the face of the earth itself in wintertime, and their glittering wealth and riches in springtime, act as mirrors in most unequivocal fashion to the power and mercy of an Absolutely Powerful One, the One of Absolute Riches. It is as though all beings are making supplication with Uvays al-Qarani through their tongues of disposition, and are saying:
"O God! You are our Sustainer, for we are mere slaves; we are powerless to sustain and raise ourselves. That is to say, the One Who sustains us is You! And it is You Who is the Creator, for we are creatures, we are being made! And it is You Who is the Provider, for we are in need of provision, we have no power! That is to say, the One One Who creates us and bestows on us our provisions is You! And it is You Who is the Owner, because we are totally owned property; someone other than us has power of disposal over us. That is to say, it is You Who is our Owner! And You, You are Mighty! You possess grandeur and sublimity! As for us we look to our baseness and see that there are manifestations of a mightiness on us. That is to say, we are mirrors to Your mightiness! And it is You Who is the Possessor of Absolute Riches, because we. are utterly wanting, and riches are bestowed on us that our indigent hands could not obtain. That is to say, it is You Who is rich, the One Who gives is You! And You, You are the Ever-Living, Ever-Enduring One, because we, we are dying, and in our dying and in our being resurrected we see the manifestation of a perpetual giver of life! And You, You are Ever-Enduring, because we see Your continuation and perpetualness in our demise and transience! And the One Who responds to us and answers us, the Granter of Gifts is You. For all of us beings, we are ever crying out and requesting, entreating, imploring by tongue and by state. And our desires are brought about, our aims are achieved. In other words, the One Who answers us is You!... " And so on.
Every creature, universal and particular, is, like Uvays al-Qarani, a mirror, in a form that has the meaning of supplication. All proclaim the Divine power and perfection through their impotence and poverty and deficiency.
THE NINTH PHRASE: 'All good is in His hand.'
That is, all good things are in His hand, all good deeds are in His account book, all beneficence is in His treasury. Since this is so, those desiring good must seek it from Him, those wishing for what is best must beseech Him. In order to demonstrate the truth of this phrase in a conclusive fashion, we shall point to the signs and flashes of one of many far-reaching evidences of Divine knowledge, as follows:
The Maker Who controls and creates with actions which are to be seen in the universe has an all-encompassing knowledge, and such knowledge is His particular, inherent and necessary quality. Its separation from Him is impossible. In the same way that it is not possible for the sun to exist but for its light not to exist, it is also not possible, though thousands of times more so, for the knowledge of the Being Who creates these well-ordered beings to be separated from Him.
Like this all-comprehending knowledge is necessary to that Being, so is it also necessary to all things from the point of view of their being connected to Him. That is to say, it is not possible for anything to be hidden from Him. Just as it is not possible for objects on the face of the earth to face the sun with no barrier and not sec it, so too is it a thousand times less possible, it is impossible, for things to be hidden in the face of the light of the All-Knowing One of Glory's knowledge. This is because they are in his presence. That is, everything is within the range of His sight, is facing Him, is within the compass of His witnessing; He penetrates into all things.
If possessors of light, like the inanimate sun, impotent man, and unconscious X-rays, can see and penetrate everything that faces them, although they are contingent, defective and accidental, surely nothing at all can remain hidden from or beyond the light of the pre-eternal knowledge, which is necessary, all-encompassing, and essential. The universe has incalculable signs and marks pointing to this truth, as may be seen in the following examples:
All the instances of wisdom apparent in all beings point to such knowledge. For He Who performs His works kindly and graciously must know; He must know what He is doing. And all well-ordered beings each within a balance, and all finely balanced and measured shapes and forms, each within an order, also indicate to such all-encompassing knowledge. For to carry out work with wisdom means to do it with knowledge. And all favour and adornment point to such knowledge. He who works skillfully and with measure and balance is surely relying on a powerful knowledge. And the well-ordered measuredness apparent in all beings, their shapes cut out in accordance with purpose and benefits, and the fruitful situations and assemblages as though arranged according the principles of Divine Decree and the compasses of Divine Determining all demonstrate an all-embracing knowledge. Certainly, the giving of well-ordered and different forms to everything, as well as a particular shape that is appropriate and beneficial to its life and existence, occurs through an all-encompassing knowledge; it could not occur any other way.
And it is only through an all-embracing knowledge that the sustenance of all animate creatures is provided in a suitable form, at the appropriate time, in unexpected places. Because, since the One Who sends the sustenance knows and recognizes those who are in need of it, and the appropriate time to send it, and perceives their need, He is able to provide their sustenance on a suitable form.
And the appointed hour of death of ail animate creatures, which is tied to a law of determination, although it is not clear to the creatures themselves, demonstrates a comprehensive knowledge. Because, although the hour of death for all groups and individuals does appear to be determined, in fact each group's death is appointed within a period of time restricted by two limits. At that appointed hour, the preservation of its seeds, fruits and results, which will continue the duty of the thing after it and are the means of its transformation into a new life, demonstrate an all-encompassing knowledge.
And mercy's benevolence, which encompasses all beings and is in a form appropriate to each of them, demonstrates an all-embracing knowledge within a vast mercy. Because, for example, the One Who feeds the offspring of animate creatures with milk and assists the plants of the earth needy for water with rain, most certainly knows the young and their needs, and sees the plants, perceives how necessary rain is for them and then sends it; and so on. All the manifestations of' wise kindly mercy demonstrate an all-comprehensive knowledge.
And the care and attention, the artistic fashioning, and the skillful decoration present in the art in all things demonstrate an all-embracing, knowledge. For choosing an orderly, adorned, artistic, and purposeful state from among thousands of possible states can only occur through a profound knowledge. This choice apparent in all beings demonstrates an all-encompassing knowledge.
And the complete ease in the creation and origination of things points to a most perfect knowledge. For the ease and facility in achieving a certain situation is commensurate with the degree of knowledge and skill. To whatever degree a thing is known, to that degree it will be carried out with ease. Thus, in consequence of this fact, we see from beings, every one of which is a miracle of art, that they are being created with ease and facility, without trouble or confusion, in a short period of time, in a wondrous, indeed a miraculous, fashion. That is to say, there is a boundless knowledge which is expressed with boundless ease. And so on.
There are thousands of veracious signs like those mentioned in the examples above to the fact that the Being Who has free disposal over the universe has an all-encompassing knowledge; that He knows all the attributes of all beings, and then he acts. Since the universe's Owner has such a knowledge, for sure He sees human beings and their actions, and He knows what human beings deserve and what is appropriate for them. And He deals with them and will deal with them in accordance with the requirements of wisdom and mercy.
O man! Come to your senses! Think carefully of just what sort of Being it is Who knows you and watches you; think of it and pull yourself together!
I f i t s a i d : Knowledge alone is not sufficient; will is also necessary. If will was not present, knowledge would not be sufficient, would it?
T h e A n s w e r : Just as all beings indicate and testify to an all-encompassing knowledge, so too do they point to the comprehensive will of the owner of that all-encompassing knowledge. It is as follows:
The fact that, while hesitating among great numbers of possibilities, a most well-ordered individuality is given to all things, especially to all animate beings, through a determined probability from among a great host of muddled probabilities, and through a result-yielding way from among a great many fruitless ways, demonstrates a universal will of many facets.
Measured shapes and well-ordered identities have been given to all things in a most sensitive and delicate measure and with a most fine and subtle order. They have been given these from among the inanimate elements which flow without balance in confused and monotonous floods, and from among the barren and fruitless paths and endless possibilities that surround all beings. This necessarily and self-evidently demonstrates that they are the works of a comprehensive will. For choosing innumerable states occurs by means of a designation, a choice, a purpose, and a will. It is specified by a deliberate intention and desire. For sure, specifying requires a specifier and choice requires a chooser. And that specifier and chooser is will.
For example, the creation of a being like man, who is like a machine assembled from hundreds of different components and systems, from a drop of water; and the creation of a bird, which has hundreds of different members, out of a simple egg; and that of a tree, which is separated into hundreds of different parts, out of simple seed - the creation of these testify to power and knowledge, just as they indicate to the universal will of their Maker in a most decisive and necessary fashion. And with that will He gives a different and particular shape to every component, every member, every part. He clothes them in a chosen state.
I n S h o r t : The fact that there are between different things many resemblances and coincidences with regard to their essentials and results; for example, between the major members and organs of animals' bodies, and the fact that they display a single stamp of Unity, indicate in decisive fashion that the Maker of a11 animals is the same; He is One, He is Single, He possesses Unity. And the fact that these animals have different identities and distinct appearances, all determined by wisdom and purpose, indicates that their Single Maker is One Who acts with choice and will. He does what He wishes to do, He does not do what He does not wish to do; He acts with intention and will.
There are as many indications and attestations to Divine knowledge and Dominical will as there are beings, indeed as the beings' attributes and qualities. Therefore, some philosophers denying Divine will, and some of those who favor innovation denying Divine Determining, and some of the people of misguidance claiming that God is not concerned with minor matters, and the Naturalists attributing certain beings to Nature and causes, are lies multiplied to the number of beings and a lunacy of misguidance compounded to the number of those beings' attributes. For whoever denies the innumerable instances of veracious witnessing is telling a lie of infinite proportions.
So, you can see for yourself just how mistaken and contrary to the truth it is to say of events, all of which come into existence through Divine will, "Naturally, naturally," instead of, "If God wills it so, if God wills it so."
THE TENTH PHRASE: 'And He is powerful over all things.'
That is to say, absolutely nothing at all is difficult for Him. However many things there are in the sphere of contingency, He is able to clothe all of them with existence most easily. And it is so simple and easy for Him that according to the meaning of,
His command is only, when He wills a thing to be, He but says to it, "Be!" and it is,
it is as if He only has to command and it is done.
As soon as a very skillful artist puts his hand to his work, he functions extremely easily like a machine. In order to express his speed and skill, one could say that the work and art is under his control to such a degree that it is as if at his command, at his touch, the pieces appear, the works of art come into existence. In the same way, this verse issues the decree:
His command is only, when He wills a thing to be, He but says to it "Be!", and it is,
alluding to the absolute subjugation and obedience of all things to the power of the All-Powerful One of Glory, and the absolute ease and lack of trouble with which His power functions. We shall elucidate in Five Points five of the innumerable mysteries contained in this mighty truth.
THE FIRST
In relation to Divine power the greatest thing is as easy as the smallest. The creation of a species with ail of its individuals is as easy and trouble-free as the creation of one individual. It is as easy to create Paradise as the spring and it is as easy to create the spring as a flower.
This mystery has been explained and proved through the six comparisons - the Mystery of Luminosity, the Mystery of Transparency, the Mystery of Reciprocity, the Mystery of Balance, the Mystery of Order, the Mystery of Obedience, and the Mystery of Disengagedness - at the end of the Tenth Word, which is about the resurrection of the dead, and in the discussion also about the resurrection of the dead in the Second Aim of the Twenty-Ninth Word, which is about the angels, the immortality of man's spirit, and the resurrection. It has been demonstrated in all these that in relation to Divine power the stars are as easy as atoms and that innumerable individuals art created as easily as one individual. Since these mysteries have been proved in those two Words, we refer you to them and cut short the discussion here.
THE SECOND
A decisive and self-evident proof that everything is equal in relation to Divine power is this: we see with our own eyes in the creation of animals and plants the highest degree of mastery and exquisiteness of art within an infinite multiplicity and liberality; and the greatest distinction and differentiation within the utmost confusion and intermingling; and the highest worth as regards art and the most supreme beauty as regards creation within the greatest abundance and profusion. And, while needing much equipment and much time, they are created with the utmost ease and speed with the greatest art. Simply, those miracles of art come into existence suddenly and out of nothing.
Thus, by observing this activity of power every season on the face of the earth, we: see that it establishes irrefutably that the greatest thing is as easy as the smallest in relation to the power that is the source of those actions. And that the creation and administration of innumerable individuals is as easy as the creation and administration of a single individual.
THE THIRD
The greatest universal is as easy as the smallest particular in relation to the power of the All-Powerful Maker Who rules in the universe with these evident actions, direction, and disposal. The creation of a universal consisting of a multiplicity of individuals is as easy as the creation of a single particular. And in a most insignificant particular the most valuable art may be displayed. The mystery of the wisdom of this truth arises from three sources:
Firstly: from the assistance of Unity.
Secondly: from the facility of Unity.
Thirdly: from the manifestation of Oneness.
The Assistance of Unity, which is the first source: That is, if all things are the property of a single being, then as a result of unity, he can concentrate the power of all things behind any single thing, and all things can be administered as easily as a single thing. We shall explain this mystery with a comparison in order to facilitate understanding:
For example, if there was a single monarch of a country, by reason of the law of his unity of sovereignty, he would be able to mobilize the moral strength of a whole army behind every single soldier. And because he would be able to do so, a single soldier would be able to capture a king and have command over him in the name of his monarch. Furthermore, just as the monarch would employ and administer a single soldier and a single official, by reason of the mystery of the unity of sovereignty, he would be able to administer the whole army and all his officials. It is as if, by reason of the mystery of the unity of sovereignty, he would be able to send everyone, everything, to the assistance of one individual.
Every single individual, therefore, would rely on a strength as great as that of all the other individuals; that is, he would receive assistance from them. If the rope of the unity of sovereignty were to be unfastened and they became irregular soldiers, then each soldier, suddenly losing a boundless strength, would fall from a high position of influence to that of a common man. And to administer and employ them would beget difficulties to the number of individuals.
And in exactly the same way, And God's is the highest similitude, since the Maker of the universe is One, He concentrates together His Names, which look to all things, and He creates with infinite art, in a valuable form. If there is need for it, He looks to a single thing by means of all things, He causes them to look to it; He gives assistance and strengthens it. And by reason of the mystery of Unity, He also creates, disposes, and administers all things as though they were a single thing.
Thus, it is through the mystery of this assistance of Unity that in the universe a certain quality is apparent which is exalted and sublime to the utrnost degree a5 regards its art and value, and this within the utmost abundance and profusion.
The Facility of Unity, which is the second source: That is, matters which occur according to the principles of Unity, in one centre, from one hand, according one law, occur with the greatest ease. If they are scattered between numerous centres, numerous laws, and numerous hands, it engenders difficulties.
For example, if the essential equipment of all the soldiers of an army is manufactured in one centre, according to one law, and at the command of one commander-in-chief, it is as easy as equipping one soldier. if on the other hand, all their equipment is made in different factories, in different centres, then all the military factories necessary to equip an army are necessary to equip one soldier. That is to say, if Unity is relied upon, an army is as easy as one soldier. Whereas, if there is no unity, as rnany difficulties will arise in equipping one soldier as in equipping an army.
Furthermore, if with regard to Unity, the elements necessary for life are given to the fruits of a tree, relying on one centre, one law, and one root, thousands of fruits are as easy as a single fruit. If, on the other hand, each fruit is bound to a different centre, and if all their vital necessities are sent to them separately, each fruit would engender as many difficulties as the whole tree. Fnr the elements necessary for the life of the whole tree would also be nece5sary for each fruit.
Thus, like these two comparisons, And God's is the. highest ,similitude, because the Maker of the universe is the Single One of Unity, He acts with Unity, and because He acts with Unity all things are as easy as one thing. Moreover, He is able to make a single thing as valuable as all things as regards its art. And creating innumerable individuals in a most valuable form, He demonstrates absolute liberality through the tongue of this self-apparent limitless abundance and endless profusion, and He manifests boundless generosity and infinite creativity.
The Manifestation of Oneness, which is the third source: that is ,since the All-Glorious Maker is not physical or corporal, time and space cannot restrict Him, creation and place cannot obtrude on His presence and witnessing, means and mass cannot veil His actions. There is no fragmentation or division in His regarding and acting towards creation. One thing cannot be an obstacle to another. He performs innumerable acts as though they were one act. It is for this reason that in the same say that, as far as its meaning is concerned, a huge tree can be encapsulated in a seed, a world also can contained within a single individual, and the whole world may be encompassed by the Hand of Power.
We have explained this mystery in other Words like this: the sun is to some degree unrestricted with regard to its luminosity, thus its image is reflected in every burnished and shining object. If thousands and millions of mirrors are exposed to its light, then the manifestation of the sun's likeness will be found in each one of them without being divided, as though they were a single mirror. If the capacity of the mirror was such, the sun would be able to demonstrate its effects in it in all their magnitude. One thing cannot be an obstacle to another. Thousands of things enter thousands of places with the ea5e of one thing entering one place. Each place displays the sun's manifestation as much as thousands of places display it.
Thus, And God's is the highest similitude, the manifestation of the All-Glorious Maker of the universe is such, with all His attributes which are light and with all His Names which are luminous, that through the mystery of the regard of Oneness, although He is not in any place, He is
all-present and all-seeing in all places. There is no division in His regarding and acting towards the creation. He performs every task at the same time, in all places, without difficulty, without hindrance.
Thus, it is through these rnysteries of the assistance of Unity, facility of Unity, and manifestation of Oneness, that when all beings are attributed to a single Maker, the creation of all of them becomes as simple and easy as that of a single being. And each being can be as valuable as all beings as regard the fineness of its art. This truth is demonstrated by the fact that within the boundless plenitude of beings, there are endless subtleties of art in every individual. If the beings are not attributed directly to a single Maker, then each becomes as problematical as all beings and the value of all of them decreases, it falls to that of a single being. Should this be the case, either nothing would come, into existence, or if it did, it would be without value, worthless.
This mystery led the Sophists, who were the most advanced of the people of philosophy, to realize that the path of associating partners with God was hundreds of thousands of times more difficult than the way of Truth and path of affirming Divine Unity; that it was irrational to the utmost degree. So, because they had averted their faces from the way of Truth and looked to that of unbelief and mi5guidance, they were compelled to renounce their reasons and deny the existence of everything.
THE FOURTH
The creation of Paradise is as easy as that of the spring in relation to the power of the All-Powerful One Who administers the universe with actions that are plain to see. And the creation of spring is as easy as that of a flower. And the loveliness in the art of a flower and the fineness in its creation may be as lovely and valuable as a spring. The mystery of this truth is threefold:
First: the necessity and total detachment and disengagedne5s of the Maker.
Second: the complete otherness of His essence and His unrestrictedness.
Third: His not being bound by space and His indivisibility.
First Mystery: The fact that necessity and desengagedness and detachment cause infinite ease and facility is an extremely profound mystery. We shall facilitate understanding of it with the following comparison:
The degrees of existence are different. And the worlds of existence are all different. Because they are a11 different, a particle frorn a level of existence which is deeply rooted in existence is as great as a mountain
from a level of existence that is less substantial than its level; it contains the mountain.
For example, the faculty of memory, which is the size of a mustardseed in a head from the Manifest World, takes on an existence the size of a library from the World of Meaning. And a mirror the size of a fingernail from the external world encompasses a mighty city from the level of the World of Similitude5. And if the memory and the rnirror from the external world had possessed consciousne5s and creative power, they would have been able to bring about endless transformations and activity in the Worlds of Meaning and Similitudes through the power of their minute existences in the external world. That is to say, when existence is firmly established, power increases; what is only a little becomes like much. Especially after existence has attained to complete stability, if it is disengaged from materiality, and is not re5tricted, then only a partial manifestation of it will be able to transform rnany world5 of other less substantial levels of existence.
Thus, And God's is the highest similitude, the Glorious Maker of the universe is Necessarily Existent. That is, His existence is essential, it is pre-eternal, it is post-eternal, its non-existence is impossible, its cessation is irnpn5ible; it is the most firmly rooted, the most sound, the strongest, and the most perfect of the levels of existence. In relation to His existence, the other levels of existence are like extremely pale shadows.
The degree of Necessary Existence is so stable and real, and contingent existence is so insubstantial and pale that many of those who have investigated creation, like Muhyiddin al-Arabi, have reduced the other levels of existence to the level of delusion arid imagination; they said: "There is no existent save Hirn." That is, it must not be said of other things that they have existence in relation to the Necessary Existence. They stated that they are not worthy of the title of existence.
And so, in the face of the Necessarily Existent One's power, which is both necessary and essential, contingent beings' both created and accidental existences and both unstable and powerless realities are infinitely easy and simple. To raise all human beings to life and then judge them at the Great Gathering is as easy as the leaves, flowers arid fruits which He resurrects in the spring, indeed, in a garden, or on a tree.
Second Mystery: The reason for easiness in regard to the cornplete otherness of His Essence and His unrestrictedness is this: most certainly, the Maker of the universe is not of the same kind as the universe. His Essence resembles no other essence at all. Since this is so, the obstacles and restraints within the sphere of the universe cannot hinder Him, they cannot restrict His actions. He has complete disposal over the whole universe and is able to transform all of it at the same time. If the disposal and actions that are apparent in the universe were to be attributed to it, it would cause so many difficulties and so much confusion that neither would any order remain nor would anything continue to exist; indeed, nothing would be able to come into existence.
For example, if the masterly art in vaulted domes is attributed to the stones of the domes, and if the command of a battalion, which properly belongs to its officer, is left to the soldiers, either neither of them would ever come into existence, or with great difficulty and confusion they would achieve a state completely lacking in order. Whereas, if in order for the situation of the stones in the dome to be achieved, it is accorded to a master who is not a stone himself, and if the command of the soldiers in the regiment is referred to an officer whose essence possesses the quality of officership, both the art is easy and comrnand and organization are easy. This is because, while the stones and the soldiers are obstacles to each other, the master and the officer can look from every angle, they command without obstacle.
Thus, And God's is the highest similitude, the sacred Essence of the Necessarily Existent One is not of the same kind as contingent beings, essences. Rather, all the truths of the universe are rays from the Name of Truth, which one of the Beautiful Names of His Essence. Since His sacred Essence is Necessarily Existent and completely detached from materiality and different from all other essences, it has no like, no equivalent, no equal. So, most certainly, the administration and 5ustaining of the whole universe is relation to the pre-eternal power of that All Glorious One is as easy as that of the spring, indeed, of a tree. And the creation of the resurrection of the dead, the realm of the Hereafter, and Paradise and Hell, is as easy as the resurrection in spring of a tree which had died the previous autumn.
Third Mystery: The fact that indivisibility and not being bound by space result in the utmost facility has this meaning: since the All Powerful Maker is free of the restrictions of space, He may be thought of as present in every place through His power. And since there is no division or fragmentation in regard to His Essence, He can regard and act towards all things with all of His Names. And since He is present everywhere and acts towards everythingb, beings and intermediaries and mass cannot hinder and prevent His actions, indeed there is no nece5sity at all for them to do so.
Let us suppose there was some necessity, then things like electric wires, the branches of trees, and veins in human beings, would be like the means for facilitation, for the arrival of life, and the cause of swiftness in actions. So, let us ignore the idea of hindering, restricting, preventing, and intervening, and say that they are means of facilitating, expediting, and uniting. That is to say, from the point of view of the obedience and 5ubmission of all things to the domination of the All-Powerful and Glorious One's power, there is no need for them. If there was some need for them, it would be as a means to facility.
I n S h o r t : The All-Powerful Maker creates everything in an appropriate form without trouble, without undergoing any process, swiftly and easily. He creates universals as easily as particulars. He creates particulars as full of art as He does universals. Indeed, whoever creates universals and the heavens and the earth must necessarily be the one who creates the particulars and animate individuals contained in the heavens and earth; it could not be anything other than him. For those tiny particulars are the fruits, seeds, and the miniature specimens of universals.
Furthermore, whoever creates the particulars must al5o the one who creates the elements and heavens and earth, which encompass the particulars. For we see that particulars are each like a seed and tiny copy in relation ta universals. And since this is so, the universal elements and the heavens and earth must be in the Being's hand Who creates those particulars so that, according to the principles of His wisdom and the balances of His knowledge, He might insert the gist, the meanings, the samples, of those universal and all-encompassing beings in tho5e particulars, which are like their miniature specimens.
Indeed, from the point of view of the wonders of art and marvels of creativene5s, particulars are not behind universals; neither are flowers lower than the stars, nor seeds inferior to trees. Indeed, the tree's meaning, which is the inscription of Divine Determining and is in the seed, is more wonderful than the physical tree, which is the weaving of Divine power and is in the garden. And the creation of man is more wonderful than the creation of the universe. If a Qur'an of Wisdom was written in particles of ether on an atom, it would far surpass in value a Qur'an of Grandeur written in stars on the face of the heavens. So too there are minute particulars which are superior to universals as regards the miraculousness of their art.
THE FIFTH
We have demonstrated to some degree in our explanations above, the infinite ease, utmost speed, extreme swiftness of actions, and boundless facility apparent in the creation of beings, together with the mysteries and instances of wisdom in their creation. The existence of things with this utmost speed and utter facility, therefore, has engendered in the people of guidance the following firm conviction, that in relation to the power of the One Who creates beings, Paradises are as easy as the spring, the spring as easy as gardens, and gardens as easy as flowers.
According to the meaning of,
The creation of you all and the resurrection of you all is but like that nf' a single soul,
the resurrection of all humankind is as easy as causing one person to die and raising him to life again. And according to the explicit statement of,
Nothing will there have been but one single blast, and lo! before. Us will all of them he arraigned,
to raise to life all human beings at the resurrection is as easy as calling together with the sound of a bugle an army which has dispersed to rest.
Thus, although this infinite speed and boundless ease are decisive proofs and cogent arguments for the self evident perfection of the Maker's power and for everything being easy in relation to Him, in the view of the people of misguidance, the formation and creation of things by the Maker's power, which is easy to the degree of necessity, gave rise to the notion that things form themselves, which is utterly impossible, and thus became the cause of confusion. That is to say, because they see that some ordinary things come into existence very easily, they imagine the formation of them to be self-formation. That is, they are not being created, but rather come into existence of their own accord.
There, look at this sheer stupidity! They make what is the proof of an absolute power, the proof of its non-existence; they open the door to innumerable impossibilities. Because if it were the case, it would be necessary for the attributes of perfection, like infinite power and allencompassing knowledge, which are necessary to the Maker of the universe, to be attributed to every particle of every creature so that it would be able to form itself.
THE ELEVENTH PHRASE: 'And with Him all things have the end.'
That is, everything will return to the realm of permanence from the transient realm, and will go to the seat of post-eternal sovereignty of the Sempiternal Ever-Enduring One. They will go from the multiplicity of causes to the sphere of power of the All-Glorious One of Unity, and will be transferred from this world to the Hereafter. Your place of recourse is His Court, therefore, and your place of refuge, His mercy. And so on.
There are a great many truths which this phrase and those like it state. The one which states that you will return to eternal bliss and Paradise has been proved so decisively by the irrefutable certainty of the twelve arguments of the Tenth Word, and by the six Principles which comprise the numerous cogent proofs of the Twenty-Ninth Word, that no need remains for further explanation. Those two Words have proved, with the certainty of the sun rising on the following morning after setting the previous day, that life too which has the meaning of the sun in this world, will rise in an enduring form in the morning of the resurrection after its setting with the destruction of the world. Since the Tenth and Twenty-Ninth Words have proved this truth to perfection, we refer you to them and here only say this:
Further to what has been proved decisively in the above explanation, the All-Wise Maker of the universe, Who possesses boundless embracing power, limitless universal will, and infinite all-encompassing knowlege, the all-Merciful Creator of human beings, has promised with all His heavenly Books and decrees Paradise and eternal bliss to those of mankind who believe in Hirn. Since He has promised, He will most certainly bring it about, because It is impossible for Him to break His promise And because, not to carry out a promise is a most ugly fault, and the One of Absolute Perfection is totally exempt and free from all fault. Failure to perform a promise arises either from ignorance or from impotence. However, since it is impossible for there to be any ignorance or impotence pertaining to that Absolutely Powerful One, the One Knowing of All Things, His breaking of a promise is also impossible.
Moreover, first and foremost the Pride of the Worlds {Upon whom be blessings and peace), and all the prophets, saints, purified scholars, and people of belief, continuously request and implore, desire and beseech the All-Generous and Compassionate One for the eternal bliss they have been promised. And they beseech it through all His Most Beautiful Names. For foremost His compassion and mercy, and justice and wisdom, His Names of All-Merciful and Compassionate, and All-Just and Wise, and His Dominicality and Sovereignty, and most of His Names including Sustainer and Allah, require and necessitate the realm of the Hereafter and eternal happiness, and they testify and point to it5 realization. Indeed, all beings with all of their truth5 point to the Hereafter.
Also, the All-Wise Qur'an, the greatest of the revealed Books, demon strates and teaches this truth with thousands of its verses; with clear evidences and conclusive, veracious proofs.
And the Most Noble Beloved One, who is the cause of pride for the human race, relying on thousands of dazzling miracles taught this truth throughout his life, with a11 his strength; he proved it, proclaimed it, saw it, and demonstrated it.
O God, grunt blessings and peace and benedictions to him and to his Family and Companions to the number of the breaths of the people of Paradise; and resurrect us and resurrect him and his friends and Companions to bliss, and our parents and brothers and sisters under his banner, and grant us his intercession, and enter us into Paradise with his Family and Companions, through Your mercy, O most Merciful of the Merciful. Amen. Amen.
O our Sustainer! Do not take us to task i f' we forget or unwittingly do wrong.
O our Sustainer! Let not our hearts swerve from the truth after You have guided us; and bestow upon us the gift of Your mercy; indeed, You are the Giver of Gifts.
O my Sustainer! Open up my heart And. make my task easy for me And loosen the knot from my tongue That they might fully understand my speech.
O our Sustainer! Accept this from us, indeed You are All-Seeing, All-Knowing. And .forgive us, indeed You are the Accepter of Repentance, the Compassionate.
All glory be unto You! We have no knowledge ,save that which You have taught us; indeed You are All-Knowing, All-Wise.
Addendum to the Tenth Phrase of the Twentieth Letter
In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
For verily, in the remembrance of' God hearts do find their rest God sets forth a par able: A man belonging to many partners (all of them) at variance with one another.
Q u e s t i o n : You have said in many places that there is infinite facility in Divine Unity and endless difficulties in multiplicity and associating partners with God; that there is such ease in Divine Unity that it becomes necessary and such difficulty in associating partners with God that it becomes impossible. Whereas, the difficulties and impossibilities that you demonstrate are also present with Unity. For example, you say that if particles were not officials, it would be necessary for either an allencompassing knowledge or au absolute power or innumerable immaterial machines or printing-presses to be present in every particle. This of course is completely impossible. And even if those particles were Divine officials, it would still be necessary for the particles to bear the same qualities so that they would be able to accomplish their endless orderly duties. Could you unravel this problem for me?
T h e A n s w e r : We have expounded and proved in many Words that if all beings are attributed to a single Maker, they become as easy and effortless as a single being. If they are attributed to numerous causes and to Nature, a single fly becomes as difficult and arduous as the heavens, a flower as the spring, a fruit as a garden. Since this matter has been explained and proved in other Words, we refer you to them and here only explain three comparisons, by means of three indications, which will reassure the soul and set the mind at rest in the face of that truth.
FIRST COMPARISON
For example, a tiny transparent glistening speck cannot of its own accord situate itself within a light even the size of a match-head, and neither can it be the source of it. It i5 able to have a light, in its own right, only like that of an insignificant particle, in accordance with its capacity and the size of its own mass. But if the speck is connected to the sun, if it opens its eyes and looks at it, it will be able to comprehend the immense sun together with its light, seven colours, heat, and even its distance; it will display a sort of greater manifestation. That is to say, if the particle remains on its own, it will only be able to perform a function to the extent of a particle, whereas if it is considered to be an official of the sun, and is connected to it and is a mirror to it, it will be able to demonstrate certain partial examples of the sun's functioning, like the sun.
Thus, And God's is the highest .similitude, if all beings, all particles, are attributed to multiplicity, causes, Nature, themselves, or to anything other than God, then each particle, each being, must either possess an allembracing knowledge and absolute power, or innumerable immaterial machines and printing-presses must be formed within it, so that it may carry out its wonderful duties. However, if the particles are attributed to a Single One of Unity, then each of them, each artefact, becomes connected to Him; it is as though each becomes Hi5 official. Its connection makes it display His manifestation. And through this connection and state of being a manifestation, it relies on an infinite knowledge and power. And thus, by reason of the mystery of the connection and reliance, it performs functions and duties far beyond its own power, through the power of its Creator.
SECOND COMPARISON
For example, there were two brothers, one brave and self-reliant, the other patriotic and devoted to his country. When a war broke out, the one who relied on himself did not form any connection with the state; he wanted to perform his service on his own. He was compelled therefore to carry the sources of his power around his own neck, and to transport, as far as his strength allowed, his equipment and ammunition. In accordance with his individual and petty strength, he was only able to fight with one corporal of the enemy army; to do more was beyond him.
The other brother did not rely on himself, he knew himself to be impotent and powerless so he formed a connection with the king and was enrolled in the army. 'Through this connection, a huge army became a point of support for him. And because of this support, he was plunged into war with the moral strength of an army behind him under the auspices of the king. So when he encountered an eminent field marshal of the defeated enemy army's king, he declared in the name of his own king: "I take you prisoner! Quick march!", and captured him and handed him over. The meaning and wisdom of the situation is this:
Since the first man, who was independent, was compelled to carry his equipment and sources of strength himself, he was only able to perform an extremely insignificant service. Whereas the one who was an official did not have to carry his source of strength; indeed, the army and the king carried him. Just as though he was connecting his receiver to existing telegraph and telephone lines with a tiny wire, the man, through the connection he formed, connected himself to an infinite power.
Thus, And God s is the hi lest ,similitude, if all creatures, all articles, are attributed directly to the Single One of Unity and if they are connected to Him, through the power of the connection and through of its Lord, at His command, an ant can demolish and destroy Pharaoh's palace; a fly can kill off Nimrod and consign him to Hell; a germ can despatch the most iniquitous tyrant to the grave; a seed the size of a grain of wheat becomes like the workshop and machinery for the production of a pine-tree the size of a mountain; and a particle of air is able to operate efficiently and in an orderly fashion in all the different functions and structures of all f7owers and fruits. All this ease and facility selfevidently arise from the connection and state of being an official. If the being in question reverts to independence, if it is left to causes, multiplicity, and to itself, if it travels the road of associating partners with God, then it will only be able to perform a service to the extent of its own physical entity and to the measure of its consciousness.
THIRD COMPARISON
For example, there were two friends who wanted to write a geographical and statistical work on a country they had never seen. One of them formed a connection with the king and entered the telegraph and telephone office. With a piece of wire worth a few kurush, he connected his own telephone receiver to the state lines and was able to converse and communicate with everywhere and receive information. He wrote a most well-composed, well-arranged and perfect work of geography and statistics. As for the other man, either he would have had to travel continuously for fifty years and see everywhere and learn of every event with great difficulty, or else, spending millions of liras he would have had to become the owner, like the king, of a telegraph and telephone 5ystem as extensive as that of the state so that he could write a perfect work like his friend.
So too, and God's is the highest similitude, if innumerable things and creatures are attributed to a Single One of Unity, then through the connection, each thing becomes a place of manifestation. Through displaying the manifestation of the Pre-Eternal Sun, it acquires a connection with the laws of His wisdom, the principles of his Knowledge, and the laws of His power. Then, through the Divine strength and power, it displays a manifestation of its Sustainer by which it has an eye which sees all things, a face which looks to all places, and words which have weight in all matters. If the connection is severed, the thing will also be cut off from all other things, it will be squeezed into the smallness of its own bulk. In which case, it would have to possess an absolute Divinity so that it might perform the functions described above.
I n S h o r t : In the way of Divine Unity and belief there is such an easiness and facility that it becomes necessary, while in the way of causes and assigning partners to God are such difficulties that it becomes impossible. For one person may, witl7out trouble, accord one situation to numerous objects and obtain one result. If the taking of the situation and obtaining of the one result are referred to those numerous objects, then it would only be with great trouble and much activity that the situation could be brought about and the result achieved.
For example, as is stated in the Third Letter, every night, every year, a glittering expedition and pa5suge glorifying God is accomplished through setting in motion the army of the stars in the field of the heavens under the command of the sun and the moon. This is the alluring and captivating situation of the heaven5. And the change and alternation of the seasons and other momentous affairs are brought about; and this i5 the exalted and purposeful result of the motion of the earth. If the situation of the heavens and result of the revolving earth are ascribed to Divine Unity, then the Pre-Eternal Monarch may easily appoint a soldier like the globe of the earth as commander of the heavenly bodies for the situation and the result to be achieved. And after it has received its order, the earth will rise up with joy at its appointment to whirl and mention God's Names like a Mevlevi dervish. With slight expense that graceful situation will be obtained and the significant result come about.
However, if it is said to the earth: "You stop where you are, do not interfere!"; and if to obtain the result and situation, it is referred to the heavens; and if the road of multiplicity and associating partners with God is taken rather than that of Divine Unity, it would then be necessary, every day and every year, to set in motion millions of stars which are thousands of times larger than the globe of the earth and to cut the distance of millions of years into that of twenty-four hours and of a year.
CONCLUSION
The Qur'an and the believers ascribe limitless creatures to One Maker. They attribute very matter directly to Him. They travel a road that is so easy as to be necessary, and urge all towards it. While the people of rebellion, who ascribe partners to God, by attributing a single creature to innumerable causes, travel a road so beset with difficulties as to be impossible. In which case, those on the way of the Qur'an are together with all creatures, and those on the way of misguidance, with a single creature. Or to put it another way, the issuing of all things out of one is infinitely easier than the issuing of one thing out of many. In the same way that an officer commands a thousand soldiers as easily as one soldier, if the commands of one soldier was to be assigned to a thousand officers, it would become as difficult as that of commanding a thousand soldiers, it would cause chaos.
Thus, this mighty verse hurls this truth at those who assign partners to God, shattering their unbelief:
God sets forth a parable: A man belonging to many partners (all of' them) at, variance with one another, and a with belonging wholly to one person: can the two be deemed equal as regards their condition? (Nay) all praise is due to God (alone); but most of them do not understand this
All glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed You are All-Knowing, All-Wise.
O God! Grant blessings and peace to our master Muhammed to the number of the particles of the universe, and to all his Family and Companions. Amen. And all praise be to God, the .Sustainer of All the Worlds.
O God! O Unique. One O Single One! O Eternally Besought One! O You Who there is no god but You, You are One, You have no partner! O You to Whom belongs the dominion and the praise! O You Who grants life and deals death! O You in Whose hand is all good! O You Who is powerful over all things O You with Whom all things have their end! Through the truth nf' the mysteries of these phrases, appoint the propagator of this treatise and his friends and companions to bliss among the perfected affirmers of Divine Unity and the ,strictly veracious .scholars and the believers conscious of God. Amen. O God! Through the truth of the mystery of Your Oneness make the disseminator of this hook disseminate the mysteries of the profession of Your Unity and make his heart a place of manifestation for the lights of .faith and his tongue speak of the truths of the Qur'an. Amen. Amen. Amen.
***
The Twenty-First Letter
In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
Whether one or both of them attain old age in your life, say not to them a word of contempt, nor repel them, but address them in terms of honour. * And out of kindness, lower the wing of humility, and say: "My Sustainer! Bestow on them Your mercy even as they cherished me in childhood." * Your Sustainer knows best what is in your hearts: if you do deeds of righteousness, indeed he is Most Forgiving to those who turn to Him again and again [in true penitence].1
O heedless one in whose house is an elderly parent or an invalid or someone no longer able to work from among his relations or brothers in religion! Study the above verses carefully and see how on five levels in different ways it summons children to be kindly towards their elderly parents. Yes, the highest truth in this world is the compassion of parents towards their children, and the most elevated rights, their rights of respect in return for their compassion. For they sacrifice their lives with great pleasure, spending them for the sake of their children's lives. In which case, every child who has not lost his humanity and been transformed into a monster honours those respected, loyal, self-sacrificing friends, serves them sincerely, and tries to please them and make them happy. Uncles and aunts, maternal and paternal, are like parents.
So understand from this how base and lacking in conscience it is to be contemptuous towards those blessed elderly people, or to want their deaths. Know what a wicked wrong and iniquity it is to want the lives to pass of those who sacrificed their lives for yours.
O you who struggles to secure his livelihood! The means of plenty and mercy in your house, and the repeller of disaster, is that elderly or blind relative of yours, whom you belittle. Beware, do not say: "My income is little, I have difficulty in making ends meet," for if it was not for the plenty resulting from their presence, your circumstances would have been even more straitened. Believe this fact which I am telling you; I can prove it most decisively and can convince you. But in order not to prolong the discussion, I am cutting it short. Be content with this much. I swear that this is absolutely certain; my evil-commanding soul and own devil, even, have submitted to it. You should be convinced of a fact which has smashed my soul's obduracy and silenced my devil.
Yes, the All-Glorious and Munificent Creator, Who, as the universe testifies, is infinitely Merciful, Compassionate, Bountiful, and Generous, provides infants with the finest of sustenance when His sends them into this world, causing it to flow into their mouths from the springs of their mother's breasts. So too, He provides, in the form of plenty, the sustenance of the elderly, who are like children though even more in need and deserving of kindness and compassion. He does not burden the avaricious and miserly with their livelihood. All living creatures, all their species, declare through the tongues of their beings the truth expressed by the following verses:
For God is He Who gives [all] sustenance,-Lord of Power and Steadfast [for ever].2 * How many are the creatures that carry not their own sustenance? It is God Who feeds [both] them and you;3
they state this munificent truth. In fact it is not only elderly relations, certain creatures like cats, who are a friend to man-their sustenance also comes in the form of plenty, sent within the food of the human beings. An example which corroborates this and I myself observed is as follows: my close friends know that for two to three years my appointed lot every day was half a loaf of bread, the loaves in that village were small, and very often this was insufficient for me. Then four cats came and stayed with me as my guests, and that same portion was sufficient both for myself and for them. There was frequently even some left over.
This situation has recurred so often that it has made me certain that I was benefiting from the plenty resulting from the cats. I declare most definitely that they were not a load on me. Also, it was not they who were obliged to me, but I to them.
O man! If an animal which is as though wild is the means of plenty when it comes as a guest to the house of a human being, you can compare for yourself what a means of plenty and mercy will be man, the noblest of creatures; and the believers, the most perfect of men; and the powerless and ailing elderly, the most worthy of respect and compassion among the believers; and relatives, the most worthy and deserving of kindness, love, and to be served among the ailing elderly; and parents, who are the truest and most loyal friends among relatives, if they are present in a house in their old age. According to the meaning of, "If it was not for the elderly, bent double with age, calamities would be visited on you in floods,"4 you can see what an important cause they are of disasters being repelled.
O man, come to your senses! If you do not die earlier, you too will become old. If you do not honour your parents, in accordance with the meaning of, "the punishment is similar to the act that required it," your children will not be dutiful towards you. If you love your life in the hereafter, this is an important treasury for you: be dutiful towards them and gain their pleasure. While if it is this world that you love, still try to please them, so that through them your life will be easy and your sustenance plentiful. For if you are contemptuous of them, wish for their deaths, and wound their sensitive and easily hurt hearts, you will manifest the meaning of the verse,
They lose both this world and the hereafter.5
If you want the mercy of the Most Merciful One, be merciful towards those in your house whom He has entrusted to you.
There was someone called Mustafa Çavu_, one of my brothers of the hereafter. I used to observe that he was very successful both in his religious life and his worldly life. I did not know the reason for this. Then I later understood that the reason for his success was that he had understood the rights of his elderly parents and he observed them to the letter; due to them he had found ease and mercy. God willing, he repaired his life in the hereafter as well. Those who wish for good fortune should try to resemble him...
O God, grant blessings and peace to the one who said: "Paradise is beneath the feet of mothers,"6 and to all his Family and Companions.
Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed You are All-Knowing, All-Wise.
FOOTNOTES
1. Qur'an, 17:23-5.
2. Qur'an, 51:58.
3. Qur'an, 29:60.
4. al-'Ajluni, Kashf al-Khafa' ii, 163; Suyuti, Kanz al-Ummal ix, 167; Ghazali, Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din 341.
5. Qur'an, 22:11.
6. Suyuti, al-Jami' al-Saghir, 3642; al-'Ajluni, Kashf al-Khafa' i, 335; al-Albani, Sahih al-Jami' al-Saghir wa ziyadatuhu 1259, 1260.
***
The Twenty-Second Letter
In His Name!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.
[This letter consists of Two Topics; the First summons believers to brotherhood and love.]
FIRST TOPIC
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
Verily the believers are brethren; so reconcile then your brothers.* Repel evil with what is better than it; then the one between whom and your-self enmity prevails will become like your friend and intimate. *Those who ,suppress their anger and forgive people - verily God loves those who do good.
Dispute and discord among the believers, and partisanship, obstinacy and envy, leading to rancour and enmity among them, are repugnant and vile, are harmful and sinful, by the combined testimony of wisdom, and the supreme humanity that is Islam, for personal, social, and spiritual life. They are in short, poison for the life of man. We will set forth six of the extremely numerous aspects of this truth:
· FIRST ASPECT
They are sinful in the view of truth.
O unjust man nurturing rancour and enmity against a believer! Let us suppose that you were on a ship, or in a house, with nine innocent people and one criminal. If someone were to try to make the ship sink, or to set the house on fire, because of that criminal, you know how great a sinner he would be. You would cry out to the heavens against his sinfulness. Even if there were one innocent man and nine criminals aboard the ship, it would be against all rules of justice to sink it.
So too, if there are in the person of a believer, who may be compared to a Dominical dwelling, a Divine ship, not nine, but as many as twenty innocent attributes such as belief, Islam, and neighbourliness; and if you then nurture rancour and enmity against him on account of one criminal attribute that harms and displeases you, attempting or desiring the sinking of his being, the burning of his house, then you too will a criminal guilty of a great atrocity.
· SECOND ASPECT
They are also sinful in the view of wisdom, for it is obvious that enmity and love are opposites, just like light and darkness; while maintaining their respective essences, they cannot be combined.
If love is truly found in a heart, by virtue of the predomination of the causes that produce it, then enmity in that heart can only be metaphorical, and takes on the form of compassion. The believer loves and should love his brother, and is pained by any evil he sees in him. He attempts to reform him not with harshness but gently. It is for this reason that the Hadith of the Prophet says, "No believer should be angered with another and cease ,speaking to him for more than three days."
If the causes that produce enmity predominate, and true enmity takes up its seat in a heart, then the love in that heart will become metaphorical, and take on the form of artifice and flattery.
O unjust man! See now what a great sin is rancour and enmity toward a brother believer! If you were to say that ordinary small stones are more valuable than the Ka'ba and greater than Mount Uhud, it would be an ugly absurdity. So too, belief which has the value of the Ka'ba, and Islam which has the splendour of Mount Uhud, as well as other Islamic attributes, demand love and concord; but if you prefer to belief and Islam certain shortcomings which arouse hostility, but in reality are like the small stones, you too will be engaging in great injustice, foolishness, and sin!
The unity of belief necessitates also the unity of hearts, and the oneness of our creed demands the oneness of our society. You cannot deny that if you find yourself in the same regiment as someone, you will form a friendly attachment to him; a brotherly relation will come into being as a result of your both being submitted to the orders of a single commander. You will similarly experience a fraternal relation through living in the same town with someone. Now there are ties of unity, bonds of union, and relations of fraternity as numeous as the Divine Names that are shown and demonstrated to you by the light and consciousness of belief.
Your Creator, Owner, Object of Worship, and Provider is one and the same for both of you; thousands of things are and the same for you. Your Prophet, your religion, your qibla are one and the same; hundreds of things are one and the same for you. Then too your village is one, your state is one, your country is one; tens of things are one and the same for you. All of these things held in common dictate oneness and unity, union and concord, love and brotherhood, and indeed the cosmos and the planets are similarly interlinked by unseen chains. If, despite all this, you prefer things worthless and transient as a spider's web that give rise to dispute and discord, to rancour and enmity, and engage in true enmity towards a believer, then you will understand - unless your heart is dead and your intelligence extinguished - how great is your disrespect for that bond of unity, your slight to that relation of love, your transgression against that tie of brotherhood!
· THIRD ASPECT
In accordance with the meaning of the verse:
No bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another,
which expresses pure justice, to nurture rancour and enmity towards a believer is like condemning-all the innocent attributes found in him on account of one criminal attribute, and is hence an act of great injustice. If you go further and include in your enmity all the relatives of a believer on account of a single evil attribute of his, then, in accordance with the following verse in which the active participle is in the intensive form,
Verily man is much given to wrongdoing,
you will have committed a still greater sin and transgression, against which truth, the Shari' a and the wisdom of Islam combine to warn you. How then can you imagine yourself to be right, and say: "I am in the right"?
In the view of truth, the cause for enmity and all forms of evil is in itself evil and is dense like clay: it cannot infect or pass on to others. If someone learns from it and commits evil, that is another question. Good qualities that arouse love are luminous like love; it is part of their function to be transmitted and produce effects. It is for this reason that the proverb has come into being, "The friend of a friend is a friend," and also that it is said, "Many eyes are beloved on account of one eye."
So O unjust man! If such be the view of truth, you will understand now, if you have the capacity for seeing the truth, how great an offence it is to cherish enmity for the likeable and innocent brothers and relatives of a man you dislike.
· FOURTH ASPECT
It is a sin from the point of view of personal life. Listen to the following four Principles which are the base of this Fourth Aspect.
F i r s t P r i n c i p l e : When you know your way and opinions to be true, you have the right to say, "My way is right and the best." But you do not have the right to say, "Only my way is right." According to the sense of "The eye of contentment is too dim to perceive faults; it is the eye of anger that exhibits all vice;" your unjust view and distorted opinion cannot be the all-decisive judge and cannot condemn the belief of another as invalid.
S e c o n d P r i n c i p l e : It is your right that all that you say should be true, but not that you should say all that is true. For one of insincere intention may sometimes take unkindly to advice, and react against it unfavourably.
T h i r d P r i n c i p l e : If you wish to nourish enmity, then direct it against the enmity in your heart, and attempt to rid yourself of it. Be an enemy to your evil-commanding soul and its caprice and attempt to reform it, for it inflicts more harm on you than all else. Do not engage in enmity against other believers on account of that injurious soul. Again, if you wish to cherish enmity, there are unbelievers and atheists in great abundance; be hostile to them. In the same way that the attribute of love is fit to receive love as its response, so too enmity will receive enmity as its own fitting response. If you wish to defeat your enemy, then respond to his evil with good. For if you respond with evil, enmity will increase, and even though he will be outwardly defeated, he will nurture hatred in his heart, and hostility will persist. But if you respond to him with good, he will repent and become your friend. The meaning of the lines: If you
treat the noble nobly, he will be yours, and if you treat the vile nobly, he will revolt, is that it is the mark of the believer to be noble, and he will become submitted to you by noble treatment. And even if someone is apparently ignoble, he is noble with respect to his belief. It often happens that if you tell an evil man, "You are good, you are good," he will become good; and if you tell a good man, "You are bad, you are bad," he will become bad. Hearken, therefore, to these sacred principles of the Qur'an, for happiness and safety are to be found in them:
If they pass hy, f'utility, they pass by it in honourable disdain. * If you forgive, pardon, and relent, verily God is All-Relenting, Merciful.
F o u r t h P r i n c i p l e : Those who cherish rancour and enmity transgress against their own souls, their brother believer, and Divine mercy. For such a person condemns his soul to painful torment with his rancour and enmity. He imposes torment on his soul whenever his enemy receives some bounty, and pain from fear of him. If his enmity arises from envy, then it is the most severe form of torment. For envy in the first place consumes and destroys the envier, and its harm for the one envied is either slight or nonexistent.
The cure for envy: Let the envious reflect on the ultimate fate of those things that arouse his enmity. Then he will understand that the beauty, strength, rank, and wealth possessed by his rival are transient and temporary. Their benefit is slight, and the anxiety they cause is great. If it is a question of advantages enjoyed with respect to the Hereafter, they cannot be an object of envy. But if one does envy another on account of them, then he is either himself a hypocrite, wishing to destroy the goods of the Hereafter while yet in this world, or he imagines the one whom he envies to be a hypocrite, thus being unjust towards him.
If he rejoices at the misfortunes he suffers and is grieved by the bounties he receives, it is as if he is offended by the kindness shown towards him by Divine Determining and Divine Mercy, as if he were criticizing and objecting to them. Whoever criticizes Divine Determining is striking his head against an anvil on which it will break, and whoever objects to Divine Mercy will himself be deprived of it.
How might justice and sound conscience accept that the response to something worth not even a day's hostility should be a year's rancour and hostility? You cannot condemn a brother believer for some evil you
experience at his hand for the following reasons:
Firstly, Divine Determining has a certain share of responsibility. It is necessary to deduct that share from the total and respond to it with contentment and satisfaction.
Secondly, the share of the soul and Satan should also be deducted, and one should pity the man for having been overcome by his soul and await his repentance instead of becoming his enemy.
Thirdly, look at the defect in your own soul that you do not see or do not wish to see; deduct a share for that too. As for the small share which then remains, if you respond with forgiveness, pardon, and magnanimity, in such a way as to conquer your enemy swiftly and safely, then you will have escaped all sin and harm. But if, like some drunken and crazed Jew who buys up fragments of glass and ice as if they were diamonds, you respond to worthless, transient, temporary, and insignificant happenings of this world with violent enmity, permanent rancour, and perpetual hostility, as if you were going to remain in the world with your enemy for all eternity, it would be extreme transgression, sinfulness, drunkenness, and lunacy.
If then you love yourself, do not permit this harmful hostility and desire for revenge to enter your heart. If it has entered your heart, do not listen to what it says. Hear what truth-seeing Hafiz of Shiraz says: "The world is not a commodity worth arguing over." It is worthless since it is transient and passing. If this is true of the world, then it is clear how worthless and insignficant are the petty affairs of the world! Hafiz also said: "The tranquillity of both worlds lies in the understanding of these two words: generosity towards friends, forebearance towards enemies."
I f y o u s a y : "I have no choice, there is enmity within my disposition. I cannot overlook those who antagonize me.''
T h e A n s w e r : If evil character and bad disposition do not exhibit any trace, and you do not act with ill intention, there is no harm. If you have no choice in the matter, then you are unable to abandon your enmity. If you recognize your defect and understand that you are wrong to have that attribute, it will be a form of repentance and seeking of forgiveness for you, thus delivering you from its evil effects. In fact, we have written this Topic of the Letter in order to make possible such a seeking of forgiveness, to distinguish right from wrong, and to prevent enmity from being displayed as rightful.
A case worthy of notice: I once saw, as a result of biased partisanship, a pious scholar of religion going so far in his condemnation of another scholar with whose political opinions he disagreed as to imply that he was an unbeliever. He also praised with respect a dissembler who shared his own opinions. I was appalled at these evil results of political involvement. I said: "I take refuge with God from Satan and politics " , and from that time on withdrew from politics.
· FIFTH ASPECT
Obstinacy and partisanship are extremely harmful in social life.
I f i t s a i d : "There is a Hadith which says: `Difference among my people is an instance of Divine Mercy,' and difference requires partisanship.
The sickness of partisanship also delivers the oppressed common people from the oppressor elite, for if the elite of a town or village join together, they will destroy the oppressed common people. If there is partisanship, the oppressed may seek refuge with one of the parties and thus save himself.
It is also from the confrontation of opinions and the contradiction of views that truth becomes apparent in its full measure."
The Answer:
To the first part of the question, we say: The difference intended in the Hadith is a positive difference. That is, each party strives to promote and diffuse its own belief; it does not seek to tear down and destroy that of the other, but rather to improve and reform it. Negative difference is rejected by the Hadith, for it aims in partisan and hostile fashion at mutual destruction, and those who are at each other's throats cannot act positively.
To the second part of the question, we say: If partisanship is in the name of truth, it can become a refuge for those seeking their rights. But as for the partisanship obtaining now, biased and self-centred, it can only be a refuge for the unjust and a point of support for them. For if a devil comes to a man engaged in biased partisanship, encourages him in his ideas and takes his side, that man will call down God's blessings on the Devil. But if the opposing side is joined by a man of angelic nature, then he will - may God protect us! - go so far as to invoke curses upon him.
To the third part of the question, we say: If the confrontation of views takes place in the name of justice and for the sake of truth, then the difference concerns only means; there is unity with respect to aim and basic purpose. Such a difference makes manifest every aspect of the truth and serves justice and truth. But what emerges from a confrontation of views that is partisan and biased, and takes place for the sake of a tyrannical, evil-commanding soul, that is based on egotism and fame-seeking-what emerges from this is not the `flash of truth,' but the fire of dissension. Unity of aim is necessary, but opposing views of this kind can never find a point of convergence anywhere on earth. Since they do not differ for the sake of the truth, they multiply ad infinitum, and give rise to divergences that can never be reconciled. ,
I n S h o r t : If one does not make of the exalted rules, "Love for the sake of God, dislike for the sake of God, judgement for the sake of God" the guiding principles of one's conduct, dispute and discord will result. If one does not say, "dislike for the sake of God, judgement for the sake of God" and take due account of those principles, one's attempts to do justice will result in injustice.
An event with an important lesson: Imam Ali (May God be pleased with him) once threw an unbeliever to the ground. As he drew his sword to kill him, the unbeliever spat in his face. He released him without killing him. The unbeliever said: "Why did you not kill me'?" He replied: "I was going to kill you for the sake of God. But when you spat at me, I became angered, and the purity of my intention was clouded by the inclinations of my soul. It is for this reason that I did not kill you." The unbeliever replied: "If your religion is so pure and disinterested, it must be the truth."
An occurrence worthy of note: When once a judge showed signs of anger while cutting off the hand of a thief, the just ruler who chanced to observe him dismissed him from his post. For if he had cut the hand in the name of the Shari'a, his soul would have felt pity for the victim; he would have cut it off in a manner devoid of both anger and mercy. Since the inclinations of his soul had had some share in his deed, he did not perform the act with justice.
A regrettable social condition and an awesome disease affecting the life of society, fit to be wept over by the heart of Islam: to forget and abandon internal enmities when foreign enemies appear and attack is a demand of social welfare recognized and enacted even by the most primitive peoples. What then ails those who claim to be serving the Islamic community that at a time when numberless enemies are taking up positions to attack, one after the other, they fail to forget their petty enmities, and instead prepare the ground for the enemies' attacks? It is disgraceful savagery, and treason committed against the social life of Islam.
A story to be pondered over: There were two groups of the Hasanan, a tribe of nomads, hostile to each other. Although more than maybe fifty people had been killed on each side, when another tribe such as the Sibgan or Haydaran came out against them, those two hostile groups would forget their enmity and fight together, shoulder to shoulder, until the opposing tribe had been repelled, without ever once recalling their internal dissensions.
O Believers! Do you know how many tribes of enemies have taken up position to attack the tribe of the people of belief? There are more than a hundred of them, like a series of concentric circles. The believers are obliged to take up defensive positions, each supporting the other and giving him a helping hand. Is it then at all fitting for the people of belief that with their biased partisanship and hostile rancour they should facilitate the attack of the enemy and fling open the doors for him to penetrate the fold of Islam? There are maybe seventy circles of enemies, including the misguided, atheist, and the unbeliever, each of them as harmful to you as all the terrors and afflictions of this world, and each of them regarding you with greed, anger and hatred. Your firm weapon, shield and citadel against all of them is none other than the brotherhood of Islam. So realize just how contrary to conscience and to the interests of Islam it is to shake the citadel of Islam on account of petty hostilities and other pretexts! Know this, and come to your senses!
According to a noble Hadith of the Prophet (PBUH}, noxious and awesome persons like Sufyan and the Dajjal will come to rule over the godless at the end of time, and exploiting the greed, discord and hatred amongst the Muslims and mankind, they will need only a small force to reduce humanity to anarchy and the vast world of Islam to slavery.
O people of faith! If you do not wish to enter a humiliating condition of slavery, come to your senses and enter and take refuge in the citadel of:
Indeed the believers are brothers,
to defend yourselves against those oppressors who would exploit your differences! Otherwise you will be able neither to protect your lives nor to defend your rights. It is evident that if two champions are wrestling with each other, even a child can beat them. If two mountains are balanced in the scales, even a small stone can disturb their equilibrium and cause one to rise and the other to fall. So O people of belief! Your strength is reduced to nothing as a result of your passions and biased partisanships, and you can be defeated by the slightest forces. If you have any interest in your social solidarity, then make of the exalted principle of "The believers are together like a well-founded building, one part of which supports the other" your guiding principle in life! Then you will be delivered from humiliation in this world and wretchedness in the Hereafter.
· SiXTH ASPECT
Spiritual life and correctness of worship will suffer as a result of enmity and rancour, since the purity of intention that is the means of salvation will be damaged. For a biased person will desire superiority over his enemy in the good deeds that he performs and will be unable to act purely for the sake of God. He will also prefer, in his judgement and dealings, the one who takes his side; he will be unable to be just. Thus the purity of intention and the justice that are the fundaments of all good acts and deeds will be lost on account of enmity and hostility.
The Sixth Aspect is extremely complex, but we will cut it short here since this is not the place to enlarge on it.
SECOND TOPIC
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
Verily God it is Who gives all sustenance, Lord of Power and Steadfast. * How many are the creatures that carry not their own sustenance? It is God Who provides for them and for you; He is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.
O people of belief! You will have understood by now how harmful is enmity. Understand too that greed is another awesome disease, as harmful for the life of Islam as enmity. Greed brings about disappointment, deficiency, and humiliation; it is the cause of deprivation and abjection. The humiliation and abjection of the Jews, who more than any other people have leaped greedily upon the world, is a decisive proof of this truth. Greed demonstrates its evil effects throughout the animate world, from the most universal of species to the most particular of individuals. To seek out one's sustenance while placing one's trust in God will, by constrast, bring about tranquillity and demonstrate everywhere its benefi-cient effects.
Thus, fruit trees and plants, which are a species of animate being insofar as they require sustenance, remain contentedly rooted where they are, placing their trust in God and not evincing any greed; it is for this reason that their sustenance hastens toward them. They breed too far more offspring than do the animals. The animls, by contrast, pursue their sustenance greedily, and for this reason are able to attain it only imperfectly and at the cost of great effort. Within the animal kingdom it is only the young who, as it were, evince their trust in God by proclaiming their weakness and impotence; hence it is that they receive in full measure their rightful and delicate sustenance from the treasury of Divine mercy. But savage beasts that pounce greedily on their sustenance can hope only for an ilicit and coarse sustenance, attained through the expenditure of' great effort. These two examples show that greed is the cause of deprivation, while trust in God and contentment are the means to God's mercy.
In the human kingdom, the Jews have clung to the world more greedily and have loved its life with more passion than any other people, but the usurious wealth they have gained with great efforts is merely illicit property over which they exercise temporary stewardship, and it benefits them little. It earns them, on the contrary, the blows of abjection and humiliation, of death and insult, that are rained down on them by all peoples. This shows that greed is a source of humiliation and loss. There are in addition so many instances of a greedy person being exposed to loss that "the greedy is subject to dsappointment and loss" has become a universally accepted truth. This being the case, if you love wealth, seek it not with greed but with contentment, so that you may have it in abundance.
The content and the greedy are like two men who enter the audience-hall of a great personage. One of them says to himself: "It is enough that he should admit me so that I can escape from the cold outside. Even if he motions me to sit in the lowest position, I will count it as a kindness."
The second man says arrogantly, as if he had some right in the matter and everyone were obliged to respect him: "I should be assigned the highest position." He enters with greed and fixes his gaze on the highest positions, wishing to advance toward them. But master of the audience-hall turns him back and seats him in a lower position. Instead of thanking him as he should, he is angered against him in his heart and criticizes him. The lord of the palace will be offended by him.
The first man enters most humbly and wishes to sit in the lowest position. His modesty pleases the lord of the audience-hall, and he invites him to sit in a higher position. His gratitude increases, and his thankfulness is augmented.
Now this world is like an audience-hall of the Most Merciful One. The surface of the globe is like a banqueting spread laid out by His mercy. The differing degrees of sustenance and grades of bounty correspond to the seating positions in the audience-hall.
Furthermore, even in the minutest of affairs everyone can experience the evil effects of greed. For example, everyone knows in his heart that when two beggars request something, he will be offended by the one who greedily importunes him, and refuse his request; whereas he will take pity on the peaceable one and give him what he asks.
Or to give another example, if you are unable to fall asleep at night and wish to do so, you may succeed if you remain detached. But if you desire sleep greedily, and say: "Let me sleep, let me sleep," then sleep will quit you entirely.
Yet another example is this, that if you greedily await the arrival of someone for some important purpose and continually say: "He still hasn't come," ultimately you will lose patience and get up and leave. But one minute later the person will come, and your purpose will be frustrated.
The reason for all this is as follows. The production of a loaf of bread requires a field to be cultivated and harvested, the grain to be taken to a mill, and the loaf to be baked in an oven. So too in the arrangement of all things there is a certain slow deliberation decreed by God's wisdom. If on account of greed one fails to act with slow deliberation, one will fail to notice the steps one must mount in the arrangement of all things; he will either fall or be unable to traverse the steps, and in either event will not reach his goal.
O brothers giddied by preoccupation with your livelihood, and drunk on your greed for this world! Greed is harmful and pernicious; how is it then that you commit all kinds of abject deed for the sake of your greed; accept all kinds of wealth, without concern for licit or illicit; and sacrifice much of the Hereafter? On account of your greed you even abandon one of the most important pillars of Islam, the payment of zakat, although zakat is for everyone a means of attracting plenty and repelling misfortune. The one who does not pay zakat is bound to lose the amount of money he would otherwise have paid: either he will spend it on some useless object, or it will be taken from him by some misfortune.
In a veracious dream that came to me during the fifth year of the First World War, the following question was put to me :
"What is the reason for this hunger, financial loss, and physical trial that now afflicts the Muslims'?"
I replied in the dream:
"From the wealth He bestows upon us, God Almighty required from us either a tenth or a fortieth so that we may benefit from the grateful prayers of the poor, and rancour and envy may be prevented. But in our greed and covetousness we refused to give zakat, and God Almighty has taken from us a thirtieth where a fortieth was owed, and an eighth where a tenth was owed.
"He required of us to undergo, for no more than one month each year , a hunger with seventy beneficial purposes. But we took pity on our instinctual souls, and did not undergo that temporary pleasurable hunger.
16. A tenth, that is, or wealth like corn that every year yields a new crop; and a fortieth of whatever yielded a commercial profit in the course of the year.
God Almighty then punished us by compelling us to fast for five years ,
with a hunger replete with seventy kinds of misfortune.
"He also required of us, out of each period of twenty-four hours, one hour to be spent in a form of Divine drill, pleasing and sublime, luminous and beneficial. But in our laziness we neglected the duty of prayer. That single hour was joined to the other hours and wasted. As penance, God Almighty then caused us to undergo a form of drill and physical exertion that took the place of prayer."
I then awoke;, and upon reflection realized that an extremely important truth was contained in that dream. As proven and explained in the Twenty-Fifth Word, when comparing modern civilization with the principles of the Qur'an, all immorality and instability in the social life of man proceeds from two sources:
The First: "Once my stomach is full, what do I care if others die of hungers"
The Second: "You work, and I'll eat."
That which perpetuates these two is the prevalence of usury and interest on the one hand, and the abandonment of zakat on the other. The only remedy able to cure these two awesome social diseases lies in implementing zakat as a universal principle and in forbidding usury. Zakat is a most essential support of happiness not merely for individuals and particular societies, but for all of humanity. There are two classes of men: the upper classes and the common people. It is only zakat that will induce compassion and generosity in the upper classes toward the common people, and respect and obedience in the common people toward the upper classes. In the absence of zakat, the upper classes will descend on the common people with cruelty and oppression, and the common people will rise up against the upper classes in rancour and rebellion. There will be a constant struggle, a persistent opposition between the two classes of men. It will finally result in the confrontation of capital and labour, as happened in Russia.
O people of nobility and good conscience! O people of generosity and liberality! If acts of generosity are not performed in the name of zakat, there are three harmful results. The act may have no effect, for if you do not give in the name of God, you are in effect imposing an obligation, and imprisoning some wretched pauper with a sense of obligation. Then you will be deprived of his prayer, a prayer which would be most acceptable in the sight of God. In reality you are nothing but an official entrusted with the distribution of God Almighty's bounties among His servants; but if you imagine yourself to be the owner of wealth, this is an act of ingratitude for the bounties you have received. If, on the contrary, you give in the name of zakat, you will be rewarded for having given in the name of God Almighty; you will have offered thanks for bounties received. The needy person too will not be compelled to fawn and cringe in front of you; his self-respect will not be injured, and his prayer on your behalf will be accepted. See how great is the difference between, on the one hand, giving as much as one would in zakat, but earning nothing but the harm of hypocrisy, fame, and the imposition of obligation; and, on the other hand, performing the same good deeds in the name of zakat, and thereby fulfilling a duty, and gaining a reward, the virtue of sincerity, and the prayers of those whom you have benefited?
Glory be unto You; we have no knowledge save that which you have taught us; indeed, your are All-Knowing, All-Wise.
O God, grant blessings and peace to our master Muhammed, who said: "The believer is with respect to the believer like a firm building, of which one part supports the other, " and who said too that
"Contentment is a treasure that never perishes, " and to his Family and his Companions. And praise he to God, the Sustainer of all the Worlds.
CONCLUSION
CONCERNING BACKBITING
In his Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.
In the Fifth Point of the First Ray of the First Light of the Twenty-Fifth Word, a single Qur'anic verse having the effect of discouraging and restraining was shown to induce repugnance at backbiting in six miraculous ways. It Was shown too how abominable a thing is backbiting in the view of the Qur-'an, and that there is therefore no need for any further explanation of the subject. Indeed, after the Qur'an has made its declaration, there is neither the possibility nor the need for anything further.
The Qur' an reproaches the backbiter with six reproaches in the verse:
Would any among you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother ?
and forbids him to commit this sin with six degrees of severity. When the verse is directed to those persons actually engaged in backbiting, its meaning is the following.
As is well-known, the hamza at the beginning of the verse has an interrogative sense. This interrogative sense penetrates all the words of the verse like water, so that each word acquires an additional meaning. Thus the first world asks, with its hamza: "Is it that you have no intelligence capable of discrimination, so that you fail to perceive the ugliness of this thing?"
The second word like asks: "Is your heart, the seat of love and hatred,
so corrupted that it loves the most repugnant of things?"
The third word any among you asks: "What befell your sense of social and civilized responsibility that you are able to accept something poisonous to social life?"
The fourth word to eat the, flesh asks: "What has befallen your sense of humanity that you are tearing your friend apart with your fangs like a wild animal?"
The fifth word of his brother asks: "Do you have no fellow-feeling, no sense of kinship, that you are able to sink your teeth into some wretch who is tied to you by numerous links of brotherhood? Do you have no intelligence that you are able to bite into your own limbs with your own teeth, in such lunatic faashion?"
The sixth word dead asks: "Where is your conscience? Is your nature so corrupt that you abandon all respect and act so repugnantly as to consume your brother's flesh?"
According then to the total sense of the verse, as well as the indications of each of its words, slander and backbiting are repugnant to the intelligence and the heart, to humanity and conscience, to nature and social consciousness.
You see then that the verse condemns backbiting in six miraculous degrees and restrains men from it in six miraculous ways. Backbiting is the vile weapon most commonly used by the people of enmity, envy, and obstinacy, and the self-respecting will never stoop to employing so unclean a weapon. Some celebrated person once said: "I never stoop to vexing my enemy with backbiting, for backbiting is the weapon of the weak, the low, and the vile."
Backbiting consists of saying that which would be a cause of dislike and vexation to the person in question if he were to be present and heir it. Even if what is said is true, it is still backbiting. If it is a lie, then it is both backbiting and slander and a doubly loathsome sin.
Backbiting can be permissible in a few special instances:
First: If a complaint be presented to some official, so that with his help evil be removed and justice restored.
Second: If a person contemplating co-operation with another comes to seek your advice, and you say to him, purely for the sake of his benefit and to advise him correctly, without any self-interest: "Do not co-operate with him; it will be to your disadvantage."
Third: If the purpose is not to expose someone to disgrace and notoriety, but simply to make people aware, and one says: "That foolish, confused man went to such-and-such a place."
Fourth: If the subject of backbiting is an open and unashamed sinner; is not troubled by evil, but on the contrary takes pride in the sins he commits; finds pleasure in his wrongdoing; and unhesitatingly sins in the most evident fashion.
In these particular cases, backbiting may be permissible, if it be done without self-interest and purely for the sake of truth and communal welfare. But apart from them, it is like a fire that consumes good deeds like a flame eating up wood.
If one has engaged in backbiting, or willingly listened to it, one should say: "O God, forgive me and him concerning whom I spoke ill," and say to the subject of backbiting, whenever one meets him: "Forgive me."
The Enduring One, He is the Enduring One !
S a i d N u r s i
***
The Twenty-Third Letter
In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.
Peace be upon you, and God's blessings and mercy for ever, to the number of the seconds of the minutes of your life and the particles of your body!
My Dear, Enterprising, Serious, True, Sincere, and Sagacious Brother!
For brothers of the Hereafter and the truth like us, differences of time and place form no obstacle to their conversing and intimacy. Even if one is in the East, one in the West, one in the past, one in the future, one in this world, and one in the Hereafter, they still may be considered as being together and they may talk together. Especially those who have undertaken the same duty to achieve the same goal; they may all be considered to be the same. Every morning I imagine that you are here with me, and I make over a part, a third, of my spiritual gains to you. May God find them acceptable! You are together with Abdülmecid and Abdurrahman in my prayers; God willing, you always receive your share. Your suffering certain difficulties in regard to worldly life saddened me a little, for your sake. But since this world is not eternal and there is a form of good present in disasters, it occurred to me to say, "This too will pass," on your behalf. I thought of the Hadith: "There is no livelihood, save that of the Hereafter." I recited the verse: "God is with those who patiently persevere." I said: "To God do we belong, and to Him is our return." I found consolation in place of you. If Almighty God loves a servant of His, He makes him feel disgust with the world, showing it to be ugly. God willing, you too belong to that class of those beloved by God. Do not let the multiplication of the obstacles preventing the spreading of the Words upset you. God willing, when the amount you have distributed come to manifest Divine mercy, those light-filled seeds will open truly abundant flowers.
You asked a number of questions. My dear brother! The majority of the Words and Letters which have been written occurred to my heart instantaneously, without the exercise of will; and they turned out very well. If I reply to you relying on my will and strength of knowledge and thought like the Old Said, the answers will turn out dull and deficient. For some time now, the inspirations of the heart have ceased and the whip of the memory been broken; but so that you should not remain without answer, I shall reply, extremely briefly to each of them.
YOUR FIRST QUESTION
What is the best way believers can pray for one another?
T h e A n s w e r : It has to be within the sphere of what is acceptable, for supplications become acceptable under certain conditions; their acceptability increases as these conditions are fulfilled. For instance, when supplications are to be made, a person should be purified spiritually by seeking forgiveness; then he should recite benedictions (Salawat) for the Prophet (PBUH}, an acceptable prayer, for intercession; and following his supplication, he should again recite the Salawat. For a prayer offered between two such acceptable prayers itself becomes acceptable. As is praying for another without their knowledge. So too are the traditional supplications and prayers in the Qur'an and Hadiths. For example:
O God! I beseech You to bestow forgiveness and well-being on me and on him in religion, this world, and the Hereafter. * O our Sustainer! Give us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and defend us from the torment of the Fire.
General supplications like these which are offered sincerely, and with humility and tranquillity of heart; and following the five daily prayers, and the morning prayer in particular; and in holy places, and mosques in particular; and on Fridays, and particularly during the hour when prayers are answered ; and during the three months of Rajab, Sha'ban, and Ramadan, and on the well-known holy nights, such as the Prophet's birthday and Raga'ib, and on the Night of Power in particular - it is to be strongly hoped from Divine mercy that such supplications will be accepted. The results of such acceptable prayers are either seen exactly as wished in this world, or they are accepted in respect of the eternal life in the Hereafter of the one who offered them. That is to say, if what was sought does not occur exactly as wished, it may not be said that the prayer was not accepted; rather, that it was accepted in a better form.
YOUR SECOND QUESTION
Since the phrase, May God he pleased with him, is used for the Companions of the Prophet {PBUH}, is it appropriate to use it for others with the same meaning?
T h e A n s w e r : Yes, it may be used, because unlike Upon whom be blessings and peace., which is a mark of God's Prophet (PBUH), the epithet, May God be pleased with him, is not a mark particular to the Companions, but should be used for persons like the four Imams, Shah Abd ul-Qadir Gilani, Imam-i Rabbani, and Imam Ghazzali, who attained to the `greater sainthood' known as the `legacy of prophethood,' reaching the station of God's pleasure. But generally among religious scholars May God be pleased with him has been used for the Companions; May God have mercy on him, for the next two generations succeeding them; May God forgive him, for subsequent generations; and May his mystery be sanctified, for the great saints.
YOUR THIRD QUESTION
Which were superior, the great imams and interpreters of the Holy Law, or the `Shahs' and `spiritual poles' of the true Sufi paths?
T h e A n s w e r : Not all the interpreters of the Law, but Abu Hanifa, Malik, Shafi'i, and Ahmed b. Hanbal were superior to the Shahs and spiritual poles. But in some respects, some wondrous spiritual poles like Shah Gilani attained more brilliant stations, in particular virtues. However, general virtue was the Imams'. Furthermore, some of the Shahs of the Sufi paths were also interpreters of the Law; it cannot therefore be said that all interpreters of the Law were superior to the spiritual poles. But it may be said that after the Companions and the Mehdi, the Four Imams were superior.
YOUR FOURTH QUESTION
What is the purpose and aim of the verse,
God is with those who patiently persevere?
T h e A n s w e r : As required by His Name of All-Wise, Almighty God placed in all things an arrangement like the steps of stairs. An impatient man does not act with slow deliberation, and so either skips some of the steps and falls, or leaves some deficient; he cannot mount to the roof of his goal. Thus, greed is the cause of loss. Patience however is the key to all difficulties, and the saying, "The greedy is subject to disappointment and loss," and Hadith, "Patience is the key to happiness," have become like proverbs. That is to say, Almighty God's grace and favour is together with the patient. For patience is threefold:
The First is to patiently persevere in refraining from sin; this patience is taqwa, and manifests the meaning of the verse:
God is with those who fear Him and restrain themselves.
The Second is patience in the face of calamity; this to place one's trust in God and to submit to Him. It is honoured by the manifestation of these verses:
God loves the patient. * God loves those who put their trust in Him.
As for impatience, it amounts to complaining about God, and to criticizing His actions, accusing His mercy, and not liking His wisdom. For sure, man, who is weak and powerless, weeps in the form of complaint against the blows of misfortune, but his complaint must be to Him, not about him. It should be like the words of Jacob (Upon whom be peace):
He said: I only, complain of my distraction and anguish to God. That is to say, he should complain to God, not lament, saying: "What have I done that this should have happened to me?" as though complaining to other human beings about God; to excite the sympathy of impotent humans is harmful and meaningless.
The Third Sort of Patience is patient perseverance in worship, which raises a person to the station of being beloved of God. It urges a person towards perfect worship of God and servitude of Him, which is the most elevated station.
YOUR FIFTH QUESTION
The age of discretion is accepted to be fifteen. How did the Prophet
(Upon whom be blessings and peace) worship before his prophetic mission?
T h e A n s w e r : He used to worship in accordance with what remained of the religion of Abraham (Upon whom be peace), which was still extant in Arabia, though in very obscure form. But this was through his own choice as a good act, not because he was obliged or compelled to in any way. This truth is lengthy, so let it remain at that for now.
YOUR SIXTH QUESTION
What was the wisdom in his prophethood commencing when he was forty years of age, which is reckoned to be the age of perfect maturity, and his blessed life continuing for sixty-three years?
T h e A n s w e r : There were numerous purposes and instances of wisdom in this. One of them is as follows: Prophethood is a great and extremely heavy responsibility. It may be borne through the unfolding of the intellectual abilities and capacity of the heart, and through their being perfected. The time they are most perfectly developed is the age of forty. In addition, youth, the time the passions of the soul are enflamed, and the blood fiery and exuberant, and worldly ambitions are intense, is not fitting for the duties of prophethood, which are purely Divine, sacred, and pertain to the Hereafter. However serious and sincere a man is before the age of forty, the suspicion that he is working for worldly renown might occur to those who who themselves seek fame. He could not easily be saved from their accusations. But after the age of forty, the descent to the grave begins, and the Hereafter looms larger for such a man than this world. He can be easily saved from such accusations in his actions and works, which look to the Hereafter, and he is successful. And others too are saved from thinking ill of him.
When it comes to his blessed life being sixty-three years, one of the instances of wisdom in it was this: the believers are charged by the Shari' a to love and respect God's Most Noble Prophet (Upon whom be blessings and peace) to the greatest degree, to feel disgust at absolutely nothing about him, and to see every aspect of him as good. Thus, Almighty God did not leave His Noble Beloved in the difficult and troublesome years of old age after sixty-three; He rather sent him to the Sublime Court at that age, which was the average life expectancy of most of the community of which he was the leader. He took him to Himself, showing that he was the leader in every respect.
YOUR SEVENTH QUESTION
Is the following a Hadith, and what does it mean? "The best of your youths are those who resemble men of mature age, while the worst of your men of middle age are those who resemble youths."
T h e A n s w e r : I have heard that it is a Hadith. Its meaning is this:
"The best youth is he who thinks of death like an elderly person, and working for the Hereafter, is not one of those who become captive to the passions of youth and drown in heedlessness. And the worst of your elderly people is he who tries to resemble the young in heedlessness and passion, and follows the lusts of the soul like a child."
The correct form of the second part you saw in the poster is as follows: I have hung it above my head for the wisdom it teaches. I look it at it every morning and evening and receive instruction.
If you want a friend, God is sufficient. Yes, if He is the friend, everything is a friend.
If you want companions, the Qur'an is sufficient. Indeed, for in the imagination one meets with the prophets and angels in it, watches the events in which they were involved, and becomes familiar with them.
If you want possessions, contentment is sufficient. Yes, one who is content is frugal; and one who is frugal, finds the blessing of plenty.
If you want an enemy, the soul is sufficient. Yes, one who fancies himself is visited with calamities and meets with difficulties. Whereas one who is not fond of himself, finds happiness, and goes to mercy.
If you want advice, death is sufficient. Yes, one who thinks of death is saved from love of this world, and works in earnest for the Hereafter.
I am adding an Eighth to your Seven Matters. It is like this:
A couple of days ago, a reciter of the Qur'an recited part of Sura Yusuf as far as,
Take my soul [at death.] as one submitting to Your will [as a Muslim], and unite me with the righteous.
Suddenly, like a flash, this point occurred to me: everything concerning the Qur'an and belief is valuable; however insignificant it appears to be, its value is great. Whatever assists in eternal happiness is not insignificant. In which case, it may not be said that this is only a small point, and not worth explaining or being given importance. And for sure, the first student and one addressed in matters of this kind, who appreciates the fine points of the Qur'an, Ibrahim Hulusi, wants to hear this point! In which case, listen to it:
It is a fine point of the finest of stories. An elevated, subtle, happy, and miraculous point of the verse,
Take my soul [at death] as one submitting, to Your will [as a Muslim], and unite me with the righteous,
which announces that the story of Joseph (Upon whom be peace), the best of stories, is coming to an end. It is this: the sorrows and pains of death and separation at the end of other happy stories, make bitter the pleasure the imagination has received from the story, and destroy it. Especially if they tell of death and separation just when recounting the moment of perfect joy and happiness, this is even more painful and causes those listening to cry out in sorrow. However, although this verse tells of Joseph's death just at the most brilliant part of his story, when he is Ruler of Egypt, united with his mother and father, fondly meeting with his brothers, and is experiencing the greatest happiness and joy of this world, it does so in such a way as to say: Joseph himself asked for his death from Almighty God in order to experience an even more happy and brilliant state; and he did die and did receive that happiness.
That is to say, there is beyond the grave a happiness and joy greater than the pleasurable happiness of this world, so that while in that most pleasurable worldly situation, a truth-seeing person like Joseph (Upon whom be peace) wished for bitter death, and so to receive that other happiness.
And so, see this eloquence of the All-Wise Qur'an, in what way it announces the end of the story of Joseph. It causes not sorrow and regret to those listening to it, but gives good tidings and adds further joy. It also gives guidance, saying: Work for beyond the grave, for it is there that true happiness and pleasure will be found. It also points out Joseph's exalted veraciousness, saying: even the most brilliant and joyful situation of this world did not cause him to become heedless; it did not captivate him; he still wanted the Hereafter.
The Enduring One, He is the Enduring One!
S a i d N u r s i
***
The Twenty-Fourth Letter
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
Allah does what He wishes, and decrees what He wills.
Q u e s t i o n : How can the solicitous nurturing, the purposeful and beneficial planning, the loving kindness of the Names of AllCompassionate, All-Wise, and Loving, which are among the greatest of the Divine Names, be reconciled with death and non-existence, decline and separation; and disaster and hardship, which are awesome and terrible?
Very well, man goes to eternal happiness, so we can tolerate his passing down the road of death, but for the delicate, lovely species of trees and plants, and the flowers, all living creatures, and the species of animals, which are worthy of existence, lovers of life, and desire permanent life - what compassion and kindness is there in their continuously, without exception, being annihilated, in their swiftly being despatched to non-existence without being allowed to so much as open their eyes, in their being made to work and labour without being allowed to so much as take a breath, in their being changed by calamities with not one of them being left in peace, in their being killed without exception, in their dying with not one of them remaining, in their departing with not one of them being gratified - what wisdom and purpose, what favour and mercy are there in this?
T h e A n s w e r : Through Five Signs which show the necessitating cause and reason, and Five indications which point out the aims and benefits, we shall try to look from afar at the mighty truth which solves this question, and which is extremely broad, profound, and elevated.
FIRST STATION
[This consists of Five Signs]
· FIRST SIGN
As is described at the end of the Twenty-Sixth Word, when making a precious bejewelled and embroidered garment, a Skillful Craftsman employs a poor man in return for a commensurate wage. In order to display his skill and art, he dresses the poor man in the garment, then measures it and cuts it, and lengthens and shortens it, and making the man sit down and stand up, he gives it various forms. So does the wretched man have the right to say to the craftsman ? :
"Why are you interfering with this garment which makes me beautiful, and altering and changing it? Why are you making me stand up and sit down, disturbing me and causing me trouble?"
In exactly the same way, in order to display the perfections of His art through the embroideries of His Names, the All-Glorious Maker takes the essential nature of every sort of being as a model, then He clothes everything and especially living creatures in the garment of a body bejewelled with senses, and inscribes it with the pen of Divine Decree and Determining; thus demonstrating the rnanifestation of His Names. In addition, He gives to every being a perfection, a pleasure, an effulgence, in a way suitable to it and as a wage.
Has then anything the right to say to the All-Glorious Maker, Who manifests the meaning of, the Lord of All-Dominion has free disposal over His realms as He wishes :
"You are giving me trouble and disturbing me."? God forbid! In no way do beings have any rights before the Necessarily Existent One, nor can they claim them; their right rather is to carry out through offering thanks and praise, what is required by the degree of existence He has given them.
For all the degrees of existence that are given are occurrences, and each requires a cause. Degrees which are not given are possibilities, and possibilities are non-existent, as well as being infinite. As for instances of non-existence, they do not require a cause. For example, minerals cannot say: "Why weren't we plants?" they cannot complain. Rather, their right, since they have received mineral existence, is to offer thanks to their Creator. And plants may not complain asking why they were not animals; their right is to offer thanks, since they have received life as well as existence. As for animals, they may not complain that they are not humans; the right over them rather, since they have been given the precious substance of spirit in addition to life and existence, is to offer thanks. And so on...
O complaining man! You did not remain non-existent; you were clothed in the bounty of existence, you tasted life. You did not remain inanimate, nor become an animal; you received the bounty of Islam; you did not remain in misguidance; you have experienced the bounties of good health and well-being!
O ungrateful one! Where did you win the right not to offer thanks in return for the degrees of existence which Almighty God has given you and are pure bounty (blessing). How is it that because exalted bounties which are contingencies and non-existent and which you do not deserve have not been given to you, you complain about Almighty God with meaningless greed, ungrateful for the bounties you have received?
If a man rises to an exalted degree like climbing to the top of a minaret and finds a high station, and on every step receives a large bounty, then does not thank the one who gave him the bounties and complainingly asks why he could not have risen higher than the minaret, how wrong he would be, what an ungrateful denial of the bounties, what great foolishness it would be; as even a lunatic would understand.
O discontented greedy, thriftless wasteful, unjustly complaining, heedless man! Know certainly that contentment is profitable thanks; greed is loss-causing ingratitude, and frugality, fine and beneficial respect for bounties. As for wastefulness, it is ugly and harmful contempt for bounties.
If you have intelligence, grow accustomed to contentment and try to be satisfied with little. If you cannot endure it, say: "O Most Patient One!" and seek patience. Be satisfied with your lot and do not complain. Understand who is complaining about whom, and be silent. If you have to complain, then complain about your soul to God Almighty, for the fault is its.
· SECOND SIGN
As is stated at the end of the final rnatter of the Eighteenth Letter, one instance of wisdom in the All-Glorious Creator constantly changing and renewing beings in an astonishing and awesome fashion through the activity of His Dominicality is as follows:
Activity and rnotion in creatures arises from an appetite, a desire, a pleasure, a love. It may be said that in all activity there is a sort of pleasure; even, that every activity is a sort of pleasure. Pleasure too is turned towards a perfection; it is even a sort of perfection. Since activity indicates a perfection, a pleasure, a beauty; and since the Necessarily Existent One, Who is Absolute Perfection and the Perfect One of Glory, unites in His essence, attributes, and Names every sort of perfection, for sure, in a manner fitting for the necessary existence and holiness of the Necessarily Existent Essence, in a form suitable to His absolute riches and the self-sufficiency of His essence, in a way appropriate to His absolute perfection and freedom from defect, He has a boundless sacred compassion and infinite pure love.
Of a certainty, there is an infinite holy eagerness arising from that sacred compassion and pure love; and from that holy eagerness arises an infinite sacred joy. And arising from that sacred joy, is, if the term is permissible, an infinite holy pleasure. And from this holy pleasure and from the gratitude and perfections of creatures which result from the emergence and development of their potentialities within the activity of His power, arise, if one may say so, an infinite sacred gratification and holy pride pertaining to that Most Merciful and Compassionate Essence; and it is these which necessitate a boundless activity.
And that boundless activity in turn necessitates boundless change, and transformation, and alteration, and destruction. And that boundless change and transformation necessitate death and extinction, decline and separation.
At one time, the benefits shown by human science and philosophy concerning the purposes of beings appeared most insignificant in my view. And I understood from this that such philosophy leads only to futility. It is for this reason that leading philosophers either fall into the swamp of Nature, or they become Sophists, or they deny Divine knowledge and choice, or they call the Creator "self-necessitating."
At that point, Divine mercy sent the Name of All-Wise to my aid, and it showed me the great aims of creatures. That is to say, every creature, every artefact, is such a Dominical missive that all conscious beings study it.
This aim satisfied me for a year. Then the wonders in the art of beings were unfolded to me, and the former aim started to appear insufficient. Another, much greater aim became apparent. That is, the most important aims of all creatures look to their Maker. I understood that this aim is to present to His gaze the perfections of His art, the embroideries of His Names, the embellishments of His wisdom, and the gifts of His mercy; it is to be mirrors to His beauty and perfections. This aim satisfied me for a long time.
Then the miracles of Divine power and functions of Dominicality in the extremely swift changes and transformations within the astonishing activity in the art and creation of things became apparent. The former aim too began to appear insufficient. I understood that a necessitating cause, a motive, as great as this aim was necessary. It was then that the causes in this Second Sign and aims in the Indications to follow became apparent.
It was made known to me with complete certainty that "the activity of Divine Power in the Universe and the constant flood of beings is so meaningful that through it the All-Wise Maker causes all the realms of beings in the universe to speak.". It is as if the beings of the earth and the skies and their motion and actions are the words of their speech; their motion is their speech. That is, the motion and decline arising from activity is speech glorifying God. And the activity in the Universe, too, is the silent speech of the Universe and that of the varieties of its beings...
· THIRD SIGN
Things do not go to non-existence, they rather pass from the sphere of power to the sphere of knowledge; they go from the Manifest World to the World of the Unseen; they turn trom the world of change and transience to the worlds of light and eternity.
From the point of view of reality, the beauty and perfcetion in things pertain to the Divine Names and are their impresses and manifestations. Since the Names are eternal and their manifestations, perpetual, certainly their impresses will be renewed, refreshed, and made beautiful. They do not pass and depart for non-existence, only their relative positions change; their realities, essences, and identities, which are the means of beauty and loveliness, effulgence and perfection, are enduring.
The beauty and fineness in Beings with no spirits pertain directly to the Divine Names; the honour is their's; praise is due to them; the beauty is their's; Love goes to them; they suffer no harm on those mirrors changing.
If they are Beings with spirits but no intellect, their death and departure is not extinction and vanishing into non-existence, it is rather being saved from physical existence and the turbulent duties of life. Making over to their spirits, which are immortal, the fruits of the duties they have gained, each relying on a Divine Name, their immortal spirits persist, attaining a happiness worthy of them.
If they are Beings possessing both spirits and intellects, their demise is anyway a journeying to everlasting happiness, to the eternal realm, which is the means to perfections, material and non-material, and to the other dwelling-places of the All-Wise Maker, like the Intermediate Realm, the World of Similitudes, and the Spirit World, which surpass this World in beauty and luminosity. Their passing is not death and extinction, separation and non-existence, it is attaining perfection.
I n S h o r t : Since the All-Glorious Maker exists and He is Eternal and since His attributes and Names are perpetual and everlasting; certainly His Names' manifestations and impresses are renewed, affording a sort of perpetuality; they are not destroyed and transitory, departing for non-being.
It is clear that by reason of his humanity, man is connected with most of the other beings; he receives pleasure at their happiness, and is grieved at their destruction. And he is more grieved at the suffering of living creatures, of mankind in particular, and particularly of those possessing perfection he loves and admires; and his happiness is greater at their happiness.
Like a fond mother, even, he sacrifices his own happiness and comfort for their happiness. Thus, in accordance with their degree, through the light of the Qur'an and mystery of belief, all believers may be happy at the happiness of all beings, and at their enduring and being saved from nothingness and their being valuable Dominical missives; they may gain a light as extensive as the world. Everyone may profit from this light according to his degree.
As for the people of misguidance, they are grieved at the destruction of all beings, at their transience and their apparent despatch to non-existence - and if they have spirits, at their suffering, in addition to their own pains. That is to say, their unbelief fills their world with non-existence; it empties it over their heads, causing them Hell before they go there.
· FOURTH SIGN
As we have said in many places, a Monarch has various different offices and departments proceeding from his titles like Sultan, Khalifa, Judge, and Commander-in-Chief, and in the same way, Almighty God's Most Beautiful Names have innumerable different sorts of manifestations. The varieties and different sorts of creatures arise from the varieties of manifestations.
Thus, in accordance with the fact that every possessor of beauty and perfection has an innate desire to see and display his beauty and perfection, those various Names too - since they are constant and eternal - want to be displayed in permanent fashion on account of the Most Pure and Holy Essence. That is to say, they want to see their impresses; that is, to see the manifestation of their beauty and reflection of their perfection in the mirrors of their embroideries; that is, to renew every instant the mighty book of the universe and the different missives of beings; that is, to constantly write them anew; that is, to write thousands of different missives on a single page and to display each missive to the witnessing gaze of the Sacred Essence, the Most Pure and Holy One Who is Signified; and together with this, to exhibit them to the meditative gazes of all sentient beings, and cause them to read them.
Consider the following poem which alludes to this truth:
The leaves of the Book of the World are of variety incalculable.
Its letters and words, too, are of number infinite;
Inscribed on the workbench of the Preserved Tablet of Reality
An embodied meaningful word, is each Being in the Universe.
Study the lines of the Universe; they are missives to you from the Sublime Assembly.
· FIFTH SIGN
The Fifth Sign consists of Two Points.
F i r s t P o i n t : Since Almighty God exists, everything exists. Since there is a relation with Almighty God, all things exist for everything. For through the mystery of Unity, through the relation with the Necessarily Existent One, all beings become connected with all other beings. That means, through the mystery of Unity, every being which knows its relation with the Necessarily Existent One, or whose relation is known, becomes related with all beings which are related to Him. This means, from the point of view of the relation, every being may manifest endless lights of existence. There is no separation or death from that point of view. To live for a single passing second is the means to innumerable lights of existence.
Whereas if the relation does not exist or is not known, the being manifests infinite separations and deaths. For in that case, in the face of every being with which he could have been connected, he is exposed to a separation, a parting, a death. That is, he burdens his own personal existence with endless instances of non-existence and separation. Should he remain in existence for a million years even (without connection), it would not be as much as living for an instant being related in the former respect.
Those who have penetrated to the realities have said therefore:
"Illumined existence for even a passing instant is preferable to a million years of profitless existence."
And it is also because of this that those who have researched into the realities of creation have said:
"The lights of existence become apparent through recognizing the Necessarily Existent One."
That is to say: "In that case, the Universe is seen to be full of angels, spirit beings, and conscious beings within lights of existence. Whereas without them, the darkness of nonexistence and pains of death and separation encompass all beings. The world appears in such a man's view to be an empty and desolate wasteland."
Indeed, each one of a tree's fruits has a relation with all the other fruits on the tree, and since through the relation, each is his friend and brother, he possesses accidental existences to their number. But when the fruit is plucked from the tree, a separation and death comes about in the face of all the other fruits; they all become as though non-existent for it; a darkness of external non-existence results for it.
In exactly the same way, in respect of being related to the Power of the Single Eternally Besoughted One, for everything, all things exist. lf not for that relation, there would be external non-existences for all things to the number of things.
And so, from this Sign you may see the vastness of the lights of belief, and the terrifying darkness of misguidance. That is, belief is the title of the essential reality of the elevated truth described in this Sign; and it may be benefited from through belief. In the absence of belief, just as everything is non-existent for someone who is blind, deaf, dumb, and stupid, so is everything non-existent and dark for one without belief.
S e c o n d P o i n t : The world and all things have three faces: The First Face looks to the Divine Names and is their mirror. Death, separation, and non-existence cannot intrude on this face; there is rather renewal and renovation.
The Second Face looks to the Hereafter and gazes upon the World of Eternity; it is like its arable field. Enduring fruits and produce are raised on this face. It serves eternity, and makes transitory things as though eternal. On this face too there is no death and decline, but the manifestations of life and eternity.
The Third Face looks to transient beings, that is, to us. It is the beloved of ephemeral beings and those who follow the caprices of their souls; the place of trade for the conscious; the arena of trial and examination for those charged with duties. Thus, the salve and cure for the pains and wounds of the transience and decline, the death and extinction, on this third face, are the manifestations of life and eternity in its inner face.
I n S h o r t : This flood of beings, these travelling creatures, are moving mirrors and changing places of manifestation for the renewal of the lights of creation and existence of the Necessarily Existent One.
THE TWENTY-FOURTH LETTER
SECOND STATION
The Second Station consists of an Introduction and Five Indications. The Introduction contains Two Topics.
F i r s t T o p i c : In each of the following Five Indications is a comparison, written in the form of a dull, short-ranged telescope, in order to observe the Attributes of Dominicality. These comparisons cannot contain the reality of those attributes; they cannot encompass them and be the measure of them, but they can assist in looking at them. Any phrases or expressions in the comparisons, or in the previous Signs, unfitting for the attributes of the Most Pure and Holy Essence are the fault of the comparisons.
For example, the meanings of pleasure, joy, and gratification known by us cannot express the Sacred Attributes, but each is the title of an observatory, a means of reflective thought. In addition, through showing in a small example the tip of an encompassing mighty law of Dominicality, it proves the reality of the law within the attributes of Dominicality. For example, it is said that a flower departs from existence leaving behind it thousands of existences; this demonstrates a mighty law of Dominicality which is in force in all the beings of spring, indeed, of all the World.
Yes, through whichever law the All-Compassionate Creator changes and renews the feathered dress of a bird, through the same law that All-Wise Maker renews the dress of the globe of the earth every year. And through the same law, He transforms the shape of the world every century. And through the same law, He will change the form of the Universe at the resurrection of the dead.
And through whichever law He impels particles like Mawlawi Derwishes, He makes the Earth spin through the same law, like an ecstatic Mawlawi Derwish rising up to dance the sama. And through that law, He causes worlds to revolve, and the Solar- System to travel through Space.
And through whichever law He renews, repairs, and dissolves the particles in your body's cells, through the same law, He renews your garden every year, making it anew many times every season. And through the same law, He renews the face of the Earth every spring, drawing a fresh veil over its face.
And through whichever law, that All-Powerful Maker raises a fly to life, through the same law He restores to life the plane-tree before your window every spring; and through that law, He raises the Globe of the Earth to life in the spring; and through the same law will raise creatures to life at the resurrection.
The Qur'an alludes to this with the verse :
" Your creation and your resurrection is but as a single soul." (Quran 31-28)
And so on; you can make further examples in the same way.
There are many laws of Dominicality like these which are in force from particles to the totality of the world. And so, consider the immensity of these laws within Dominical activity; note carefully their breadth, and see the meaning of Unity within them. Understand that each law is a proof of Divine Unity.
Yes, through each of these numerous and immense laws being the manifestation of knowledge and will, and being both the same and all-encompassing, each also proves most certainly the Maker's Unity, Knowledge, and Will.
Thus, most of the comparisons throughout the Words show the tips of laws like these through a small example, and by doing this point to the existence of the same law in the matter claimed. Since the actual existence of the law is demonstrated through a comparison, it proves the assertion as categorically as a logical proof. That is to say, most of the comparisons in the Words are like categorical proofs and certain arguments.
S e c o n d T o p i c : As described in the Tenth Truth of the Tenth Word, however many flowers and fruits a tree has, each of them has that many aims, purposes, and instances of wisdom. These instances of wisdom are of three sorts:
One sort looks to the Maker and displays the embroideries of His Names.
Another sort looks to conscious beings, and in the view of the conscious, things are valuable missives and meaningful words.
Another sort looks to itself and to its own life and perpetuation; and if beneficial for man, the being contains instances of wisdom accordingly.
At one time, while contemplating on how all beings have such numerous aims, the following phrases occurred to me in Arabic, which, like notes forming the basis of the following Indications, allude to those Universal Aims:
These glorious Beings are flowing places of manifestation and roving mirrors for the renewal of the manifestations of the Lights of His Creativity, Glory be unto Him: through the changing of their relative positions.
* Firstly, and by preserving their beautiful meanings and their identities in the World of Similitudes;
* Secondly, and producing truths pertaining to the World of the Unseen and the weavings of the Preserved Tablet;
* Thirdly, and spreading the fruits of the Hereafter and publishing everlasting panoramas;
* Fourthly, and proclaiming Dominical glorifications and making known what the Divine Names necessitate;
* Fifthly, so that the Divine Attributes become apparent and the aspects of Divine Knowledge.
These five sections contain the bases of the Indications we shall discuss below. Yes, all beings, and particularly living beings, possess on five levels different aims and instances of wisdom and purposes. Like a tree produces fruit on branches one over the other, so too all living beings have five different levels of aims and purposes.
O ephemeral man! If you want your own reality which is like a small seed to be transformed into an eternal fruit-bearing tree, and to obtain the ten levels of fruits and ten sorts of aims pointed out in the five Indications, acquire True Belief. Otherwise, in addition to being deprived of all of them, you will be squeezed into that seed and you will rot.
· FIRST INDICATION
Firstly, through the changing of their relative positions (determinations), and by preserving their beautiful meanings and their identities in the World of Similitudes.
This section expresses the following: After departing from existence, a being apparently disappears into non-existence and transience, but the meanings it has expressed are preserved and perpetuated. Its identity, form, and essentiaI nature, too, are preserved in the World of Similitudes, in the Preserved Tablets (Alwah ul-Mahfuzah), which are samples of the World of Similitudes, and in memories, which are samples of the Preserved Tablets. That is, the being loses its apparent existence, and gains hundreds of immaterial existences which pertain to knowledge.
For example, in order to print a page in a printing-press, the type is set up and arranged. Then after the page has bequeathed its form and identity to many pages on being printed and after it has proclaimed its meanings to many minds, the arrangement of the type is changed. For no need remains for it, also other pages have to be printed.
In exactly the same way, the Pen of Divine Determining sets up and arranges the beings of the earth, and especially plants. Divine Power creates them on the page of the springtime, then in order for them to express their beautiful meanings and for their forms and identities to pass to the ledgers of the World of the Unseen, like the World of Similitudes, Divine Wisdom requires that the arrangement be changed. In this way, the page of another, future spring may be written, and its beings may express those meanings too.
· SECOND INDICATION
Secondly, and producing truths pertaining to the World of the Unseen and the weavings of the Preserved Tablet (Lawh al-Mahfuz).
This section indicates that after departing from existence, everything whether particular or universal, and particularly living beings produce many truths pertaining to the Unseen. So too they leave behind them on the tablets and notebooks of the World of Similitudes forms to the number of the stages of their lives; their life histories and those of the forms that are meaningful are inscribed and become objects of study for spirit beings.
For example, a flower passes from existence, but together with leaving behind its essential nature in its hundreds of seeds, it also leaves behind thousands of its forms on small Preserved Tablets and in memories, which are small samples of the Preserved Tablets, and through the stages of its life, causes conscious beings to study the embroideries of the Divine Names and Dominical glorifications it expresses; then it departs.
In exactly the same way, adorned with finely wrought beings in the flower-pot of the face of the earth, the springtime is a flower; it apparently declines and departs for non-existence, but in its place it leaves behind in existence the truths pertaining to the Unseen it has expressed to the number of its seeds, and identities in the World of Slmilitudes it has published to the number of its flowers, and the instances of Dominical wisdom it has displayed to the number of its beings; only then is it hidden from us. And it makes room for its friends, other springs, to come and perforrn their duties. That is to say, the spring is divested of an apparent existence, and in meaning is clothed in a thousand existences.
· THIRD INDICATION
Thirdly, and spreading the fruits of the Hereafter and publishing everlasting panoramas.
This section states that the world is a workbench and arable field raising crops suitable for the market of the Hereafter. We have proved in many of the Words that just as jinn and men send their actions to the market of the Hereafter, so too the other beings of the world perform numerous duties on account of the Hereafter and produce many crops for it. It may even be said that the earth travels for them, or even that this is its purpose. This Dominical Ship traverses a twenty-four thousand year distance in one year, circumscribing the field of the Resurrection.
For example, the people of Paradise will surely desire to recall their adventures in this world and recount them to one another. They will be exceedingly curious to see the images and pictures of those adventures, and if they watch them like watching the Cinema screen, they will enjoy it immensely. Since that is the case, as the verse,
"Joyfully facing each other on thrones (of dignity)"...(Quran 15-47, 37-44)
indicates, there will be in Paradise, the realm of delight and happiness, the recounting of worldly adventures, and scenes of worldly happenings, amid everlasting panoramas.
Thus, these beautiful beings appearing for a moment then disappearing, and their following on one after the other in succession, seem like factories and workshops for manufacturing the vistas of eternity. For example, in order to afford a sort of permanence to transient situations and leave a souvenir for the people of the future, the people of civilization record the forms of beautiful or strange situations and present them as gifts to the future by means of the Cinema screen; they show the past in the present and the future, and include it in them.
In just the same way, for the All-Wise Maker of those beings of the spring and the world to record the aims of their brief lives which look to the World of Eternity in that world, and for Him to record in everlasting scenes in the Eternal Realm the vital duties and the Divine Miracles those beings have performed throughout the stages of their lives, is the requirement of the Names of All-Wise, All-Compassionate, and Loving.
· FOURTH INDICATION
Fourthly, and proclaiming Dominical glorifications and making known the requirements of the Divine Names.
This sections states that throughout the stages of their lives, beings perform numerous varieties of Dominical glorifications. They also demonstrate various situations that the Divine Names necessitate and require....
For example, the Name of All-Compassionate desires to be compassionate. The Name of Provider necessitates the giving of sustenance. The Name of Gracious requires the granting of favours. And so on; all the Divine Names require and necessitate something. Thus, in addition to demonstrating the requirements of the Names through their lives and existences, all living beings glorify the All-Wise Maker to the number of their members and faculties.
For example, a man eats delicious fruits which are then dissolved in his stomach and apparently destroyed, but in addition to producing a pleasure and eagerness arising from activity in all the cells of his body as well as his mouth and stomach, they are the means to very many instances of wisdom like nurturing his life and every part of his body and causing his life to continue. The food itself also rises from vegetable existence to the level of human life; it progresses.
In exactly the same way, when beings are hidden behind the veil of death, together with the very many glorifications of each enduring in their places, they also bequeath to the Divine Names, many of the Names' embroideries and requirements. That is to say, they depart entrusting them to an eternal existence. If, then, on the departure of a transient and temporary existence thousands of existences manifesting a sort of permanence remain in its place, can it be said that the thing is to be pitied, or that it was all for nothing, or why did that lovable creature depart; can it be complained about`?
It is rather that the mercy, wisdom, and love concerning it required and necessitated it to be thus. Otherwise it would be necessary to abandon thousands of benefits so that a single harm should not come about; in which case the harm would be a thousandfold. That is to say, the Names of All-Compassionate, All-Wise, and Loving One are not opposed to death and separation; indeed, they require and necessitate it.
· FIFTH INDICATION
Fifthly, so that the Divine attributes become apparent and the aspects of Divine knowledge.
This section states that on departing from apparent existence, beings, and particularly living beings, leave behind them many enduring things. As described in the Second Sign, present in the attributes of Dominicality in a way fitting to the sacredness and perfect self sufficiency of the Necessarily Existent Essence, and in a form worthy of Him, are a boundless Love, an infinite compassion, an endless pride, and, if the term is permissible, a boundless Holy Pleasure, a joy, and if the expression is not mistaken, an Infinite Sacred Delight, and a transcendent happiness; the traces of which are to be observed and seen.
Thus, through change and transformation, decline and transience, beings are driven on at speed within the astonishing activity necessitated by these attributes; they are constantly sent from the Manifest World to the World of the Hereafter. Under the manifestations of those attributes, creatures are shaken up in a continual flow and flood, motion and movement, scattering to the ears of the heedless the lamentations of death and separation, and to the hearing of the people of guidance, a clamour of glorification and recitation of God's Names.
It is due to this mystery that all beings depart leaving behind them in existence meanings, qualities, and states which will each be the means to the manifestation of the Necessarily Existent One's eternal attributes.
Furthermore, beings depart leaving behind them the stages and states they have undergone throughout their lives - a detailed existence which represents their external existence - in the Preserved Tablet, the Clear Book, and the Clear Record, and other spheres like these pertaining to Divine Knowledge where there is existence. This means that every transitory being abandons one existence and gains thousands of permanent existences.
For example, a number of common substances are thrown into a wondrous machine in a factory; they burn up inside it and are apparently destroyed, but in those vats most valuable chemical substances are precipitated. Also, through its force and steam, the factory's machinery works: in one area of it textiles are woven, in another books are printed, while in another sweets and other rare things are manufactured; and so on; it is the means to these.
That is to say, thousands of things come into existence through the burning of those common substances and their apparently being destroyed. One common existence departs, but it leaves a legacy of numerous elevated existences. And so, can one feel sorry for the common substance ? Can one complain about the factory owner because he did not pity it and burnt it, destroying those affectionate substances ?
In exactly the same way, And God's is the highest similitude, as necessitated by mercy, wisdom, and lovingness, the Wise, Compassionate, and Loving Creator causes the factory of the Universe to work. He makes all transient existences the seeds to numerous perpetual existences; He makes them the means for the fulfilment of the Dominical aims; He makes them manifest the Divine functions; He makes them the ink for the Pen of Divine Determining and shuttles for the weaving of Divine Power; and for many elevated aims and favours which we do not yet know, through the activity of His own Power, He causes the activity of the Universe; He causes particles to spin, beings to travel, animals to flow, and the planets to rotate; He makes the Universe speak, causing it to recite silently His verses, His signs, and to inscribe them.
And of the creatures of the earth - with regard to His Dominicality - He makes the Air a sort of Throne to His command and will; the element of Light a Throne to His Knowledge and wisdom; and Water a Throne to His bounty and mercy; and Earth a sort of Throne to His preservation and giving of life; and three of these Thrones He rests on the creatures of the Earth.
Know certainly that the shining truth demonstrated in these Five Signs and Five Indications is to be seen through the Light of the Qur'an and may be laid claim to through the Strength of Belief. Otherwise a terrifying darkness takes the place of this enduring truth. For the people of misguidance, the world is full to overflowing with deaths, separations, and non-existence; for them, the Universe becomes a sort of Hell. Having only a flash of existence, everything is surrounded by never-ending nonexistence. All the past and the future is filled with the darkness of nonexistence; they may find a sad light of existence only in the fleeting present.
While through the mystery of the Qur'an and the light of belief, a light of existence becomes apparent which stretches from pre-eternity to post-eternity; they may become connected with that, and through it secure eternal happiness.
I n S h o r t : In the manner of the poet Niyazi Misri, we say:
Till this breath becomes the ocean,
Till this cage is smashed to fragments,
Till this voice is silenced,
I shall call: O Truth! O Existent! O Living One! O Worshipped One!
O Most Wise! O Sought One! O Compassionate One! O Loving One!
And I call out:
There is no god but Allah, the Sovereign, the Truth, the Evident,
Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah, faithful in His promise, Ameen.
And believing, I state:
Resurrection after death is a reality; Paradise is a reality; Hellfire is a reality; Eternal Happiness is a reality; God is Compassionate, Wise and Loving; and Mercy, Wisdom, and Love encompass all things and their attributes.
And they shall say: "Praise be to Allah, Who has guided us to this felicity; never could we have found guidance, had it not been for the guidance of Allah; indeed it was the truth that the Prophets of our Sustainer brought to us!" (Q 7-43)
Glory be to He Who has made the Garden of the Earth: the exhibition of His art, the gathering of His creatures, the place of manifestation of His power, the means of His wisdom, the garden of His mercy, the tillage of His Paradise, the place of passage of creatures, the place through which beings flow, the measure of artefacts; adorned by animals, embroidered with birds, made fruitful by trees, made to blossom with flowers; miracles of His knowledge, wonders of His art, gifts of His munificence, proofs of His favour, evidences of His Unity, subtleties of His wisdom, witnesses to His mercy; the smiling of the blossoms with the adornment of fruits, the singing of the birds in breezes of morning, the pattering of the rain on the cheeks of the flowers; the adornment of the flowers, the embellishment of the fruits in these gardens; all mothers, human and animal, are tender towards their small young, making known a Loving one, making loved a Merciful one, the Compassion of a Kind one, the Tenderness of One sympathetic to Man and Jinn, and to Spirits, Animals, Angels, and Demons.
* * *
The Twenty-Fifth Letter
Was not written
* * *
POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE NATIONALISM
There are some prerequisites for the realisation of the Islamic Unity. One of these is to base on the principle of Islamic Nationality and to refrain from Negative Racism and Tribalism which are the root-causes of Disunion and Disintegration. Al-Ustaz Bediuzzaman authored many articles regarding this matter for warning and guidance, some of which are taken herebelow:
THIRD TOPIC OF THE 26TH LETTER
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
O mankind! We created you from a single pair of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other. (Quran, 49-13)
That is, "I created you as peoples, nations, and tribes, so that you should know one another and the relations between you in social life, and assist one another; not so that you should regard each other as strangers, refusing to acknowledge one another, and nurturing hostility and enmity,"
This Topic contains seven Matters.
FIRST MATTER
Since the elevated truth expressed by the above verse concerns social life, I have been compelled to write it in the tongue, not of the New Said, who wants to withdraw from social life, but of the Old Said, who was involved in the social life of Islam; it is written with the intention of serving the Qur'an of Mighty Stature and forming a shield against the unjust attacks against it.
SECOND MATTER
In order to explain the principle of "knowing and assisting each other" which the verse indicates, we say this:
An army is divided into divisions, the divisions into regiments, the regiments lnto battallions, companies, and then into squads, so that every soldier may know his many different connections and their related duties; then the members of the army may truly perform a general duty governed by the principle of mutual assistance, and their social life be guarded against the attacks of the enemy. This arrangement is not so that divided and split up, one company should compete with another, one battalion be hostile to another, and one division act in opposition to another.
In just the same way, Islamic Society as a whole is a huge army which has been divided into tribes and groups. But it has a thousand and one aspects of unity. Its groups' Creator is one and the same, their Provider is one and the same, their Prophet is one and the same, their qibla is one and the same, their Book is one and the same, their country is one and the same; alI the same, a thousand things are one and the same.
Thus, this many things being one and the same requires brotherhood, love, and unity. That is to say, being divided into groups and tribes is for mutual acquaintance and mutual assistance, not for antipathy and mutual hostility.
THlRD MATTER
The idea of nationalism has greatly advanced in this century. The cunning European tyrants in particular awaken this Idea among Muslims in negative fashion, so that they may divide them and devour them.
Furthermore, in nationalism is a thrill of the soul, a heedless pleasure, an inauspicious power. For this reason those occupied with social life at this time cannot be told to give up the idea of nationalism. However, nationalism is of two kinds. One is negative, inauspicious, and harmful; it is nourished by devouring others, persists through hostility to others, and is aware of what it is doing. It is the cause of enmity and disturbance.
It is because of this that the Hadith states:
Islam has abrogated what preceded it, and put an end to the Tribalism of the Ignorance State. (Bukhari-Ahkam 4, Imara 36,37; Abu Dawood, Sunna 5; Tirmidhi-Jihad 28, Ibn-i Majah-Jihad 39)
And the Qur'an decrees:
While the unbelievers got up in their hearts, heat and cant - the heat and cant of Ignorance - God sent down His tranquillity to His Prophet and to the believers, and made them stick close to the command of self- restraint; and well were they entitled to it and worthly of it . And God has full knowledge of all things.(Quran 48-26)
Thus, the above Hadith and Verse reject in definite terms any negative nationalism and racialism. For the positive, sacred Islamic nationhood leave no need for them.
What race is there that has three hundred and fifty million (now 1.2 billion) members? And which racialism can gain for those who subscribe to it so many brothers - and eternal brothers - in place of Islam? Negative nationalism has caused untold harm in history.
I n S h o r t : Due to their combining some ideas of nationalism with their politics, the Umayyads vexed the World of Islam, and in addition drew many calamities on themselves. Also, the European nations have advanced the idea of racialism much this century; the ghastly events of the Great War showed how harmful for mankind is negative nationalism, as well as the perpetual and ill-omened enmity of the French and Germans.
And with us, in the Second Constitutional Period (1908-1909), - like the "many tongues" at the destruction of the Tower of Babel, known as the "ramification of peoples," which resulted in their being divided and scattered - various refugee societies known as "Clubs" were formed, chiefly by the Armenians and Greeks, due to the idea of negative nationalism, which were the cause of division. And from that time to now, the state of those who have been devoured by the Europeans due to those Clubs, and of those made wretched by them, has demonstrated the harm of negative nationalism.
And as for the present, when the peoples and tribes of Islam are most in need of one another, arid each is more appressed and more poverty-stricken than the others, and they are crushed beneath European domination, to regard one another as strangers due to the idea of nationalism, and to consider one another to be enemies, is such a calamity that it cannot be described.
It is quite simply a lunacy like turning one's back on dreadful serpents so as not be bitten by a mosquito and struggling with the mosquito - due to the idea of nationalism, to attach no importance to the European nations, which are like huge dragons, at a time when with their insatiable greed their grasping hands are open, indeed, to in effect help them and to nurture enmity against fellow-citizens in the Eastern Provinces or brother Muslims to the South, and to take up positions opposed to them, is extremely detrimental and dangerous.
In any event there are no enemies among those to the South so that they should be confronted. What comes from the South is the light of the Qur'an; the light of Islam came from there; it is present among us, and is found everywhere.
Thus, to be hostile towards those fellow Muslims is indirectly harmful to Islam and the Qur' an. And hostility towards Islam and the Qur' an is hostility of a sort towards the lives in this world and in the Hereafter of all those fellow-citizens. To think one can serve their social life in the name of patriotism while destroying the foundations of their two lives, is not patriotism but stupidity!
FOURTH MATTER
Positive nationalism arises from an inner need of social life and is the cause of mutual assistance and solidarity; it ensures a beneficial strength; it is a means for further strengthening Islamic brotherhood.
This idea of positive nationalism must serve Islam, it must be its citadel and armour; it must not take the place of it. For there is a hundredfold brotherhood within the brotherhood of Islam which persists in the Intermediate Realm and World of Eternity. So however strong national brotherhood is, it may be like a veil to it. But to establish it in place of Islamic brotherhood is a foolish crime like replacing the treasure of diamonds within the citadel with the citadel's stones, and throwing the diamonds away.
And so, O Sons of this Land, who are the people of the Qur'an! Challenging the whole world, you have proclaimed the Qur'an as its standard-bearers, not for six hundred years, but for a thousand years since the time of the Abbasids. You have made your nationhood the citadel to the Qur'an and Islam. You have silenced the whole world and repulsed awesome attacks, confirming the verse:
Soon Allah will produce a people whom He will love as they will love Him, humble towards the believers, and stern towards the unbelivers, and will fight in the way of God.(Quran 5-54)
Now you must refrain from succumbing to the stratagems of Europe and the dissemblers who imitate them, thus confirming the meaning at the beginning of this Verse; you must be frightened of doing such a thing!
A Noteworthy Situation: Being the most numerous of the Islamic peoples, wherever throughout the world there are Turks, they are Muslims, They have not become divided into Muslims and non-Muslims like the other peoples. Wherever there are Turks, they are Muslims. Turks who have abandoned Islam or who are not Muslims, are also no longer Turkish. Like the Hungarians. Even among small peoples there are both Muslims and non-Muslims.
O my Turkish brother! You watch out in particular! Your nationhood has fused with Islam and may not be separated from it. If you do separate them, you wiIl be finished! All your glorious deeds of the past are recorded in the book of Islam's deeds. Since these glorious deeds cannot be effaced from the face of the earth by any power, don't you efface them from your heart due to the evil suggestions and devices of Satan!
FIFTH MATTER
Embracing the idea of Nationalism, the peoples awakening in Asia are imitating Europe precisely in every respect, and on the way sacrificing many of their sacred matters.
However, every nation requires a dress suitable to its particular stature. Even if the material is the same, the style has to be different. A woman cannot be dressed in a gendarme's uniform. And like an elderly hoja (Muslim teacher) cannot be cIothed in the dress of a tango-dancer, blind imitation also very often makes people into laughing-stocks. This is so for the following reasons:
F i r s t l y : If Europe is a shop, a barracks, Asia is like an arable field and a mosque. A shopkeeper can go to the bafl, but a peasant cannot. The situation of a barracks and that of a mosque cannot be the same.
Moreover, the appearance of most of the prophets in Asia, and the emergence of the majority of philosophers in Europe, is a sign, an indication, of Pre-eternal Divine Determining that what will arouse the Asian peoples and cause them to progress and to govern, are Religion and the Heart. As for philosophy, it should assist religion and the heart, not take its place.
S e c o n d l y : It is a grievous error to compare the religions of Islam and Christianity, and to be indifferent towards religion like Europe. Firstly, Europe has its religion. The fact that European (Western) leaders like foremost Wilson, Lloyd George, and Venizelos, are bigoted in their religion like priests, testifies that Europe has its religion, and is even bigoted in one respect.
T h i r d l y : To compare Islam with Christianity is a false comparison and wrong.
For when it has been bigoted in its religion, Europe has not been civilized; it has become civilized on giving up its bigotry.
Furthermore, religion caused three hundred years of war amongst them. And since it was the means of despotic tyrants crushing the common people, the poor, and thinkers who were in their power, they all felt a temporary disgust at religion.
However, in Islam, history testifies that apart from one occasion, religion has not been the cause of internal war.
Also, whenever the people of Islam have adhered in earnest to their religion, they have advanced proportionately, achieving great progress. Witness to this is the greatest master of Europe, the Islamic state of Andalusia.
And whenever the Islamic community has been slack in religion, it has fallen into wretchedness, and declined.
Furthermore, since Islam has protected the poor and the common people with compassionate measures like enjoining the payment of Zakat (Obligatory Tax) and prohibiting usury and interest; and since, in accordance with phrases like,
So will they not think, * So will they not reason, * So will they not ponder on it,
It has called on and encouraged reason and knowledge and protected scholars, Islam has always been the stronghold and place of recourse of the poor and the people of Learning. There is therefore no reason to be vexed at Islam.
The underlying reason and wisdom of Islam's differing in various respects from Christianity and other religions is this:
The basis of Islam is the pure affirmation of Divine Unity; it attributes no actual effect to causes and intermediaries, affording them no value in regard to creation and position. Christianity, however, since it has accepted the idea of Jesus being the Son of God, it gives some value to causes and intermediaries; it cannot break egotism. It quite simply ascribes a manifestation of Divine Dominicality to its saints and great ones, thus confirming the verse:
They take their priests and their anchorites to be their lords in derogation of God.(Quran 9-31)
It is because of this that, together with maintaining their pride and egotism, those Christians who occupy the highest worldly ranks are religious and bigoted, like the former American president, Wilson.
In Islam, the religion of pure Divine Unity, those in the highest worldIy positions either give up their egotism and pride, or they give up their religion to an extent. For this reason, some are neglectful, or even irreligious.
SIXTH MATTER
To those who exceed the bounds in ideas of Negative Nationalism and Racialism we say this:
F i r s t l y : The face of the world and especially this country of ours (Ottoman State) has since ancient times seen numerous migrations and changes of population. In addition, after the Centre of IsIamic Rule was set up in this country, other peoples were drawn to it, and settled here.
As a consequence, only when the Preserved Tablet is revealed will the races truly be distinguished from each other.
So, to construct movements and patriotism on the idea of true race is both meaningless and extremely harmful. It is for this reason that one of the Leaders of the Nationalists and those who support Racialism, who is very neglectful toward reIigion, was compelled to say: "If language and religion are the same, the nation is the same."
Since that is so, what will be taken into consideration will be relations of language, religion, and country, not true race. If the three are the same, that certainly is a strong nation. And if one is absent, it is still within the bounds of nationalism.
S e c o n d l y : I shall describe as examples, two of the hundreds of advantages the Sacred Nationhood of Islam has gained for the sociaI life of the sons of this land:
T h e F i r s t : What enabled this Islamic state, while only numbering twenty or thirty million, to preserve its life and existence in the face of all the large states of Europe was the following idea, which arose from the light of the Qur'an in this State's Army: "If I die, I shall be a martyr; and if I kill, I shall be a ghazi."
They met death with complete eagerness and longing, laughing in its face. They always made Europe tremble.
What in the world can be shown that will give rise to such elevated self-sacrifice in the spirit of a simple-hearted soldier? What patriotism can be instilled in its place? What can make him willingly sacrifice his life and all his world ?
T h e S e c o n d : Whenever the dragons (large states) of Europe have dealt a blow at this Islamic state, they have made three hundred and fifty million Muslims weep and cry out. So in order not to make them weep and suffer, those Colonialists have drawn back their hands; they have lowered them, even while raising them to strike.
What power can be established in place of this constant moral support which in no way may be belittled? Let them show it! Yes, that huge moral (Spiritual) Strength must not be offended by Negative Nationalism and independent patriotism.
SEVENTH MATTER
We say to those who display excessive patriotism in negative Nationalism:
If you truly love this nation and are compassionate towards it, be patriotic in such a way that the compassion is directed towards the rnajority of them. For if you serve the temporary heedless social life of the minority, who are in no need of compassion, in a way that is the reverse of compassion for the majority, that is not patriotism.
For patriotic works performed with the idea of negative racialism may be temporarily beneficial for two out of eight. They receive the compassion arising from that patriotism, of which they are not worthy.
While the remaining six out of eight are either elderly, or sick, or afflicted with tribulations, or are children, or are weak, or are pious people thinking seriously of the Hereafter; these people want a light, a solace, compassion, in the face of the life of the Intermediate Realm (Barzah after death) and the Hereafter, towards which they are turned, rather than worldly life; they are in need of a blessed, patriotic hand.
What patriotism would permit the extinguishing of their light, the destruction of their solace?
Alas! Compassion for the nation, Self-sacrifice for the nation, where are they?
Hope in Divine Mercy must not be lost. For Almighty Allah will not cause to perish through temporary set-backs the Magnificent Army and Mighty Community of the People of this Land, whom He has employed for a thousand years in the service of the Qur,an, appointing them as its standard-bearer. He will once again kindle that Light and cause them to continue their duty.
He (the Turkish Army) will not strike with his Sword at his own foot, he will strike at his foe's. He will make it servant to the Quran. He will rejoice the World of Islam that shed tears. *
(The Letters, 26th Letter, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi)
* This last sentence was written by Ustaz Nursi with his own hand-writing in the Ottoman Manuscript of this treatise.
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The Twenty-Seventh Letter
[This Letter consists of fine and beautiful letters, which are pure reality, written by the author of the Risale-i Nur to his students, as well as some written by the Risale-i Nur students to their Master, and to each other, describing the blessings and effulgence they had received from studying the Risale-i Nur. This rich letter has not been included here since is three or four times the size of the present collection, but published separately under the titles of Barla Letters, Kastamonu Letters, and Emirdağ Letters.]
* * *
The Twenty-Eighth Letter
[This Letter consists of Eight Matters]
The First Matter, which is the First Part
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. If it be that you can interpret dreams.
S e c o n d l y : You want me to interpret now the dream you had three years ago, three days after meeting me, whose meaning has long since become apparent. That beautiful, happy, and auspicious dream has been consigned to the past, so am I not right if I say the following in the face of it, since it his demonstrated its meaning?
I am neither the, night nor a lover of the night; * I am a servant of the Sun; it is of the Sun that I speak.
Those illusions which are the snare of the saints, * Are the moon faced reflections of the garden of God.
Yes, my brother, we have become accustomed to discussing with you teachings concerning pure reality. Since to discuss in investigative fashion dreams, the doors of which are open to fancy and illusion, is not completely in keeping with the way of investigative scholarship, in connection with that minor incident of sleep, we shall explain Six Points of Reality about sleep, the small brother of death, according to scholarly principles and from the angle indicated by verses of the Qur'an. In the Seventh we shall make a brief interpretation of your dream.
THE FIRST
An important element of Sura Yusuf is Yusuf's dream just as the (Qur'an shows in veiled fashion through verses like:
And We made your sleep for rest
that there are important truths contained in dreams and sleep.
THE SECOND
Those who follow the path of reality are not in favour of relying on dreams and omens which have been interpreted and taken by means of the Qur'an. The reason is this: the All-Wise Qur'an strikes at the unbelievers frequently and severely. When this severity against the unbelievers is shown to one taking omens, it causes him to despair; it confuses his heart. And dreams too, while good, since they sometimes appear to be opposed to reality, are thought to be evil, causing a person to fall into despair, destroying his morale, and causing him to think
badly of things. There are many dreams which while their forms are terrifying, injurious, or unclean, their meanings and interpretations are very good. But since everyone cannot find the relation between the form of the dream and the reality of its meaning, they become unnecessarily anxious, despairing, and unhappy.
And so, it was only because of' this aspect that, like Imam-i Rabbani and those who follow the path of reality, I said at the beginning: I am neither the night nor a lover of night.
THE THIRD
According to an authentic Hadith, one of the forty constituents of prophethood was manifested in the form of true dreams during sleep. This means that true dreams are both truth and they are connected with the functions of prophethood. Being extremely important, long, profound, and connected with prophethood, I am postponing this Third Point to another time, and not opening, this door for now.
THE FOURTH
Dreams are of three sorts. Two of these, in the words of the Qur'an, are A confused. medley of dreams; included among these, they are not worth interpreting. If they have any meaning, it is of no importance. Either due to an ailment, the power of imagination mixes things up and depicts them in accordance with the person's sickness, or the imagination recalls some stimulating event which occurred to the person that day, or previously, or even at the same time a year or two earlier, and it modifies and depicts it, giving it some other form. This sort too are A confused medley of dreams, and not worth interpreting.
The third sort are true dreams. With the senses that bind man to the Manifest World and roam on that world resting and ceasing their activity, the Dominical subtle faculty in man's essential nature finds a direct relation with World of the Unseen and opens up a window onto it. Through that window, it looks on events whose occurrence is being prepared; it encounters the manifestations of the Preserved Tablet and one of the types of samples of the missives of Divine Determining; it sees some true occurrences. Sometimes the imagination governs in those occurrences, dressing then in the garments of form. There are numerous types and levels of this sort of dream. Sometimes they turn out exactly as dreamed; sometimes they turn out slightly concealed, as though under a fine veil; and sometimes they turn out heavily veiled.
It is narrated in Hadiths that the dreams the Most Noble Prophet {Upon whom be blessings and peace) had at the outset of the Revelations turned out as true and clear as the breaking of morning.
THE FIFTH
True dreams are a higher development of premonitions. Everyone has premonitions to a greater or lesser degree. Animals even have them. At one time I discovered scientifically, additional to the famous external and inner senses like the unconscious instinctive senses which impel and stimulate, and hearing and sight, two senses including premonition. Philosophers and the people of misguidance mistakenly and foolishly call those little known senses "Natural instinct." God forbid! They are not `Natural' instinct; rather, Divine Determining impels man and animals through a sort of innate inspiration. For example, some animals like cats, if they lose their sight, through this impelling of Divine Determining, go and find a plant which is healing for their eyes, rub it on them, and they get better.
Also, birds of prey like eagles, which, like the public health officials of the earth, are charged with the duty of removing the carcasses of nomadic animals, are informed through that impelling of Divine Determining, that inspiration of the sense of premonition, that Divine drive, of an animal carcass a day's distance away, and they go and find it.
Also, a young; bee newly come into the world, flies a day's distance in the air when only a day old without losing its way, and through that drive of Divine Determining and impelling inspirations returns to its hive. And it happens frequently to everyone that while speaking of someone, the door opens, and totally unexpectedly the: same person enters. There is even a saying in Kurdish which goes: "Talk of the wolf and ready your gun, for the wolf will appear." That is to say, through a premonition, the Dominical subtle faculty had perceived the person's coming in summary fashion. But since the conscious and had not comprehended it, it prompted him to speak of it, not intentionally, but involuntarily. Intuitive people sometimes say that someone is coming almost like wonderworking,. At one time in myself, even, sensitivity of this kind was acute. I wanted to incorporate the state into a principle, but I could not adapt it and was unable to. However, in the righteous, and particularly in the people of sainthood, premonition develops to a high degree, showing its effects wondrously.
Thus, ordinary people may manifest a sort of sainthood so that like the saints, they dream of things pertaining to the Unseen and the future in true dreams. Yes, for ordinary people sleep may be like a degree of sainthood in respect of true dreams, and so too for everyone it is a fine and splendid Dominical cinema. However, those with good morals think good thoughts, and one with good thoughts dreams of good things. Whereas since those with bad morals think bad thoughts, and they dream of bad things. Furthermore, for everyone, true dreams are a window in the Manifest World looking; onto the World of the Unseen. For restricted and transitory human beings, they are also an arena of infinite proportion manifesting a sort of eternity, and a place for gazing on the past and the future as though they were the present. And they are a restingplace for beings with spirits who are crushed beneath the responsibilities of life suffering great hardship. Thus, it is for reasons similar to these that with verses like:
And We made your ,sleep for rest,
the All-Wise Qur'an teaches the reality of sleep, giving, it importance.
THE SIXTH and most important
Experiencing them numerous times, true dreams became for me like decisive proofs at the degree of `absolute certainty' that Divine Determining encompasses all things. Yes, especially the last few years, these dreams have reached such a degree that it has become certain for me that, for example, the most insignificant events and unimportant dealings and even the most commonplace conversations I will have the following, day are written and recorded before they occur, and that by dreaming of them the night before, I have read them not with my tongue but with my eyes. Not once, not a hundred times, but perhaps a thousand times, the things I have said in my dreams or the people I have dreams of at night, although I had not thought of them at all, turned out exactly with little interpretation the following day. It means the most insignificant things are both recorded and written before they happen. That is to say, there is no Chance or coincidence, events do not occur haphazardly, they are not without order.
THE SEVENTH
Your beautiful, blessed, and auspicious dream was very good for the Qur'an and for us. Also, time has interpreted it, and is interpreting it; it leaves no need for me to do so. Its partial interpretation also turned nut well. If you study it carefully, you will understand. We shall indicate only one or two points. That is, we shall explain a reality. The things that have happened to you, which are a sort of the reality of dreams, are the representations of that reality. It is like this:
That. vast field was the: World of Islam. The mosque at its end was the province of Isparta. The muddy water around it was the swamp of the dissipation, idleness, and innovations of the present and of time. Your swiftly reaching the mosque safely and without being contaminated by the mud was a sign of your adopting the lights of the Qur'an before everyone else and remaining unspoilt and your heart uncorrupted. The small congregation in the mosque were the bearers of the Words like Hakkı, Hulusi, Sabri, Süleyman, Rüştü, Bekir, Mustafa, Ali, Zühtü, Lutfi, Husrev, and Re'fet. As for the small platform, it was a small village like Barla. And the loud voice was an allusion to the power and swift spreading of the Words The position assigned to you in the first row, was the place. vacated for you by Ahdurrahman. The congregation, like wireless receivers, were the indication and fact of wanting to make the whole world hear its teachings, which God willing will turn out at a later date,. If the individuals now are like small seeds, with Divine assistance, in the future they will each be like tall trees. And each will be like a telegraph office. As for the turbanned youth, he is someone who will work together with Hulüsi, or even surpass him; he is destined to become one of the students and those who disseminate the Words. I can think of some of them, but I cannot say definitely. The youth is someone who will come into prominence through the force of sainthood. You can interpret, the remaining points instead of me.
Speaking with friends like you is both agreeable and acceptable, so I have spoken at length about this brief matter, and perhaps I have been prodigal. But since I began with the intention of indicating a way of expounding the Qur'an's verses about sleep, God willing, that prodigality will be forgiven, or even not be prodigality...
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The Second Part,
Which is the second Matter
[This was written to put a stop to and solve an important argument about the Hadith which describes how Moses (Upon whom be peace) struck Azrail (Upon whom be peace) in the eye, and the rest of the story.1 ]
I heard of a scholarly argument in Eğridir. Such an argument was wrong especially at this time, but I did not know it was an argument. A question was asked me, and a Hadith in a reliable book marked with a gaf which signifies the agreement of the two Shaykhs [Bukhari and Mus1im), was shown to me. They asked me: "Is it a Hadith or isn't it?"
I said that one should have confidence in someone who, in a reliable book such as that, cites the agreement of the two Shaykhs concerning a Hadith; it means it is a Hadith. But Hadiths contain certain allegorical obscurities like the Qur'an. Only the elite can ascertain their meanings. Even the apparent meaning of this Hadith suggests the possibility that it is one of those containing obscurities, difficult to understand. If I had known that it had been a point of argument, I would not have given such a short answer, I would rather have replied as follows:
Firstly: The first condition for discussing matters of this sort is to argue fairly, with the intention of' discovering the truth; it is permissible between those with knowledge of the question, so long as it is not in obstinate fashion and does not give rise to misunderstanding. Evidence that such an argument is for the sake of the truth is that if the truth becomes apparent at the hand of an opposer, a person is not upset, but pleased. For he will have learned something he did not know. If it had emerged from him, he would not have learned much and there is the possibility he would have fallen into pride.
Secondly: If the argument is about a Hadith, the degrees of Hadiths, and the degrees of implied revelation, and the sorts of prophetic speech have to be known. To discuss the difficulties of Hadith among the ordinary people, to show oneself to be right like a lawyer by demonstrating one's superiority, and to search for proofs in the form of preferring egotism to truth and right, is not permissible. This question being broached and becoming a point of argument is having a negative effect on the minds of the poor ordinary people. Because they cannot comprehend obscure allegorical Hadiths like these, and if they deny them, it opens a terrifying door; that is, it opens the way to them also denying definite Hadiths which they cannot comprehend with their tiny minds. If, taking the apparent meaning of the Hadith and accepting it as that, they spread it around, it opens up the way to the people of misguidance objecting to it and calling it "superstition." Since attention has been attracted to this allegorical Hadith in unnecessary and harmful fashion, and there are many Hadiths of this sort, it is certainly necessary to expound a truth that will remove their doubts. Whether or not the Hadith is certain, the following fact has to be mentioned.
Regarding as sufficient the detailed explanations in the treatises we have written; that is, the Twelve Principles in the Third Branch of the Twenty-Fourth Word, and in the Fourth Branch; and in one of the Principles in the Introduction about the sorts of Revelation in the Nineteenth Letter, here we shall only indicate briefly to that truth. It is as follows:
The angels are not restricted to a single form like human beings; while individuals, they are like universals. Azrail (Upon whom be peace) is the supervisor of the angels charged with taking possession of the spirits of the dying.
Q u e s t i o n : "Does Azrail (Upon whom be peace) himself take possession of the spirits of the dying, or do his helpers take possession of them'?" .
There are three `ways' in this matter:
T h e F i r s t W a y : Azrail (Upon whom be peace) takes possession of everyone's spirit. No matter can be an obstacle to another, for he is luminous. Something luminous may be present in innumerable places by means innumerable mirrors and be represented in them. The representations of luminous beings possess their characteristics; they may be considered to be the same an them, not other than them. The sun's image in mirrors displays the sun's light and heat; so too, the images of spirit beings like the angels in the various mirrors of the World of Similitudes are the same as them; they display their characteristics. But they are represented in accordance with the capacities of the mirrors The same instant Gabriel (Upon whom be peace) appeared before the Companions in the form of Dihya, he also appeared in different forms in thousands of places, and was prostrating with his magnificent wings which stretch from the East to the West before the Divine Throne. His representation was everywhere in accordance with the place's capacity; at the same
instant he was present in thousands of places.
Thus, according to this way, for the human and particular image of the Angel of Death represented in man's mirror when taking possession of the spirit of a dying person to receive the blow of a resolute, angry, awe-inspiring person like Moses (Upon whom be peace), and for that imageform which was like the clothes of the Angel of Death to have his eye put out, would he neither impossible, nor extraordinary, nor irrational.
T h e S e c o n d W a y : The archangels like Gabriel, Michael, and Azrail are each like general supervisors, having helpers who are of their' kind, resemble them, and are lesser than them. Those assistants differ according to the sorts of creatures. Those who take possession of the spirits of the wicked are of another. Like the following verses point out, they are all different:
By the [angels] who tear out [the souls of the wicked] with violence;* By those who gently draw out [the souls of the blessed]3 According to this way, for Moses (Upon whom be peace) to deal a blow not at Azrail (Upon whom be peace), but at the similitude of a body belonging to one of his helpers, as a consequence of his natural awesomeness, courage, and being a suppliant before God, is most reasonable 4
T h e T h i r d W a y : As explained in the Fourth Principle in the Twenty-Ninth Word and as Hadiths indicate, there are some angels who have forty thousand heads, and in each head are forty thousand tonguesthat means they also have eighty thousand eyes - and with each tongue they utter forty thousand Divine glorifications. Yes, since the angels are charged with duties in accordance with the sorts of beings in the Manifest World, they represent those species' glorifications in the Spirit World. It must certainly be thus, because the globe of the earth is a creature; it glorifies Almighty God. It has not forty thousand, but perhaps a hundred thousand sorts of beings, which are like heads. Each sort has hundreds of thousands of individual members, which are like tongues;
2. In my native land, the Angel of Death charged with taking possession of the spirits of the saints came while a great saint famous with the name of Seyda was in the throes of death. Seyda shouted out beseeching the Divine Court "Since I love students of the religious sciences, let the angel charged With taking possession Of their souls take possession of mine!"
Those who were present testified to this incident.
3. Qur'an, 79:1-2.
4. In my native land, even, a Very bold man saw the Angel of Death while he was in the throes of death. he said "You're seizing me while I'm lying in my bed!" And he got up, mounted his horse and challenged him, taking his sword in his hand. he died on horseback, like a man.
and so on. That means the angel appointed to the earth must have not forty thousand heads, but hundreds of thousands; and in every head must be hundreds of thousands of tongues; and so on.
And so, according to this way, Azrail (Upon whom be peace has a face and an eye which looks to every individual. Moses (Upon whom be peace) striking Azrail (Upon whom be peace} was not directed at his essential self and his true form, and it was not an insult, or nonacceptance; he struck, and strikes, in the eye the one who drew attention to his death and wanted to prevent his work, because 17e wanted his duties of prophethood to continue permanently.
God knows best what is right.*None knows the Unseen save God. * Say: The knowledge is with God alone.
He it is Who sent down to you the Book: in it are verses basic or fundamental [of established meaning]; they are the foundation of the Book; others are allegorical. But those in whose hearts is perversity, follow the part there of that is allegorical, seeking discord, and searching. for its hidden meanings, but no one knows its hidden meanings except God. And those who are firmly grounded in knowledge. say: "We believe in the Book; the whole of it is from our Sustainer; " and none will grasp the Message except men of understanding.5
The Third Piece, which is the Third matter
[This Matter is a private and particular answer to a general question asked by most of my brothers through the tongue of disposition, and by some of them verbally.]
Q u e s t i o n : You say to everyone who visits you: "Do not await any saintly intervention from me and do not think of my person as being blessed. I possess no spiritual rank. Like a common soldier may convey the orders proceeding from the rank of field marshal, I too convey the orders of what is in effect the rank of field marshal. And like a bankrupt may proclaim the precious and valuable diamonds of a jeweller's shop, I too announce the wares of a sacred, Qur'anic shop." However, our hearts require an effulgence in the same way that our minds need knowledge, and our spirits require a light, and so on; we want many things in many respects. We came to visit you supposing you to be the person who would meet our needs. What we need is a saint, someone with saintly influence, someone of spiritual attainment, rather than a scholar. If the matter is really as you say, then perhaps we were wrong in visiting you? They ask this through the tongue of disposition.
T h e A n s w e r : Listen to the following Five Points, then think about them and judge whether your visits are pointless or beneficial.
FIRST POINT
The common servant and wretched soldier of a king gives some generals and pashas royal gif'ts and decorations in the name of' the king, and makes them grateful. If the generals and pashas say: "Why do we lower ourselves before this common soldier and accept these gifts and bounties from him , it would be arrogant foolishness. And the soldier too, if, outside his duty, he does not stand up before the field marshal and recognize him to be superior to himself, it too would be stupid folly. And if one of the grateful generals thankfully condescends to visit the soldier's humble dwelling, the king, who sees and knows of the situation, will send dishes from the royal kitchen for his loyal servant's eminent guest, so the soldier will not be shamed by having nothing to offer but dry bread.
Similarly, however lowly he may be, a loyal servant of the All-Wise Qur'an conveys its commands unhestitatingly and in its name to even the loftiest of people. With pride and independence, not abasing himself or begging, he sells the Qur'an's precious diamonds to those who are rich in spirit. However lofty they are, they cannot be arrogant towards the common servant while he is carrying out his duty. And should they apply to him, the servant also may not make it a source of pride, and overstep his mark. If some of the customers for the sacred treasure regard the wretched servant as a saint and consider him to be exalted, for sure it is the mark of the Qur'anic truth's sacred compassion to send them assistance, succour, and enlightenment from the Divine treasury, without the servant being aware of this or intervening, in order not to shame him.
SECOND POINT
Imam-i Rabbani, the Regenerator of the Second Millenium, Ahmet Faruqi (May God be pleased with him), said: "In my opinion, the unfolding and clarification of a single of the truths of belief is preferable to thousands of illuminations and instances of wonder-working. Moreover, the aim and result of all the Sufi paths are the unfolding and clarification of the truths of belief." Since a champion of Sufism like Imam-i Rabbani made such a pronouncement, for sure, the Words, which expound the truths of belief with perfect clarity and proceed from the mysteries of the Qur'an, may yield the results sought from sainthood.
THIRD POINT
Thirty years ago dreadful blows descended on the heedless head of the Old Said and he pondered over the assertion `Death is a reality.' He saw himself in a muddy swamp. He sought help, searched for a way, tried to find a saviour. He saw that the ways were many; he was hesitant. He took an omen from the book Futuh al-Ghayb of Gawth al-A'zam, Shaykh Gilani (May God be pleased with him. It opened at these lines:
"You are in the Dar al-Hikma, so find a doctor who will heal your heart."
It is strange, but at that time I was a member of the Darü`l-Hikmeti'l-İslamiye It was as though I was a doctor trying to heal the wounds of the people of Islam, but I was sicker than they. A sick person must look to himself first, then he may look to others.
Thus, the Shaykh was saying to me: "You yourself are sick; find a doctor for yourself." So I said: "You be my doctor!" I took him as my doctor and read the book as though it was addressing me. But it was most severe. It smashed my pride in the most fearsome manner. It carried out the most drastic surgery on my soul. I could not stand it. I read half of it as though it was addressing me, but did not have the strength and endurance to finish it. I put the book back on the shelf. Then a week later the pain of that curative operation subsided, and the pleasure came in its place. I again opened the book and read it right through; I benefited a lot from that book of my first master. I listened to his prayers and supplications, and profited abundantly.
Then I saw the Mektubat of Imam-i Rabbani and took it in my hands. I opened it with pure intention to take an omen. It is strange, but in the whole of Mektübat, the word Bediuzzamman appears only twice. And those two letters fell open for me at once. i saw that written at the head of them was: Letters to Mirza Bediuzzaman, and my father's name was Mirza. Glory be to God! I exclaimed, these letters are addressing me. At that time the old Said was also known as Bediuzzamman. Apart from Bediuzzaman Hamadani, I knew of no one else in the last three hundred years famous with the name. Whereas in the Imam's time there was such a person and he wrote him these two letters. This person's state must have been similar to mine, for I found these letters to be the cure for my ills. Only, the Imam persistently recommended in many of his letters what he wrote in these two, which was: "Make your gibla one." That is take one person as your master and follow him; do not concern yourself with anyone else.
This most important recommendation did not seem appropriate to my capacity and mental state. However much I thought: "Should I follow this one, or that one, or that other one , I remained in a state of bewilderment. Each had different characteristics which drew me, one was not enough for me. While thus bewildered, it was imparted to my heart by God's mercy that "the head of these various ways and the source of these streams and the sun of these planets is the All-Wise Qur'an; the true single gibla is to be found in it. In which case, it is also the most elevated guide and most holy master." So I clasped it with both hands and clung on to it. Of course with my deficient and wretched abilities I could not receive and absorb the effulgence, which is like the water of life, of that true guide as was its due, but still, through h it, we can show that effulgence, that water of life, according to the degree of those who receive it those who perceive the truth through their hearts and attain to certain spiritual states. That is to say, the Words and those lights, which proceed from the (Qur'an, are not only scholarly matters pertaining to the intellect, they are rather matters of belief which pertain to the heart, the spirit, and spiritual state. They resemble most elevated and valuable knowledge of God.
· FOURTH POINT
All the subtle inner faculties of those of the Companions and of the following two generations who possessed the very highest degree of the `greater sainthood' received their share from the Qur'an itself, and for them, the Qur'an was a true and sufficient guide. This shows that just as the All-Wise Qur'an states realities, so too it emanates the effulgences of the `greater sainthood' to those who possess it.
Yes, there are two ways of passing from the apparent to reality: One is to enter the intermediate realm of Sufism, and to reach reality by traversing the degrees through spiritual journeying.
The Second Way is, through Divine favour, to pass directly to reality without entering the intermediate realm of the Sufi way. This is the elevated and short way particular to the Companions and those that succeeded them.
That is to say, the lights which issue from the truths of the Qur'an, and the Words, which interpret those lights, may possess those characteristics, and do possess them.
· FIFTH POINT
We shall demonstrate through five small examples that just as the Words teach truth and the realities, so too do they perform the function of guidance.
F i r s t E x a m p l e : I myself have formed the conviction through experiencing, not ten times nor a hundred times, but thousands of times, that just as the lights proceeding from the Words and the Qur'an give instruction to my mind, so too do they induce the state of belief in my heart and the pleasure of belief in my spirit, and so on. Even in matters pertaining to this world - in the same way that the follower of a wonderworking shaykh awaits from his shaykh assistance and saintly influence to answer his needs, I too, while awaiting the answering of my needs from the wondrous mysteries of the All-Wise Qur'an, they have been achieved for me on numerous occasions in ways I had not hoped or expected. Only two minor examples:
The First: As is described in detail in the Sixteenth Letter, a large loaf of bread was shown in an extraordinary way to a guest of mine called Süleyman, at the top of a cedar tree. For two days, the two of us fed off that gift from the Unseen.
The Second Example: I shall recount a very insignificant yet subtle incident that occurred recently. It was this:
Before dawn, the thought came to me that some things had been said about me in a way that would cast suspicion into someone's heart. I said to myself: If only I had seen the person and had dispelled that unrest from his heart. At the same moment, I needed part of one of my books
which had been sent to Nis, and I said to myself: If I only I had had it back. Then after the morning prayer, I sat down and looked: that same person entered the room holding that part of the book in his hand. I said to him: "What is it you have in your hand?" He answered: "I don't know. Someone gave it to me at my door saying that it had come from Nis; so I brought it to you." Glory be to God! I said, this man coming from his house at this time of day and this part of the Words arriving from Nis does not look like chance. And saying, what gave a man such as this a piece of paper such as that at the same moment and sent it to me was surely the saintly influence of the All-Wise Qur'an, I exclaimed: All praise be to God! one who knows the smallest, most secret, least significant desire of my heart, will certainly have compassion on the and protect me; in which case, I feel to obligation towards the world whatsoever.
S e c o n d E x a m p l e : My nephew, the late Ahdurrahman, had a much higher opinion of me personally than was my due, despite his having parted from me eight years previously and had been tainted by the heedlessness and worries of the world. He wanted help and assistance from one that I did not have and could not give. But the All-Wise Qur'an's saintly influence came to his assistance: the Tenth Word about the resurrection of the dead came into his possession three months before his death. That Word cleansed him of his spiritual dirt and doubts and heedlessness, and quite simply as though he had risen to the degree of sainthood, he displayed three clear instances of wonder-working in the letter he wrote me before he died. It is included among the pieces of the Twenty-Seventh Word, and may be referred to.
T h e r d E x a m p l e : I had a brother of the Hereafter and student who was one of those who approach reality with their hearts, called Hasan Efendi from Burdur. He had an excessively good opinion of me, far greater than was my due, and expected assistance from this unfortunate one, as though awaiting the grace and influence of a great saint. Suddenly, in completely unrelated fashion, I gave the Thirty-Second Word to someone to study who lived in one of the villages of Burdur. Later I remembered Hasan Efendi and I said: "If you go to Burdur, give it to Hasan Efendi, and let him read it for five or six days." The man went and gave it straight away to Hasan Efendi. Thirty or forty days remained till his death. Like a man suffering a terrible thirst casts himself on water sweet as Kawthar that he happens upon, he cast himself on the Thirty-Second Word, continuously studying it and receiving its effulgence, and especially in the discussion on the love of God it the Third Stopping-Place, till he was completely cured of his ills. He found in it the enlightenment he would have expected from the greatest spiritual pole.
He went to the mosque in good health, performed the prayer, and there surrendered his spirit to the Most Merciful. (May God have mercy on him.)
F o u r t h E x a m p l e : As testified to by Hulusi Bey's piece in the Twenty-Seventh Letter, he found in the light-filled Words, which interpret the mysteries of the Qur'an, assistance and succour, effulgence and light greater than in the Naqshi way, which is the most important and influential Sufi order.
F i f t h E x a m p l e : My brother Abdülmecid suffered terribly at the death of Abdurrahman (May God have mercy on him) and at other grievous events. He also awaited from me assistance and influence I was unable to give. I was not corresponding with him. Suddenly I sent him some of the most important of the Words. After studying them, he wrote to me and said: "Praise be to God, I have been saved! I would have gone mad. Each of those Words became like a. spiritual guide for me. I had parted from one guide, but I suddenly found lots of guides at once, and I was saved." I realized that truly Abdulmecid had embarked on a good way and had been saved from his former difficulties.
There are numerous other- examples like these five which shown that if the sciences of belief are experienced directly as cures from the mysteries of the All-Wise Qur'an as a consequence of need and as healing for wounds, those sciences of belief and spiritual cures are enough and sufficient for those who perceive their need and make use of them with earnest sincerity. However the chemist and herald who sells and announces them - be he commonplace, or bankrupt, or rich, or a person of rank, or a servant - it does not make much difference.
Yes, there is no need to have recourse to candlelight while the sun shines. Since I am showing the sun, it is meaningless and unnecessary to seek candlelight from me - especially since I have none. Indeed, others should rather- assist me with prayers, spiritual assistance, and even saintly influence. And it is my right to seek help and assistance from them. And the right incumbent on them is to he content with the effulgence they receive from the lights of the Risale-i Nur.
Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed, You are All-knowing, All-Wise!
O God, grant blessings to our master Muhammed that will he pleasing to You and fulfilment of his truth, and to his Family and Companions, and grant them peace.
[A short, private letter that may be added as a supplement to the Third Matter of the Twenty-Eighth Letter.]
My brothers of the Hereafter and hard-working students, Husrev Efendi and Re'fet Bey!
We perceived three instances of Qur'anic wonder-working in the lights of the Qur'an known as the Words. And through your effort and enthusiasm, you have caused a fourth to be added. The three I know are these:
T h e F i r s t is the extraordinary ease and speed in their writing. The Nineteenth Letter was written in two or three days working for three or four hours each day making a total of twelve hours, without any other book, in the mountains and orchards. The Thirtieth Word was written on five or six hours at a time of illness. The Twenty-Eighth Word, the discussion on Paradise, was written in one or two hours in Süleyman's garden in the valley. Tevfik, Süleyman and I were astonished at this speed. And so on. And just as there was this wonder of the Qur'an in its composition....
T h e S e c o n d, so too in its being written and copied there is an extraordinary facility, enthusiasm, and lack of boredom. One of these Words appears, and suddenly, although there are many at this time to cause weariness to the mind and spirit, people in many places start to write it out with complete enthusiasm. They prefer it to anything else despite other important occupations. And so on.
The Third Qur'anic Wonder: The reading of them also does not cause boredom. Especially when the need is felt; the more they are read, the more pleasure is received from them, causing no weariness.
And you too have proved a Fourth Qur'anic wonder. A brother like Husrev who was lazy and although he had heard about the Words, for five years did not start writing them seriously, in one month writing out fourteen books beautifully and carefully, is doubtless the fourth wonder of the Qur'an's mysteries. The value of the Thirty-Three Windows, the Thirty-Third Letter, in particular was perfectly appreciated, because it was written most beautifully and carefully. Yes, it is a most powerful and brilliant piece for attaining knowledge of God and belief in God. only, the first Windows are very concise and abbreviated, but the subsequent ones gradually unfold and shine more brilliantly. In fact, this is contrary to other writings; most of the Words start off concisely and gradually expand and illuminate.
The Fourth Matter, which is the Fourth Part
In His Name!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him praise
[The answer written for my brothers to a question about a. minor, though alerting, incident.]
Y o u a s k : On the arrival of a blessed guest, your mosque was raided on the night before Friday. What really happened? Why did they bather you?
T h e A n s w e r : I shall explain Four Points, necessarily in the tongue of the Old Said. Perhaps it will be the means of alerting my brothers, and you ton will receive your answer.
FIRST POINT
In reality, the incident was a satanic plot and an act of aggression carried out by dissemblers on account of atheism in a way that was a violation of the law and purely arbitrary, and, in order to alarm us on the eve of Friday, to destroy the congregation's enthusiasm, and to prevent me from meeting with people. It was strange, but that day, that is, Thursday ,
I had gone to a place to take some air. When returning, a long black snake like two snakes joined together appeared from my left, and passed between me and the friend who was with me. In order to ask my friend if he had been terrified at the snake, I said to him: "Did you see it?"
He replied: "What`?"
I said: "That terrible snake.
He said: "No, I didn't see it, and I can't see it."
"Glory be to God!", I said, "Such a huge snake passes between us and you didn't see it! How is that?"
At the time nothings occurred to me. Then later this was imparted to my heart: "That was a sign for you. Watch out!" I thought that it was like one of the snakes I used to see at night. 'That is, wherever- an official came to me with an ill intention, I would see him in the form of a snake. In fact, one time I said to the District Officer: "Whenever you come with an ill intention, I see you in the form of a snake. Be careful !" I saw his predecessor many times like that. This means that the snake I saw c(early was a sign that their treachery would not remain only as an intention, but would take the form of actual aggression. For sure, this time the aggression was apparently minor and they wanted to minimize it, but encouraged and joined by an unscrupulous teacher, the District Officer ordered the gendarmes: "Bring the visitors here!" while we were reciting the tesbihat following the prayers in the mosque. Anyway the intention was to make me angry, and in the vein of the Old Said, to react and drive them out in the face of this unlawful and purely arbitrary treatment. But the wretch did not know that Said would not defend himself with the broken piece of wood in his hand while he had on his tongue a diamond sword from the workbench of the Qur'an, indeed, he would have used the sword like that. But the gendarmes were sensible, and since no state, no government at all, disturbs people in the mosque during prayer while performing their religious duties, they waited till the prayers and tesbihat were finished. The Officer was angry at this and sent the rural watchman after them saying: "The gendarmes don't pay any attention to me." But Almighty God did not force me to struggle with them.
So I make this recommendation to my brothers, so long as there is no absolute necessity, do not occupy yourselves with them. In keeping with the saying: "The best answer for the stupid is silence," do not stoop to speak with them. But watch nut, for just as to show weakness to a savage animal emboldens its attack, so too to show weakness by being sycophantic towards those with the consciences of beasts, encourages them to be aggressive. Friends must be alert so that the supporters of atheism do not take advantage of other friends' indifference and heedlessness.
SECOND POINT
The verse:
And incline not towards those who do wrong, or the Fire will seize you, 1 threatens in awesome and severe fashion, not only those who support and are the tools of tyranny, but also those who have the slightest inclination towards it. For like consenting to unbelief is unbelief, so is consenting to tyranny and wrongdoing tyranny and wrong.
One of the people of attainment perfectly interpreted as follows one of the many jewels of the above verse:
One who assists tyranny is the world's most despicable being; He is a dog, who receives pleasure from serving the unjust.
Yes, some of them are snakes, some are dogs. One who spied on us on a blessed night such as that, when, with a blessed guest, we were reciting blessed prayers, and informed on us as though we were committing some crime, and raided us, certainly deserved a blow in the meaning of the above poem.
THIRD POINT
Q u e s t i o n : Since you rely on the Qur'an's saintly influence and its effulgence and light to reform and guide the most obstinate and obdurate of the godless, and you actually do this, why do you not call to religion those aggressive people that are near you, and guide them?
T h e A n s w e r : An important principle of the Shari'a is "One who knowingly consents to harm should not be condoned." Relying on the strength of the Qur'an, I claim that on condition he is not utterly vile and enjoys spreading the poison of misguidance like a snake, if I do not convince the most obdurate irreligious person in a few hours, I am ready to do so. However, to speak of truth arid reality to a conscience that has fallen to the very lowest degree of baseness, to snakes in human form that have reached such a degree of hypocrisy that they knowingly sell religion for the world and knowingly exchange the diamonds of reality for vile and harmful fragments of glass, is a lack of respect for those truths. It becomes like the proverb "Casting pearls before swine." For those who do these things have several times heard the truth from the Risale-i Nur and they knowingly try to refute its truths before the misguidance of atheism. Such people receive pleasure from poison, like snakes.
FOURTH POINT
The treatment I have received this seven years has been purely arbitrary and outside the law. For the laws concerning exiles and prisoners and those in prison are clear. By law, they can meet with their relations and they are not prevented from mixing with others. In every nation and state worship and prayer are immune from interference. Those like me stayed together with their friends and relations in towns. They were prevented neither from mixing, with others, nor from communicating, nor from moving about freely. I was prevented. And my mosque and my worship even were raided. And while it is Sunna to repeat the words,
"There is no god but God" in the prayers following, the prescribed prayers according to the Shafi'i School, they tried to make me give then up. Even, one of the old exiles in Burdur, an illiterate called Tebab, and his mother-in-law, came here for a change of air. They came to me because we come from the. same place. They were summoned from the mosque by three armed gendarmes. The official then tried to hide that he
had made a mistake and acted unlawfully, and apologized, saying; "Don't be angry, it was my duty." Then he gave them permission and told them to go. If other things and treatment are compared to this event it is understood that the treatment accorded to me is purely arbitrary, and that they inflict vipers and curs on me. But I don't condescend to bother with theme I refer it to Almighty God to ward off their evil. In fact, those who instigated the event that was the cause of the exile are now back in their own lands, arid powerful chief's are back at the heads of their tribes. Everyone has beet discharged. They and me and two other people exceptions, although I have no connection with their world; may it be the end of them! But one of those two was appointed as Mufti to somewhere, and can travel everywhere outside his own region, including to Ankara. And the other was left in Istanbul among forty thousand people from his native region, where he can meet with everyone. Moreover, these two persons are not alone and with one, like me; they are very influential, with God's permission. And so on, and so forth. Whereas they put me to on village and set those with the least conscience on me. And just as I have only been able to go to another village twenty minutes away twice in six years, so too they did not give me permission to go there for a few days' change of air, crushing me even more under their tyranny. Whereas whatever form a government takes the law is the same for all. There cannot be different laws for villages and for different individuals. That is to say, the law as far I am concerned is unlawfulness. The officials here utilize the government influence in their own personal grudges. But I offer a hundred thousand thanks to Almighty God, and by way of making known His bounties, I this; "All this oppression and tyranny of theirs like pieces of wood for the fire of ardour and endeavour which illuminates the lights of the Qur'an; it makes them flare up and shine. Aid those lights of the Qur'an, which have suffered this persecution of theirs and have spread with the heat of endeavour, have made this province, indeed, most of the country, like a madrasa in place of Barla. They supposed me to a prisoner in a village. On the contrary, in spite of the atheists, Barla has become the teaching desk, and many places, like Isparta, have become. like the. madrasa...
All praise be to God, this is from the bounty of my Sustainer.
The Fifth Matter,
which is the Fifth Part
On Thanks
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
And there is nothing, but it glorifies Him with praise.
Through repeating verses like,
Will they not then give thanks? 1* Will they not then give thanks? And we stall surely reward these who give thanks. 2 * If you give. thanks, I shall increase [my favours] to you. 3 * Worship God and be of those who give thanks, 4
the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition shows that the most important thing the Most Merciful Creator wants from His servants is thanks. The Qur'an, the All-Wise Distinguisher between Truth and Falsehood, calls men to offer thanks, giving it the greatest importance. It shows ingratitude to be a denial of bounties, and in Sura al-Rahman, utters a severe and fearsome threat thirty-three times with the decree,
So which of the favours of your Sustainer do you deny? 5
It shows that ingratitude is denial and negation.
Indeed, just as the All-Wise Qur'an shows thanks to be the result of creation, so too the mighty Qur'an of the universe shows that the most important result of the creation of the world is thanks. For if the universe is observed carefully, it is apparent that all things result in thanks in one respect in the way each is arranged within it, and to a degree each looks to thanks and is turned towards it. It is as if the most important fruit of the tree of creation is thanks, and the most elevated product of the factory of the universe is thanks. The reason for this is as follows:
We see in the creation of the world that its beings are arranged as
though in a circle with life created as its central point. All beings look to life, and serve life, and produce the necessities of life. That is to say, the One Who created the universe chose life from it.
Then we see that He created the animal kingdom in the form of a circle and placed man at its centre. Simply, he centred the aims intended from animate beings on him, gathered all living creatures around him, and subjugated them to him. He made them serve him, and made him dominant over them. That is to say, the All-Glorious Creator chose man from among living beings, and willed and decreed him in the world.
Then we see that the world of man, and indeed the animal world too, are formed like a circle, and sustenance has been placed at its centre. He has made mankind and the animals enamoured of sustenance, and has subjugated them to it, and made them serve it. What rules them is sustenance. And He has made sustenance such a vast and rich treasury that it encompasses His innumerable bounties. Even, through a faculty called the sense of taste, He has placed on the tongue fine and sensitive immaterial scales to the number of foods, so that they can recognize the tastes of one of the many varieties of sustenance. That is to say, the strangest, richest, most wonderful, most agreeable, most comprehensive, and most marvellous truth in the universe lies in sustenance.
Now we see that just as everything has been gathered around sustenance and looks to it, so too does sustenance in all its varieties subsist through thanks, both material and immaterial al, and that offered by word and by state; it exists through thanks, it produces thanks, its shows thanks. For appetite and desire for sustenance are a sort of innate thanks. And enjoyment and pleasure also are a sort of unconscious thanks, which all animals offer. It is only man who changes the nature of that innate thanks through misguidance and unbelief; he deviates from thanks to associating partners with God.
Furthermore, the exquisitely adorned forms, the fragrant smells, the wonderfully delicious tastes in the bounties which are sustenance invite thanks; they awake an eagerness in animate beings, and through eagerness urge a sort of appreciation and respect, and prompt thanks of a sort. They attract the attention of conscious beings, and engender admiration. They encourage them to respect the bounties; through this, they lead them to offer thanks verbally and by act, and to be grateful; they cause them to experience the highest and sweetest pleasure and enjoyment within thanks. That is to say, they show that, as well as a brief and temporary superficial pleasure, through thanks, these delicious foods and bounties gain the favours of the Most Merciful one, which bear a
permanent, true, boundless pleasure and delight. They cause conscious beings to ponder over the infinite, pleasurable favours of the All-Generous Owner of the treasuries of mercy, and in effect to taste the everlasting delights of Paradise while still in this world. Thus, although by means of thanks sustenance becomes such a valuable, rich, all-embracing treasury, it descends to the very lowest degree through ingratitude.
As is explained in the Sixth Word, when the sense of taste in the tongue is turned towards sustenance for the sake of Almighty God, that is, through its duty of thanks, it becomes like a grateful inspector of the numberless kitchens of infinite Divine mercy and a highly-esteemed supervisor full of praise. If it is turned towards it for the sake of the soul, that is, without thinking of giving thanks to the One Who has bestowed the sustenance, the sense of taste falls from the rank of being a highlyesteemed supervisor to the level of a watchman of the factory of the stomach and a doorkeeper of the stable of the belly. Just as these servants of sustenance descend to this degree through ingratitude, so too does the nature of sustenance and its other servants also fall. They descend from the highest rank to the lowest. They sink to a state contrary and opposed to the Creator of the universe's wisdom.
The measure of thanks is contentment, frugality, and being satisfied and grateful. While the measure of ingratitude is greed, and wastefulness and extravagance; it is disrespect; it is eating whatever one comes across, whether lawful or unlawful.
Indeed, like ingratitude, greed causes both loss and degradation. For example, it is as though the blessed ant even, which has a social life, is crushed beneath feet because of greed. For, although a few grains of wheat would be sufficient for a year, it is not contented with this, and collects thousands if it can. While the blessed honey-bee flies overhead due to its contentment, and through a Divine command bestows honey on human beings for them to eat.
The Name of All-Merciful - the Greatest Name after the Name of Allah, which signifies the Divine Essence and is the Greatest Name of the Most Pure and Holy One - looks to sustenance. And it is attained to through the thanks which is in sustenance. Also, the most apparent meaning of All-Merciful is Provider.
Moreover, there are different varieties of thanks. The most comprehensive of those and their universal index are the prescribed prayers.
Furthermore, within thanks is a pure belief, a sincere affirmation of God's Unity. For a person who eats an apple and utters, "Praise be to God!" is proclaiming through his thanks: "This apple is a souvenir
bestowed directly by the hand of power, a gift directly from the treasury of mercy." With saying this and believing it, he is surrendering everything, particular and universal, to the hand of power. He recognizes the manifestation of mercy in everything. He announces through thanks a true belief and sincere affirmation of Divine Unity.
Of the many aspects of the great loss which heedless man incurs through ingratitude for bounties, We shall describe only one. It is as follows:
If someone eats a delicious bounty and gives thanks, the bounty becomes a light through his thanks, and a fruit of Paradise in the Hereafter. Through thinking of it being a Work of Almighty God's favour and mercy due to the pleasure it affords, it gives a great and lasting delight and enjoyment. He sends kernels and essences pertaining to its meaning and immaterial substances like these to the abodes above, and the material husk-like residue, that is, the matter that has completed its duty and now is unnecessary, becomes excreta and goes to be transformed into its original substances that is into the elements. If he does not give thanks, the temporary pleasure leaves a pain and sorrow at its passing, and itself becomes waste. Bounty which is of the nature of diamonds is transformed into coal. Through thanks, transient sustenance gives enduring pleasures, everlasting fruits. But bounty which is met with ingratitude is turned from the very best of forms into the most distasteful. For according to a heedless person such as that, after a temporary pleasure, the end of sustenance is waste-matter.
For sure, sustenance is in a form Worthy of love, and that form becomes apparent through thanks. Whereas the passion of the misguided and heedless for sustenance is animality. You can make further comparisons in this way and see what a loss the heedless and misguided suffer.
Among animate species the most needy for the varieties of sustenance is man. Almighty God created man as a comprehensive mirror to all His Names, as a miracle of power with the capacity to weigh up and recognize the contents of all His treasuries of mercy, and as His vicegerent on earth possessing the faculties to draw to the scales a11 the subtleties of the different manifestations of His Names. He therefore gave him a boundless need, making him needy for the endless different varieties of sustenance, material and immaterial. The means of raising man to `the best of forms,' which is the highest position in accordance with this comprehensiveness, is thanks. If he does not give thanks, he falls to `the lowest of the low,' and perpetrates a great wrong.
I n S h or t : The most essential of the four fundamental principles of
the way of worship and winning God's love, the highest and most elevated way, is thanks. These four principles have been defined as follows:
"Four things are necessary on the way of the impotent, my friend:
"Absolute impotence, absolute poverty, absolute fervour, and absolute thanks, my friend...."
O God, through Your mercy, appoint us among those who give thanks, O Most Merciful of the Merciful!
Glory be unto You We have no knowledge .save that which You,
have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing All-Wise. 6
O God, grant blessings and peace to our master Muhammed, muster of those. who offer thanks and praise, and to all his Family and Companions. Amen.
And the close of their cry will be, "All praise be to God, Sustainer of All the Worlds." 7
The Sixth Matter,
which is the Sixth Part
Since this was to be included m another collection, it was not included here.
The Seventh Matter,
which is the Seventh Part
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
Say: "In the bounty of God, and in His mercy, in that let them rejoice; " that is better than the [wealth] they hoard.l
This matter consists of seven Signs, but firstly, in order to recount some Divine bounties, we shill explain seven `Reasons' which disclose the meanings of several Divine favours.
FIRST REASON
Before the Great War, or around the beginning of it, I had a true vision. In it, I was under the famous mountain of Ağrı, known as Mount Ararat. The mountain suddenly exploded with a terrible blast. Pieces the size of mountains were scattered all over the world. I looked and saw that in that awful situation, my mother was beside me. I said to her: "Don't be frightened. This is happening at Almighty God's command, and He is All-Compassionate and All-Merciful." Suddenly, while in that situation I saw that a person of' importance was commanding me: "Expound the miraculousness of the Qur'an" I awoke and I understood that there was going to be a great explosion, and after that explosion and upheaval, the walls surrounding the Qur'an were going to be destroyed. The Qur'an would then defend itself directly. It was going to be attacked, and its miraculousness would be its steel armour. And in a way surpassing his ability, someone like me was going to be appointed at this time to reveal a sort of its miraculousness; and I understood that it was me who had been designated.
Since the miraculousness of the Qur'an has been expounded to an extent with the Words, for sure the set forth the Divine favours received in our service of the Qur'an, which are sorts of blessings and emanations of it, assist the miraculousness and pass to its account, and should be set forth.
SECOND REASON
The All-Wise Qur'an is our guide, our master, our leader, and shows us the way in all our conduct. So since it praises itself, we too, following
its instruction, shall praise its commentary.
And since the Words that have been written are a sort of commentary on the Qur'an, and its treatises are the property of the Qur'an's truths and its realities, and since in most of its Suras, and particularly in the Alif: lam. Ra.'s and Ha. Mim.'s, the All-Wise Qur'an displays itself in all its magnificence, tells of its own perfections, and praises itself in a way of which it is worthy, certainly we are: charged with making known the flashes of the Qur'an's miraculousness which are reflected in the Words, and the Dominical favours which are the sign of that service's acceptance. For our master does this, and teaches it.
TNIRD REASON
I do not say this about the Words out of modesty, but in order to explain i truth, that the truth and perfections in the Words are not mine; they are the Qur'an's and they have issued from the Qur'an. The Tenth Word, for instance, is a few droplets filtered from hundreds of verses. And the rest of the treatises are all like that. Since I know it is thus and since I am transient, I shall depart, of course something, a work, which is enduring should not, and must not, be tied to me. And since it is the custom of the people of misguidance and rebellion to refute a work which does not suit their purposes by refuting its author, the treatises, which are bound to the stars of the skies of the Qur'an, should not be bound to a rotten post like me who ma be the object of criticism and objection, and may tall. Also, it is generally the custom to search for the merits of a work in the qualities of its author, whom people suppose to be the work's source and origin. To attribute those elevated truths and brilliant jewels to a bankrupt like are in keeping with that custom, and to my person which could not produce one thousandth of them himself, is a great injustice against the truth; I am therefore compelled to proclaim that the treatises are not my property; they are the Qur'an's property and issuing from the Qur'an, they manifest its virtues. Yes, the qualities of delicious bunches of grapes should not be sought in their dry stalks. I resemble
such a dry stalk.
FOURTH REASON
Sometimes modesty suggests ingratitude for bounties, indeed, is ingratitude for bounties. And sometimes recounting bounties is the cause of pride. Both are harmful. The only solution is for it to be neither. To admit to virtues and perfections, but without claiming ownership of them, is to show them to be the works of bestowal of the True Bestower. For example, if someone was to dress you in a robe of honour embroidered and encrusted with jewels arid you were to become very beautiful
and the people were to say to you: "What wonders God has willed! How beautiful you are! How beautiful you have become!", and you were modestly to reply: "God forbid! Don't say such a thing! What am I? This is nothing!", it would be ingratitude for the bounty and disrespectful towards skilful craftsman who had dressed you in the garment. While if you were to reply proudly: "yes, I am very beautiful. Surely there is no one to compare with me!", it would be conceited pride.
And so, to be saved from both conceit and ingratitude, one should say:
"Yes, I have grown beautiful. But the beauty springs from the robe, and thus indirectly from the one who clothed me in it; it is not mine."
Like this, if my voice was strong enough, I would shout out to the whole earth: "The Words are beautiful; they are truth, they are reality; but they are not mine. They are rays shining out from the truths of the Noble Qur'an."
In accordance with the principle of:
I cannot praise the Qur'an with my words, rather my words become praiseworthy through the Qur'an.
That is to say, I did not beautify the truths of the Qur'an's miraculousness, I could not show them beautifully; rather, the Qur'an's beautiful truths made my words beautiful and elevated them. Since it is thus, it is an acceptable recounting of Divine bounties to make known in the name of the beauty of the Qur'an's truths, the beauties of its mirrors known as the Words, and the Divine favours which comprise those mirrors.
FIETH REASON
A long time ago I heard from one of the people of sainthood that he had deduced from the obscure allusions - received from the Unseen - of the saints of old that "A light would appear in the East which would scatter the darkness of innovation." He was certain of this. I have long awaited the darkness of the coming of the light and I am awaiting it. But flowers appear
in the spring, and the ground has to be prepared for sacred flowers such as that. And I understood that with this service of ours we are preparing the ground for those luminous people. So to proclaim the Divine favours which pertain not to us, but to the limits called the Words, cannot be the cause of pride or conceit, hut then cause of praise arid thanks, and the recounting of Divine bounties.
SlXTH REASON
Dominical favours, which are an immediate reward for our service to the Qur'an by means of the Words, and an encouragement, are a success. And success should be made known- If they surpass success, they become a Divine bestowal. And to make known Divine bestowal has the meaning of thanks. If they surpass that too, they become wonders of the Qur'an with no interference on the part of our wills; we have merely manifested them. To make known wonders of this sort which occur unheralded and without the intervention of will, is without harm. If they surpass ordinary wonders, they then become rays of the Qur'an's miraculousness. And since miraculousness may be made known, the making known of what assists the miraculousness passes to the account of the miraculousness, and cannot be the cause of any pride or conceit, it should rather be the cause of praise and thanks.
SEVENTH REASON
Eighty per cent of mankind are not investigative scholars who can penetrate to reality, recognize reality as reality and accept it as such. They rather accept matters by way of imitation, which they hear from acceptable and reliable people, in consequence of their good opinions of them. In fact, they see a powerful truth to be weak when in possession of a worthy man, while if they see a worthless matter in the possession of a weak man, they consider it to be valuable. Because of this, in order not to reduce the value in the eyes of most people of the truths of belief and the Qur'an which are in the hands of a weak and worthless wretch like myself, I am compelled to proclaim that outside. our knowledge and will, ,someone is employing us; we do not know it, but he is making us work. My evidence is this: outside our wills and consciousness, we manifest certain favours and facilities. In which case, we are compelled to shout out and proclaim those favours.
And so, in consequence of the above Seven Reasons, we shall point out several Signs of universal Dominical favours.
FIRSIT SIGN
Explained in the First Point of the Eighth Matter of the Twenty-Eighth Letter, are the `coincidences' (tawafuqat). For example, in the Nineteenth Letter on the Miracles of Muhammed, in a copy written by a scribe who was unaware of this factor, on sixty pages - with the exception of two - from the Third to the Eighteenth Signs, more than two hundred instances of the phrase `the Most Noble Prophet, Upon whom be blessings and peace' look to each other corresponding perfectly. Anyone fair who looks at two pages would confirm that they are not the product
of mere chance. If many instances of the same word corresponded to each other on the same page, half would be chance and half `coincidence'; it would only be wholly `coincidence' if this occurred on more than one page. So if two, three, four, or even more instances of the phrase `the Most Noble Prophet, Upon whom be blessings and peace,' look to each other with perfect correspondence on all the pages, it surely is not possible for it to be chance. And it shows that within a `coincidence' which eight different scribes have not been able to spoil is a powerful sign from the Unseen. Just as although the various degrees of eloquence are to be found in the books of the scholars of rhetoric and eloquence, the eloquence of the All-Wise Qur'an has risen to the degree of miraculousness - and it is in no one's power to reach it, so too the `coincidences' in the Nineteenth Letter, which is a mirror of the Miracles of Muhammed, and in the Twenty-Fifth Word, which is an interpreter of the miracles of the Qur'an, and the various parts of the Risale-i Nur which is a sort of commentary on the Qur'an, demonstrate a degree of singularity surpassing all other books. It is understood from this that it is a sort of wonder of the Miraculousness of the Qur'an and the Miracles of Muhammed which is manifested and represented in those mirrors.
SECOND SIGN
The second of the Dominical favours pertaining to the service of the Qur'an is this: Almighty God bestowed on one like one who has difficulty in writing, is semi-literate, alone, in exile, and prevented from mixing with people, brothers as helpers who are strong, earnest, sincere, enterprising, self-sacrificing, and whose pens are each like diamond swords. He placed on their- powerful shoulders the Qur'anic duty which weighed heavily on my weak and powerless shoulders. Out of His perfect munificence, He lightened my load. In the words of Hulusi, that blessed community are like the wireless and telegraph receivers, and in Sabri's words, like the machines producing the electricity of the `light factory.' Together with their different virtues and valuable characteristics, again in Sabri's words, in a way that is a sort of `coincidence' proceeding from the Unseen, they spread all around the mysteries of the Qur'an and lights of belief in a manner resembling each other in enthusiasm, effort, enterprise, and seriousness, making them reach everywhere. At this time, that is, when tire alphabet has been changed, and there are no printing-presses, and everyone is in need of the lights of belief, and there are numerous things to dispirit a person and destroy his enthusiasm, this unflagging service of their's with complete fervour and endeavour is directly a wonder of the Qur'an and a clear Divine favour. Yes, just as sainthood has its wonders, so too does a pure intention have
wonders. So does sincerity. Especially serious, sincere solidarity between brothers within a sphere of brotherhood which is purely for God's sake;, it produces numerous wonders. In fact, the collective personality of such a community may become like a perfected saint, and manifest Divine favours.
And so my brothers and my friends in the service of the Qur'an! Just as it is unjust and wrong to give all the glory and all the booty to the sergeant of a company who conquers a citadel, so too you cannot ascribe the Divine favours in the victories obtained through the strength of your collective personality and your pens to an unfortunate like myself! In fact, there is another indication of the Unseen in such a blessed community, more powerful than the `coincidences' proceeding from the Unseen and I can see it, but I may not point it out to everyone at large.
THIRD SIGN
The fact that the various parts of the Risale-i Nur prove the most important of the truths of belief and the Qur'an in brilliant fashion to even the most obdurate person, is a powerful sing from the Unseen and Divine favour. For- among the truths of belief and the Qur'an are those that Ibn-i Sina, who was considered to he (he greatest genius, confessed his powerlessness to understand, saving: "The. reason cannot solve these." Whereas the Tenth Word explains what he could not achieve with his genius to ordinary people, or even to children.
And for example:, a learned scholar like Sa'd al-Taftazani could only solve the mystery of Divine Determining and man's power of choice in forty to fifty pages with the famous Mugaddimat-i Ithna 'Ashar in his work Telvih. Those same matters, which he presented only for the elite, are explained completely in two pages in the Second Topic of the Twenty-Sixth Word, which is about Divine Determining, so that everyone may understand them; if that is not a mark of Divine favour, what is'?
Also are what are known as the mystery of world's creation and the talisman of the universe, which leave everyone is wonderment and no philosophy has been able to solve; but through the miraculousness of the Qur'an of Mighty Stature, that abstruse talisman and astonishing riddle are solved in the Twenty-Fourth Letter, and in the Allusive Point towards the end of the Twenty-Ninth Word, and in the six instances of wisdom in the transformations of minute particles explained in the Thirtieth Word. They have discovered and explained the talisman of the astonishing
activity in the universe, and the riddle of the creation of the universe and its end, and the meaning and instances of wisdom in the motion and transformations of particles; they are there for all to see and may be referred to.
Furthermore, the Sixteenth and Thirty-Second Words explain with perfect clarity the partnerless Unity of Dominicality, through the mystery of Divine Oneness, together with the astonishing truths of infinite Divine proximity and our infinite distance from God. And the exposition of the phrase `And He's Powerful over all things' in the Twentieth Letter, and its Addendum which contains three comparisons, demonstrate selfevidently that minute particles and the planets are equal in relation to Divine Power, and that at the resurrection of the dead, the raising to life of all beings with spirits will be as easy for that power as the raising to life of a single soul, and that the intervention of any partner to God in the creation of the universe is so far from reason as to be impossible, thus disclosing a vast mystery of Divine Unity.
Furthermore, although in the truths of belief and the Qur'an there is such a breadth that the greatest human genius cannot comprehend them, the fact that they appeared together with the great majority of their fine points through someone like me whose mind is confused, situation wretched, has no book to refer to, and who writes with difficulty and at speed, is directly the work of the All-Wise Qur'an's miraculousness and a manifestation of Dominical favour and a powerful sign from the Unseen.
FOURTH SIGN
Fifty to sixty treatises were bestowed in such a way that, being works that could not be written through the efforts and exertions of great geniuses and exacting scholars, let alone someone like me who thinks little., follows the apparent, and does not have the time for close study, they demonstrate that they are directly time works of Divine favour. For in all these treatises, the most profound truths are taught to the most ordinary and uneducated people by means of comparisons. Whereas leading scholars have said of most of those truths that "they cannot be made comprehensible," and have not taught them to the elite, let alone to the common people.
Thus, for these most distant truths to be taught to the most ordinary man in the closest way with wondrous ease and clarity of expression, by someone like me who has little Turkish, whose words are obscure and mostly incomprehensible, and for many years has been famous for complicating the clearest facts and whose former works confirm this ill-fame, is certainly and without any doubt a mark of Divine favour, and cannot be through his skill; it is a manifestation of the Noble Qur'an's miraculousness, and a representation and reflection of the Qur'an's comparisons.
· FIFTH SIGN
The fact that although generally speaking the treatises have been widely distributed, and classes and groups of people from the greatest scholars to the uneducated, and from great saints from among those who approach reality with their harts to the most obdurate irreligious philosophers, have seen them and studied them and have not criticized them despite some of them receiving blows through them, and the fact that. each group has benefited from them according to its degree, is directly a mark of Dominical favour and a wonder of the Qur'an. And although treatises of that sort are only written after much study and research, their being written with extraordinary speed and at distressing times when my mind was contracted, confusing my thought and understanding, is a mark of Divine favour and a Dominical bestowal.
Yes, most of my brothers and all the friends who are with me and the scribes know that the five parts of the Nineteenth letter were written referring to no book at all in several days working for two or three hours each day making a total of twelve hours; and that the Fourth Part, which is the most important part and shows a clear seal of Prophethood in the phrase `the Most Noble Prophet, Upon whom be blessings and peace,' was written from memory in three or four hours in the rain in the mountains; and that an important and profound treatise like the Thirtieth Word was written in six hours in an orchard; an like the Twenty-Eighth Word was written finally in two hours in Süleyman's garden, most of them were written in similar conditions; my close friends know also that for many years, when I suffer difficulties and my mind is contracted, I cannot explain even the plainest facts, indeed, I do not even know them. Especially when illness is added to the distress, it prevents me teaching and writing ever more. If together with this, the most important of the Words and its treatises were written when I was suffering most difficulty and iluness, and in the most speedy fashion, was not directly a Divine favour and Dominical bounty and wonder of the Qur'an, what is?
Fut-thermore, whaLever book it may be, if to discusses the Divine truths and realities of belief, it would certainly be harmful for some people and for this reason, all its matters would nnt be taught to everyone. However althoug I have askad many people, up to this time, these treatises have caused no harm to anyone, like ill effects or unfavourable reactinn or disturbing their minds. That this is a direct slgn of the Unseen and Donminical favour is ahsolutcly certatn in my opinion.
· SIXTH SIGN
It has now become absolutely clear in my view that most of my life has heen directed in such a way, outside my own will, ability, comprehension, and foresight, that it might produce these treatises to serve the All-Wise Qur'an. It is as if all my life as a scholar had been spent in preparation and preliminarics, the result of which was the exposition of the Qur'an's miraculousness thrnugh the Words. I have no doubt even that these seven years on exile. and the situation imposed on me whereby I have been isolated for no reason and against my wish, living a solitary life in a village in a way opposed to my temperament, and my feeling disgust at and ahandoning many of the ties and rules of social life to which I had lnng grown accustomed, was in order to make me carry out this duty to serve the Qur'an directly and in purely sincere fashion. i am of the opiniori that the ill·-treatment was very often visited on me by a hand of favour under the vei! of unjust oppression, corzipassionately, in order to focus anci restrict my thought on the mysteries of the Qur'an and not allow my mind to he distracted. Anci being prevented from studying a1l other books, despite forterly having, great desire to study, I felt an a(oofnuss towards there in my spirit. And I understood that what had mide me give up studying, which would have been a solace and familiar in my exile, wus in order for the verses of the Qur'an to be my absolute master directly.
Furthermnre, the great majority of the works that have been written, the treatises, have been hestowed instantaneously and suddenly in consequence of some need arisfng from my spirit, not from any outside cause. Then when afterwards I have shown them to some friends, they have said that they are the remedy for the wounds of the present time. After they have been disseminated, I have understood from most of my hrothers that they meet the needs of the timcs exactly and are like a cure for every ill.
And so, I have no doubt that the above-mentioned points and the course of my life and my involuntarily studying fields of Iearning oppnsed to normal practice, outside my own will and awareness, were a powerful Divine favour and Dominical bounty bestowed to yield sacred results such as these
· SEVENTH SIGN
During this period of our service duritzg five to six years, we have secn with our own eyes artd without exaggeration a hundrecl instances of Divine bestowal and Dominical favour and wonders of the Qur'an. We pointed out some of them in the Sixteenth Letter, and we huve descrihed some of them in the various matters of the Fourth Topic of the Twenty
Sixth Letter, and some in the Third Matter of the Twenty-Fighth Letter. My close friends know these. My consLant friend Süleyman Efendi knows many of them. Especially in the spreading of Lhe Words and the treatises, and in correcting them, and situating, them, and in the rough and final drafts, we experience an extraordinary and wondrous ease. I have no doubt that it is a wonder of the Qur'an. Tllere and hundreds of instances of this.
Furthermore, in the question oi' livelihood, we are nurtured wiLh such tenderness that the Gracious One who emplnys us bestows on us the least desires of our hearts in ways entirely outside the ordinary in order to gratify us. And so on. Thus, this situation is a most powcrful sign from the Unseen that we are being employed; we are being madc to serve the Qur'an both within the sphere of Divine pleasurc, and through Divine favour.
All praise be to God, this is from the bounty of my Sustainer.
All Glory be. unto You! We have no knowledge have that which You have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowawing, All-Wise! O God! Grant blessings to our master Muhammed that will be pleasing to You and,fulfilment of his truth, and to his Family and Companions, czrr.d and grant them peace Amen.
The Answer
to a Confidential Question
[This instance of Divine favour was written some time ago confidentially, and was added to the end of the Fourteenth Word. However, most of the scribes have forgotten it and not writtcn it. That is to say, the appropriate place for it most have; been here, since it remrrined unknown.]
Y o u a s k m e : "How is it that in the Words you have written from the Qur' an are a power and effectiveness mare) yuo he fourzd i n the words of Qur'anic conimentators and those with knowledge of God? Sornetirnes in or single line is power equivalent to that of a page, and in one page the effectiveness of a book?"
T h e A n s w e r : A good a.nswer - since the honour belongs to the Qur,an's miraculnusness and not to me, I say fearlessly, that it is mostly like that, for the following reason:
The Words that have been written are not supposition, they are affirmation; they are not submission, they are belif; they are not intuitive knowledge, they are a tetifying and witnessing; they are not imitating, they are verification; they are not taking the part of somethıng, they are exer-cise of the mind; they are not SufiSm, they rrrc rcality; they are not a claim, they are the proof within the claim. The wisdom in this is as follows:
Formerly, the fundamentals of belief were protected, submission was strong. Even if the irituitive knowldge of those with knowledbe of God lacked proof, their expositions were acceptable and sufficient. But at this time, since the misguidance of science has stretched out its hand to the fundarnentais and pillars [of belief), the All-Wise and Compassionate One of Glory, Who bustows a remedy for every i11, in consequence of my impolence and weakness, want and need, merc:ifully bestowed in these writings of minc whiell serve the Qur'an a single ray from the comparisons of the Noble Qur'an, which are a most brillirrnt manifestation of its miraculousness. All praise be to God, the most distant truths were brought close through the telescope of the mystery of comparisons. And
through the aspect of unity of the mystery of comparisons, the most scattered matters were collected tagether. And through the stairs of the mystery of comparisons, the highest truths were easily reached. Aud through the windaw af the mystery of comparisons, a certainty of helief in the truths of the Unseer and fundamentals of Islam was obtained olose to the degrue of `witnessing.' The intellect, as weil as the imagination and fancy, and the soul and caprice, were compelled tn submit, and ,Satan too was compelled to surrender his weapons.
I n S h o r t : Whatever beauty and effectiveness are found in my writings, they are only flashes of the Qur'anic comparisons. My share was anly my intense need and my seoking, and my extreme impotence and my beseeching. The ill is mine, the cure, the Qur'an's.
The Conclusion
of the Seventh Matter
[This is to banish any doubts that have arisen or may arise concerning the signs from the Unseen apparent in the form of the eight Divine favours, and describes a mighty mystery of Divine favour.]
This Conclusion consists of Four Points.
FIRST POINT
We claimed in the Seventh Matter of the Twenty-Eighth Letter thaE we saw a sign from the Unseen, which had been understood from from seven or eigl'it universal, immaterial Divine favours, and a manifestation of that sign in the embroideries known as the `coincidences', under the name of the Eighth Favour. And we claim that these seven or eight universal Divine favours are so powerful and certain that each on its own proves those signs from the Unseen. If, to suppose the impossible, some appeared to be weak, or were even denied, it would not damage the certainty of that sign from the Unseen. One whe cannot deny the Divine favours, cannot deny the signs. But because people differ according to their level, and because the most numerous level, the mass of people, rely mostly on what they see, since the `coincidences' are not the most powerfui, but the most apparent, of the eight Divine favours - certainly the others are more powerful but since this is more general, I havc been cornpelled to expound a truth by way of comparing them, with the intention of dispelling those doubts. It is like this:
We said concerning the apparent Divine favour that such a degree of `coincidences' appeared in the word `Qur'an' and the phrase `the Most Noble Prophet, Upon whom be blessings and peace' in the treatise we had written that it left no doubt that they had been ordered intentionally and given mutually corresponding positions. Our evidence that the will and intention is not ours is that we only became aware of them three or four years later. In which case, as a work of Divine favour, this will and intection pertain to the Unseen. That singular situation was given solely ln regard to corroborating the miracuousness of the Qur' an and of Muhammed, and in the form of the `coincidences' involving those two words. In addition to the blessedness of these two words being a ratifying stump of the Qur'an's miraculousness and the miracles of Muhammed, the great majority o similar phrases manifested
`coincidence' also. But these appeas- only on a single page, while the two rtbove phrases appear throughout two treatises, and in most of the others. We have said repeatedly that essentially `coincidence' may (requently be: found in other books, but not to such an extraordinary degree dernonstrating an elevated will and intcntion. Now, although it is not possibie to refute what we claim, there are one or two ways that it might appear to be thus to a superficial glance.
One is that they rnay say: "You have thought of it and brought about these `coincidences' in this way. To do sorch a thing intentionally is easy and simple." In reply we say this: in any case, two truthful witnesses are sufficient. But in this case a hundred truthful witnesses may be sound who will testify that our will and intention played no part and thut we became aware of it oniy three or four years later. I should say in connection with this that this wondor of the Qur' an's proceeding from its miraculousness is not of the same sort of or of equal degree to the miraculousness of the All-Wise Qur'an in respect of its eloquence. For in respect of the Qur'an's szliraculousness, taking the same way, human power cannot attain such a degree. As for this wonder pr-oceeding from its miraculousnoss, it could not occur thrnugh human powcr; human power could not intervene in such a matter.
THIRD POINT
In connection with particular signs and general signs, we shall indicate a fine point of Dominicality and Mercifulness:
One of my brothers said something very good; I shall make it the subjeot here. What he said was this: one day I showed him a clear example of a `coincidence,' and he said: "That's good! In fact all truths and realitis are good. But the `coincidences' in the Words and its success are even better." And I said: "Yes, everything is in reality good, or in itself good, or good in regard to its results. And this goodness looks to general Dominicality, all-embracing mercy, and universai manifestation. Like
you said, the sign from the Unseen in this success is even better; this is because it is in a form which looks to particular mercy and particular Dominicality and particular manifestation." We shall bring this closer to the understanding by means of a comparison. It is like this:
Through his universal sovereignty and law, a king may encompass all
1. In one copy, on a page of the Eighteenth sign of the Nineteenth Letter, the word `Qur'an' appcared nine times in the form of `eoincidence'; we drew a line through these and the word `Muhammed' appeared. On the page opposite to this, the word `Qur,an' appearel eight limes, and from all these the Name of 'Allah' appeared. There are many wondrous things like these in the `coincidences.' We siw this with our owo eyes. Signed:Hekir, 'tevfik, Suleyman, Galib, said.
the members of his nation wlth his royal mercy. Each individual receives the king's favour, is subject to his rule, directly. lWithin the universality, the individual has numerous particular connections.
The second aspect are the king's partieular bounties and particular orders: above the law, he bestows favours on an individual, and givcs his orders.
like this comparison, everything has a share of the general Dominicality and all-encompassing mercy of the NeceSsarily Existent One, the All-Wise and Compassionate Creator. Also, through His power, will, and all-embracing knowledge, He has misposal over cverything, He intervenes in the most insignificant matters of all things, His Dominicality embraces them. Everything is ln need of Hirrr in every respect. Their works are performed and ordered through f-Iis knowledge and wisdom. Neither Nature has the ability to hide within the sphere of the disposal of His Dorninicality, or have any effect and interfere, nor can chance interfere in the works of the fine balance of His wisdom. We have refuted ehance and Nature in twenty places in the Risale-i Nur with decisive proofs, execr.rting them with the sworci of the Qur'an; we have demonstrated their interference to be impossibie. But the people of neglect have calied `chance', matters they do not know the wfsdom of and reason for in the sphere of apparunt causes withirl universrrf Dominicality. They have been unable to see some of the laws of the Divine acts concealed benerth the veil of Nature, the wisdom and purposes of which they could not comprehend, and they had recourse to Nature.
The second is His particular Dominicalrty and particular favours and merciful succour, by which the Names of Merciful and Compassionate come to the aid of individuals unable to bear Ihe constraints of the general laws, assisting them in particular fashion, and saving them from those crushing constraints. Therefore, all living beings and especialiy man may seck help from Him at all times, and receive succour.
Thus, the favours in this particular- Dominicality cannot be hldden under chance by the people of neglect, and cannot be ascribed to Nature.
It is as a conscquence of this that we have considered and believed the signs from the Unseen in the Miraculousness of the Qur'an and Miracles of Muhammed to be particular signs, certain that they are a particular succour and particular Divine favour showing themsclves against the obcfurate dcniers. So we have proclaimed them purely for God's sake. If' we were mistaken in doing so, may God forgive us. Amen.
O our Sustniner, do not take us to task if we forget or d .n wrong.
The Eighth Matter,
which is the Eighth Part
[This Matter consists of six questions comprising Eight Points. )
· FIRST POINT
We have perceived many signs from the Unseen suggesting that we are being employed in the service of the Qur'an under a hand of favour, and some of these we have pointed out. Now, a new sign is this: in most of the Words are `coincfdences' from the Unseen. In short, there is a sign that a sort of manifestation of miraculousness is represented in the words `the most Noble Prophet,' the phrase, `Upon whom be blessings and peace,' and in the blessed word `Qur'an.' However hiddcn and weak signs from the Unseen are, since they indicate the acceptability of' our service and rightness of the matters, in my opinion they are of great importance and power. Furthermore, they break my pride aud have detonstrated to me categorieally that I am merely an interpreter. And they leave nothing for me which is the means to pride; they only show things whi are the cause of thanks. And since they pertain to the Qur' an, and pass to the account of its miraculousness, and since definltely our wills do not interfere, and since they encourage those who are lazy in their service, and afford the conviction that the treatises are true, and sirlce they are a form of Divine bestowal to us, and to make them known is to make a Divine bounty, and to do so reduces to since those obdurafe people who understand only what they see; it is surcly necessary to make them known; God willing, it causes no harm.
One of the signs from the Unseen is this: out of His perfect mercy and munificence, in order to encourage us who are occupied with the service of the Qur'an and belief and to make our hearts easy, Almighty God bestowed a subtle Dorninical favour on us and a Divine gift in all the treatises we have written, and particularly in the Miracles of Muhammed, the Miraculousness of the Qur'an, and the Thirty-Three Windows, in the form of a sign from the Unseen indicating the acceptability of our service and that what we have written is the truth. That is, He causes the same
l. `Coincidences' indicate mutual correspondence, and mutual correspondence icldicates agrcement, and agreemenf is a sign of unity, and unity shows unification, that is, the al firma- tinn of Divine Unity, which is the greatcst of the four fundamentals of the Qur'an.
words on a page to face one another. in this a sign from the Unseen that they are order by an unseen will, whic:h says: "Do not rely on your own wills and comprehension. Without your knowledge and awareness wondrous embroideries a nd arrrtngerrerzts are being made." Especially the words `the lost Noble Prophet' and `Upon whom be blessings and peace' in the Miracles of Muhammed, they are like mirrors showing clearly the signs of those `coincidences' of the Utiseen. In a. copy written by a new, .inexperienced scribe, other than on iive pages, the remaining more than two tundred `Upon whom be blessings and peace's face one another in lines.
These `coincidences' are rint the work on chance, which might unconsciously give rise to one or two `coincidences' out of ten, neither do they spring from the thought of an unfortunate like nyself who is unskilled in art, and, concentrating only on the meaning, dictates thirty to forty pages at great speed in one hour, not writing himself but makfng others write.
Through the guidancr: of the Qur-' an and due to the `coincidence' of nine instances of the pronoun inna in the Qur'anic comnentary, Signs of Miraculousnces, I became aware them only six years subsequently. And whcn the eopyists hertrd of then from me, they were astounded. The words `the Most Noble Prephet' and `Upon whom be blessings and pcaec in the Nineteenth Letter became like a small mirror of a sort of miracle of' Muhammed. Similarly, the word `Qur'an' in the Twenty-Fifth Word, the Miraculousness of the Qur'an, anci in the Eighteenth Sign of the Nineteerith Letter, manitested a sort of miracle: of the forty classes of humanity, before the class which relies on what they see with their eyes, a kitzd of the Qur'an's miraculousness was manifested in all the treatises in the form ut `coincidences' from the Unseen, which is only one sort of the forty sorts of that kind of miraculousness. And of the forty types of that sort, it was manifested throngh the word `Qur'an.' It was as follows:
The word `Qur'an' was repeated a hundred times in the twenty-Fifth Word and in the Eighteenth Sign of the Nineteenth Letter; only rarely, once or twice, did it not conform; all the rest look to each other. For example, on the: forty-third page of the Second Ray, the word `Qur' an' onccurs seven times, and they all face each other. And on page fifty-six, eight instances of it face each other; only the ninth is ari exception. And the five instanses of the word on page sixty-ninc, now open before me, face each other. And so on. The word `Qur' an' repeated on all the pages face each other-. Only raruly does one ren daitl outside the pattorn out of
five or six.
As for other words. on page thirty-three - now open in front of me -
the word anz is repeated fifteen times and fourteen of them face each other. And on this page there are nine instances of the word `belief'; they face each other. Only, because the scribe left a large space, one of them has deviated a üttle. And on the page now open befo-e me, the word `beloved' is repeated twice; one on the third line and one on the fifteenthg they look to each other in perfectly balanced fashion. Between them, four instances of the word `love' have becn arranged looking to each other. Other `coincidences' from the Unseen may be compared to these. Whoever the seribe, and whatever form their lines and pages take, these `coincidences' from the Unseen are bound to occur to such an extent that it cannot be doubted that they are neither the work of chance nor the creation of the author and scribes. But in the handwriting of some, the `coincidences' an more striking. That mcans there is a handwriting particular to these treatises. Some of the scribes draw close to it. It is strange, but it appears most not in the most skilful of them, but jn the most inexperienced. It is understood from this that the art, grace, and virtues of the Words, which is a sort of commentary on the Qur'an, are not anybody's; the garments of the harmoninus, well-ordered style, which fit the blessed stature of the orderly, beautiful Qur' anic truths, are not measured and cut out by the will and consciousness of anyone. It is rather their stature which requires them to be thus, and it is an unseen hand that measures them and cuts them according to that stature, and clothes it in them. As for us, we are an interpreter among them, a servant.
· FOURTH POINT
In your first guestion, you ask five or six questions: "What will the Great Gathering at the Last Judgement be like, and will everyone be naked? How shall we find our frlends there, and how shall we find the Most Noble Prophet {Upon whom be blessings and peace) in order to avail ourselves of his intercession? How shall innumerable people meet with a single person? What shall the garments of the people of Paradise and those of Heil be like? And who will show us the way?"
T h e A n s w e r : The answers to these questions are given most clearly and explicitly in the Books of Hadith. Here we shall say only one or two points connected with our way and method. As follows:
Firstly: It is explained in a letter that the field of the resurrection is within the earth's annual orbit, and like it now sends its immaterial produce to the tablets of that field, so too with its annual rotation, it defines a circle, and through the produce ot that existent circle, is a source for the formation of the field of tle resurrection. And like the Lesser Hell at the centre of this Domlnical ship known as the earth will be emptied into the
Greater Hell, its inhabitants too will be emptied into the field of the resurrection.
Secondty: Chiefly in the Tenth and Twenty-Ninth Words, und rn rest of the Words, the occurrenee of the resurrectlon in addition to the existence of the field where it will take ptace have bcen proved most decisively.
Thirdly: As for meeting with people, it is proved conclusively in the Sixteenth, Tbirty-First, and Thirty-Second Words that through the mystery of luminosity, a person may be present in thousands of places at the same instant, and may meet with millions of people.
Fourthly: It is requirec by the Name of All-Wise that stripped of artificial clothes, Almighty God will clothe men in natural garments at the Great Gatllering and resurrection of the dead, ,just as He Iow clothes beings with spirits, other than mart, in natural garmentst In this world, the wisdom in artificiat clothes is not restricted to proteeting against heat and cold, adornment, and covering the private parts; another important instance of wisdom is their being like un index or list zndicating man's power of disposal of the other species of beings, and his relationship with them, and commandership over them. He might otherwise have been clothed in cheap and easy natural dress. For if it had not been for this wisdom, man would have draped himself in varinus rags, becoming a laughing-stock in the view of conscious animals and in relation to them be would have make them laugh. At the resurrection of the dead this relation will not be present and nor witl the instance of wisdom, so ncither should the list be present.
Fifthly: When it comes to someone to show the way, for those liko yourself who have entored under the light of the Qur'an, it is the Qur'an. Look at Lhe starL of the Suras which begin Alif. Lam. Mirn., and Alif: Lam. Ra., and Ha. Mirn.; you will see and uuderstand how acceptable an intercessor is the Qur'an, how true a guide, how sacred a light!
Sixthly: As for the garments of the people of Paradise and the people of Hell, the principle in the Twenty-Elgbth Word explaining the houris' wearing of seventy dresscs is applicahle here too. It is as follows:
A person from among the people of Paradise will of course want to bene it continuously from all the varieties of beings in Paradise. The good things of Paradise will vary greatly. He will atI the time communicate with every sort of being in Paradise. In which case, he will clothe himself and bis houris it samples, in small amounL, of the good things of Paradise, and they will each become like small Paradises.
For exatinple, a person collects tc3gether in his garden samples of all
the species of flowers spread throughout the country, making it a miniature specimen of it; and a shoplceeper colleets samples of all his wares in a list; and a man makes for himself a garment and everything necessary for his houge from samples of all the species of creatures in the world, which he governs, has disposal over, and with which he is connected.
Similarly, a person whose place is Paradise - especially if he used all his senses and non-physical fiuities in worship and has gained the right to e:xperience the pleasurcs of Paradise, will himself and his houris be clothed by Divine mercy in a sort of barrnent which will show every one of all the varieties of the worlders of Paradise, so as to gratify all his senses, please aIl his memburs, and delight ali his subtle faculties.
Evidence that those numerous garments will not all be of the same kind or sort is the Hadith the meaning of which is: "The houris will be dressed iri seventy garments, yet the marrow in their leg bones will still be visible."` That is to say, from the top garment to the innemost one, there will be degrees gratifying and delighting all the senses and members with diferent subtle wonder in different ways.
As for the people of Huil, since they committed sins in this world with their e es, their hars, their hearts, their hands, and their minds, and so on, it does not appear to be contrary to wisdom and justice that in Hell they will be made to wear a garment marfe up of various differing pieces that will be like a small Hell, and will cause them torment and pain in accordance with their sins.
· FIFTH POINT
You ask, in that period between prophets, did the forefathers of the Most Noble Prophet (Upon whom be blcssings and peace) belong to a religion and were they religious?
T h e A n s w e r : There are narrations stating that they were religious in accordance with the vestiges of the religion of Abraham (Upon whom be peace), which, under the veils of heedlessnes and spiritual darkness, continued in certain special people. Certainly, the individuals who Eormed a luminous chain coming from Abraham (Upon whom be peace) and concluding in tbe Most Nobie Prophet (Upon whom be blessings and peace) were not indifferent towards the light of the true religion and were not defeated by the darkness of unbeüef. But in accordance with the verse,
Mor would We visit with Our wrath until We had sent a prophet [to give warning],3
2. Bukhari. Badu,l-Khalq; 8; Tirmidhi, Qiyama: 60); Janna: 5; Darimi, Rikak: 108; Musnad: ii, 345; iii, 16.
the people who live in the time between prophets are among those saved. It has been stated unanimously that they are not punished for their mistikes in secondary matters. According to Imam Shafi'i and Imam Ash'ari, even if they are deniers and do not believe in the fundamentals of faith, they still are among those saved. For responsibility before God occurs through the sending of prophc.ts, and when prophets are sent, responsibility is established through knowledge of their mission. Since heedlesness and the passage of time obscured the religions of the former prophets, they coulcf not prnvide the proof for the people of that time. If they obey the former religion, they rcceive reward; if they do not, they are not punished. For since it was hidden, it cannot he a proof.
· SIXTH POINT
You ask: "Were there any prophets among the Most Noble Prophet (Upon whom be blessings and peace)'s forefathers?"
T h e A n s w e r : There is no certain narration that there were any after Ismail (Upon whom be peace). Only two prophets appeared, called Khalid h. Sinan and Hanzala, who were not his ancestors. But one of his forefathers, Ka'b b. Luay, composing the following famous and explicit poern, as though quoting scripture, The Prophet Muhammed comes at a time of neglect diving tidings mcost true,4 resembles prophetic and miraculous utterance. Relying on both evidence and illumination, Imam-i Rabhani said: "Numerous prophets appeared in India. But because some of them had no followers or their followers were restricted to nnly a few people, they did not.become well-known, or were not called prophets."
And so, in consequence of this principle of the Imam, it is possible there were prophets of this kind among the Prophet's forefathers.
· SEVENTH POINT
You ask: "Which of the narrations concerning the belief of the Most Noble Prophet (Upon whom be blessings and peace)'s mother and father and of his grandfather Abd al-Muttalib is the tnost authentic and sound?"
T h e A n s w e r : Saying the Qur'an was sufficient for him, for ten years the New Said has had no other book with him. And in econdary matters such as that, I do not have the time to study all the books of Hadith and write which is the soundest and ntost authentic. I will only say this much, that the Most Noble Prophet (Upon whom he blessings and peace)'s parents were among those who will be saved, and the people of Paradise, and of belief. Certainly, Almighty God would not wound His Noble Beloved's blessed heart and the filial tenderness his heart bears.
I f i t i s a s k e d : "Since it is thus, why were they not able to believe in the Noble Prophet (Upon whom be blessings and peace)? Why did they not live to soe his mission`?"
T h e A n s w e r : Through His munificence, in order to gratify the Noble Prophet (Upon whom be blessings and peace's firt sentiments, Almighty God did not put His Noble Belovod's parents under any obligation to him. His mercy reciuired that to make them happy and to please His Noble Beloved, He did not take them from the rank of par-enthood and put them in that of spiritual offspring; He did not place his parents and grandfather among his nutward community. However, He bestowed on them the merit, virtues, and happiness of his community. undeed, if an exalted field marshal's father, who has the rank of captain, entered his presence, he would be overwhelmcd by two npposing emotions. So, compassionately, the king does not post the father to the retinue of his elevated lieutenant, the field marshai.
. EIGHTH POINT
You ask: "What is the authentic narration concerning the belief of his uncle, Abu Talib?"
T h e A n s w e r : The Shi'a agree to his belief, while most of the Sunnis do not agree to it. But what occurs to my heart is thls: Abu Talib loved most earnestly, not the Most Noble Prophet (Upon whom be ble:ssings and peace)'s prophethood, but his person and his sclf. That - most earnest - personal love and tenderness of his surely will not go for nothing. Yes, Abu Talib sincerely loved Almighty God's Noble Beloved and protected and supported him; it was because of, not denial and obduracy, but feelings like shame and tribal solidarity that he did not believe in him in acceptable fashion. If due tn this he goes to Hell, He may create a sort of particular Paradise for him, in reward for his good actions. Like He sometimes creates the spring during winter in sorne places, and for people in prison transforlzs by means of sleep the prison into a palace, so too He may turn a particular Hell inlo a sort of particular Paradise...
And the knowledge is with God alone.* None knows the Unseen save God.
Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You
have taught; indeed, You are All-Knowing All-Wise.
***
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