The Twenty-Eighth Letter (28.Mektup Englisch)

[EMRE]

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...

 

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

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 Ţebab, 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.