The Twentieth Letter (20.Mektup Englisch)

[EMRE]

The Twentieth Letter

 

 

 

In His Name, be He glorified!

 

And there is nothing but its glorifies Him with praise.

 

 

 

 

 

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

 

There is no god but God, He is One, He has no partner; His is the dominion and His is the praise; He alone grants life, and deals death, and He is living and dies not; all good is in His hand, He is powerful over all things, and with Him all things have their end.

 

[This sentence expressing Divine Unity, which is recited following the morning and evening prayers, possesses numerous merits and according to an authentic narration, bears the degree of the Greatest Name. It contains eleven phrases, in each of which are both some good news and tidings, and a degree in the affirmation of the Unity of God's Dominicality, and an aspect of the grandeur and perfection of Divine Unity from the point of view of a Greatest Name. Referring the explanation of these great and elevated truths to other parts of the Risale-i Nur, in fulfillment of a promise we shall for now write a brief, index-like summary of them in two Stations and an Introduction.]

 

INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

Be certain of this, that the highest aim of creation and its most important result are belief in God. And the most exalted rank in humanity and its highest degree are the knowledge of God contained within belief in God. And the most radiant happiness and sweetest bounty for jinn and human beings are the love of God contained within the knowledge of God. And the purest joy for the human spirit and the sheerest delight for man's heart are the rapture of the spirit contained within the love of God. Indeed, all true happiness, pure joy, sweet bounties, and untroubled pleasure lie in knowledge of God and love of God; they cannot exist without them.

 

One who knows and loves God Almighty is potentially able to receive endless bounties, happiness, lights, and mysteries. While one who does not truly know and love him is afflicted spiritually and materially by endless misery, pain, and fears. Indeed, even if such an impotent and miserable person owned the whole world, it would be worth nothing for him, for it would seem to him that he was living a fruitless life among the vagrant human race in a wretched world without owner or protector. Everyone may understand just how wretched and bewildered is man among the vagrant human race in this bewildering fleeting world if he does not know his Owner, if he does not discover his Master. But if he does discover and know Him, he will seek refuge in His mercy and will rely on His power. The desolate world will turn into a place of recreation and pleasure, it will become a place of trade for the Hereafter.

 

FIRST STATION

 

 

 

Each of the eleven phrases of the above-mentioned sentence affirming Divine Unity contains some good news. And in the good news of each lies a cure, and in each of those cures a spiritual pleasure may be found.

 

THE FIRST PHRASE: ‘There is no god but God.’

 

The good news in this phrase is such that the human spirit, subject as it is to countless needs and the attacks of innumerable enemies, finds a place of recourse, a source of help. This opens for it the door of a treasury of mercy that will guarantee all its needs, and provides it with a point of support and Strength which shows it its Master and Owner; just as it makes known to it its Creator and True Object of Worship, Who possesses an absolute power that will secure it from the evil of all its enemies. Through pointing this out, the phrase saves the heart from utter desolation and the spirit from aching sorrow; it ensures an eternal joy, a perpetual happiness.

 

THE SECOND PHRASE: ‘He is One.’

 

This phrase announces the following good news, which is both healing and a source of happiness:

 

Man's spirit and heart, which are connected to most of the creatures in the universe and reach the point of being overwhelmed in misery and confusion on account of this connection, find in the phrase ‘He is One’ a refuge and protector that will deliver them from all the confusion and bewilderment.

 

That is to say, it is as if ‘He is One’ is saying to man: "God is One. Do not wear yourself out having recourse to other things; do not demean yourself and feel indebted to them; do not flatter them and fawn on them and humiliate yourself; do not follow them and make things difficult for yourself; do not fear them and tremble before them; because the Monarch of the universe is One, the key to all things is with Him, the reins of all things are in His hand, everything will be resolved by His command. If you find Him, you will be saved from endless indebtedness, countless fears."

 

THE THlRD PHRASE: ‘He has no partner.’

 

Just as in His Divinity and in His sovereignty He has no partner, God is One and He cannot be many, so too in His Dominicality and in His actions and in His creating He has no partner. It sometimes happens that a monarch is one, having, no partner in his sovereignty, but in the execution of His affairs his officials act as his partners; they prevent everyone from entering his presence, saying: "Have recourse to us."

 

However, God Almighty, the Monarch of Pre-Eternity and Post-Eternity, has no partner in His sovereignty, and so too He has no need for partners or helpers in the execution of His Dominicality. If it were not for His command and will, His strength and power, not a single thing could interfere with another. Everyone can have recourse to Him directly. Since He has no partner or helper, it may not be said to someone seeking recourse, "It is forbidden, you may not enter into His presence."

 

This phrase, therefore, delivers the following joyful announcement to the human spirit: the human spirit which has attained to faith may, without let or hindrance, opposition or interference, in any state, for any wish, at any time and in any place, enter the presence of the Possessor of Beauty and Glory, the One of power and perfection Who is the Pre-Eternal and Post-Eternal Owner of the treasuries of mercy, the treasuries of bliss, and may present its needs. And finding His mercy, relying on His power, it will attain perfect ease and happiness.

 

THE FOURTH PHRASE: ‘His is the dominion.’

 

That is to say, ownership is altogether His. And as for you, you are both His property, you are owned by Him, and you work in His property. This phrase announces the following joyful and healing news:

 

"O mankind! Do not suppose that you own yourself, for you have no control over any of the things that concern you; such a load would be heavy. Also, you are unable to protect yourself, to avoid disasters, or to do those things that you must. In which case, do not suffer pain and torment without reason, the ownership is another's. The Owner is both All-Powerful and All-Merciful; rely on His power and do not cast aspersions on His mercy! Leave grief behind, be joyful! Discard your troubles and find serenity!"

 

And it also says: "The universe, which you love, to which you are connected and which grieves you by its confusedness and which you are unable to put right, is the property of an All-Powerful and Merciful One. So hand over the property to its Owner, leave it in Him. Attract His pleasure, not His harshness. He is both All-Wise and All-Merciful. He has free disposal over His property and administers it is He wishes. Whenever you take fright, say like Ibrahim Hakki: ‘Let's see what the Master does; whatever He does, it is best;’ see it well, and do not interfere!"

 

THE FIFTH PHRASE: ‘His is the praise.’

 

Praise, laudation, and acclaim are proper to Him, are fitting for Him. That is to say, bounties are His; they come from His treasury. And as for the treasury, it is unending. This phrase, therefore, delivers the following good news:

 

"O mankind! Do not suffer and sorrow when bounties cease, for the treasury of mercy is inexhaustible. And do not dwell on the fleeting nature of pleasure and cry out with pain, because the fruit of the bounty is the fruit of a boundless mercy. And since its tree is undying, when the fruit finishes it is replaced by more. If you thankfully think that within the pleasure of the bounty itself is a merciful favour a hundred times more pleasurable, you will be able to increase the pleasure a hundredfold.

 

"Within an apple an august monarch presents to you is a pleasure superior to that of a hundred, rather a thousand, apples because it is he that has bestowed it on you and made you experience the pleasure of a royal favour. In the same way, through the phrase `His is the praise' will be opened to you the door of a spiritual pleasure a thousand times sweeter than the bounty itself. For this phrase means to offer praise and thanks; that is to say, to perceive; the bestowal of bounty. This in turn means to recognize the Bestower, which is to reflect on the bestowal of bounty, and so finally to ponder over the favour of His compassion and His continuing to bestow bounties."

 

SIXTH PHRASE: ‘He alone grants life.’

 

That is, the giver of life is He. And the one who causes life to continue by means of sustenance is again He. And the supplier of the necessities of life is also He. And the exalted aims of life pertain to Him and its important results look to Him and ninety-nine out of a hundred of its fruits are His. Thus, this phrase calls out to ephemeral and impotent man in this way, it makes this joyful announcement:

 

"O man? Do not trouble yourself by taking the heavy responsibilities of life onto your own shoulders. Do not think of the transience of life and start grieving. And do not see only its worldly and unimportant fruits and regret that you came to this world. Rather, the life-machine in the ship of your being belongs to the Ever-Living and Self Subsistent One, and it is He Who provides for all its expenses and requirements. Also, your life has a great many aims and results and they pertain to Him, too.

 

"As for you, you are just a helmsman on the ship, so do your duty well and take the wage and pleasure that come with it. Think just how precious is the life-ship and how valuable its benefits; then think just how Generous and Merciful is the Owner of the ship. So, rejoice and give thanks and know that when you perform your duty with integrity, all the results the ship produces will in one respect be transferred to the register in which your actions are recorded, that they will secure an immortal life for you, will endow you with eternal life."

 

THE SEVENTH PHRASE: ‘And deals death.'

 

That is, the one who causes death is He. He discharges you from the duty of life, changes your abode from this transitory world, and releases you from the labour of service. That is, He takes you from a transient life to an immortal one. This phrase, then, shouts out the following to ephemeral jinn and man:

 

"Here is good news for you! Death is not destruction, or nothingness, or annihilation; it is not cessation, or extinction; it is not eternal separation, or non-existence, or a chance event; it is not authorless obliteration. Rather, it is being discharged by the Author Who is All-Wise and All-Compassionate; it is a change of abode. It is being despatched to eternal bliss, to your true home. It is the door of union to the Intermediate Realm, which is where you will meet with ninety-nine per cent of your friends."

 

THE EIGHTH PHRASE: ‘And He is living and dies not.’

 

That is to say, the Possessor of a beauty, perfection, and munificence that are infinitely superior to the beauty, perfection, and munificence to be seen in all the creatures of the universe, and that arouse love, and an Eternal Object of Worship, an Everlasting Beloved, one single manifestation of Whose beauty is sufficient to replace all other beloveds, has an enduring life through pre-eternity and post-eternity - a life free from any trace of cessation or ephemerality and exempt from any fault, defect, or imperfection. Thus, this phrase proclaims to jinn and man, to all conscious beings, and the people of love and ardor:

 

"Here is good news for you! There is an Everlasting Beloved Who will cure and bind your wounds caused by countless separations from the ones you love. Since He exists and is undying, whatever may happen do not fret over the others. Furthermore, the beauty and generosity, virtue and perfection in them, which are the cause of your love, are, passing through many veils, the shadows of the palest of shadows of the manifestation of the Ever-Enduring Beloved's ever-enduring Beauty. Do not grieve at their disappearance, for they are mirrors of a sort. The changing of the mirrors renews and embellishes the manifestation of the Beauty's radiance. Since He exists, everything exists."

 

THE NINTH PHRASE: ‘All good is in His hand.’

 

Every good action you perform is transferred to His register. Every righteous deed you do is recorded with Him. Thus, this phrase calls out to jinn and mankind with the following good news:

 

"O you wretched ones! When you journey to the grave do not cry out in despair, ‘Alas! Everything we owned is destroyed, all our efforts wasted; we have left the beautiful broad earth and entered the narrow grave,’ for everything of yours is preserved, all your actions written down, every service you have rendered recorded. One of Glory in Whose hand is all good and Who is able to bring all good to fruition, will reward your service: drawing you to Himself, He will keep you only temporarily under the ground. Later, He will bring you to His presence. What happiness for those of you who have completed their service and duty; your labour is finished, you are going to ease and mercy! Service and toil are over, you going to receive your wage!

 

"Indeed, the All-Powerful One of Glory preserves seeds and grains, which are the pages of the register of last spring's deeds and the depositboxes of its services, and preserves and publishes them the following spring in glittering fashion, indeed, in a manner a hundred times more plentiful than the originals. He is, then, preserving the results of your life in the same way, and will reward your service in a truly abundant fashion,"

 

THE TENTH PHRASE: ‘And He is Powerful over all things.’

 

That is, He is One, He is Unique, He has Power over everything. Nothing at all is difficult for Him. To create the spring is as easy for Him as to create a flower, and He creates Paradise with as much ease as He creates the spring. The innumerable artifacts which He continuously creates every day, every year, every century, witness with numberless tongues to His boundless power. Thus, this phrase too delivers good news:

 

"O man! The service you have offered and the worship you have performed are not for nothing. A realm of reward, an abode of bliss, has been prepared for you. An unending Paradise is awaiting you in place of this fleeting world of yours. Have faith and confidence in the promise of the Glorious Creator Whom you know and Whom you worship, for it is impossible for Him to break His promise. In absolutely no respect is there any deficiency in His power; impotence cannot interfere in His works. Just as He creates your tiny garden, so too is He able to create Paradise for you, and He has created it and promised it to you. And because He has promised, He shall, of course, admit you to it.

 

"Since we see through observation that every year on the face of the earth Ho gathers together and disperses with perfect order and balance, with perfect timing and ease, more than three hundred thousand species and groups of animals and plants, most certainly such an All-Powerful One of Glory is capable of carrying out His promise. And being thus Absolutely Powerful He creates samples of the resurrection and Paradise in thousands of forms every year.

 

"And since, promising eternal bliss through all His revealed Books, He gives the glad tidings of Paradise; and since all His actions and functions are carried out with truth, veracity, and seriousness; and since, through the testimony of all His works of art, all perfections point to and testify to His infinite perfection, there being in absolutely no respect any defect or fault in Him; and since the breaking of a promise, lying, falsehood, and deception are the ugliest of qualities, besides being defects and faults, then most decidedly and most certainly will that All-Powerful One of Glory, that All-Wise One of Perfection, that All-Merciful One of Beauty carry out His promise: He will open the gate to eternal bliss; He will admit you, O people of faith, to Paradise, which was the original home of your forefather Adam."

 

THE ELEVENTH PHRASE: ‘And with Him all things have their end.’

 

That is, human beings are sent to this world, which is the realm of trial and examination, with the important duties of trading and acting as officials. After they have concluded their trading, accomplished their duties, and completed their service, they will return and meet once more with their Generous Master and Glorious Creator Who sent them forth in the first place. Leaving this transient realm, they will be honoured and elevated to the presence of grandeur in the realm of permanence. That is to say, being delivered from the turbulence of causes and from the obscure veils of intermediaries, they will meet with their Merciful Sustainer without veil at the seat of His eternal majesty. Everyone will find his Creator, True Object of Worship, Sustainer, Lord, and Owner and will know Him directly. Thus, this phrase proclaims the following joyful news, which is greater than all the rest:

 

"O mankind! Do you know where you are going and to where you are being impelled? As is stated at the end of the Thirty-Second Word, a thousand years of happy life in this world cannot be compared to one hour of life in Paradise. And a thousand years of life in Paradise cannot be compared to one hour's vision of the sheer loveliness of the Beauteous One of Glory. And you are going to the sphere of His mercy, and to His presence.

 

"The loveliness and beauty in all the creatures of this world and in those metaphorical beloveds by which you are so stricken and obsessed and for which you are so desirous, are but a sort of shadow of the manifestation of His beauty and of the loveliness of His Names; and all Paradise with all of its subtle wonders, a single manifestation of His mercy; and all longing and love and allurement and captivation, but a flash of the love of the Eternal Worshipful One and Everlasting Beloved. And you are going to the sphere of His presence. You are being summoned to Paradise, which is an eternal feasting place. Since this is so, it is not with weeping that you enter the grave, but smiling with expectation."

 

The phrase announces this good news as well: "O mankind! Do not be apprehensive imagining that you are going to extinction, non-existence, nothingness, darkness, oblivion, decay, and dissolution, and that you will drown in multiplicity. You are going not to extinction, but to permanence. You are being impelled not to non-existence, but to perpetual existence. You are going to enter not darkness, but the world of light. And you are returning to your true owner, to the seat of the Pre-Eternal Monarch. You will not drown in multiplicity, you will take your rest in the sphere of Unity. You are bound not for separation, but for union."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SECOND STATION

 

 

 

[The Second Station consists of a brief indication proving Divine Unity at the level of the Greatest Name.]

 

 

 

THE FIRST PHRASE: “There is no god but God.’

 

In this phrase is an affirmation of the Unity of Divinity and of the True Object of Worship. An extremely powerful proof of this degree in the affirmation of Divine Unity is as follows:

 

A most orderly activity is apparent on the face of the universe, especially on the page of the earth. And we observe there a most wise creativity. And we clearly see a most systematic unfolding; that is, the opening up and giving of an appropriate shape and form to everything. And, furthermore, we see a most compassionate, generous, and merciful munificence and bountifulness. Since this is so, it of necessity proves, indeed provokes awareness of, the necessary existence and Unity of an Active, Creative, Opening, Munificent Possessor of Glory.

 

Indeed, the constant disappearance and renewal of beings demonstrate that those beings are the manifestations of the sacred Names of an All-Powerful Maker, and are shadows of the lights of His Names; that they are works of art resulting from His actions, and impressions and pages inscribed by the pen of Divine Determining and Power; that they are mirrors reflecting the beauty of his perfection.

 

Just as the Owner of the universe proves this mighty truth and exalted degree in the affirmation of His Unity with ail the scriptures and sacred Books which He has revealed, so too have all the people of truth and the perfected members of the human race proved this same degree through all their investigations and discoveries. And the universe, too, points to this same degree in the affirmation of Divine Unity through the unceasing witnessing of the miracles of art, wonders of power, and treasuries of wealth that it displays, despite its impotence and poverty. That is to say, the Pre-Eternal Witness, through His scriptures and Books, and the people of witnessing through all their investigations and unveilings, and the Manifest World bearing witness through all its orderly states and wise qualities, agree unanimously on this degree in the affirmation of Divine Unity.

 

Those who do not accept the Single One of Unity, therefore, must either accept innumerable gods, or else like the foolish Sophists, deny both their own existence and that of the universe.

 

THE SECOND PHRASE: ‘He is One.’

 

This phrase demonstrates an explicit degree in the profession of Divine Unity. A convincing argument proving this degree comprehensively is as follows:

 

When we open our eyes, when the universe fastens our gaze on its face, the first thing to attract our attention is a universal and perfect order; we see that there is a comprehensive and sensitive equilibrium. Everything exists within a precise order and delicate balance and measure.

 

When we look a little more carefully, a continual ordering and balancing strikes our eye. That is to say, someone is changing the order with regularity and renewing the balance with measuredness. Everything is a model and is clothed in a great many well-ordered and balanced forms.

 

And when we study it even more closely, a wisdom and justice appear behind the ordering and balancing. A purpose and benefit are considered, a truth, a usefulness are followed in the motion of everything, even the minutest particles.

 

And when we study it with even greater attention, what strikes the gaze of our consciousness is the demonstration of a power within an extremely wise activity, and the manifestation of a most comprehensive knowledge which encompasses all the attributes of all things.

 

That is to say, this order and balance which are in all beings show us plainly a universal ordering and balancing, and the ordering and balancing, a universal wisdom and justice; and the wisdom and justice in turn show us a power and knowledge. That is, One Powerful over all things and with Knowledge of all things, reveals Himself to the mind behind these veils.

 

Furthermore, we look to the beginning and end of all things, and we see, particularly in animate creatures, that their beginnings, origins, and roots are such that it is as if their seeds contain all the systems and members of those creatures, each in the form of an instruction sheet and timetable. And again, their fruits and results are such that the meanings of those animate creatures are filtered and concentrated in them; they bequeath their life histories to them. It is as if their seeds are collections of the principles according to which they are created, and their fruits and results a sort of index of the commands of their creation. Then we look to the outer and inner faces of those animate creatures: the free disposal of an utterly wise power and the fashioning and ordering of an utterly effective will are apparent. That is, a strength and power creates; a command and will clothes with form.

 

Thus, when we study all beings carefully, we observe that their beginnings are instruction sheets prepared by One Possessing Knowledge, and that their ands are plans and manifestos of a Maker; that their outer faces are most skillful and beautifully proportioned dresses of artistry devised by One Who Chooses and Wills, and their inner faces, the most well-ordered machines of an All-Powerful One.

 

This situation therefore, necessarily and self-evidently proclaims that no time and no place, absolutely nothing, can be outside the grip of power of one single Glorious Maker. Each thing and all things, together with all of their attributes, are organized and directed within the grip of power of an All-Powerful Possessor of Will; and they are made beautiful through the ordering and graciousness of a Merciful and Compassionate One; and they are embellished with the adorning of a Loving Benefactor.

 

Indeed, for anyone who is conscious and has eyes in his head, the order and equilibrium, and ordering and adorning that there are in the universe and in the beings within it, demonstrate, in the degree of Unity, One Who is Single, Sole, Solitary, Unique, All-Powerful, Possessing of Will, All-Knowing, and All-Wise.

 

Assuredly, there is a unity in everything; and as for unity, it points to one. For example, the whole world is illuminated by one lamp, the sun; in which case, the Owner of the world is One as welt. And, for example, all the animate creatures on the earth are served by air, fire, and water, which are the same. Since this is so, the One Who employs them and subjugates them to us is also One.

 

THE THIRD PHRASE: ‘He has no partner.’

 

Since the First Station of the Thirty-Second Word has proved this phrase in a most cogent and brilliant fashion, we refer you to that. It cannot be more clearly elucidated; there is no need for further explanation.

 

THE FOURTH PHRASE: ‘His is the dominion.’

 

That is, every creature from the face of the earth to the Divine Throne, from the ground to the Pleiades, From the minutest particles to the heavenly bodies, everything from pre-eternity to post-eternity, the heavens and the earth, this world and the Hereafter, belongs to Him. His is the highest degree of ownership in the form of the greatest affirmation of Divine Unity. A mighty proof of this highest degree of ownership in the form of the greatest affirmation of Divine Unity was imparted to this powerless one's mind in Arabic at a pleasant time and in pleasant circumstances. For the sake of that pleasant memory we shall note down those same phrases and then write their meanings:

 

His is the dominion because: the macrocosm is similar to the microcosm; what is fashioned by His power is a missive expressing His determining; His creating the macrocosm makes it as a place of prostration, while His giving of existence to the macrocosm makes it as prostrating; His bringing the, former' into being makes it as a property while His giving of existence to the latter makes it as owned His art in the former displays it as a book while His colouring in the latter shines through speech; His power in the former reveals His majesty while His mercy in the latter arrays His bounty; His majesty in the former testifies that He is One, while His bounty in the latter proclaims that He is Single, Undivided; His stamp on the former is on all things, universal and particular, while His seal on the latter is on the body and on the limbs.

 

F i r s t S e c t i o n : ‘The macrocosm is similar to the microcosm what is fashioned by His power is a massive expressing His determining.’ That is, the macrocosm, which is called the. universe, and the. microcosm, which is its miniature specimen and is called man, point to evidences of Divine Unity, both within man's self and without it, that arc written by the pens of Divine Power and Divine Determining.

 

There is within man the sample, on a very small scale, of the well-ordered art which is in the universe. And, just as the art which is in the vast sphere testifies to the Single Maker, so too the microscopic art which is on a tiny scale in man points to the Maker and demonstrates His Unity. Moreover, just as man is a most meaningful missive inscribed by his Sustainer, and a well-composed ode written by Divine Determining, so too is the universe a well-composed ode of Divine Determining written by that same pen, but on a vast scale.

 

Is it at all possible that anything other than the Single One of Unity could have a hand in placing the stamp of uniqueness on men's faces, which, although they resemble one another, all have their distinguishing marks; and have a hand in setting the seal of Unity on the universe, all of whose creatures cooperate, helping and supporting one another? Could anything else interfere in this?

 

S e c o n d S e c t i o n : ‘His creating the macrocosm makes it as a place of prostration, while. His giving of existence to the microcosm makes it as prostrating.' It has this meaning: the All-Wise Maker created the macrocosm in such a novel, wonderful form, inscribing on it the signs of His grandeur, that He transformed it into a mighty mosque. And He created man in this way: giving him intellect and causing him to prostrate in wonderment with it at those miracles of His art and at His wondrous power, He caused him to read the signs of His grandeur. And thus girding him ready for worship in that mighty mosque, He created him as a prostrating slave.

 

Is it all possible that the true object of worship of those prostrating worshippers in this mighty mosque could be other than the Maker, the One of Unity and Oneness?

 

T h i r d S e c t i o n : ‘His bringing the former into being makes it as a property, while His giving of existence. to the latter makes it as owned.’ It has this meaning: the Glorious Lord of All Dominion created the macrocosm, and especially the face of the earth, in such a form that it is like countless concentric circles or spheres. Every sphere is like an arable field where, minute by minute, season by season, century by century, He sows, reaps, and harvests crops. He continuously administers His property, causing it to work.

 

He has made the world of minute particles, which is the largest sphere, into a field. With His power and with His wisdom, He unceasingly sows crops in to the extent of the universe, and reaps and harvests them. He despatches them from the Manifest World to the World of the Unseen, from the sphere of power to the sphere of knowledge.

 

Next He has made the face of the earth, which is a medium sphere, a place of cultiviation in exactly the same way, where, season by season, He plants worlds, species, and reaps and harvests them. And His immaterial crops too He sends to the immaterial worlds, to the Worlds of the Unseen, and the Hereafter, and the World of Similitudes.

 

A garden, too, which is a smaller sphere, He fills hundreds and thousands of times with power and empties with wisdom. And from the even smaller sphere of an animate creature, a tree or a human being, for example, He harvests crops which are a hundred times greater than the being itself. That is to say, the Glorious Lord of All Dominion creates all things, great and small, universal and particular, as a model, and clothes them in hundreds of ways in the weavings of His art, which are embroidered with continuously renewed inscriptions; He displays the manifestations of His Names, the miracles of His power. He has created everything in His property as a page; He writes meaningful letters in hundreds of ways on each page; He displays His wisdom, His signs, and He invites conscious creatures to read them.

 

Together with bringing this macrocosm into being in the form of a cultivated property, He has also created man and has given him such tools and abilities, senses, feelings, and especially such a soul, such desires, needs, appetities, greed and claims, that in that extensive property He made him like a creature totally owned and needy for the property.

 

Is it therefore at all possible that anything apart from the Glorious Lord of All Dominion Who makes everything, from the vast world of minute particles to a fly, as a field and cultivated property, and makes insignificant man a spectator, an inspector, a tiller, a merchant, a herald, a worshipper, and a slave in that vast property and takes him as an honoured guest and beloved addressee of Himself - could anything apart from Him have. free disposal over the property, be lord over the totally owned slave?

 

F o u r t h S e c t i o n : ‘His art in the former displays it as a book, while His colouring in the latter shines through speech.’ Its meaning is this: the Glorious Maker's art in the macrocosm is so meaningful that because it is manifest in the form of a book, thus making the universe like a huge volume, the human intellect has extracted the library of true natural science and philosophy from it and has written the library according to It. And that book of wisdom is bound to reality and draws assistance from reality to such a degree that it has been proclaimed in the form of the All-Wise Qur'an, which is a copy of that huge manifested book.

 

Moreover, just as His art in the universe is in the form of a book, describing its perfect orderedness, so too His colouring and the inscription of His wisdom in man has opened the flower of speech. That is, the art is so meaningful, sensitive, and beautiful that it has caused the components of that animate machine to speak, as though they were gramophones. While the art has given man such a Dominical colouring in his ‘fairest of forms’ that the flower of speech and expression, which is immaterial, insubstantial and living, has opened in his material, corporeal and solid head. And it has equipped the power of speech and expression, which is situated in man's head, with such exalted tools and abilities that it has caused it to develop and progress to a degree where man becomes the addressee of the Pre-Eternal Monarch. That is, the Dominical colouring in man's essential nature has opened the flower of Divine address.

 

Is it at all possible that anything other than the Single One of Unity could interfere in the fashioning of that art in creatures, which is in the form of a book, and in that colouring, in man whereby he attains to the station of speech and address? God forbid!

 

F i f t h S e c t i o n : ‘His power in the former reveals His majesty, while His mercy in the latter arrays His bounty.’ It has this meaning: Divine power in the macrocosm demonstrates the majesty of His Dominicality, whereas Dominical mercy arrays His bounties in man, who is the microcosm. That is, the Maker's power, in the degree of grandeur and Glory, creates the universe in the form of a palace so magnificent that its sun is a mighty electric light, its moon, a lamp, and its stars, candles, gilded fruits and scattered lights. And the face of the earth is a laden table, an arable field, a garden, a carpet; and its mountains, each a store, house, a mast, a fortress; and so on.

 

In the same way that He demonstrates in a brilliant manner the majesty of His Dominicality by providing all things on a vast Scale, in the form of the huge palace's necessities, His mercy too in the degree of Beauty, has bestowed on all creatures with spirits, and even on the most minute animate beings, the different varieties of His bounties. He has ordered their beings with these. Adorning them from head to toe with bounties, He embellishes them with kindness and generosity. He has counterpoised the Beauty of His mercy and that Glorious majesty, those microscopic tongues and that vast tongue.

 

That is, while the huge heavenly bodies like the suns and constellations are saying with the tongue of majesty: "O Glorious One! O Mighty one! O August One!", those tiny animate creatures, like flies and fishes are also declaring" but with the tongue of mercy: "O Beautiful One! O Compassionate One! O Generous One!"; they are adding their gentle songs to that great orchestra, sweetening it.

 

Is it at all possible that anything other than the All-Glorious One of Beauty and All-Beauteous One of Glory could interfere in any way in the creation of the macrocosm and microcosm? God forbid!

 

S i x t h S e c t i o n : ‘His majesty in the former testifies that He is One, while His bounty in the latter proclaims that he is Single, Undivided.’ Its meaning is this: just as the majesty of Dominicality, which is manifest in the totality of the universe, proves and demonstrates Divine Unity, so too Dominical bounty, which bestows on the members of animate creatures their regular provisions, proves and demonstrates Divine Oneness.

 

As for Unity, it is to say that all those creatures belong to One and they look to One and they are the creation of One. Whereas by Oneness is meant that most of the Names of the Creator of all things are manifest in all beings. For example, the light of the sun may be seen as analogous to Unity by reason of its comprehending the face of the earth. While the fact that its light and heat, the seven colours in its light and some sort of shadow of it are found in each transparent object and drop of water makes them analogous to Oneness. And, the fact that most of the Maker's Names are manifested in each thing, especially in each animate creature, and above all in man, points to Oneness.

 

Thus, this section indicates that the majesty of Dominicality, which has total disposal over the universe, makes the huge sun as a servant, lamp, and a stove for animate creatures on the face of the earth; and makes the mighty earth a cradle, a hostel, and place of trade for them; and fire, a cook and friend present everywhere; and clouds, strainers and wet-nurses; and mountains, storehouses and treasuries, and the air, a fan for animate creatures, for breathing in and out; and water, a nurse who suckles new arrivals to life and a seller of sweet drinks who supplies animals with the water of life this Divine Dominicality demonstrates Divine Unity in a most lucid manner.

 

Indeed, who other than the One Creator could subjugate the sun so that it is a servant to the inhabitants of the earth? And who other than the Single One of Unity could take the wind in His hand entrusting it with a great many duties and employing it as a swift and agile servant on the face of the earth? And who apart from the Single One of Unity would dare to make fire a cook, and to cause a tiny flame the size of a match-head consume thousands of tons of goods? And so on. Every single thing, every single element, every single heavenly body, points to the All-Glorious One of Unity, in the degree of the majesty of Dominicality.

 

Thus, just as Divine Unity is, apparent in the degree of Glory and majesty, so too bounty and munificence proclaim Divine Oneness in the degree of Beauty and mercy. This is because, within this all-embracing art, there are in animate creatures, and especially in man, faculties and abilities with which to understand, accept, and desire infinite varieties of bounties, and which reflect all the Divine Names manifested in the whole universe. Simply, like a point of focus, man displays all the Beautiful Names together by means of the mirror of is essence, and through it, proclaims God's Oneness.

 

S e v e n t h S e c t i o n : ‘His stamp on the former is on all things, universal and particular, while His seal on the latter is on the body and on the limbs.’ Its meaning is this: just as the Glorious Maker has a mighty stamp on the macrocosm as a whole, so too He has put a stamp of Unity on each of its parts and species. And, just as he has set the seal of Unity on the face and body of each human being, the microcosm, so too on each of their limbs is a seal of His Unity.

 

Indeed, the All-Powerful One of Glory has placed on everything, on universals and on particulars, on stars and on particles, a stamp of Unity which bears witness to Him. On each he has set a seal of Unity which points to Him. Since this greatest of truths has been elucidated and proved in most brilliant and decisive fashion in the Twenty-Second Word, the Thirty-Second Word, and the Thirty-Three Windows of the Thirty-Third Letter, we refer you to those, and cutting short the discussion, conclude it here.

 

THE FIFTH PHRASE: ‘His is the praise.’

 

Since the perfections found in all beings and are the cause of acclaim and tribute are His, praise too belongs to Him. Acclaim and laudation, from whomever to whomever it has come and will come, from pre-eternity to post-eternity, all of it belongs to Him. For bounty and munificence, which are the causes of acclaim, and all things, which are perfection and beauty and the means of praise, are His, they pertain to Him. Indeed, as the Qur'an signifies, praise is worship, glorification, prostration, supplication, and acclaim; it comes from all beings, rising continuously, unceasingly to the Divine Court. The following is a comprehensive proof which sets forth this truth affirming Divine Unity.

 

When we look at the universe, it appears to us in the form of a park set with gardens, its roof gilded with lofty stars, its ground inhabited by ornamented beings. And when we see it thus, we see that the well-ordered, luminous, lofty heavenly bodies and purposeful and ornamented earthly beings in this park are saying all together, each in its particular tongue: "We are the miracles of power of an All-Powerful One of Glory; we testify to the Unity of an All-Wise Creator arid an All-Powerful Maker."

 

And we look at the globe of the earth within the park of the universe and we see it in the form of a garden in which hundreds of thousands of varieties of multicolored and beautifully adorned flowering plants have been laid out and through which hundreds of thousands of different species of animals have been scattered. And so, in this garden of the earth, all these adorned plants and ornamented animals proclaim through their well-ordered forms and balanced shapes: "We are each of us a miracle, a winder of art, created by a Single All-Wise Artist, and each of us is a herald, a witness, to his Unity."

 

Moreover, looking at the trees in the garden, we see fruits and flowers in various forms which have been made knowingly, wisely, generously, subtly, and beautifully to the utmost degree. And these are all proclaiming with one tongue: "We are the miraculous gifts of a Compassionate One of Beauty, a Merciful One of Perfection; we are wondrous bounties."

 

And so, the heavenly bodies and beings in the park of the universe, and the plants and animals in the garden of the earth, and the blossom and fruits on its trees and plants, testify and proclaim with an infinitely resounding voice: "Our Creator and Fashioner, the All-Powerful One of Beauty, the Peerless All-Wise One, the All-Generous Granter of Favours, Who bestowed us as gifts, is powerful over all things. Nothing at all is difficult for Him. Nothing at all is outside the sphere of His power. In relation to His power minute particles and stars are equal. A universal is as simple as a particular. A particular is as valuable as a universal. The largest is as easy as the smallest in relation to His power. The small is as full of art as the large, rather, as far as art is concerned the small is greater than the large.

 

"All the occurrences of the past, which are wonders of His power, testify that the Absolutely Powerful One is also powerful over the wonders of the contingencies of the future. Just as the one who brought about yesterday will bring about tomorrow, the All-Powerful One Who created the past will also create the future. The All-Wise Maker Who made this world, will also make the Hereafter.

 

"Indeed, the only one truly deserving, of worship is the All-Powerful One of Glory; the one deserving of praise is again Him. As worship is exclusively His, so are praise and laudation special to Him.”

 

Is it at all possible that an All-Wise Maker Who created the heavens and the earth would leave without purpose human beings, who are the most important result of the heavens and the earth and the most perfect fruit of the universe? Is it at all possible that He would hand them over to causes and chance, that He would transform His self evident wisdom into futility? God forbid! And is it at all possible that the One Who is All-Wise and All-Knowing, having planned and then formed a tree, giving it the utmost importance, and having administered it and sustained it with the greatest wisdom, would ignore the fruits, which are the aim and benefit of the tree? Is it all possible that He would attach no importance to them; that He would leave them either to the ands of thieves or to rot scattered on the ground? Of course, it could not be that He would ignore them or attach no importance to them. It is because of the fruit that importance is given to the tree.

 

The universe's conscious being, therefore, and its most perfect fruit, result, and aim is man. Is it possible that the All-Wise Maker of the universe would give to others the praise and worship, thanks and love, which are the fruits of those conscious fruits, and thus cause His self-evident wisdom to be nullified, His absolute power transformed into impotence, and His all-encompassing knowledge converted into ignorance? God forbid! A hundred thousand times!

 

Since conscious creatures are the pivot of the Dominical aims in the palace of the universe, and man is the most eminent of conscious creatures, is it at all possible that the thanks and worship which he manifests in response to the bounties he receives should go to one other than the Maker of the palace? And that the Glorious Maker would permit the thanks and worship due to Him, which are the ultimate aim of man's creation, to go to another?

 

Moreover, is it at all possible that He would make Himself loved by conscious beings through the endless varieties of His bounties, and that He would make Himself known to them through the innumerable miracles of His art, and then, attaching no importance to them, abandon to causes and Nature their thanks and worship, their praise and love, their recognition and gratitude. Is it at all possible that He would make His absolute wisdom denied and the sovereignty of His Dominicality nullified? God forbid! A hundred thousand times, God forbid!

 

Is it at all possible that one who cannot create a spring, and cannot create all fruits, and cannot create all the apples on earth, the stamp on which is the same, could create one apple, which is a miniature specimen of all of them, and give it to someone to eat as a bounty? Is it possible that he should claim thanks for it, and thus share in the praise duo to one absolutely deserving of praise? God forbid! For whoever creates one apple is the one who creates all the apples produced in the whole world; for their stamp is the same.

 

Moreover, whoever creates all the apples is again the one who creates all the seeds and fruits in the whole world, which are the means of food. That is to say, the one who gives a most insignificant bounty to a most insignificant animate creature is directly the Creator of the universe and its Glorious Provider. Since this is so, thanks and praise belong directly to Him. And since this is so, the reality of the universe says unceasingly with the tongue of truth: "His is the praise from every single being from pre-eternity to post-eternity."

 

THE SIXTH PHRASE: ‘He grants life.’

 

That is, the one who gives life, is He alone, in which case, it is also He alone Who creates all things. For the spirit, light, leaven, fundament, result, and summary of the universe is life, so whoever grants life must also be the Creator of the whole universe. The one who grants life, then, is certainly He; it is the Ever-Living and Self-Subsistent One. And so we point out the mighty proof of this degree in the profession of Divine Unity as follows.

 

As has been explained and proved in another Word, we see before us the truly magnificent army of animate beings with their tents pitched on the plain of the face of the earth. Indeed, every spring we see a new army emerging From the World of the Unseen freshly mobilized; one army of the innumerable armies of the Ever-Living and Self-Subsistent One. Looking at this army, we see within it more than two hundred thousand assorted and different nations from the plant families, and again more than one hundred thousand from the animal tribes. Although the uniforms of each tribe and family, as well as their provisions, drill, discharge, arms, and period of service arc all different, anyone who has eyes in his head will see, and having seen will be unable to deny, that a commander-in-chief provides all these different needs, with perfect orderliness and precise balance, at exactly the right time. And that He does this through His infinite power and wisdom, His boundless knowledge and will, His unending mercy, His inexhaustible treasuries, without forgetting a single one of them, or confusing or mixing-up or delaying any of them.

 

Is it at all possible, then, that anything could meddle, interfere, and have a share in this giving of life and administering, in this nurturing and sustaining, other than one who has an a11-comprehensive knowledge which encompasses the army together with all of its attributes, and one who has absolute power with which to administer the army and all of its necessities? God forbid! A hundred thousand times?

 

It is obvious that if there are ten tribes in one battalion, because the difficulty in equipping them all separately will amount to that of ten battalions, impotent human beings would be compelled to equip them in a single fashion. Whereas the Ever-Living and Self-Subsistent One provides the different equipment necessary for the life of the more than three hundred thousand tribes within that magnificent army. Moreover, He provides it with no trouble or difficulty, in a light and easy manner, most wisely and maintaining orderliness. And He causes the mighty army to declare with one tongue: "It is He Who gives life " and causes the vast congregation in the mosque of the universe to recite:

 

God, there is no god save Him, the Ever-Living and Self-Subsistent One. Neither slumber overtakes Him nor sleep. His is all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth. Who is there that could intercede with Him, except by His leave? He knows all that lies open before men and all that is hidden from them, whereas they cannot attain to ought of His knowledge save that which He wills. His Throne extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no weariness in preserving them. And He alone is Truly Exalted, Tremendous.

 

THE SEVENTH PHRASE: ‘And deals death.’

 

That is, the one who gives death is He. It is He Who grants life, so also the one who takes life and grants death is He. Indeed, death is not only destruction and extinction that it can be attributed to causes or Nature. Just as a seed superficially dies and rots while inside it a shoot is being kneaded and is coming to life, that is, it is passing from the particular life of a seed to the universal life of a shoot, so too although death seems apparently to be disintegration and banishment, in reality, for human beings it is the title, introduction, and starting point of perpetual life. In which case, the Absolutely Powerful One Who grants and administers life must certainly be the One Who creates death. The following Points to a mighty proof of this the greatest degree in the profession Divine Unity, contained in this phrase.

 

As was explained in the Twenty-Fourth Window of the Thirty-Third Letter, through Divine will, all beings are flowing. At its Sustainer’s command, the universe is in continuous motion. With Divine permission, all creatures are unceasingly following in the river of time; they arc being sent from the World of the Unseen; they are being clothed with external existence in the Manifest world; then they are being poured in orderly fashion into the World of the Unseen, and it is there that they alight. And, at their Sustainer's command, they continuously come from the future stop by in passing pausing for a breath, and are poured into the past.

 

This flood of creatures is being made from top to bottom with instances of wisdom, benefits, results, and aims within the sphere of the most wise mercy and munificence; as is this constant traveling, within the sphere of the most knowledgeable wisdom and orderliness; and this current, within the sphere of the most compassionate solicitude and equilibrium. That is to say, an All-Powerful One of Glory, an All-Wise One of Perfection is continuously giving life to and employing the families of beings, and the individuals within each family, and the worlds which those families form. Then, with His wisdom He discharges them, manifests death and despatches them to the World of the Unseen. He transfers them from the sphere of power to the sphere of knowledge.

 

And so, is it at all possible that one who does not have the ability to administer the universe in its totality, whose authority does not stretch throughout time, whose power is not sufficient to make the world manifest life and death like a single individual, who cannot bestow life on the spring as though it was a single flowers attach it to the face of the earth and then pluck it from it with death and gather it up, could such a one be the owner of death and the granter of death? Yes, the death of the most insignificant animate being, even, like its life, must necessarily occur according to the law of One of Glory in Whose hand are all the truths of life and varieties of death, and with His permission, and at His command, and through His power, and with His knowledge.

 

THE EIGHTH PHRASE: ‘And He is living and dies not.’

 

That is, His life is perpetual, it is pre-eternal and post-eternal. Death and evanescence, non-existence and cessation, cannot befall Him. He Who is pre-eternal must certainly be post-eternal. He Who is sempiternal must certainly be eternally enduring. He Who is necessarily existent, must certainly be without beginning or end. How could non-existence touch a Life of which all existence, in all its varieties, is its shadow? Non-existence and ephemerality and cessation could in no way encroach on a Life through the manifestation of which all lives continuously come into being, and on which all the stable truths of the universe are dependent, and through which they subsist.

 

Indeed, one flash of the manifestation of that Life accords a unity to the multiplicity of things, all of which are subject to ephemerality and decease, and makes them display permanence; it saves them from dispersal, preserves their existence, manifests in them a sort of continuance. That is, life accords a unity to multiplicity; it makes it permanent. If life departs, the unity disintegrates, it ceases. Most certainly, ephemerality and transience cannot approach that necessary Life one manifestation of which are all those innumerable flashes of life.

 

Decisive witnesses to this truth are the transience and ephemerality of the universe. That is, just as beings bear witness and point to the Life of the Undying Every-Living One and to the necessary existence of His Life through their existence and lives, so too do they bear witness and point to the perpetuity of His Life and its eternity through their deaths, through their ephemerality. For the fact that after beings have perished, others follow after them, manifesting life like them and taking their places, demonstrates that there is an unceasingly living being who continuously renews the manifestation of life.

 

Bubbles on the surface of a flowing river sparkle in the sun and disappear. Troop after troop of bubbles appear, following on one after another. They display the same sparkle, are extinguished and disappear. Through this state of extinction and sparkling, they point to the continuance of an elevated and enduring sun. And so, in the same way, do the change and alternation of life and death in these constantly moving beings testify to the continuance and perpetualness of an Ever-Living Ever-Enduring One.

 

These beings a re mirrors. And in the same way that darkness is the mirror to light, and however intense the darkness is, to that degree it will display the brilliance of the light, these beings too act as mirrors in many respects by reason of the contrast of opposites. For example, just as beings act as mirrors to the Maker's power through their impotence, and are mirrors to His riches through their poverty, so do they also act as mirrors to His everlastingness through their ephemerality. The poverty of trees and the face of the earth itself in wintertime, and their glittering wealth and riches in springtime, act as mirrors in most unequivocal fashion to the power and mercy of an Absolutely Powerful One, the One of Absolute Riches. It is as though all beings are making supplication with Uvays al-Qarani through their tongues of disposition, and are saying:

 

"O God! You are our Sustainer, for we are mere slaves; we are powerless to sustain and raise ourselves. That is to say, the One Who sustains us is You! And it is You Who is the Creator, for we are creatures, we are being made! And it is You Who is the Provider, for we are in need of provision, we have no power! That is to say, the One One Who creates us and bestows on us our provisions is You! And it is You Who is the Owner, because we are totally owned property; someone other than us has power of disposal over us. That is to say, it is You Who is our Owner! And You, You are Mighty! You possess grandeur and sublimity! As for us we look to our baseness and see that there are manifestations of a mightiness on us. That is to say, we are mirrors to Your mightiness! And it is You Who is the Possessor of Absolute Riches, because we. are utterly wanting, and riches are bestowed on us that our indigent hands could not obtain. That is to say, it is You Who is rich, the One Who gives is You! And You, You are the Ever-Living, Ever-Enduring One, because we, we are dying, and in our dying and in our being resurrected we see the manifestation of a perpetual giver of life! And You, You are Ever-Enduring, because we see Your continuation and perpetualness in our demise and transience! And the One Who responds to us and answers us, the Granter of Gifts is You. For all of us beings, we are ever crying out and requesting, entreating, imploring by tongue and by state. And our desires are brought about, our aims are achieved. In other words, the One Who answers us is You!... " And so on.

 

Every creature, universal and particular, is, like Uvays al-Qarani, a mirror, in a form that has the meaning of supplication. All proclaim the Divine power and perfection through their impotence and poverty and deficiency.

 

THE NINTH PHRASE: ‘All good is in His hand.’

 

That is, all good things are in His hand, all good deeds are in His account book, all beneficence is in His treasury. Since this is so, those desiring good must seek it from Him, those wishing for what is best must beseech Him. In order to demonstrate the truth of this phrase in a conclusive fashion, we shall point to the signs and flashes of one of many far-reaching evidences of Divine knowledge, as follows:

 

The Maker Who controls and creates with actions which are to be seen in the universe has an all-encompassing knowledge, and such knowledge is His particular, inherent and necessary quality. Its separation from Him is impossible. In the same way that it is not possible for the sun to exist but for its light not to exist, it is also not possible, though thousands of times more so, for the knowledge of the Being Who creates these well-ordered beings to be separated from Him.

 

Like this all-comprehending knowledge is necessary to that Being, so is it also necessary to all things from the point of view of their being connected to Him. That is to say, it is not possible for anything to be hidden from Him. Just as it is not possible for objects on the face of the earth to face the sun with no barrier and not sec it, so too is it a thousand times less possible, it is impossible, for things to be hidden in the face of the light of the All-Knowing One of Glory's knowledge. This is because they are in his presence. That is, everything is within the range of His sight, is facing Him, is within the compass of His witnessing; He penetrates into all things.

 

If possessors of light, like the inanimate sun, impotent man, and unconscious X-rays, can see and penetrate everything that faces them, although they are contingent, defective and accidental, surely nothing at all can remain hidden from or beyond the light of the pre-eternal knowledge, which is necessary, all-encompassing, and essential. The universe has incalculable signs and marks pointing to this truth, as may be seen in the following examples:

 

All the instances of wisdom apparent in all beings point to such knowledge. For He Who performs His works kindly and graciously must know; He must know what He is doing. And all well-ordered beings each within a balance, and all finely balanced and measured shapes and forms, each within an order, also indicate to such all-encompassing knowledge. For to carry out work with wisdom means to do it with knowledge. And all favour and adornment point to such knowledge. He who works skillfully and with measure and balance is surely relying on a powerful knowledge. And the well-ordered measuredness apparent in all beings, their shapes cut out in accordance with purpose and benefits, and the fruitful situations and assemblages as though arranged according the principles of Divine Decree and the compasses of Divine Determining all demonstrate an all-embracing knowledge. Certainly, the giving of well-ordered and different forms to everything, as well as a particular shape that is appropriate and beneficial to its life and existence, occurs through an all-encompassing knowledge; it could not occur any other way.

 

And it is only through an all-embracing knowledge that the sustenance of all animate creatures is provided in a suitable form, at the appropriate time, in unexpected places. Because, since the One Who sends the sustenance knows and recognizes those who are in need of it, and the appropriate time to send it, and perceives their need, He is able to provide their sustenance on a suitable form.

 

And the appointed hour of death of ail animate creatures, which is tied to a law of determination, although it is not clear to the creatures themselves, demonstrates a comprehensive knowledge. Because, although the hour of death for all groups and individuals does appear to be determined, in fact each group's death is appointed within a period of time restricted by two limits. At that appointed hour, the preservation of its seeds, fruits and results, which will continue the duty of the thing after it and are the means of its transformation into a new life, demonstrate an all-encompassing knowledge.

 

And mercy's benevolence, which encompasses all beings and is in a form appropriate to each of them, demonstrates an all-embracing knowledge within a vast mercy. Because, for example, the One Who feeds the offspring of animate creatures with milk and assists the plants of the earth needy for water with rain, most certainly knows the young and their needs, and sees the plants, perceives how necessary rain is for them and then sends it; and so on. All the manifestations of' wise kindly mercy demonstrate an all-comprehensive knowledge.

 

And the care and attention, the artistic fashioning, and the skillful decoration present in the art in all things demonstrate an all-embracing, knowledge. For choosing an orderly, adorned, artistic, and purposeful state from among thousands of possible states can only occur through a profound knowledge. This choice apparent in all beings demonstrates an all-encompassing knowledge.

 

And the complete ease in the creation and origination of things points to a most perfect knowledge. For the ease and facility in achieving a certain situation is commensurate with the degree of knowledge and skill. To whatever degree a thing is known, to that degree it will be carried out with ease. Thus, in consequence of this fact, we see from beings, every one of which is a miracle of art, that they are being created with ease and facility, without trouble or confusion, in a short period of time, in a wondrous, indeed a miraculous, fashion. That is to say, there is a boundless knowledge which is expressed with boundless ease. And so on.

 

There are thousands of veracious signs like those mentioned in the examples above to the fact that the Being Who has free disposal over the universe has an all-encompassing knowledge; that He knows all the attributes of all beings, and then he acts. Since the universe's Owner has such a knowledge, for sure He sees human beings and their actions, and He knows what human beings deserve and what is appropriate for them. And He deals with them and will deal with them in accordance with the requirements of wisdom and mercy.

 

O man! Come to your senses! Think carefully of just what sort of Being it is Who knows you and watches you; think of it and pull yourself together!

 

I f i t s a i d : Knowledge alone is not sufficient; will is also necessary. If will was not present, knowledge would not be sufficient, would it?

 

T h e A n s w e r : Just as all beings indicate and testify to an all-encompassing knowledge, so too do they point to the comprehensive will of the owner of that all-encompassing knowledge. It is as follows:

 

The fact that, while hesitating among great numbers of possibilities, a most well-ordered individuality is given to all things, especially to all animate beings, through a determined probability from among a great host of muddled probabilities, and through a result-yielding way from among a great many fruitless ways, demonstrates a universal will of many facets.

 

Measured shapes and well-ordered identities have been given to all things in a most sensitive and delicate measure and with a most fine and subtle order. They have been given these from among the inanimate elements which flow without balance in confused and monotonous floods, and from among the barren and fruitless paths and endless possibilities that surround all beings. This necessarily and self-evidently demonstrates that they are the works of a comprehensive will. For choosing innumerable states occurs by means of a designation, a choice, a purpose, and a will. It is specified by a deliberate intention and desire. For sure, specifying requires a specifier and choice requires a chooser. And that specifier and chooser is will.

 

For example, the creation of a being like man, who is like a machine assembled from hundreds of different components and systems, from a drop of water; and the creation of a bird, which has hundreds of different members, out of a simple egg; and that of a tree, which is separated into hundreds of different parts, out of simple seed - the creation of these testify to power and knowledge, just as they indicate to the universal will of their Maker in a most decisive and necessary fashion. And with that will He gives a different and particular shape to every component, every member, every part. He clothes them in a chosen state.

 

I n S h o r t : The fact that there are between different things many resemblances and coincidences with regard to their essentials and results; for example, between the major members and organs of animals' bodies, and the fact that they display a single stamp of Unity, indicate in decisive fashion that the Maker of a11 animals is the same; He is One, He is Single, He possesses Unity. And the fact that these animals have different identities and distinct appearances, all determined by wisdom and purpose, indicates that their Single Maker is One Who acts with choice and will. He does what He wishes to do, He does not do what He does not wish to do; He acts with intention and will.

 

There are as many indications and attestations to Divine knowledge and Dominical will as there are beings, indeed as the beings' attributes and qualities. Therefore, some philosophers denying Divine will, and some of those who favor innovation denying Divine Determining, and some of the people of misguidance claiming that God is not concerned with minor matters, and the Naturalists attributing certain beings to Nature and causes, are lies multiplied to the number of beings and a lunacy of misguidance compounded to the number of those beings' attributes. For whoever denies the innumerable instances of veracious witnessing is telling a lie of infinite proportions.

 

So, you can see for yourself just how mistaken and contrary to the truth it is to say of events, all of which come into existence through Divine will, "Naturally, naturally," instead of, "If God wills it so, if God wills it so."

 

THE TENTH PHRASE: ‘And He is powerful over all things.’

 

That is to say, absolutely nothing at all is difficult for Him. However many things there are in the sphere of contingency, He is able to clothe all of them with existence most easily. And it is so simple and easy for Him that according to the meaning of,

 

His command is only, when He wills a thing to be, He but says to it, “Be!” and it is,

 

it is as if He only has to command and it is done.

 

As soon as a very skillful artist puts his hand to his work, he functions extremely easily like a machine. In order to express his speed and skill, one could say that the work and art is under his control to such a degree that it is as if at his command, at his touch, the pieces appear, the works of art come into existence. In the same way, this verse issues the decree:

 

His command is only, when He wills a thing to be, He but says to it “Be!”, and it is,

 

alluding to the absolute subjugation and obedience of all things to the power of the All-Powerful One of Glory, and the absolute ease and lack of trouble with which His power functions. We shall elucidate in Five Points five of the innumerable mysteries contained in this mighty truth.

 

THE FIRST

 

In relation to Divine power the greatest thing is as easy as the smallest. The creation of a species with ail of its individuals is as easy and trouble-free as the creation of one individual. It is as easy to create Paradise as the spring and it is as easy to create the spring as a flower.

 

This mystery has been explained and proved through the six comparisons - the Mystery of Luminosity, the Mystery of Transparency, the Mystery of Reciprocity, the Mystery of Balance, the Mystery of Order, the Mystery of Obedience, and the Mystery of Disengagedness - at the end of the Tenth Word, which is about the resurrection of the dead, and in the discussion also about the resurrection of the dead in the Second Aim of the Twenty-Ninth Word, which is about the angels, the immortality of man's spirit, and the resurrection. It has been demonstrated in all these that in relation to Divine power the stars are as easy as atoms and that innumerable individuals art created as easily as one individual. Since these mysteries have been proved in those two Words, we refer you to them and cut short the discussion here.

 

THE SECOND

 

A decisive and self-evident proof that everything is equal in relation to Divine power is this: we see with our own eyes in the creation of animals and plants the highest degree of mastery and exquisiteness of art within an infinite multiplicity and liberality; and the greatest distinction and differentiation within the utmost confusion and intermingling; and the highest worth as regards art and the most supreme beauty as regards creation within the greatest abundance and profusion. And, while needing much equipment and much time, they are created with the utmost ease and speed with the greatest art. Simply, those miracles of art come into existence suddenly and out of nothing.

 

Thus, by observing this activity of power every season on the face of the earth, we: see that it establishes irrefutably that the greatest thing is as easy as the smallest in relation to the power that is the source of those actions. And that the creation and administration of innumerable individuals is as easy as the creation and administration of a single individual.

 

THE THIRD

 

The greatest universal is as easy as the smallest particular in relation to the power of the All-Powerful Maker Who rules in the universe with these evident actions, direction, and disposal. The creation of a universal consisting of a multiplicity of individuals is as easy as the creation of a single particular. And in a most insignificant particular the most valuable art may be displayed. The mystery of the wisdom of this truth arises from three sources:

 

Firstly: from the assistance of Unity.

 

Secondly: from the facility of Unity.

 

Thirdly: from the manifestation of Oneness.

 

The Assistance of Unity, which is the first source: That is, if all things are the property of a single being, then as a result of unity, he can concentrate the power of all things behind any single thing, and all things can be administered as easily as a single thing. We shall explain this mystery with a comparison in order to facilitate understanding:

 

For example, if there was a single monarch of a country, by reason of the law of his unity of sovereignty, he would be able to mobilize the moral strength of a whole army behind every single soldier. And because he would be able to do so, a single soldier would be able to capture a king and have command over him in the name of his monarch. Furthermore, just as the monarch would employ and administer a single soldier and a single official, by reason of the mystery of the unity of sovereignty, he would be able to administer the whole army and all his officials. It is as if, by reason of the mystery of the unity of sovereignty, he would be able to send everyone, everything, to the assistance of one individual.

 

Every single individual, therefore, would rely on a strength as great as that of all the other individuals; that is, he would receive assistance from them. If the rope of the unity of sovereignty were to be unfastened and they became irregular soldiers, then each soldier, suddenly losing a boundless strength, would fall from a high position of influence to that of a common man. And to administer and employ them would beget difficulties to the number of individuals.

 

And in exactly the same way, And God’s is the highest similitude, since the Maker of the universe is One, He concentrates together His Names, which look to all things, and He creates with infinite art, in a valuable form. If there is need for it, He looks to a single thing by means of all things, He causes them to look to it; He gives assistance and strengthens it. And by reason of the mystery of Unity, He also creates, disposes, and administers all things as though they were a single thing.

 

Thus, it is through the mystery of this assistance of Unity that in the universe a certain quality is apparent which is exalted and sublime to the utrnost degree a5 regards its art and value, and this within the utmost abundance and profusion.

 

The Facility of Unity, which is the second source: That is, matters which occur according to the principles of Unity, in one centre, from one hand, according one law, occur with the greatest ease. If they are scattered between numerous centres, numerous laws, and numerous hands, it engenders difficulties.

 

For example, if the essential equipment of all the soldiers of an army is manufactured in one centre, according to one law, and at the command of one commander-in-chief, it is as easy as equipping one soldier. if on the other hand, all their equipment is made in different factories, in different centres, then all the military factories necessary to equip an army are necessary to equip one soldier. That is to say, if Unity is relied upon, an army is as easy as one soldier. Whereas, if there is no unity, as rnany difficulties will arise in equipping one soldier as in equipping an army.

 

Furthermore, if with regard to Unity, the elements necessary for life are given to the fruits of a tree, relying on one centre, one law, and one root, thousands of fruits are as easy as a single fruit. If, on the other hand, each fruit is bound to a different centre, and if all their vital necessities are sent to them separately, each fruit would engender as many difficulties as the whole tree. Fnr the elements necessary for the life of the whole tree would also be nece5sary for each fruit.

 

Thus, like these two comparisons, And God's is the. highest ,similitude, because the Maker of the universe is the Single One of Unity, He acts with Unity, and because He acts with Unity all things are as easy as one thing. Moreover, He is able to make a single thing as valuable as all things as regards its art. And creating innumerable individuals in a most valuable form, He demonstrates absolute liberality through the tongue of this self-apparent limitless abundance and endless profusion, and He manifests boundless generosity and infinite creativity.

 

The Manifestation of Oneness, which is the third source: that is ,since the All-Glorious Maker is not physical or corporal, time and space cannot restrict Him, creation and place cannot obtrude on His presence and witnessing, means and mass cannot veil His actions. There is no fragmentation or division in His regarding and acting towards creation. One thing cannot be an obstacle to another. He performs innumerable acts as though they were one act. It is for this reason that in the same say that, as far as its meaning is concerned, a huge tree can be encapsulated in a seed, a world also can contained within a single individual, and the whole world may be encompassed by the Hand of Power.

 

We have explained this mystery in other Words like this: the sun is to some degree unrestricted with regard to its luminosity, thus its image is reflected in every burnished and shining object. If thousands and millions of mirrors are exposed to its light, then the manifestation of the sun's likeness will be found in each one of them without being divided, as though they were a single mirror. If the capacity of the mirror was such, the sun would be able to demonstrate its effects in it in all their magnitude. One thing cannot be an obstacle to another. Thousands of things enter thousands of places with the ea5e of one thing entering one place. Each place displays the sun's manifestation as much as thousands of places display it.

 

Thus, And God’s is the highest similitude, the manifestation of the All-Glorious Maker of the universe is such, with all His attributes which are light and with all His Names which are luminous, that through the mystery of the regard of Oneness, although He is not in any place, He is

 

all-present and all-seeing in all places. There is no division in His regarding and acting towards the creation. He performs every task at the same time, in all places, without difficulty, without hindrance.

 

Thus, it is through these rnysteries of the assistance of Unity, facility of Unity, and manifestation of Oneness, that when all beings are attributed to a single Maker, the creation of all of them becomes as simple and easy as that of a single being. And each being can be as valuable as all beings as regard the fineness of its art. This truth is demonstrated by the fact that within the boundless plenitude of beings, there are endless subtleties of art in every individual. If the beings are not attributed directly to a single Maker, then each becomes as problematical as all beings and the value of all of them decreases, it falls to that of a single being. Should this be the case, either nothing would come, into existence, or if it did, it would be without value, worthless.

 

This mystery led the Sophists, who were the most advanced of the people of philosophy, to realize that the path of associating partners with God was hundreds of thousands of times more difficult than the way of Truth and path of affirming Divine Unity; that it was irrational to the utmost degree. So, because they had averted their faces from the way of Truth and looked to that of unbelief and mi5guidance, they were compelled to renounce their reasons and deny the existence of everything.

 

THE FOURTH

 

The creation of Paradise is as easy as that of the spring in relation to the power of the All-Powerful One Who administers the universe with actions that are plain to see. And the creation of spring is as easy as that of a flower. And the loveliness in the art of a flower and the fineness in its creation may be as lovely and valuable as a spring. The mystery of this truth is threefold:

 

First: the necessity and total detachment and disengagedne5s of the Maker.

 

Second: the complete otherness of His essence and His unrestrictedness.

 

Third: His not being bound by space and His indivisibility.

 

First Mystery: The fact that necessity and desengagedness and detachment cause infinite ease and facility is an extremely profound mystery. We shall facilitate understanding of it with the following comparison:

 

The degrees of existence are different. And the worlds of existence are all different. Because they are a11 different, a particle frorn a level of existence which is deeply rooted in existence is as great as a mountain

 

from a level of existence that is less substantial than its level; it contains the mountain.

 

For example, the faculty of memory, which is the size of a mustardseed in a head from the Manifest World, takes on an existence the size of a library from the World of Meaning. And a mirror the size of a fingernail from the external world encompasses a mighty city from the level of the World of Similitude5. And if the memory and the rnirror from the external world had possessed consciousne5s and creative power, they would have been able to bring about endless transformations and activity in the Worlds of Meaning and Similitudes through the power of their minute existences in the external world. That is to say, when existence is firmly established, power increases; what is only a little becomes like much. Especially after existence has attained to complete stability, if it is disengaged from materiality, and is not re5tricted, then only a partial manifestation of it will be able to transform rnany world5 of other less substantial levels of existence.

 

Thus, And God’s is the highest similitude, the Glorious Maker of the universe is Necessarily Existent. That is, His existence is essential, it is pre-eternal, it is post-eternal, its non-existence is impossible, its cessation is irnpn5ible; it is the most firmly rooted, the most sound, the strongest, and the most perfect of the levels of existence. In relation to His existence, the other levels of existence are like extremely pale shadows.

 

The degree of Necessary Existence is so stable and real, and contingent existence is so insubstantial and pale that many of those who have investigated creation, like Muhyiddin al-Arabi, have reduced the other levels of existence to the level of delusion arid imagination; they said: "There is no existent save Hirn." That is, it must not be said of other things that they have existence in relation to the Necessary Existence. They stated that they are not worthy of the title of existence.

 

And so, in the face of the Necessarily Existent One's power, which is both necessary and essential, contingent beings' both created and accidental existences and both unstable and powerless realities are infinitely easy and simple. To raise all human beings to life and then judge them at the Great Gathering is as easy as the leaves, flowers arid fruits which He resurrects in the spring, indeed, in a garden, or on a tree.

 

Second Mystery: The reason for easiness in regard to the cornplete otherness of His Essence and His unrestrictedness is this: most certainly, the Maker of the universe is not of the same kind as the universe. His Essence resembles no other essence at all. Since this is so, the obstacles and restraints within the sphere of the universe cannot hinder Him, they cannot restrict His actions. He has complete disposal over the whole universe and is able to transform all of it at the same time. If the disposal and actions that are apparent in the universe were to be attributed to it, it would cause so many difficulties and so much confusion that neither would any order remain nor would anything continue to exist; indeed, nothing would be able to come into existence.

 

For example, if the masterly art in vaulted domes is attributed to the stones of the domes, and if the command of a battalion, which properly belongs to its officer, is left to the soldiers, either neither of them would ever come into existence, or with great difficulty and confusion they would achieve a state completely lacking in order. Whereas, if in order for the situation of the stones in the dome to be achieved, it is accorded to a master who is not a stone himself, and if the command of the soldiers in the regiment is referred to an officer whose essence possesses the quality of officership, both the art is easy and comrnand and organization are easy. This is because, while the stones and the soldiers are obstacles to each other, the master and the officer can look from every angle, they command without obstacle.

 

Thus, And God’s is the highest similitude, the sacred Essence of the Necessarily Existent One is not of the same kind as contingent beings, essences. Rather, all the truths of the universe are rays from the Name of Truth, which one of the Beautiful Names of His Essence. Since His sacred Essence is Necessarily Existent and completely detached from materiality and different from all other essences, it has no like, no equivalent, no equal. So, most certainly, the administration and 5ustaining of the whole universe is relation to the pre-eternal power of that All Glorious One is as easy as that of the spring, indeed, of a tree. And the creation of the resurrection of the dead, the realm of the Hereafter, and Paradise and Hell, is as easy as the resurrection in spring of a tree which had died the previous autumn.

 

Third Mystery: The fact that indivisibility and not being bound by space result in the utmost facility has this meaning: since the All Powerful Maker is free of the restrictions of space, He may be thought of as present in every place through His power. And since there is no division or fragmentation in regard to His Essence, He can regard and act towards all things with all of His Names. And since He is present everywhere and acts towards everythingb, beings and intermediaries and mass cannot hinder and prevent His actions, indeed there is no nece5sity at all for them to do so.

 

Let us suppose there was some necessity, then things like electric wires, the branches of trees, and veins in human beings, would be like the means for facilitation, for the arrival of life, and the cause of swiftness in actions. So, let us ignore the idea of hindering, restricting, preventing, and intervening, and say that they are means of facilitating, expediting, and uniting. That is to say, from the point of view of the obedience and 5ubmission of all things to the domination of the All-Powerful and Glorious One's power, there is no need for them. If there was some need for them, it would be as a means to facility.

 

I n S h o r t : The All-Powerful Maker creates everything in an appropriate form without trouble, without undergoing any process, swiftly and easily. He creates universals as easily as particulars. He creates particulars as full of art as He does universals. Indeed, whoever creates universals and the heavens and the earth must necessarily be the one who creates the particulars and animate individuals contained in the heavens and earth; it could not be anything other than him. For those tiny particulars are the fruits, seeds, and the miniature specimens of universals.

 

Furthermore, whoever creates the particulars must al5o the one who creates the elements and heavens and earth, which encompass the particulars. For we see that particulars are each like a seed and tiny copy in relation ta universals. And since this is so, the universal elements and the heavens and earth must be in the Being's hand Who creates those particulars so that, according to the principles of His wisdom and the balances of His knowledge, He might insert the gist, the meanings, the samples, of those universal and all-encompassing beings in tho5e particulars, which are like their miniature specimens.

 

Indeed, from the point of view of the wonders of art and marvels of creativene5s, particulars are not behind universals; neither are flowers lower than the stars, nor seeds inferior to trees. Indeed, the tree's meaning, which is the inscription of Divine Determining and is in the seed, is more wonderful than the physical tree, which is the weaving of Divine power and is in the garden. And the creation of man is more wonderful than the creation of the universe. If a Qur'an of Wisdom was written in particles of ether on an atom, it would far surpass in value a Qur'an of Grandeur written in stars on the face of the heavens. So too there are minute particulars which are superior to universals as regards the miraculousness of their art.

 

THE FIFTH

 

We have demonstrated to some degree in our explanations above, the infinite ease, utmost speed, extreme swiftness of actions, and boundless facility apparent in the creation of beings, together with the mysteries and instances of wisdom in their creation. The existence of things with this utmost speed and utter facility, therefore, has engendered in the people of guidance the following firm conviction, that in relation to the power of the One Who creates beings, Paradises are as easy as the spring, the spring as easy as gardens, and gardens as easy as flowers.

 

According to the meaning of,

 

The creation of you all and the resurrection of you all is but like that nf' a single soul,

 

the resurrection of all humankind is as easy as causing one person to die and raising him to life again. And according to the explicit statement of,

 

Nothing will there have been but one single blast, and lo! before. Us will all of them he arraigned,

 

to raise to life all human beings at the resurrection is as easy as calling together with the sound of a bugle an army which has dispersed to rest.

 

Thus, although this infinite speed and boundless ease are decisive proofs and cogent arguments for the self evident perfection of the Maker's power and for everything being easy in relation to Him, in the view of the people of misguidance, the formation and creation of things by the Maker's power, which is easy to the degree of necessity, gave rise to the notion that things form themselves, which is utterly impossible, and thus became the cause of confusion. That is to say, because they see that some ordinary things come into existence very easily, they imagine the formation of them to be self-formation. That is, they are not being created, but rather come into existence of their own accord.

 

There, look at this sheer stupidity! They make what is the proof of an absolute power, the proof of its non-existence; they open the door to innumerable impossibilities. Because if it were the case, it would be necessary for the attributes of perfection, like infinite power and allencompassing knowledge, which are necessary to the Maker of the universe, to be attributed to every particle of every creature so that it would be able to form itself.

 

THE ELEVENTH PHRASE: ‘And with Him all things have the end.’

 

That is, everything will return to the realm of permanence from the transient realm, and will go to the seat of post-eternal sovereignty of the Sempiternal Ever-Enduring One. They will go from the multiplicity of causes to the sphere of power of the All-Glorious One of Unity, and will be transferred from this world to the Hereafter. Your place of recourse is His Court, therefore, and your place of refuge, His mercy. And so on.

 

There are a great many truths which this phrase and those like it state. The one which states that you will return to eternal bliss and Paradise has been proved so decisively by the irrefutable certainty of the twelve arguments of the Tenth Word, and by the six Principles which comprise the numerous cogent proofs of the Twenty-Ninth Word, that no need remains for further explanation. Those two Words have proved, with the certainty of the sun rising on the following morning after setting the previous day, that life too which has the meaning of the sun in this world, will rise in an enduring form in the morning of the resurrection after its setting with the destruction of the world. Since the Tenth and Twenty-Ninth Words have proved this truth to perfection, we refer you to them and here only say this:

 

Further to what has been proved decisively in the above explanation, the All-Wise Maker of the universe, Who possesses boundless embracing power, limitless universal will, and infinite all-encompassing knowlege, the all-Merciful Creator of human beings, has promised with all His heavenly Books and decrees Paradise and eternal bliss to those of mankind who believe in Hirn. Since He has promised, He will most certainly bring it about, because It is impossible for Him to break His promise And because, not to carry out a promise is a most ugly fault, and the One of Absolute Perfection is totally exempt and free from all fault. Failure to perform a promise arises either from ignorance or from impotence. However, since it is impossible for there to be any ignorance or impotence pertaining to that Absolutely Powerful One, the One Knowing of All Things, His breaking of a promise is also impossible.

 

Moreover, first and foremost the Pride of the Worlds {Upon whom be blessings and peace), and all the prophets, saints, purified scholars, and people of belief, continuously request and implore, desire and beseech the All-Generous and Compassionate One for the eternal bliss they have been promised. And they beseech it through all His Most Beautiful Names. For foremost His compassion and mercy, and justice and wisdom, His Names of All-Merciful and Compassionate, and All-Just and Wise, and His Dominicality and Sovereignty, and most of His Names including Sustainer and Allah, require and necessitate the realm of the Hereafter and eternal happiness, and they testify and point to it5 realization. Indeed, all beings with all of their truth5 point to the Hereafter.

 

Also, the All-Wise Qur'an, the greatest of the revealed Books, demon strates and teaches this truth with thousands of its verses; with clear evidences and conclusive, veracious proofs.

 

And the Most Noble Beloved One, who is the cause of pride for the human race, relying on thousands of dazzling miracles taught this truth throughout his life, with a11 his strength; he proved it, proclaimed it, saw it, and demonstrated it.

 

 

 

O God, grunt blessings and peace and benedictions to him and to his Family and Companions to the number of the breaths of the people of Paradise; and resurrect us and resurrect him and his friends and Companions to bliss, and our parents and brothers and sisters under his banner, and grant us his intercession, and enter us into Paradise with his Family and Companions, through Your mercy, O most Merciful of the Merciful. Amen. Amen.

 

O our Sustainer! Do not take us to task i f' we forget or unwittingly do wrong.

 

O our Sustainer! Let not our hearts swerve from the truth after You have guided us; and bestow upon us the gift of Your mercy; indeed, You are the Giver of Gifts.

 

O my Sustainer! Open up my heart And. make my task easy for me And loosen the knot from my tongue That they might fully understand my speech.

 

O our Sustainer! Accept this from us, indeed You are All-Seeing, All-Knowing. And .forgive us, indeed You are the Accepter of Repentance, the Compassionate.

 

All glory be unto You! We have no knowledge ,save that which You have taught us; indeed You are All-Knowing, All-Wise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Addendum to the Tenth Phrase of the Twentieth Letter

 

 

 

In His Name, be He glorified!

 

And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.

 

 

 

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

 

For verily, in the remembrance of' God hearts do find their rest God sets forth a par able: A man belonging to many partners (all of them) at variance with one another.

 

 

 

Q u e s t i o n : You have said in many places that there is infinite facility in Divine Unity and endless difficulties in multiplicity and associating partners with God; that there is such ease in Divine Unity that it becomes necessary and such difficulty in associating partners with God that it becomes impossible. Whereas, the difficulties and impossibilities that you demonstrate are also present with Unity. For example, you say that if particles were not officials, it would be necessary for either an allencompassing knowledge or au absolute power or innumerable immaterial machines or printing-presses to be present in every particle. This of course is completely impossible. And even if those particles were Divine officials, it would still be necessary for the particles to bear the same qualities so that they would be able to accomplish their endless orderly duties. Could you unravel this problem for me?

 

T h e A n s w e r : We have expounded and proved in many Words that if all beings are attributed to a single Maker, they become as easy and effortless as a single being. If they are attributed to numerous causes and to Nature, a single fly becomes as difficult and arduous as the heavens, a flower as the spring, a fruit as a garden. Since this matter has been explained and proved in other Words, we refer you to them and here only explain three comparisons, by means of three indications, which will reassure the soul and set the mind at rest in the face of that truth.

 

FIRST COMPARISON

 

For example, a tiny transparent glistening speck cannot of its own accord situate itself within a light even the size of a match-head, and neither can it be the source of it. It i5 able to have a light, in its own right, only like that of an insignificant particle, in accordance with its capacity and the size of its own mass. But if the speck is connected to the sun, if it opens its eyes and looks at it, it will be able to comprehend the immense sun together with its light, seven colours, heat, and even its distance; it will display a sort of greater manifestation. That is to say, if the particle remains on its own, it will only be able to perform a function to the extent of a particle, whereas if it is considered to be an official of the sun, and is connected to it and is a mirror to it, it will be able to demonstrate certain partial examples of the sun's functioning, like the sun.

 

Thus, And God’s is the highest .similitude, if all beings, all particles, are attributed to multiplicity, causes, Nature, themselves, or to anything other than God, then each particle, each being, must either possess an allembracing knowledge and absolute power, or innumerable immaterial machines and printing-presses must be formed within it, so that it may carry out its wonderful duties. However, if the particles are attributed to a Single One of Unity, then each of them, each artefact, becomes connected to Him; it is as though each becomes Hi5 official. Its connection makes it display His manifestation. And through this connection and state of being a manifestation, it relies on an infinite knowledge and power. And thus, by reason of the mystery of the connection and reliance, it performs functions and duties far beyond its own power, through the power of its Creator.

 

SECOND COMPARISON

 

For example, there were two brothers, one brave and self-reliant, the other patriotic and devoted to his country. When a war broke out, the one who relied on himself did not form any connection with the state; he wanted to perform his service on his own. He was compelled therefore to carry the sources of his power around his own neck, and to transport, as far as his strength allowed, his equipment and ammunition. In accordance with his individual and petty strength, he was only able to fight with one corporal of the enemy army; to do more was beyond him.

 

The other brother did not rely on himself, he knew himself to be impotent and powerless so he formed a connection with the king and was enrolled in the army. 'Through this connection, a huge army became a point of support for him. And because of this support, he was plunged into war with the moral strength of an army behind him under the auspices of the king. So when he encountered an eminent field marshal of the defeated enemy army's king, he declared in the name of his own king: "I take you prisoner! Quick march!", and captured him and handed him over. The meaning and wisdom of the situation is this:

 

Since the first man, who was independent, was compelled to carry his equipment and sources of strength himself, he was only able to perform an extremely insignificant service. Whereas the one who was an official did not have to carry his source of strength; indeed, the army and the king carried him. Just as though he was connecting his receiver to existing telegraph and telephone lines with a tiny wire, the man, through the connection he formed, connected himself to an infinite power.

 

Thus, And God s is the hi lest ,similitude, if all creatures, all articles, are attributed directly to the Single One of Unity and if they are connected to Him, through the power of the connection and through of its Lord, at His command, an ant can demolish and destroy Pharaoh's palace; a fly can kill off Nimrod and consign him to Hell; a germ can despatch the most iniquitous tyrant to the grave; a seed the size of a grain of wheat becomes like the workshop and machinery for the production of a pine-tree the size of a mountain; and a particle of air is able to operate efficiently and in an orderly fashion in all the different functions and structures of all f7owers and fruits. All this ease and facility selfevidently arise from the connection and state of being an official. If the being in question reverts to independence, if it is left to causes, multiplicity, and to itself, if it travels the road of associating partners with God, then it will only be able to perform a service to the extent of its own physical entity and to the measure of its consciousness.

 

THIRD COMPARISON

 

For example, there were two friends who wanted to write a geographical and statistical work on a country they had never seen. One of them formed a connection with the king and entered the telegraph and telephone office. With a piece of wire worth a few kurush, he connected his own telephone receiver to the state lines and was able to converse and communicate with everywhere and receive information. He wrote a most well-composed, well-arranged and perfect work of geography and statistics. As for the other man, either he would have had to travel continuously for fifty years and see everywhere and learn of every event with great difficulty, or else, spending millions of liras he would have had to become the owner, like the king, of a telegraph and telephone 5ystem as extensive as that of the state so that he could write a perfect work like his friend.

 

So too, and God’s is the highest similitude, if innumerable things and creatures are attributed to a Single One of Unity, then through the connection, each thing becomes a place of manifestation. Through displaying the manifestation of the Pre-Eternal Sun, it acquires a connection with the laws of His wisdom, the principles of his Knowledge, and the laws of His power. Then, through the Divine strength and power, it displays a manifestation of its Sustainer by which it has an eye which sees all things, a face which looks to all places, and words which have weight in all matters. If the connection is severed, the thing will also be cut off from all other things, it will be squeezed into the smallness of its own bulk. In which case, it would have to possess an absolute Divinity so that it might perform the functions described above.

 

I n S h o r t : In the way of Divine Unity and belief there is such an easiness and facility that it becomes necessary, while in the way of causes and assigning partners to God are such difficulties that it becomes impossible. For one person may, witl7out trouble, accord one situation to numerous objects and obtain one result. If the taking of the situation and obtaining of the one result are referred to those numerous objects, then it would only be with great trouble and much activity that the situation could be brought about and the result achieved.

 

For example, as is stated in the Third Letter, every night, every year, a glittering expedition and pa5suge glorifying God is accomplished through setting in motion the army of the stars in the field of the heavens under the command of the sun and the moon. This is the alluring and captivating situation of the heaven5. And the change and alternation of the seasons and other momentous affairs are brought about; and this i5 the exalted and purposeful result of the motion of the earth. If the situation of the heavens and result of the revolving earth are ascribed to Divine Unity, then the Pre-Eternal Monarch may easily appoint a soldier like the globe of the earth as commander of the heavenly bodies for the situation and the result to be achieved. And after it has received its order, the earth will rise up with joy at its appointment to whirl and mention God's Names like a Mevlevi dervish. With slight expense that graceful situation will be obtained and the significant result come about.

 

However, if it is said to the earth: "You stop where you are, do not interfere!"; and if to obtain the result and situation, it is referred to the heavens; and if the road of multiplicity and associating partners with God is taken rather than that of Divine Unity, it would then be necessary, every day and every year, to set in motion millions of stars which are thousands of times larger than the globe of the earth and to cut the distance of millions of years into that of twenty-four hours and of a year.

 

CONCLUSION

 

The Qur'an and the believers ascribe limitless creatures to One Maker. They attribute very matter directly to Him. They travel a road that is so easy as to be necessary, and urge all towards it. While the people of rebellion, who ascribe partners to God, by attributing a single creature to innumerable causes, travel a road so beset with difficulties as to be impossible. In which case, those on the way of the Qur'an are together with all creatures, and those on the way of misguidance, with a single creature. Or to put it another way, the issuing of all things out of one is infinitely easier than the issuing of one thing out of many. In the same way that an officer commands a thousand soldiers as easily as one soldier, if the commands of one soldier was to be assigned to a thousand officers, it would become as difficult as that of commanding a thousand soldiers, it would cause chaos.

 

Thus, this mighty verse hurls this truth at those who assign partners to God, shattering their unbelief:

 

God sets forth a parable: A man belonging to many partners (all of' them) at, variance with one another, and a with belonging wholly to one person: can the two be deemed equal as regards their condition? (Nay) all praise is due to God (alone); but most of them do not understand this

 

All glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed You are All-Knowing, All-Wise.

 

O God! Grant blessings and peace to our master Muhammed to the number of the particles of the universe, and to all his Family and Companions. Amen. And all praise be to God, the .Sustainer of All the Worlds.

 

O God! O Unique. One O Single One! O Eternally Besought One! O You Who there is no god but You, You are One, You have no partner! O You to Whom belongs the dominion and the praise! O You Who grants life and deals death! O You in Whose hand is all good! O You Who is powerful over all things O You with Whom all things have their end! Through the truth nf' the mysteries of these phrases, appoint the propagator of this treatise and his friends and companions to bliss among the perfected affirmers of Divine Unity and the ,strictly veracious .scholars and the believers conscious of God. Amen. O God! Through the truth of the mystery of Your Oneness make the disseminator of this hook disseminate the mysteries of the profession of Your Unity and make his heart a place of manifestation for the lights of .faith and his tongue speak of the truths of the Qur'an. Amen. Amen. Amen.