The Fifteenth Ray (15.Sua, Englisch)

[EMRE]

The Fifteenth Ray

 

The Shining Proof

 

This consists of two ‘Stations’

 

[This lesson is a treatise which is apparently unimportant, but in reality is of the greatest importance, and is extremely powerful and comprehensive. It is a Qur’anic fruit of Paradise and of belief which was produced from the uniting —at the degrees of ‘knowledge of certainty’ and ‘absolute certainty’— of my life of reflective thought and the spiritual life of the Risale-i Nur, which is based on ascertaining reality through its evidences (tahkikî).1]

 

S a i d N u r s i

 

The First Station

 

[A concise summary of the Twentieth Letter, and Part One of the instruction given in the third ‘School of Joseph’.2 It consists of three ‘Parts’]

 

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

 

And from Him do we seek help

 

I am someone who has spent thirty-five years in seclusion, and particularly at night forgets the world, and having for twenty-three years suffered the annoyance of being under hostile surveillance, has become unsociable. Being all alone, I become fed up if I am for even an hour with anyone other than those who assist me or are desirous of the lessons of the Risale-i Nur. But then, on the pretext of the petition I wrote to the Court of Appeal about being held for eleven months in total solitary confinement in Afyon Prison, they forcibly transferred me to Ward Five and forbade my brothers to come to me. I was feeling truly alarmed that I would be unable to endure the crowded conditions when suddenly as a sign of wrath and anger, the cold became so severe I would not have survived had I remained in my former place. The hardship turned into mercy for me.

 

It occurred to me as I was reciting the tesbihat following the prayers: “In all the wards the Risale-i Nur students are working as hard as they can at the Risale-i Nur and its lessons both on their own account and in your place. But because this fifth ward is somewhat isolated and is constantly being filled and emptied, the need here is greater for the Risale-i Nur’s instruction. The youths and elderly people read the newspapers, which write about the assaults of Russia with its awesome denial of God, and are therefore in far greater need of its definitive, powerful instruction about belief in God’s existence and unity.” I was thinking of writing a brief summary of the Twentieth Letter and the sacred sentence:

 

There is no god but God, He is One, He has no partner; His is the sovereignty and His is the praise; He gives life and deals death, and He is Living and dies not; in His hand is all good; He is Powerful over all things; and to Him shall be your return,3

 

which for years I have recited ten times after the morning prayer. For it points out the affirmation of Divine unity on a vast scale, and with its eleven phrases demonstrates in detail as clearly as the sun both eleven proofs of the Divine necessary existence and dominical unity, and eleven good tidings. According to one narration, it bears the Greatest Name. But then it was suddenly imparted to me that I should teach this concise summary to Nadir Hoja and the youths here. So saying: “In the name of God,” I began:

 

This sentence demonstrating Divine unity contains eleven good tidings and eleven proofs of the truths of belief. For now, I shall point out briefly the proofs only and refer their further explanation and the good tidings to the Twentieth Letter and other parts of the Risale-i Nur. However, I cconsider it appropriate to write here a few points I did not tell them when I was writing the lesson. Of the eleven phrases of the above sentence affirming Divine unity:

 

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

 

The proof here is the treatise called The Supreme Sign (Âyetü’l-Kübra), which has been printed. It was because it is a matchless wonder that in giving news of various parts of the Risale-i Nur, Imam ‘Ali (May God be pleased with him) said: “And by the Supreme Sign preserve me from sudden death,” and making that Supreme Sign an intercessor, through the treatise’s victories in the Courts of both Ankara and Denizli and its spreading effectively and secretly, it was both the reason for the Risale-i Nur students being acquitted, and since its secret printing had led to the students’ imprisonment for nine months, it both clearly affirmed Imam ‘Ali’s (May God be pleased with him) wondrous prediction, and his prayer for the Risale-i Nur students.

 

Yes, the Seventh Ray, The Supreme Sign, points out thirty-three vast, universal, unanimous proofs in all beings. Alluding to innumerable evidences in each universal proof, it proves firstly that heavens indicate the Necessarily Existent One’s existence and unity with the words of the stars; the earth with the phrases and sentences of the animals and plants; and so on, until the universe as a whole, with the words of all its contents and beings, and the truths of contingency and createdness and change — it proves them as clearly as sunlight and as certainly as the day. Those who want unshakeable belief and seek an unbreakable sword to combat irreligion and anarchy should refer to The Supreme Sign.

 

THE SECOND PHRASE: ‘He is One’

 

A concise indication of the proof in this phrase is as follows:

 

In every aspect of the universe a unity, a oneness, is apparent. For example, it displays a unity and oneness by being a well set-out city, a magnificent palace, a meaningful, materialized book, and a embodied Qur’an every verse, and even every letter and point of which is miraculous. Similarly, since the palace’s lamp is one and the same, and its calendar-lamp, and fiery cook, and water-bearing sponges, and hundreds of thousands of other things it contains are all one and the same, it proves decisively that the owner, ruler, scribe, and author of the palace, city, book, and mighty embodied Qur’an is existent, one, and single.

 

THE THIRD PHRASE: ‘He has no partner’

 

A brief indication of the proof in this is as follows:

 

The source, master, and basis of The Supreme Sign is the sublime verse:

 

Say: if there had been [other] gods with Him —as they say— behold, they would certainly have sought out a way to the Lord of the Throne! [to the end of the verse],4

 

which is also called the Supreme Sign. That is, if God had any partners and others had intervened in creation and interfered in His dominicality, the order of the universe would have been spoilt.” However, the perfect order in everything, small and large, particular and universal, from the wing of the tiniest fly and the cell of the pupil of the eye to the numberless birds which fly through the air and the solar system, furnishes indubitable and decisive evidence for the impossibility and non-existence of any such partners. It also testifies self-evidently to the existence and unity of the Necessarily Existent One.

 

THE FOURTH PHRASE: ‘His is the dominion’

 

A concise indication of the lengthy proof contained in this phrase:

 

We see that behind the veil One of boundless power and knowledge makes the face of the earth into an arable field, and every spring sows in it all mixed up together the seeds of a hundred thousand species of plants. Then in perfect order without confusing any of their crops, He raises them and with the hand of mercy and wisdom, out of them distributes to the two hundred thousand animal species their sustenance and rations according to need. He performs these acts of disposal in His vast, rich dominions, especially on the face of the earth. Those, then, who do not recognize that All-Wise Disposer and Compassionate Owner are compelled to deny the earth together with its produce, like the foolish Sophists.

 

THE FIFTH PHRASE: ‘His is the praise’

 

This is a very brief indication to the very extensive proof contained in this phrase:

 

Yes, we see with our eyes and understand clearly with our minds that this city of the universe, quarter of the earth, and barracks of men and animals is governed, supervised, and maintained by an All-Compassionate Provider, a Munificent Provider of Bounties. For in order to have His bounties praised and thanked for, He makes the earth into a merchant ship and railway train bringing provender, and the spring into a waggon filled with a hundred thousand sorts of foods and packets of conserves called breasts, conveying them to the needy living creatures whose rations have been exhausted at the end of winter. Anyone with an iota of intelligence would agree that this was the work of an All-Compassionate Provider. While one who does not affirm it and deviates into denial is a foolish, harmful animal since he is then obliged to deny all the regular bounties and specific foods on the face of the earth, which are the cause of praise and thanks.

 

THE SIXTH PHRASE: ‘He gives life’

 

An extremely brief allusion to the proof in this phrase:

 

Yes, it is proved in the Tenth Word and in other parts of the Risale-i Nur that every spring on the face of the earth a glorious army is raised to life which consists of three hundred thousand species of living beings of infinite variety. With its innumerable members, all of whose lives and necessities are given them with perfect order and regularity, it displays a hundred thousand samples, indeed, signs, of the supreme resurrection of the dead. All those innumerable different creatures which are intermingled and mixed up together are raised to life in perfect balance and order without error, mistake, or deficiency, with none being confused, disarranged, or forgotten. Those hundreds of thousands of animal species with their uncountable members, which all differ as regards their forms, art, and livelihoods, are resurrected from droplets of fluid called sperm which is all similar, from seeds resembling earth, from tiny grains which differ little from one another, from the tiny eggs of flies which are all similar, and the birds from the same air and from fluid and eggs which are either the same as or only a little different from each other. The person, therefore, who does not conclude that it is an Ever-Living and Self-Subsistent One, an All-Knowing, Creative Giver of Life Who writes out on the page of the earth and the spring a hundred thousand different books, all together, one within the other, without error, perfectly, is surely compelled to deny both himself and all the living creatures throughout the earth, in all the springs attached to the string of time, and on the faces of the living earth and space, and must himself be the most foolish and wretched of living creatures.

 

THE SEVENTH PHRASE: ‘And deals death’

 

A very brief indication of the proof contained in this phrase:

 

In the autumn when the three hundred thousand species of living creatures are being discharged from their duties under the name of death, the registers and pages of the actions of each species and all their members, and the indexes of all they have done, and the lists of all they will do the following spring, and their seeds, which are spirits of a sort, are all entrusted in their places to the hand of wisdom of the All-Glorious Preserver. The person, therefore, who does not recognize that All-Wise Creator, the Ever-Living and Undying One, Who inscribes in the miniscule seeds of the fig-tree, each of which is like an immortal spirit and bears all the laws governing the tree’s life, the story of the tree’s life, which contains writing enough to fill a book, thus making it like a large volume — such a person is certainly not even an idiot and delirious animal, but more abject than the devils who stoke the fires of Hell, and will be condemned to eternal death.

 

Yes, just as it is a hundredfold impossibility and futility that the above universal, comprehensive, wise, purposive acts, which comprise numberless wonders and miracles and point to the proofs of these Phrases, should be without the one who performed them; so too, to attribute them to blind, impotent, unconscious, deaf, lifeless, confused, disorderly, overwhelming causes is impossible, precluded and unjustifiable a thousand times over. For if that was the case, every particle of earth would have to possess an infinite power and wisdom, and a wondrous, universal craftsmanship so that it could give form to all the plants and flowers; and as it says in the piece about the air in A Guide For Youth, every molecule of air would have to possess the ability to know all speech and all the words spoken on the radio and telephone, and to teach them to the other molecules. No satan even could make anyone accept such an extraordinary idea. The penalty for unbelief and denial, which is thus far from reason and reality and constitutes insult and aggression against all beings, could only be a terrible Hell, which is pure justice. We should surely declare in the face of such disbelievers: “Long live Hell!”

 

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

 

An extremely brief indication of the proof in this phrase is this:

 

For example, on the disappearance of the tiny suns reflected in the bubbles on the surface of a choppy sea or flowing river, the bubbles that replace them display the same tiny suns, thus pointing to the sun in the sky and testifying to it, and with their disappearance and death they indicate the existence of a perpetual sun. Similarly, the creatures on the surface of the constantly changing sea of the universe, and ever-renewed, infinite space, in the arable field of minute particles, and in the river of time, which with its flow draws all transitory beings into its embrace, continuously and speedily flow on and depart, and their apparent causes die along with them. Every day, every year, a universe dies and a new one replaces it. Since the crops of travelling worlds and flowing universes are continuously reaped from the field of particles, certainly just as the bubbles and tiny suns point to a perpetual sun with their passage, so the deaths of those numberless creatures and endless crops, and their being discharged in perfect orderliness together with their apparent causes, testify with the clarity and certainty of daylight, indeed, of the sun, to the necessary existence and being and unity of an Ever-Living Undying One, an Eternal Sun, an Enduring Creator, a Most Pure and Holy Commander. All beings testify to these a thousand times more clearly and definitely than the existence of the universe.

 

Now you have certainly understood just how deaf, foolish, and offensive is someone who does not hear these loud voices and powerful testimonies that fill the universe, nor heeds them.

 

THE NINTH PHRASE: ‘In His hand is all good’

 

A brief indication of the proof contained in this phrase is as follows:

 

We see that each sphere of the universe, each realm of being, each level, each individual and member, and even each cell of each body possesses a store or depot containing its reserve supplies of sustenance, an arable field or treasury producing and preserving all its necessities. For at exactly the right time, in perfect order and balance, with perfect wisdom and graciousness, all their necessities are given to those needy beings by a hidden hand, outside their power and will.

 

For example, mountains contain all the minerals and chemicals necessary for man and living beings, and the things necessary for life; on someone’s command and through his planning, they are perfect stores and treasuries. Similarly, through the power of an All-Wise Provider, the earth is an arable field, a harvest, a kitchen, producing with perfect order and regularity the sustenance of all those living beings. Even, just as human beings and all their bodily members have treasuries and stores, and the cells of their bodies have tiny depots; so it goes on, till the world of the hereafter, a store of which is this world; and an arable field and store of Paradise are the world of Islam and true humanity, which produce the good, beauty, and lights of this world; and one storehouse of Hell are the filthy matters and groups of this world, which come from non-existence, which is evil, and yield the produce of evils, ugly things, and disbelief, and which pollute the worlds of existence, which are good. And the store of the stars’ heat is Hell, while the treasury of lights is a Paradise. Alluding to all those infinite treasuries, the phrase ‘In His hand is all good,’ then, demonstrates a most brilliant proof.

 

Yes, this phrase, together with the phrase, ‘In His hand are the keys of all things,’ points out to anyone not totally blind an infinitely extensive, wondrous proof of Divine dominicality and unity. For example, consider only the following out of those endless treasuries and stores: just as with his command of “Awake!” and the key of His will, an All-Wise Disposer Who holds the keys of seeds and grains, which are all tiny stores containing the members and destinies of huge trees or shining flowers, opens up in perfect balance and order the minute door of a seed; so too throwing open with the key of the rain the treasury of the earth, without error He opens all the seeds, which are the tiny stores and seminal fluid of plants, as well as the storehouses of droplets, which receive the command to develop and are the origin of animals, and the seminal fluid composed of water and air of birds and flying insects. If you want to understand and see that He opens up with the hand of wisdom, will, mercy, and choice, all the treasuries and depots, physical and non-physical, universal and particular, in the universe, each with its particular key, consider your own heart, mind, body, stomach, and garden, and the spring, which is the flower of the earth, and its flowers and fruits, for they are all opened up by a hidden hand, with perfect order, balance, mercy, and wisdom, with all different keys which come from the workbench of “Be! And it is.”5 That hidden hand draws out pounds of foods from a minute box weighing less than an ounce, and sometimes hundreds of pounds, and presents them to living creatures as a feast. Is it at all possible that blind force, deaf nature, aimless chance, or lifeless, ignorant, impotent causes could interfere in such a boundless orderly, knowing, and percipient act, in such totally wise, purposive art in which no chance played any part, in such error-free perfectly balanced disposals, and in such completely just dominicality which is free of all tryanny? Could any being who does not see and administer all beings together at once, nor holds under his command minute particles together with the planets and stars, intervene in this disposal and government which is in every way wise, purposeful, miraculous, and balanced?

 

As the verse, Well-nigh bursting with fury6 states, Hell rages at the person who does not recognize the All-Compassionate Disposer, the All-Wise Sustainer, in Whose hand is all good and Who holds the keys of all things, and deviates into denial; it boils up in fury, saying through the tongue of disposition: “He deserves my boundless torments and is in no way worthy of compassion.”

 

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

 

An extremely concise indication of the proof contained in this phrase is as follows:

 

As soon as every conscious creature who comes into this guest-house of the world opens his eyes, he sees that a power holds in its grasp the whole universe, and within that power are a pre-eternal, all-embracing knowledge which never confuses anything and a most precise wisdom and favour which never act purposelessly or without balance. Just as, spinning a single particle from the army of particles like a Mevlevi dervish in ecstasy, it employs it in numerous duties; so at the same time and according to the same law, it causes the globe of the earth to travel a twenty-four thousand-year-distance in a year, again like an ecstatic Mevlevi. At the same time and according to same law, through which it sends to men and the animals the produce of the seasons, it makes the sun into a shuttle or spinning-wheel, and spinning it ecstatically so it exerts an attraction, it employs the planets, the army of the solar system, in various duties in perfect order and balance. At the same time and according to the same law of wisdom, that same power writes one within the other, without error or confusion, hundreds of thousands of species, which resemble books, on the page of the face of the earth, and displays thousands of samples of the supreme resurrection of the dead. That same power at the same time transforms the page of the atmosphere into a slate for writing and erasing. Employing all its particles, which are like the nibs of pens or the points of the book, in the tasks specified for them by will and command, it endows all of them with such ability that each receives all words and speech as though it knows them, and broadcasts them without confusion. It employs each as a miniscule ear and tiny tongue, proving that the element of air is a ‘throne’ of Divine will and command.

 

Thus, according to this brief indication, the one who makes the universe into a well-ordered city, a first-class apartment-building and guest-house, and a miraculous book and Qur’an, and holds in His grasp with the balance of knowledge and arrangements of wisdom all the levels, realms, and groups of creatures from the universe as a whole to minute particles, and disposes of them, is Most-Merciful and Compassionate. So the person who does not recognize that Most Merciful and Compassionate One, Who demonstrates as clearly as the sun and daylight His wisdom and mercy within His power, and makes known His existence and unity within His absolute dominicality, thus wanting recognition through belief in return for His making these known, and love through worship in return for His making Himself loved, and thanks and praise in return for His bounties — the satans in human form who do not recognize Him, or try to love Him through worship, in fact foster a sort of enmity towards Him through denial, and are each minor Nimrods and Pharaohs, and are certainly deserving of infinite torment.

 

THE ELEVENTH PHRASE: ‘And to Him is your return’

 

This means to say: just as beings will depart for His presence, going to the eternal world, the hereafter, and the everlasting realm of happiness; so it is He Who is the place of recourse of all the creatures in the universe. All the chains of causes are based on Him and rest on His power. They are all merely veils for the disposals of His power. All apparent causes are only screens for preserving the dignity and majesty of His sacred power. They have no effect whatsoever in creation. If it was not for His will and command, nothing, not even a particle, could move or act. A very brief indication of the proof contained in this phrase is as follows:

 

Firstly: We refer to the Tenth Word and its addenda, the Twenty-Ninth Word, the Seventh Topic of The Fruits of Belief, the Third Ray, and to the treatises of the Risale-i Nur about belief, the proof, leading to completely certain belief, that the resurrection of the dead will occur and the hereafter and eternal life will be brought about as indubitably and definitely as the coming spring, as this sacred phrase states. Truly, those treatises have proved this pillar of belief in such a way with so many evidences that they compel even the most obdurate deniers to affirm that the existence of the hereafter is as certain as the existence of this world.

 

Secondly: One third of the Qur’an of Miraculous Exposition looks to the resurrection of the dead and the hereafter, and it constructs all its claims on them. Since this is so, all the miracles and evidences proving the Qur’an’s veracity also indicate the existence of the hereafter. Similarly, all the miracles bearing witness to the prophethood of Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him), and all the evidences of his prophethood, and all the proofs of his truthfulness, testify also to the resurrection of the dead and the hereafter. For just as throughout his life, one of his most constant calls concerned the hereafter, so all the twenty-four thousand prophets (Peace be upon them) taught eternal life and everlasting happiness, giving the glad tidings to mankind, and proving them with innumerable miracles and certain evidences. Since this is so, all the miracles and evidences proving their prophethood and veracity testified to the hereafter and eternal life, which was their constant and most important teaching. Making an analogy with this, all the evidences proving the other pillars of belief testify also to the resurrection of the dead and the throwing open of the realm of bliss.

 

Thirdly: In order to display His perfections and His power and dominicality, an All-Glorious Maker, a Beauteous Maker, an All-Perfect Allah creates the universe together with all its atoms, planets, parts, and levels. With perfect wisdom He continuously makes each being work at a task, indeed, at numerous tasks, and in order to display the eternal, endless manifestations of His Names, He sends caravan after caravan, indeed, world after travelling renewed world, and the tribes of creatures to the guest-house of this world and the arena of trial which is worldly life. He records for the cinemas of the hereafter set up in the World of Similitudes, with the cameras of the Intermediate Realm, all their images, deeds, and circumstances, and after releasing them from their duties, sends other tribes, caravans, and flowing, travelling worlds to the arena in order to perform those duties and be mirrors to the manifestations of His Names. Is it therefore at all possible that there should be no realm of reward and punishment, no resurrection of the dead and last judgement for men, who with consciousness and intelligence respond in this fleeting world to all the aims of the Creator, loving Him with all their capacity and making Him love them; recognizing Him and making Him known; beseeching with endless supplications everlasting happiness in the hereafter; and since, possessing intelligence, they suffer infinite pains, they long for eternal life, which is pure pleasure, with all their beings, spirits, and capacities? God forbid! A hundred thousand times, God forbid!

 

Since these brief indications are proved and explained brilliantly, powerfully and in detail in the Risale-i Nur, we refer you to that and here cut this long story short.

 

Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise.7

 

* * *

 

 

 

A Brief Summary of Sura al-Fatiha

 

[Part Two of the only lesson I gave after having been transferred temporarily from solitary confinement in the third ‘School of Joseph’ to the company of others.]

 

This is a short sample of the lessons given to the Risale-i Nur students in prison:

 

While reciting Sura al-Fatiha during the prayers, it commanded me to expound one drop from its ocean and a single flash from the seven colours in the light of its sun. For sure we had written some very sweet and agreeable points from this sacred treasury in part of the Twenty-Ninth Letter, particularly in the journey of imagination taken in “the Nun of na‘budu,” and the Eight Symbols (Rumuz-u Semaniye), and the Qur’anic commentary Signs of Miraculousness (Ishârâtü’l-I’caz), and in other parts of the Risale-i Nur, but I felt obliged to write down my reflections during the prayers, but only the allusions to the pillars of belief and their proofs from that very sweet Qur’anic summary, in the form of a concise extract and in the manner of Part One above. So referring the phrase In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate to two or three treatises of the Risale-i Nur, I am starting from All praise be to God:

 

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. * All praise be to God, the Sustainer of the All the Worlds. * The Merciful, the Compassionate; * Owner of the Day of Judgement; * You alone do we worship and from You alone do we seek help; * Guide us to the Straight Path; * The path of those whom You have blessed, not those who have received Your anger, nor those who have gone astray.8

 

FIRST PHRASE: ‘All praise be to God’

 

A very brief allusion to the proof of the truths of belief in this phrase.

 

Filling the face of the earth, indeed, the universe, are intentional bestowals and bounties, which are the cause of praise and thanks, especially the sending of pure, clean, nutritious milk to infants from between blood and excrement; so too are there purposeful gifts and presents, and kindly benefactions and feasts. The price of these is to say “In the Name of God” at the start, “All praise be to God” at the end, and in the middle to perceive the bestowal in the bounty, and through it to recognize your Sustainer. Consider your own self, your stomach, and your senses! How many things and bounties they need! See how many foods and delights they want for the price of praise and thanks, then compare all living creatures with yourself. Thus, the endless praise offered verbally and through tongues of disposition in response to these general bestowals shows as clearly as the sun the existence and universal dominicality of One Who is Worshipped and Praised, an All-Compassionate Bestower of Bounties.

 

SECOND PHRASE: ‘The Sustainer of All the Worlds’

 

A very short allusion to the proof contained in this phrase:

 

We see with our eyes that within the universe are not thousands, but millions of worlds, small universes, mostly one within the other. Although the conditions for the administration and running of these are all different, they are organized, maintained, and administered so perfectly that like a single page held constantly in view the universe is renewed and changed, and like a line, each of all those worlds is written by a pen of power and determining. Every instant attestations, particular and universal, are made, boundless, unending testimonies to the number of minute particles and the beings formed of them, to the necessary existence and unity of a Sustainer of All the Worlds who administers these millions of worlds and travelling universes with an infinite knowledge, wisdom, and limitless all-embracing mercy within an infinite dominicality. Not to affirm, perceive, understand or see a dominicality which raises and administers with the same law, the same dominicality, the same wisdom, all beings from the arable field of particles to the solar system and the Milky Way, and from the cells of the body to the storehouse of the earth, to the universe in its entirety, certainly makes a person deserving of endless torment, and negates his worthiness to be pitied.

 

THIRD PHRASE: ‘The Merciful, the Compassionate’

 

An extremely brief allusion to the proof in this phrase:

 

Yes, the existence and reality of a boundless mercy is as clearly apparent in the universe as the light of the sun. As certainly as light testifies to the sun, so this extensive mercy testifies to a Most Merciful and Compassionate One behind the veil of the Unseen. An important part of mercy being sustenance, that mercy is signified by the Name of Provider. As for sustenance, it points to an All-Compassionate Provider so clearly that anyone with an iota of intelligence is compelled to affirm Him. For example, He sends food to all living beings, particularly to the helpless and young, throughout the earth and the atmosphere, in truly wondrous fashion beyond their wills and power, from seeds, droplets of fluid, and grains of earth which all resemble each other. He makes the hen-birds search out the food and bring it their wingless, frail chicks in the nests at the tops of trees. He subjugates the hungry lioness to her cubs, so she does not eat the meat she finds but gives it them. He sends the pleasant, nutritious, pure, white milk, like the water of Kawthar, from the springs of breasts to the infants of humans and young of other animals, without it being polluted by red blood and filthy excrement, sending also their mothers’ tenderness to assist them. Then just as in truly wondrous fashion He causes the appropriate sustenance to hasten to all the trees, which need a sort of food, so He bestows an extensive table of foods on man’s senses, which require sustenance physical and non-physical, and on his mind, heart, and spirit. It is as though the universe consists of hundreds of thousands of laden tables of every different kind and sort, all enfolded one within the other like the petals of the rose and shirts of the maize cob. With a multitude of various tongues, particular and universal, to the number of tables and the foods they bear and their bounties, these point out to everyone who is not completely blind a Most Merciful Provider, an All-Compassionate and Munificent One.

 

If it is said: The calamities, ugliness, and evils in this world are contrary to that all-embracing mercy, and spoil it.

 

The Answer: This question has been answered completely satisfactorily in various parts of the Risale-i Nur such as the Treatise On Divine Determining. Referring you to them, here we make only a brief allusion, as follows:

 

All the elements, all the realms of beings, and all creatures, have numerous duties, particular and universal, and each of those duties yields numerous results and fruits. For the most part these are beneficial, beautiful, good, and are mercy. Only a few of them encounter those lacking ability, those who act wrongly, or those who deserve punishment and disciplining, or those who will be the means of producing many shoots of good. An apparent, minor evil is ugliness; it is apparently unkind. But if for that minor evil not to occur, the element and universal being is prevented by mercy from performing its duty, then all its other good and beautiful results would not come into existence. Since the non-existence of a good is evil and the spoiling of beauty is ugly, evils, ugliness, and pitilessness would occur to the number of those results. Thus, hundreds of evil and instances of unkindness would be perpetrated just so that one evil would not occur, which would be entirely contrary to wisdom, benefit, and the mercy of dominicality. For example, things like snow, cold, fire, and rain have hundreds of benefits and purposes. If through their own choice careless or imprudent people harm themselves, for instance if they put their hands in the fire and say there is no mercy in its creation, the innumerable good, beneficial, merciful uses of fire will give them the lie, and hit them in the mouth.

 

Moreover, man’s selfish desires and lowly emotions, which are blind to consequences, cannot be the criteria, measure, or balance of the laws of mercy, sovereignty, and dominicality which are in force in the universe. He sees things according to the colour of his own mirror. A black-hearted, cruel person sees the universe as weeping, ugly, dark, and tyrannical. But if he looks through the eye of belief, he sees a macroanthropos clothed in seventy thousand beautiful garments one over the other, sewn of instances of mercy, good, and wisdom. Like a houri of Paradise dressed in seventy fine garments, it is always laughing, smiling with mercy. He will observe that mankind within it is a miniature universe, and each individual man a microcosm. He will exclaim with all his heart and spirit:

 

“All praise be to God, the Sustainer of All the Worlds * The Merciful, the Compassionate. * Owner of the Day of Judgement!”

 

FOURTH PHRASE: ‘Owner of the Day of Judgement’

 

A very concise indication of the proof contained in this phrase:

 

Firstly: All the evidences which testify to the proof of ‘And to Him is your return,’ and to the resurrection of the dead and hereafter at the end of the Part One of this lesson, testify to the extensive truth of belief which ‘Owner of the Day of Judgement’ indicates.

 

Secondly: As is said at the end of the Tenth Word, just as the eternal dominicality, mercy, and wisdom of the universe’s Maker, and his pre-eternal and post-eternal beauty, glory, and perfection, and His endless other attributes and hundreds of Names certainly require the hereafter; so does the Qur’an testify to the abode of the hereafter with thousands of its verses and proofs, as does Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him) with his hundreds of miracles and evidences, and all the prophets (Peace be upon them) and the revealed books and scriptures, with their innumerable evidences. The person, therefore, who does not believe in the everlasting life of the hereafter casts himself into a sort of Hell in this world, arising from his unbelief, and suffers constant torment. As is described in A Guide For Youth, through their death and parting, all the past and the future and creatures and universes continuously rain down endless pains on his spirit and heart, making him suffer the torments of Hell before going there.

 

Thirdly: ‘The Day of Judgement’ (Yawm al-Din) alludes to a vast and powerful proof of the resurrection of the dead, but a situation has arisen here causing the postponement of that proof to another time. Perhaps too, no need remains for it. For various parts of the Risale-i Nur have proved with hundreds of powerful arguments that the morning and spring of the resurrection of the dead and Great Gathering will occur as certainly as day follows night and spring follows winter.

 

FIFTH PHRASE: ‘You alone do we worship and from You alone do we seek help.’

 

It occurred to me that before pointing out the proof contained in this phrase, I should relate a true journey of the imagination which is described in the Twenty-Ninth Letter. It was like this:

 

As is explained in the Risale-i Nur, and especially in the Qur’anic commentary, Signs of Miraculousness (Isharat al-I‘jaz) and The Eight Symbols (Rumûz-u Semâniye), one time when I was seeking out the Qur’an’s miracles I found four or five miraculous predictions at the end of Sura al-Fath and an historical miracle in the verse: This day We shall save you in your body,9 and even flashes of miraculousness in numerous other words and sometimes miraculous points in letters. Then, when reciting Sura al-Fatiha during the prayers, a question occurred to me in order to inform me of a miracle in the Nun of na‘budu and nasta‘in ([You alone] do we worship [and from You alone] do we seek help).

 

Why was it not “You alone do I worship and from You alone do I seek help,” rather than the first person plural, that is, “We worship You and We seek help from You”? Suddenly the broad arena of a journey of the imagination opened up through the door of that “Nun” (we). I understood experientially the mighty mystery and vast benefits of praying in congregation, and that this single letter is a miracle, and I actually saw this. It was as follows:

 

At that time while performing the prayers in Bayezid Mosque in Istanbul, I said: “You alone do we worship and from You alone do we seek help.” I looked and saw that the congregation in the mosque was saying “Guide us!” the same as me; its members were all participating in my supplication, corroborating it. Then another veil was drawn back. I saw that all the mosques in Istanbul had as though become a huge Bayezid Mosque. All their congregations were exclaiming: “You alone do we worship and from You alone do we seek help” like me, setting their seals on my assertions and entreaties, and saying “Amen!” to them. Then within their taking on the form of intercessors for me, a further veil was unfolded in my imagination. I saw that the World of Islam had assumed the form of a huge mosque, with Mecca and the Ka‘ba as the mihrab. The rows of all the Muslims performing the prayers were in circles facing the sacred mihrab. Saying like me “You alone do we worship and from You alone do we seek help * Guide us...” each was both supplicating in the name of all, and testifying, and affirming it; also making all the others intercessors for himself. Then, when thinking: “What such a vast community claims could not be wrong and its supplications would not be rejected; it repulses Satanic doubts,” and when affirming the vast, self-evident benefits of performing the prayers in congregation, another veil was unfolded. I saw that the universe and all the varieties of creatures were as though performing the prayers through the tongues of their beings and worshipping in a way particular to each. Responding with extensive worship to the all-embracing dominicality of the Glorious All-Worshipped One, each group affirmed the testimonies and affirmation of Divine unity of all the others. While observing that this was the case since they all take up positions proving the same result, yet another veil was unfolded. I saw that just as the universe, the macroanthropos, exclaims: “You alone do we worship and from You alone do we seek help” with the tongue of disposition, and numerous of its parts declare it through the tongue of capacity and innate need, and conscious beings say it verbally, all thus displaying their worship before the Creator’s compassionate dominicality; in just the same way, through the silent tongue of need and submission to their Creator’s dominicality, all the particles, powers, and senses of my body, like those of all my companions in that vast congregation, each resembling a tiny universe, declared: “You alone do we worship and from You alone do we seek help.” In this way they showed that they were acting in accordance with the Divine will and command and were at every instant in need of their Creator’s grace and mercy and assistance. And just as entering through the door of the Nun, I had observed in wonderment both the sacred mystery of performing the prayers in congregation and the beautiful miracle of the Nun, so I went out from it. “All praise be to God!”, I exclaimed. Thereafter I became accustomed to reciting the verse, You alone do we worship and from You alone do we seek help on account of those three congregations and those companions, great and small.

 

Now we have completed the introduction and come to our main topic, and a brief indication of the proof alluded to by You alone do we worship and from You alone do we seek help:

 

Firstly: We see with our own eyes that in the universe and especially on the face of the earth, within an awesome, continuous, regular activity and creativity, a compassionate, administering absolute dominicality responds with perfect wisdom and favour to the pleas for help and entreaties made by act, tongue, and state, replying actively to each. Sound intelligences and the eye of belief see within the appearance of this dominicality, the response of the manifestation of an absolute Godhead, an Object of universal worship, to the thousands of sorts of worship of all beings, particularly living beings, and the voluntary, innate worship of all the groups of mankind in all its varieties. All the revealed scriptures and prophets also tell of this.

 

Secondly: As signified by the nun of na‘budu in the introduction above, each of the three congregations, and all of them, being engaged all together in their different, innate, voluntary worship, is without doubt a grateful response to a ‘worshippedness,’ and a boundless, unequivocal testimony to a Most Holy Object of Worship. As signified by the nun of nasta’in, the three congregations mentioned above, that is, every group and every individual from the totality of the universe to the congregation of the particles of a living body utters pleas for help and supplications both by act and state, testifying indubitably to the One Who administers them compassionately and hastens to assist them, and replies to and accepts their entreaties. For example, as is said in the Twenty-Third Word, the acceptance of the three sorts of supplications of all the creatures on the earth in a way which is truly wondrous and beyond all expectation, testifies definitely to a Compassionate Sustainer and Answerer of Prayer. Yes, before our eyes the supplications of grains and seeds to their Creator through the tongue of innate capacity to become shoots and trees, are accepted. Similarly, all living creatures seeking from someone through the tongue of innate need, their sustenance, which their hands cannot reach, and all their vital necessities and desires, which are beyond their power, testifies clearly to a Munificent Creator Who before our eyes accepts all those supplications they offer through the tongue of innate need, and at exactly the right time wisely makes strange, unconscious creatures speedily reply to their calls for help.

 

Thus, as in the above two paragraphs, the acceptance of the verbal supplications of all groups, especially the wondrous acceptance of the prophets’ (Peace be upon them) supplications and those of the elite, attest to the proof of Divine unity which From You alone do we seek help comprises.

 

SIXTH PHRASE: ‘Guide us to the Straight Path’

 

Yes, just as the shortest way among paths leading from one place to another, and the shortest of lines drawn from one distant point to another, are the straightest and most direct; in exactly the same way, the straightest and most direct of spiritual paths and interior ways are the shortest and easiest. For example, all the comparisons in the Risale-i Nur between the ways of belief and unbelief demonstrate decisively that the way of belief and the affirmation of Divine unity is extremely short, direct, straight, and easy, while the ways of unbelief and denial are extremely lengthy, difficult, and dangerous. That is to say, unbelief and the association of partners with God are not tenable in this straight, wise universe, in which everything is driven down the easiest and shortest path, and belief and the affirmation of Divine unity are as necessary and essential in the universe as the sun.

 

Also, the most comfortable, beneficial, and the shortest and safest way in human morality and conduct is the way of the straight path and moderation.

 

For example, if the power of reason deviates from the wisdom of the middle way and the easy, beneficial straight path, it falls into either excess and a pernicious wiliness, or deficiency and a calamitous stupidity, and is prey to all sorts of difficulties on their lengthy paths.

 

And if the power of anger does not follow the path of courage, which is the middle way, it descends into either excess and a most injurious, oppressive fury and arrogance, or into deficiency and an abased, painful cowardice and timidity, and as the penalty for the error of deviating from the straight path, suffers continuous torments of the conscience.

 

And if the power of animal appetites strays from the safe middle way of chastity, it falls into either excess and a calamitous, shameful debauchery and immorality, or into deficiency and frigidity, that is, an inability to experience pleasure, and suffers the torments of that spiritual sickness.

 

Thus, like these, in personal life and social life, in all their ways, the direct path is the easiest, shortest, and most beneficial. And ways other than the straight path are full of troubles, and are lengthy and harmful.

 

That is to say, just as Guide us to the straight path is a comprehensive supplication and wide-reaching worship, so it indicates a proof of Divine unity, instruction in wisdom, and moral training.

 

SEVENTH PHRASE: ‘The path of those whom You have blessed’

 

A concise indication of the proof contained in this phrase:

 

Firstly: The answer to the question of who “those” are, is the verse:

 

Of the prophets [who teach], the sincere [lovers of the truth], the witnesses [or martyrs] [who testify], and the righteous [who do good].10

 

This verse lists the four classes of mankind who have received the bounty of right-guidance. That is, with “the prophets” it indicates Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him), who is the leader of the four classes, with “the sincere [lovers of the truth]” Abu Bakr the Veracious, and with “the witnesses [or martyrs] [who testify]” ‘Umar, Uthman, and ‘Ali (May God be pleased with them). With these prophecies, that after the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and after Abu Bakr, both ‘Umar, and ‘Uthman, and ‘Ali would be both Caliphs and martyrs, this verse displays a flash of miraculousness.

 

Secondly: The truth of Divine unity, which these most elevated, most true and rightly-guided four classes of mankind have taught with all their strength since the time of Adam, with innumerable proofs, miracles, wonders, evidences, and illuminations, and whom the majority of mankind have affirmed, is most certainly as definite as the sun. With their hundreds of thousands of miracles and proofs, these pre-eminent members of mankind have proved their veracity and truthfulness, and their consensus and agreement in positive matters such as Divine unity and the Creator’s necessary existence forms such a proof it can be in no way doubted. They are the straightest and the most veracious and verified of guides and the leaders in perfection among mankind, and man is the most important result of the universe, the Divine vicegerent on earth, and of living creatures the most elevated and with the most comprehensive capacity. Those therefore who do not recognize a truth upon which those four classes have unanimously agreed, and deny the truths in which they believed unshakeably, with ‘absolute certainty’, ‘vision of certainty’, and ‘knowledge of certainty’, and in proof of which they put forward the universe together with all its beings, such deniers surely perpetrate an infinite crime and are deserving of infinite punishment.

 

EIGHTH PHRASE: ‘Not those who have received Your wrath nor those who have gone astray’

 

A concise indication of the proof contained in this phrase:

 

Based on unanimous reports, and universal, certain events and observations, human history and the sacred revealed scriptures relate in clear, definite fashion how on thousands of occasions succour arrived wondrously from the Unseen for the prophets, the people of the straight path, and how what they sought was given them exactly, and how on hundreds of occasions wrath and heavenly blows were visited on their enemies, the deniers. This demonstrates conclusively and unmistakably that the universe and mankind within it have a sovereign, just, generous, munificent, mighty, subjugating Disposer and Sustainer Who in various historical incidents wondrously bestowed victory and salvation on many of the prophets such as Noah, Abraham, Moses, Hud, and Salih (Peace be upon them), and visited terrible heavenly calamities on numerous oppressors and deniers like the Thamud, ‘Ad, and Pharaoh, as punishment in this world too for rebellion against the prophets.

 

Since the time of Adam (Peace be upon him), two mighty conflicting currents have come down to us. One is that of the people of prophethood, righteousness, and belief, who, following the straight path, receive the bounty of happiness in this world and the next. Since they act in accordance with the true beauty, order, and perfection of the universe, they both receive the favours of the universe’s Owner, and experience happiness in this world and the next. Being the means of mankind rising to the level of the angels, or higher, through the truths of belief they attain to a sort of Paradise in this world, and to bliss in the hereafter, and they cause others to win these too.

 

As for the second current, because it deviates from the straight path and through excess and deficiency transforms the intelligence into an instrument of torture amassing pains, it casts humanity down to a degree lower than the animals. Moreover, in addition to receiving the blows of Divine wrath in return for their wrongdoing in this world, due to their intelligences, they see the universe as a place of universal mourning and as the slaughterhouse of living creatures toppling over in death, and as exceedingly ugly and confused, thus causing their consciences to suffer a perpetual Hell in this world and making themselves deserving of everlasting torment in the next.

 

Thus, the verse,

 

Not those who have received Your wrath nor those who have gone astray

 

at the end of Sura al-Fatiha informs us of these two mighty currents. It is also the source, basis, and master of all the comparisons in the Risale-i Nur. Since the treatises of the Risale-i Nur expound this verse with hundreds of comparisons, we refer you to them for further explanation, and here suffice with this brief indication.

 

NINTH PHRASE: ‘Amen’

 

An extremely brief allusion to this:

 

The nun in na’budu and nasta’in points out to us those three great congregations, particularly the congregations of those who affirm Divine unity in the mosque of the World of Islam, and especially the congregations of millions performing the prayers at that time, and it places us among them and opens the way for us to receive a share of their intercession; we too, then, through the word “Amen,” join in the supplications of that congregation of believing worshippers, affirming what they say, and offering a plea that their intercession and seeking of help will be accepted. It transforms our insignificant worship, supplications, and entreaties into universal, extensive worship, causing universal dominicality to respond to it. That is to say, through the mystery of the brotherhood of belief and Islamic unity, through the bonds of unity of the congregation of millions in the mosque of the Islamic world at the time of the prayers, and by means of ‘spiritual radios,’ the “Amen” at the end of Sura al-Fatiha acquires universality and may become millions of “Amens.”11

 

All praise be to God, the Sustainer of All the Worlds.

 

Glory be unto to You! We have no knowledge save that which you taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise.12

 

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

 

And from Him do we seek help

 

[Part Three of a single lesson of the third School of Joseph]

 

Introduction

 

Part Two was written at the implied command of Sura al-Fatiha in the five daily prayers, and through the effulgence of ‘I testify that there is no god but God.’ Now I have been obliged —for three reasons I am not at present permitted to disclose— to write this Third Part, prompted by the tongue of ‘I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of God,’ and through the effulgence of the sublime verses at the end of Sura al-Fath:

 

It is He Who sent His Prophet with guidance and the Religion of Truth, to proclaim it over all religion, and enough is God for a Witness. * Muhammad is the Messenger of God; and those who are with him are strong against unbelievers, [but] compassionate among each other,13

 

which contain five miraculous predictions. Referring the details, explanations, and documented proofs to The Miracles of Muhammad in Zülfikâr, which is about the Messengership of Muhammad (PBUH), and to the Arabic al-Hizb al-Nuri in The Supreme Sign, here shall be written very briefly and concisely in the second and third of three ‘Indications’, a summary of the Hizb al-Nuri and a sort of translation of the part of the testimony of faith “Muhammad is the Messenger of God” which I constantly use in my Arabic reflective thought together with the affirmation of Divine unity, repeating them in the tesbihat following the prayers.

 

FIRST INDICATION

 

Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him), who responded with universal worship and teaching to the manifestation of the dominicality of the universe’s Owner, and His eternal Godhead, and His infinite bounties, is as necessary for the universe as is the sun. For he is the supreme master of mankind and its greatest prophet, the Glory of the World, and the one addressed by “If not for you, if not for you, I would not have created the spheres.”14 The Muhammadan Reality was the reason for the world’s creation, and is its result and most perfect fruit. So too, truths connected with the universe such as its true perfections and its being the enduring mirrors of an eternal Beauteous One of Glory, and the manifestation of His Names, and the works —charged with duties— of His wise acts, and His most meaningful missives, and its bearing an everlasting world, and its producing the result of the hereafter and an abode of bliss for which all conscious creatures yearn, — these are all realized through the Muhammadan (PBUH) Reality and his messengership. Since this is so, the universe testifies most powerfully and decisively to his messengership. Moreover, the messengership of Muhammad (PBUH) and the Muhammadan Reality give certain good news of eternal life, which, in order to be saved from non-existence, nothingness, eternal extinction, and absolute annihilation, foremost the World of Islam, and all mankind and all conscious creatures, constantly and earnestly seek, with all the powers of their comprehensive natures, with the tongues of all their abilities, and with all their supplications, worship, and entreaties. They thus testify to Muhammad’s messengership and the Muhammadan Reality, endorsing that he is the pride of mankind and the most noble of creatures. Moreover, in accordance with the rule “the cause is like the doer,” the equivalent of all the good works performed every day by three hundred and fifty million believers being recorded in Muhammad’s (Peace and blessings be upon him) book of good works, and the single person of Muhammad (PBUH) attaining to a ‘station’ manifesting the universal worship and effulgence of hundreds of millions of righteous worshippers, and perhaps thousands of millions, testifies in truly powerful fashion to his messengership, affirming it.

 

SECOND INDICATION

 

The following indicates more than twenty testimonies, which I always ponder over reflectively in the course of my invocations:

 

Muhammad is the Messenger of God, ever faithful to his promise, through the testimony of his sudden appearance with a perfect religion, Islam, and Shari‘a despite being unlettered, with the firmest belief, faith, and worship, the most elevated cause, supplications, and prayers, the most general message, utter steadfastness, and wondrous fruitfulness, all without equal.

 

A translation of the above15 and a brief exposition of its meaning are the following testimonies to the messengership of Muhammad (PBUH).

 

The First is a proof of prophethood proceeding from eleven of his attributes and states. Yes, his appearing —despite being unlettered— suddenly and without experience with a religion which has left in amazement the learned men and philosophers of fourteen centuries and has won first place among the revealed religions is an attribute without equal.

 

Also unequalled is the fact that Islam, which emerged from his words, actions, and conduct, has at all times educated and trained the spirits, souls, and minds of three hundred and fifty million people, taking them to spiritual advancement.

 

Moreover, he appeared with such a Shari‘a that for fourteen centuries it has ruled with its just laws one fifth of mankind, leading it to material and spiritual progress.

 

So too that Being (PBUH) appeared with such a faith and creed, and such strength of belief that all the people of reality have unanimously affirmed that, since they receive perpetual effulgence from it, his belief was at the highest and strongest degree. The opposition of his innumerable opponents at that time not causing him the slightest anxiety, doubt, or scruple, shows too that the strength of his belief was without equal or like.

 

He also displayed such worship of God and servitude to Him that bringing together the beginning and end of worship, imitating no one, he saw and conformed to the subtlest mysteries of worship, and fulfilled them even in times of greatest disturbance. This was an incomparable attribute, as was his offering such prayers, supplications and entreaties to his Creator that up to the present his degree has not been reached, even with the meeting of many minds. For example, in the supplication Jawshan al-Kabir, taking as intercessor a thousand and one Divine Names, he so describes and acquaints his Creator that it has no like. Thus, no one has attained to his knowledge of God.

 

He called people to religion with such steadfastness and announced his prophethood with such boldness that although his people, his uncle, the great powers of the world, and the followers of the former religions were all opposed and hostile to him, he did not fear or hold back even a jot, but challenged them all and successfully accomplished his task. This too was an unparalleled attribute.

 

Thus, these eight wondrous, matchless attributes form a truly powerful testimony to his veracity and prophethood. They show too that there is complete certainty concerning his utter seriousness, trustworthiness, veracity, and truthfulness. Every day in the tashahhud with millions of tongues the World of Islam declares: “Peace be upon you, O Prophet! And may God’s mercy and blessings be upon you.” It submits to the function with which he was charged, and affirming the good news of the eternal happiness which he brought, it gratefully says: “Peace be upon you, O Prophet!” in the face of the sure way leading to eternal life which mankind seeks and yearns for with an innate, profound longing, thus meeting with him in spirit and congratulating him in the name of three hundred million, indeed, thousands of millions.

 

The Second Testimony, which comprises twenty universal testimonies, as well as many others: Through the testimony to his veracity of all truths of the pillars of belief.

 

That is, the truths, realities, and veracity of the six pillars of belief testify decisively to Muhammad’s (PBUH) messengership and veracity. For the collective personality of his life as Messenger and the basis of all he claimed and the essence of his prophethood were those six pillars. In which case, all the evidences verifying the pillars of belief proved the truth of Muhammad’s (PBUH) messengership, and his veracity. The evidences for the hereafter of the other pillars of faith are set forth in The Fruits of Belief (Meyve Risalesi) and the Addenda of the Tenth Word; and all the pillars together with their proofs form a proof of his messengership.

 

The Third Universal Testimony, which comprises thousands of testimonies: Through the testimony of his self (Peace and blessings be upon him), through his thousands of miracles, perfections, and fine morality.

 

That is: he was a proof of himself as brilliant as the sun, through the powerful testimony to his messengership and veracity of his thousands of miracles, attainments and perfections, and his elevated character and fine morality. Yes, as is proved in the wondrous treatise of The Miracles of Muhammad (PBUH) through more than three hundred sound narrations, in accordance with the explicit verses

 

And the moon split,16

 

and

 

And when you threw, it was not you who threw; it was rather God that threw,17

 

the moon splitting in two at the sign of a single finger of his hand; and water flowing forth in five springs from the five fingers of the same hand, and an entire thirsty army drinking from these and testifying to it; and his casting a handful of dust with the same hand at an attacking enemy army, and their turning tail and fleeing when the dust entered the eyes of all of them; and small pebbles uttering glorifications in the same hand, as though they were human, saying: “Glory be to God!” —hundreds of incidents such as these, which are related in ‘sound’ narrations; and some about which there are unanimous reports described in the histories, and miracles, which according to exacting scholars numbered around a thousand, appearing at his hand; and according to friend and foe alike his fine attributes and good character being of the very highest degree;18 and the unanimous agreement —at the degree of ‘absolute certainty’— of all the people of reality, who have attained to spiritual perfection through following him and reached ‘the vision of certainty’ in the realities, that Muhammad’s (PBUH) perfections and attainments were of the very highest level; and the spiritual achievements of the World of Islam, which proceeds from his religion; as well as the truths of mighty Islam — all these furnish evidence for his wondrous perfections. This surely means that this Being (PBUH) testified in most brilliant and universal fashion to his own messengership.

 

The Fourth Testimony, which comprises numerous powerful testimonies: Through the testimony of the Qur’an, with all its truths and proofs. That is, the Qur’an of Miraculous Exposition testifies to his messengership and veracity with its innumerable truths and proofs.

 

Yes, with all its veracious truths, the Qur’an of Mighty Stature, which as is proved Zülfikâr is miraculous in forty respects, has illumined fourteen centuries and governed through its unchanging laws one fifth of mankind; and from that time to this has challenged all those who have opposed it; and not even one of the suras of which anyone has dared to produce the like of; and as is proved in The Supreme Sign, whose six aspects are luminous and cannot be penetrated by doubts; and whose veracity is endorsed by six supreme ‘stations’; which is based on six unshakeable truths; and is eagerly and respectfully recited every moment by hundreds and millions of tongues, and is inscribed with its sacredness on the hearts of hafizes; and from whose testimony proceeds all the testimony and belief of the World of Islam; and from whose source flow forth all the sciences of belief and of Islam; and just as it affirms all the previous revealed scriptures, so is it affirmed by them; — with all its truths and all its proofs of its veracity, the Qur’an of Mighty Stature testifies to the truthfulness and messengership of Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him).

 

The Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Universal Testimonies:

 

Through the testimony of Jawshan al-Kabir, and the sacredness of its allusions; and the Risale-i Nur, and the power of its proofs; and the past, and the unanimity of its signs of a forthcoming prophet; and the future, and the confirmation of thousands of its events.

 

That is to say, Jawshan al-Kabir, which looks both explicitly and allusively to a thousand and one Divine Names; is a wondrous supplication that in one respect proceeds from the Qur’an; is superior to all the other invocations recited by those who advance in knowledge of God; which was brought as revelation by Gabriel during a military expedition, who said: “Cast away your armour and in its place read this Jawshan!” — the truths it contains and its perfectly accurate descriptions of the Sustainer testify to Muhammad’s (PBUH) messengership and veracity. So too, through proving rationally and logically as a single proof with its one hundred and thirty parts all the truths of the messengership of Muhammad (PBUH), and teaching matters which in the view of philosophy are remote from reason in the most reasonable and easy fashion as though they were before one’s very eyes, the Risale-i Nur —which in one respect received effulgence from the Jawshan and was born of it— testifies in universal fashion to Muhammad’s (PBUH) messengership and veracity.

 

Also, the past was a universal witness to his messengership, for numerous incidents which occurred before the commencement of his prophethood called irhasat, and wonders which were counted as miracles of the coming prophet and are related unanimously in the histories and books of biography, testify in authentic fashion to his messengership. These are of many different sorts. A part of them are described in the coming ‘Testimonies’ below, and others are related in the form of sound narrations in Zülfikâr and in books of history.

 

For example, close to the time of the Prophet’s (PBUH) birth stones being rained down from the claws of the ababil birds on the heads of Abraha’s soldiers, who had come to destroy the Ka‘ba; and on the night of his birth the idols in the Ka‘ba all toppling over; and the palace of Chrosroes the Persian being destroyed; and the fire-worshipping Zoroastrians’ fire being extinguished that night, which had been burning continuously for a thousand years; and on the certain reports of Bahira the Monk and Halima al-Sa‘diya, clouds throwing shadows around his head; numerous events like these gave forewarning of his prophethood before its commencement.

 

Also, there were very many events of differing kinds that he predicted would occur in the future, that is, after his death. Some were prophecies about his Family and Companions, and the conquests of Islam, which are given in The Miracles of Muhammad in Zülfikâr, together with their authentic sources. Others were eighty accurate predictions, including ‘Uthman (May God be pleased with him) being martyred while reading the Qur’an, Husayn (May God be pleased with him) being martyred at Karbala, the conquests of Syria and Iran and Istanbul, and emergence of the ‘Abbasid dynasty, and Jenghiz and Hulagu defeating and destroying it, have all been described in detail on the basis of sound narrations and the books of history and the Prophet’s biography. This means that numerous predictions of future events, and the future, which proved Muhammad’s (PBUH) veracity, testify also in powerful and universal fashion to Muhammad’s messengership and its veracity.

 

The Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Testimonies:

 

Through the testimony of Muhammad’s Family to his veracity through the power of their certain belief at the degree of ‘absolute certainty;’ and of his Companions, through their perfect belief at the degree of ‘the vision of certainty;’ and of the purified scholars through the power of their investigations at the degree of ‘knowledge of certainty;’ and of the spiritual poles, through the conformity of their illuminations and unfoldings with his messengership and its certainty.

 

That is, of the universal testimonies to Muhammad’s (PBUH) truthfulness and veracity,

 

The Ninth: With their unanimous and absolutely certain belief, and their unfoldings and illuminations, and the extraordinary guidance they gave the Umma and their wonder-working, the great saints of Prophet’s (PBUH) Family, who in benedictions for the Prophet are held equal to the descendants of Abraham (Peace be upon him), who manifested the meaning of “The scholars of my community are the equivalent of the prophets of the Children of Israel,”19 and ‘Ali, Hasan, Husayn, and the twelve Imams of the Prophet’s Family, and the spiritual poles and leaders like Gawth al-A‘zam, Ahmad al-Rufa’i, Ahmad al-Badawi, Ibrahim al-Dassuqi, and Abu’l-Hasan al-Shazali all ratified through their belief and testimonies the messengership, veracity, and truthfulness of Muhammad (PBUH).

 

The Tenth: The Companions of the Prophet, regarded as the most elevated and esteemed group after the prophets, through the light of Muhammad (PBUH) came in a short time to govern with justice from east to west despite being illiterate nomads, and becoming advanced, educated, civilized masters, teachers, diplomats and just judges, they defeated world powers and made that century into an age of happiness. After scrutinizing every aspect of his conduct, through the power of the many miracles they witnessed with their own eyes, they abandoned their former enmities and the ways of their forefathers, and many of them such as Khalid ibn al-Walid and Ikrima Ibn Abu Jahl gave up the tribalism of their fathers. Their embracing Islam in truly devoted and self-sacrificing manner, and believing in Muhammad’s veracity and messengership at the degree of ‘vision of certainty’ forms an unshakeable universal testimony.

 

The Eleventh: The belief in Muhammad’s messengership and veracity in reasoned, logical manner at the degree of ‘knowledge of certainty’ of the mujtahids, imams, and authoritative scholars, who are known as the purified ones and veracious ones, and of the thousands of investigative scholars such as the brilliant philosophers Ibn Sina and Ibn Rushd, based on thousands of categorical arguments and definitive proofs, each following his own way, forms a testimony so universal that only one with the intelligence of all of them could oppose them.

 

One of those innumerable witnesses at the present time is the Risale-i Nur, before which the deniers have found themselves helpless, so deceiving the police and judiciary, have tried to silence it by means of the courts.

 

The Twelfth: In their spiritual progress, the profoundest people of reality and researchers into the realities known as spiritual poles, each of whom drew into the circle of his instruction a significant part of the Umma in the World of Islam, and through his wondrous guidance and wonder-working caused those people to advance spiritually, and whose progress was based on illumination and disclosing the realities in place of proofs —they saw ‘experientially’ through their illuminations Muhammad’s (PBUH) messengership and truthfulness and that his veracity was of the very highest degree. Their unanimous and mutually conforming testimony to his prophethood forms such a signature that no one who does not attain to a degree of perfections as elevated as all of them can erase it.

 

The Thirteenth Testimony, which consists of four universal, most extensive and definite proofs:

 

Through the testimony of the past and the agreement in the tidings of the soothsayers, the voices from the Unseen, and the gnostics in all the periods of the past, and the testimony of the tidings of the prophets and Divine messengers, Peace be upon them, and the good news of the messengership of Muhammad, Peace and blessings be upon him, in the previous holy scriptures.

 

A brief explanation of the above passage will be given here, for there are precise details together with the chains of authorities in the end section of The Miracles of Muhammad, in Zülfikâr.

 

It is recorded with sound narrations, and in part with unanimous reports, in the histories and books of Hadith and the Prophet’s biography that among the most prominent and famous of mankind in past times, foremost the prophets and the gnostics, soothsayers, and ‘voices from the Unseen’ foretold Muhammad’s (PBUH) messengership and coming unanimously, explicitly and repeatedly in the form of irhasat. Since the most powerful and certain of those thousands of predictions are described in detail in The Miracles of Muhammad, we refer you to that and here only say by way of a brief indication: out of hundreds in the revealed scriptures of the Torah, Gospels, and Psalms, brought by the prophets, twenty verses about the prophethood of Muhammad (PBUH) which are close to being explicit are written in the Nineteenth Letter (The Miracles of Muhammad). While Husayn al-Jisri found a hundred verses about Muhammad’s prophethood, despite the numerous corruptions in their texts made by Jews and Christians, and wrote them in his book.20

 

According to a sound narration concerning which were unanimous reports, the soothsayers, and foremost Shiqq and Satih, who by means of jinns and spirit beings gave information about the Unseen and are now called mediums, foretold explicitly the coming of God’s Messenger (PBUH) and that he would wipe out the Persian Empire. They stated repeatedly in a way that could not be doubted that a prophet was shortly to appear in the Hijaz.

 

Similarly, Ka‘b ibn Lu’ayy, one of the Prophet’s forefathers and a gnostic, and many other gnostics and the saints of that time such as the rulers of Yemen and Abyssinia, Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan and Tubba, foretold clearly Muhammad’s (PBUH) messengership, and proclaimed it in their poetry. The most important and certain of these are included in the Nineteenth Letter. One of those kings even said: “I would choose to be Muhammad’s (PBUH) servant in preference to ruling this kingdom.” Another said: “If I had lived to see him, I would have been his cousin.” That is, I would have been a devoted servant and minister of his like ‘Ali (May God be pleased with him). The histories and books of biography have published all these prophecies, showing that the gnostics affirmed Muhammad’s (PBUH) messengership and veracity with a powerful, universal testimony.

 

Similarly, spirit beings called ‘hatif,’ which are heard but not seen, made predictions about Muhammad’s messengership, the same as the gnostics and soothsayers, foretelling his prophethood in most explicit fashion. Also, by foretelling his prophethood, many other things affirmed his messengership and veracity, such as animals sacrificed to idols, idols, and gravestones, testifying through the tongue of history.

 

The Fourteenth Testimony: The following Arabic piece alludes to the universe’s powerful testimony:

 

Through the testimony of the universe to the comprehensive messengership of Muhammad (PBUH) through its aims and the Divine purposes in it, which would otherwise come to nothing, for through the sending of man and particularly of Muhammad its value and duties were established, and its beauties and perfections became clear, and the wisdom in its truths were realized. For his messengership revealed them and was the means of their realization. If it had not been for his messengership, this perfect universe, this eternal and meaningful mighty book, would have gone for nothing, its meanings would have vanished and its perfections declined utterly, which is impossible in numerous respects.

 

In The Supreme Sign, the above is interpreted as follows:

 

Just as the universe points to its Maker, Writer, and Inscriber, Who creates, administers, and organizes it, and Who decorating, determining, and planning it, has disposal over it as though it was a palace, a book, an exhibition, or place of display; so it requires and demands an elevated herald, a truthful discoverer, an exacting master, a faithful teacher, who will know the Divine purposes in its creation, and make them known, and will teach the instances of dominical wisdom in its changes, and announce the results of its dutiful motions, and proclaim its value and the perfections of the beings within it. Since this is so and it points to his existence, surely testifying in powerful and universal fashion to the veracity of Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him), who performed these duties better than anyone, and to his being the highest and most loyal official of its Creator, it declares: “I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of God.”

 

Yes, through the Light Muhammad (PBUH) brought the universe’s nature, value, and perfections, and the duties, results, and value of the beings within it and the fact that they are officials, all became known and were realized. From top to bottom it became Divine missives full of meaning, an embodied dominical Qur’an, and a magnificent exhibition of Divine works. If not for his Light, it becomes a mere desolate ruin, confused, a terrible place of mourning, toppling over into the darknesses of non-existence, nothingness, death, and obliteration. It is in consequence of this truth that the universe’s perfections, purposeful transformations, and eternal meanings declare in powerful fashion: “We testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of God!”

 

The Fifteenth Testimony: The following is an Arabic piece which comprises numerous sacred testimonies. It indicates the sacred testimony to Muhammad’s (PBUH) messengership given through the acts of the dominicality and deeds of mercifulness of the Necessarily Existent One Who has disposal over the universe, and through Whose will, command, and power occur all change and transformation, motion and rest, from minute particles to the planets, and all the disposals of life and death.

 

Through the testimony of the universe’s Owner, its Creator and Disposer, to the messengership of Muhammad, through the deeds of His mercifulness and acts of His dominicality; such as the mercy of revealing to him the Qur’an of Miraculous Exposition; and displaying many varieties of miracles at his hand; and assisting him and protecting him in all circumstances; and through perpetuating his religion together with all its truths; and by raising him to a position of high respect and honour and bestowal over all creatures, as is to be seen and observed; and His act of dominicality of making Muhammad’s messengership a spiritual sun in the universe, and making his religion the index of the perfections of His servants; and making his reality a comprehensive mirror to the manifestations of His Godhead; and His entrusting him with duties necessary for the existence of creatures in the universe such as mercy, wisdom, and justice, as necessary as food and water, and air and light.

 

Referring details of this most extensive, certain, and sacred testimony to the Risale-i Nur, here we shall merely take a look at a brief and concise meaning of it.

 

Since —in accordance with the justice and wisdom, mercy, favour, and protection which we see in the regular, orderly disposals in the universe— it is the practice of dominicality to always protect the good and deal blows at the bad and liars, as demanded by ‘the acts of His mercifulness,’ this world’s Disposer and Administrator revealed the Qur’an of Miraculous Exposition to Muhammad (PBUH); and He bestowed on him nearly a thousand miracles of very many sorts; and compassionately preserved him in all circumstances and dangerous situations, even by means of a pigeon and a spider; and gave him complete success in all his duties; and perpetuated his religion together with all its truths; and caused his religion of Islam to spread over all the earth and to all mankind; and by raising him to a position of honour above all creatures and a permanent rank of acceptance superior to all the pre-eminent of mankind and, as is agreed by friend and foe alike, bestowed on him the highest character and qualities, and made one fifth of mankind his community — all of which testify most decisively to his faithfulness and messengership; so we see from the point of view of ‘the acts of dominicality’ that this world’s Disposer and Administrator made Muhammad’s (PBUH) messengership a sun in the universe, and as is proved in the Risale-i Nur, caused it to dispel all kinds of darknesses and show its luminous truths, and make happy all conscious beings, indeed the universe, with the good news of eternal life; and He made his religion an index of perfections for all the acceptable people of worship and a sound programme for their acts of worship; and as is indicated by the Qur’an and Jawshan, He made Muhammad’s Reality, which is his collective personality, a comprehensive mirror to the manifestations of His Godhead; and as is indicated by the above-mentioned truths, and by the fact that every day for fourteen centuries he has gained the equivalent of all the good works of all his community, and by his works and traces in man’s social and spiritual life, He made him the highest leader, master, and authority of mankind; and sent him to the assistance of mankind with sacred, sublime duties, and made men as needy for his religion, his Shari‘a, and the truths of Islam21 as they are for mercy, wisdom, justice, food, air, water, and light; thus offering sacred testimony to Muhammad’s (PBUH) messengership with twelve universal, decisive proofs — since this is so, is it at all possible that the messengership of Muhammad (PBUH), which thus manifests these universal, extensive testimonies of the universe’s Owner, Who is not indifferent to the ordering of the wing of a fly even or a flower, should not be a Sun of the universe?

 

Each of these fifteen Testimonies comprise numerous testimonies, and through the tongue of miracles the Second even comprises thousands, thus proving the profession “I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of God” most powerfully and definitely and proclaiming its reality, value, and importance, so that every day five times in the tashahhud the World of Islam announces it to the universe with millions of tongues. So too, thousands of millions of believers unhesitatingly accept and affirm that the Muhammadan (PBUH) Reality, which is the basis of that profession, is the original seed of the universe, a reason for its creation, and its most perfect fruit. And the universe’s Owner (May His Glory be exalted) made that collective personality of Muhammad (PBUH) the loudest herald of the sovereignty of His dominicality; the accurate discloser of the talisman of the universe and riddle of creation; a shining exemplar of His favour and mercy; an eloquent tongue of His compassion and love; the most powerful bringer of the good tidings of everlasting life and happiness in the eternal realm; and of His messengers, His final and greatest Prophet.

 

It may be seen from this what a great error, foolishness, and crime those people commit who do not accept a truth such as this, or attach no importance to it, and what a terrible loss they suffer.

 

Thus, as indicated in Part Two, Sura al-Fatiha in the ritual prayers demonstrates with decisive proofs the affirmation of Divine unity in the profession “I testify that there is no god but God,” which is said in the tashahhud, setting innumerable signatures to it; so too this Third Part sets forth powerful testimonies to the reality of messengership claimed in “I testify that Muhammad is God’s Messenger,” again stated in the tashahhud, stamping it with innumerable confirmatory signatures.

 

O Most Merciful of the Merciful! In veneration of Your Most Noble Messenger (PBUH) allow us his intercession, give us success in following his Sunna, and make us neighbours to his Family and Companions in the Realm of Bliss! Amen. Amen. Amen.

 

O God! Grant him blessings and peace, and to his Family and Companions, to the number of the letters of the Qur’an, both those recited and those written. Amen.

 

Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise.22

 

 

The Fifteenth Ray

 

The Shining Proof

 

This consists of two ‘Stations’

 

[This lesson is a treatise which is apparently unimportant, but in reality is of the greatest importance, and is extremely powerful and comprehensive. It is a Qur’anic fruit of Paradise and of belief which was produced from the uniting —at the degrees of ‘knowledge of certainty’ and ‘absolute certainty’— of my life of reflective thought and the spiritual life of the Risale-i Nur, which is based on ascertaining reality through its evidences (tahkikî).1]

 

S a i d N u r s i

 

The First Station

 

[A concise summary of the Twentieth Letter, and Part One of the instruction given in the third ‘School of Joseph’.2 It consists of three ‘Parts’]

 

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

 

And from Him do we seek help

 

I am someone who has spent thirty-five years in seclusion, and particularly at night forgets the world, and having for twenty-three years suffered the annoyance of being under hostile surveillance, has become unsociable. Being all alone, I become fed up if I am for even an hour with anyone other than those who assist me or are desirous of the lessons of the Risale-i Nur. But then, on the pretext of the petition I wrote to the Court of Appeal about being held for eleven months in total solitary confinement in Afyon Prison, they forcibly transferred me to Ward Five and forbade my brothers to come to me. I was feeling truly alarmed that I would be unable to endure the crowded conditions when suddenly as a sign of wrath and anger, the cold became so severe I would not have survived had I remained in my former place. The hardship turned into mercy for me.

 

It occurred to me as I was reciting the tesbihat following the prayers: “In all the wards the Risale-i Nur students are working as hard as they can at the Risale-i Nur and its lessons both on their own account and in your place. But because this fifth ward is somewhat isolated and is constantly being filled and emptied, the need here is greater for the Risale-i Nur’s instruction. The youths and elderly people read the newspapers, which write about the assaults of Russia with its awesome denial of God, and are therefore in far greater need of its definitive, powerful instruction about belief in God’s existence and unity.” I was thinking of writing a brief summary of the Twentieth Letter and the sacred sentence:

 

There is no god but God, He is One, He has no partner; His is the sovereignty and His is the praise; He gives life and deals death, and He is Living and dies not; in His hand is all good; He is Powerful over all things; and to Him shall be your return,3

 

which for years I have recited ten times after the morning prayer. For it points out the affirmation of Divine unity on a vast scale, and with its eleven phrases demonstrates in detail as clearly as the sun both eleven proofs of the Divine necessary existence and dominical unity, and eleven good tidings. According to one narration, it bears the Greatest Name. But then it was suddenly imparted to me that I should teach this concise summary to Nadir Hoja and the youths here. So saying: “In the name of God,” I began:

 

This sentence demonstrating Divine unity contains eleven good tidings and eleven proofs of the truths of belief. For now, I shall point out briefly the proofs only and refer their further explanation and the good tidings to the Twentieth Letter and other parts of the Risale-i Nur. However, I cconsider it appropriate to write here a few points I did not tell them when I was writing the lesson. Of the eleven phrases of the above sentence affirming Divine unity:

 

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

 

The proof here is the treatise called The Supreme Sign (Âyetü’l-Kübra), which has been printed. It was because it is a matchless wonder that in giving news of various parts of the Risale-i Nur, Imam ‘Ali (May God be pleased with him) said: “And by the Supreme Sign preserve me from sudden death,” and making that Supreme Sign an intercessor, through the treatise’s victories in the Courts of both Ankara and Denizli and its spreading effectively and secretly, it was both the reason for the Risale-i Nur students being acquitted, and since its secret printing had led to the students’ imprisonment for nine months, it both clearly affirmed Imam ‘Ali’s (May God be pleased with him) wondrous prediction, and his prayer for the Risale-i Nur students.

 

Yes, the Seventh Ray, The Supreme Sign, points out thirty-three vast, universal, unanimous proofs in all beings. Alluding to innumerable evidences in each universal proof, it proves firstly that heavens indicate the Necessarily Existent One’s existence and unity with the words of the stars; the earth with the phrases and sentences of the animals and plants; and so on, until the universe as a whole, with the words of all its contents and beings, and the truths of contingency and createdness and change — it proves them as clearly as sunlight and as certainly as the day. Those who want unshakeable belief and seek an unbreakable sword to combat irreligion and anarchy should refer to The Supreme Sign.

 

THE SECOND PHRASE: ‘He is One’

 

A concise indication of the proof in this phrase is as follows:

 

In every aspect of the universe a unity, a oneness, is apparent. For example, it displays a unity and oneness by being a well set-out city, a magnificent palace, a meaningful, materialized book, and a embodied Qur’an every verse, and even every letter and point of which is miraculous. Similarly, since the palace’s lamp is one and the same, and its calendar-lamp, and fiery cook, and water-bearing sponges, and hundreds of thousands of other things it contains are all one and the same, it proves decisively that the owner, ruler, scribe, and author of the palace, city, book, and mighty embodied Qur’an is existent, one, and single.

 

THE THIRD PHRASE: ‘He has no partner’

 

A brief indication of the proof in this is as follows:

 

The source, master, and basis of The Supreme Sign is the sublime verse:

 

Say: if there had been [other] gods with Him —as they say— behold, they would certainly have sought out a way to the Lord of the Throne! [to the end of the verse],4

 

which is also called the Supreme Sign. That is, if God had any partners and others had intervened in creation and interfered in His dominicality, the order of the universe would have been spoilt.” However, the perfect order in everything, small and large, particular and universal, from the wing of the tiniest fly and the cell of the pupil of the eye to the numberless birds which fly through the air and the solar system, furnishes indubitable and decisive evidence for the impossibility and non-existence of any such partners. It also testifies self-evidently to the existence and unity of the Necessarily Existent One.

 

THE FOURTH PHRASE: ‘His is the dominion’

 

A concise indication of the lengthy proof contained in this phrase:

 

We see that behind the veil One of boundless power and knowledge makes the face of the earth into an arable field, and every spring sows in it all mixed up together the seeds of a hundred thousand species of plants. Then in perfect order without confusing any of their crops, He raises them and with the hand of mercy and wisdom, out of them distributes to the two hundred thousand animal species their sustenance and rations according to need. He performs these acts of disposal in His vast, rich dominions, especially on the face of the earth. Those, then, who do not recognize that All-Wise Disposer and Compassionate Owner are compelled to deny the earth together with its produce, like the foolish Sophists.

 

THE FIFTH PHRASE: ‘His is the praise’

 

This is a very brief indication to the very extensive proof contained in this phrase:

 

Yes, we see with our eyes and understand clearly with our minds that this city of the universe, quarter of the earth, and barracks of men and animals is governed, supervised, and maintained by an All-Compassionate Provider, a Munificent Provider of Bounties. For in order to have His bounties praised and thanked for, He makes the earth into a merchant ship and railway train bringing provender, and the spring into a waggon filled with a hundred thousand sorts of foods and packets of conserves called breasts, conveying them to the needy living creatures whose rations have been exhausted at the end of winter. Anyone with an iota of intelligence would agree that this was the work of an All-Compassionate Provider. While one who does not affirm it and deviates into denial is a foolish, harmful animal since he is then obliged to deny all the regular bounties and specific foods on the face of the earth, which are the cause of praise and thanks.

 

THE SIXTH PHRASE: ‘He gives life’

 

An extremely brief allusion to the proof in this phrase:

 

Yes, it is proved in the Tenth Word and in other parts of the Risale-i Nur that every spring on the face of the earth a glorious army is raised to life which consists of three hundred thousand species of living beings of infinite variety. With its innumerable members, all of whose lives and necessities are given them with perfect order and regularity, it displays a hundred thousand samples, indeed, signs, of the supreme resurrection of the dead. All those innumerable different creatures which are intermingled and mixed up together are raised to life in perfect balance and order without error, mistake, or deficiency, with none being confused, disarranged, or forgotten. Those hundreds of thousands of animal species with their uncountable members, which all differ as regards their forms, art, and livelihoods, are resurrected from droplets of fluid called sperm which is all similar, from seeds resembling earth, from tiny grains which differ little from one another, from the tiny eggs of flies which are all similar, and the birds from the same air and from fluid and eggs which are either the same as or only a little different from each other. The person, therefore, who does not conclude that it is an Ever-Living and Self-Subsistent One, an All-Knowing, Creative Giver of Life Who writes out on the page of the earth and the spring a hundred thousand different books, all together, one within the other, without error, perfectly, is surely compelled to deny both himself and all the living creatures throughout the earth, in all the springs attached to the string of time, and on the faces of the living earth and space, and must himself be the most foolish and wretched of living creatures.

 

THE SEVENTH PHRASE: ‘And deals death’

 

A very brief indication of the proof contained in this phrase:

 

In the autumn when the three hundred thousand species of living creatures are being discharged from their duties under the name of death, the registers and pages of the actions of each species and all their members, and the indexes of all they have done, and the lists of all they will do the following spring, and their seeds, which are spirits of a sort, are all entrusted in their places to the hand of wisdom of the All-Glorious Preserver. The person, therefore, who does not recognize that All-Wise Creator, the Ever-Living and Undying One, Who inscribes in the miniscule seeds of the fig-tree, each of which is like an immortal spirit and bears all the laws governing the tree’s life, the story of the tree’s life, which contains writing enough to fill a book, thus making it like a large volume — such a person is certainly not even an idiot and delirious animal, but more abject than the devils who stoke the fires of Hell, and will be condemned to eternal death.

 

Yes, just as it is a hundredfold impossibility and futility that the above universal, comprehensive, wise, purposive acts, which comprise numberless wonders and miracles and point to the proofs of these Phrases, should be without the one who performed them; so too, to attribute them to blind, impotent, unconscious, deaf, lifeless, confused, disorderly, overwhelming causes is impossible, precluded and unjustifiable a thousand times over. For if that was the case, every particle of earth would have to possess an infinite power and wisdom, and a wondrous, universal craftsmanship so that it could give form to all the plants and flowers; and as it says in the piece about the air in A Guide For Youth, every molecule of air would have to possess the ability to know all speech and all the words spoken on the radio and telephone, and to teach them to the other molecules. No satan even could make anyone accept such an extraordinary idea. The penalty for unbelief and denial, which is thus far from reason and reality and constitutes insult and aggression against all beings, could only be a terrible Hell, which is pure justice. We should surely declare in the face of such disbelievers: “Long live Hell!”

 

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

 

An extremely brief indication of the proof in this phrase is this:

 

For example, on the disappearance of the tiny suns reflected in the bubbles on the surface of a choppy sea or flowing river, the bubbles that replace them display the same tiny suns, thus pointing to the sun in the sky and testifying to it, and with their disappearance and death they indicate the existence of a perpetual sun. Similarly, the creatures on the surface of the constantly changing sea of the universe, and ever-renewed, infinite space, in the arable field of minute particles, and in the river of time, which with its flow draws all transitory beings into its embrace, continuously and speedily flow on and depart, and their apparent causes die along with them. Every day, every year, a universe dies and a new one replaces it. Since the crops of travelling worlds and flowing universes are continuously reaped from the field of particles, certainly just as the bubbles and tiny suns point to a perpetual sun with their passage, so the deaths of those numberless creatures and endless crops, and their being discharged in perfect orderliness together with their apparent causes, testify with the clarity and certainty of daylight, indeed, of the sun, to the necessary existence and being and unity of an Ever-Living Undying One, an Eternal Sun, an Enduring Creator, a Most Pure and Holy Commander. All beings testify to these a thousand times more clearly and definitely than the existence of the universe.

 

Now you have certainly understood just how deaf, foolish, and offensive is someone who does not hear these loud voices and powerful testimonies that fill the universe, nor heeds them.

 

THE NINTH PHRASE: ‘In His hand is all good’

 

A brief indication of the proof contained in this phrase is as follows:

 

We see that each sphere of the universe, each realm of being, each level, each individual and member, and even each cell of each body possesses a store or depot containing its reserve supplies of sustenance, an arable field or treasury producing and preserving all its necessities. For at exactly the right time, in perfect order and balance, with perfect wisdom and graciousness, all their necessities are given to those needy beings by a hidden hand, outside their power and will.

 

For example, mountains contain all the minerals and chemicals necessary for man and living beings, and the things necessary for life; on someone’s command and through his planning, they are perfect stores and treasuries. Similarly, through the power of an All-Wise Provider, the earth is an arable field, a harvest, a kitchen, producing with perfect order and regularity the sustenance of all those living beings. Even, just as human beings and all their bodily members have treasuries and stores, and the cells of their bodies have tiny depots; so it goes on, till the world of the hereafter, a store of which is this world; and an arable field and store of Paradise are the world of Islam and true humanity, which produce the good, beauty, and lights of this world; and one storehouse of Hell are the filthy matters and groups of this world, which come from non-existence, which is evil, and yield the produce of evils, ugly things, and disbelief, and which pollute the worlds of existence, which are good. And the store of the stars’ heat is Hell, while the treasury of lights is a Paradise. Alluding to all those infinite treasuries, the phrase ‘In His hand is all good,’ then, demonstrates a most brilliant proof.

 

Yes, this phrase, together with the phrase, ‘In His hand are the keys of all things,’ points out to anyone not totally blind an infinitely extensive, wondrous proof of Divine dominicality and unity. For example, consider only the following out of those endless treasuries and stores: just as with his command of “Awake!” and the key of His will, an All-Wise Disposer Who holds the keys of seeds and grains, which are all tiny stores containing the members and destinies of huge trees or shining flowers, opens up in perfect balance and order the minute door of a seed; so too throwing open with the key of the rain the treasury of the earth, without error He opens all the seeds, which are the tiny stores and seminal fluid of plants, as well as the storehouses of droplets, which receive the command to develop and are the origin of animals, and the seminal fluid composed of water and air of birds and flying insects. If you want to understand and see that He opens up with the hand of wisdom, will, mercy, and choice, all the treasuries and depots, physical and non-physical, universal and particular, in the universe, each with its particular key, consider your own heart, mind, body, stomach, and garden, and the spring, which is the flower of the earth, and its flowers and fruits, for they are all opened up by a hidden hand, with perfect order, balance, mercy, and wisdom, with all different keys which come from the workbench of “Be! And it is.”5 That hidden hand draws out pounds of foods from a minute box weighing less than an ounce, and sometimes hundreds of pounds, and presents them to living creatures as a feast. Is it at all possible that blind force, deaf nature, aimless chance, or lifeless, ignorant, impotent causes could interfere in such a boundless orderly, knowing, and percipient act, in such totally wise, purposive art in which no chance played any part, in such error-free perfectly balanced disposals, and in such completely just dominicality which is free of all tryanny? Could any being who does not see and administer all beings together at once, nor holds under his command minute particles together with the planets and stars, intervene in this disposal and government which is in every way wise, purposeful, miraculous, and balanced?

 

As the verse, Well-nigh bursting with fury6 states, Hell rages at the person who does not recognize the All-Compassionate Disposer, the All-Wise Sustainer, in Whose hand is all good and Who holds the keys of all things, and deviates into denial; it boils up in fury, saying through the tongue of disposition: “He deserves my boundless torments and is in no way worthy of compassion.”

 

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

 

An extremely concise indication of the proof contained in this phrase is as follows:

 

As soon as every conscious creature who comes into this guest-house of the world opens his eyes, he sees that a power holds in its grasp the whole universe, and within that power are a pre-eternal, all-embracing knowledge which never confuses anything and a most precise wisdom and favour which never act purposelessly or without balance. Just as, spinning a single particle from the army of particles like a Mevlevi dervish in ecstasy, it employs it in numerous duties; so at the same time and according to the same law, it causes the globe of the earth to travel a twenty-four thousand-year-distance in a year, again like an ecstatic Mevlevi. At the same time and according to same law, through which it sends to men and the animals the produce of the seasons, it makes the sun into a shuttle or spinning-wheel, and spinning it ecstatically so it exerts an attraction, it employs the planets, the army of the solar system, in various duties in perfect order and balance. At the same time and according to the same law of wisdom, that same power writes one within the other, without error or confusion, hundreds of thousands of species, which resemble books, on the page of the face of the earth, and displays thousands of samples of the supreme resurrection of the dead. That same power at the same time transforms the page of the atmosphere into a slate for writing and erasing. Employing all its particles, which are like the nibs of pens or the points of the book, in the tasks specified for them by will and command, it endows all of them with such ability that each receives all words and speech as though it knows them, and broadcasts them without confusion. It employs each as a miniscule ear and tiny tongue, proving that the element of air is a ‘throne’ of Divine will and command.

 

Thus, according to this brief indication, the one who makes the universe into a well-ordered city, a first-class apartment-building and guest-house, and a miraculous book and Qur’an, and holds in His grasp with the balance of knowledge and arrangements of wisdom all the levels, realms, and groups of creatures from the universe as a whole to minute particles, and disposes of them, is Most-Merciful and Compassionate. So the person who does not recognize that Most Merciful and Compassionate One, Who demonstrates as clearly as the sun and daylight His wisdom and mercy within His power, and makes known His existence and unity within His absolute dominicality, thus wanting recognition through belief in return for His making these known, and love through worship in return for His making Himself loved, and thanks and praise in return for His bounties — the satans in human form who do not recognize Him, or try to love Him through worship, in fact foster a sort of enmity towards Him through denial, and are each minor Nimrods and Pharaohs, and are certainly deserving of infinite torment.

 

THE ELEVENTH PHRASE: ‘And to Him is your return’

 

This means to say: just as beings will depart for His presence, going to the eternal world, the hereafter, and the everlasting realm of happiness; so it is He Who is the place of recourse of all the creatures in the universe. All the chains of causes are based on Him and rest on His power. They are all merely veils for the disposals of His power. All apparent causes are only screens for preserving the dignity and majesty of His sacred power. They have no effect whatsoever in creation. If it was not for His will and command, nothing, not even a particle, could move or act. A very brief indication of the proof contained in this phrase is as follows:

 

Firstly: We refer to the Tenth Word and its addenda, the Twenty-Ninth Word, the Seventh Topic of The Fruits of Belief, the Third Ray, and to the treatises of the Risale-i Nur about belief, the proof, leading to completely certain belief, that the resurrection of the dead will occur and the hereafter and eternal life will be brought about as indubitably and definitely as the coming spring, as this sacred phrase states. Truly, those treatises have proved this pillar of belief in such a way with so many evidences that they compel even the most obdurate deniers to affirm that the existence of the hereafter is as certain as the existence of this world.

 

Secondly: One third of the Qur’an of Miraculous Exposition looks to the resurrection of the dead and the hereafter, and it constructs all its claims on them. Since this is so, all the miracles and evidences proving the Qur’an’s veracity also indicate the existence of the hereafter. Similarly, all the miracles bearing witness to the prophethood of Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him), and all the evidences of his prophethood, and all the proofs of his truthfulness, testify also to the resurrection of the dead and the hereafter. For just as throughout his life, one of his most constant calls concerned the hereafter, so all the twenty-four thousand prophets (Peace be upon them) taught eternal life and everlasting happiness, giving the glad tidings to mankind, and proving them with innumerable miracles and certain evidences. Since this is so, all the miracles and evidences proving their prophethood and veracity testified to the hereafter and eternal life, which was their constant and most important teaching. Making an analogy with this, all the evidences proving the other pillars of belief testify also to the resurrection of the dead and the throwing open of the realm of bliss.

 

Thirdly: In order to display His perfections and His power and dominicality, an All-Glorious Maker, a Beauteous Maker, an All-Perfect Allah creates the universe together with all its atoms, planets, parts, and levels. With perfect wisdom He continuously makes each being work at a task, indeed, at numerous tasks, and in order to display the eternal, endless manifestations of His Names, He sends caravan after caravan, indeed, world after travelling renewed world, and the tribes of creatures to the guest-house of this world and the arena of trial which is worldly life. He records for the cinemas of the hereafter set up in the World of Similitudes, with the cameras of the Intermediate Realm, all their images, deeds, and circumstances, and after releasing them from their duties, sends other tribes, caravans, and flowing, travelling worlds to the arena in order to perform those duties and be mirrors to the manifestations of His Names. Is it therefore at all possible that there should be no realm of reward and punishment, no resurrection of the dead and last judgement for men, who with consciousness and intelligence respond in this fleeting world to all the aims of the Creator, loving Him with all their capacity and making Him love them; recognizing Him and making Him known; beseeching with endless supplications everlasting happiness in the hereafter; and since, possessing intelligence, they suffer infinite pains, they long for eternal life, which is pure pleasure, with all their beings, spirits, and capacities? God forbid! A hundred thousand times, God forbid!

 

Since these brief indications are proved and explained brilliantly, powerfully and in detail in the Risale-i Nur, we refer you to that and here cut this long story short.

 

Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise.7

 

* * *

 

 

 

A Brief Summary of Sura al-Fatiha

 

[Part Two of the only lesson I gave after having been transferred temporarily from solitary confinement in the third ‘School of Joseph’ to the company of others.]

 

This is a short sample of the lessons given to the Risale-i Nur students in prison:

 

While reciting Sura al-Fatiha during the prayers, it commanded me to expound one drop from its ocean and a single flash from the seven colours in the light of its sun. For sure we had written some very sweet and agreeable points from this sacred treasury in part of the Twenty-Ninth Letter, particularly in the journey of imagination taken in “the Nun of na‘budu,” and the Eight Symbols (Rumuz-u Semaniye), and the Qur’anic commentary Signs of Miraculousness (Ishârâtü’l-I’caz), and in other parts of the Risale-i Nur, but I felt obliged to write down my reflections during the prayers, but only the allusions to the pillars of belief and their proofs from that very sweet Qur’anic summary, in the form of a concise extract and in the manner of Part One above. So referring the phrase In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate to two or three treatises of the Risale-i Nur, I am starting from All praise be to God:

 

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. * All praise be to God, the Sustainer of the All the Worlds. * The Merciful, the Compassionate; * Owner of the Day of Judgement; * You alone do we worship and from You alone do we seek help; * Guide us to the Straight Path; * The path of those whom You have blessed, not those who have received Your anger, nor those who have gone astray.8

 

FIRST PHRASE: ‘All praise be to God’

 

A very brief allusion to the proof of the truths of belief in this phrase.

 

Filling the face of the earth, indeed, the universe, are intentional bestowals and bounties, which are the cause of praise and thanks, especially the sending of pure, clean, nutritious milk to infants from between blood and excrement; so too are there purposeful gifts and presents, and kindly benefactions and feasts. The price of these is to say “In the Name of God” at the start, “All praise be to God” at the end, and in the middle to perceive the bestowal in the bounty, and through it to recognize your Sustainer. Consider your own self, your stomach, and your senses! How many things and bounties they need! See how many foods and delights they want for the price of praise and thanks, then compare all living creatures with yourself. Thus, the endless praise offered verbally and through tongues of disposition in response to these general bestowals shows as clearly as the sun the existence and universal dominicality of One Who is Worshipped and Praised, an All-Compassionate Bestower of Bounties.

 

SECOND PHRASE: ‘The Sustainer of All the Worlds’

 

A very short allusion to the proof contained in this phrase:

 

We see with our eyes that within the universe are not thousands, but millions of worlds, small universes, mostly one within the other. Although the conditions for the administration and running of these are all different, they are organized, maintained, and administered so perfectly that like a single page held constantly in view the universe is renewed and changed, and like a line, each of all those worlds is written by a pen of power and determining. Every instant attestations, particular and universal, are made, boundless, unending testimonies to the number of minute particles and the beings formed of them, to the necessary existence and unity of a Sustainer of All the Worlds who administers these millions of worlds and travelling universes with an infinite knowledge, wisdom, and limitless all-embracing mercy within an infinite dominicality. Not to affirm, perceive, understand or see a dominicality which raises and administers with the same law, the same dominicality, the same wisdom, all beings from the arable field of particles to the solar system and the Milky Way, and from the cells of the body to the storehouse of the earth, to the universe in its entirety, certainly makes a person deserving of endless torment, and negates his worthiness to be pitied.

 

THIRD PHRASE: ‘The Merciful, the Compassionate’

 

An extremely brief allusion to the proof in this phrase:

 

Yes, the existence and reality of a boundless mercy is as clearly apparent in the universe as the light of the sun. As certainly as light testifies to the sun, so this extensive mercy testifies to a Most Merciful and Compassionate One behind the veil of the Unseen. An important part of mercy being sustenance, that mercy is signified by the Name of Provider. As for sustenance, it points to an All-Compassionate Provider so clearly that anyone with an iota of intelligence is compelled to affirm Him. For example, He sends food to all living beings, particularly to the helpless and young, throughout the earth and the atmosphere, in truly wondrous fashion beyond their wills and power, from seeds, droplets of fluid, and grains of earth which all resemble each other. He makes the hen-birds search out the food and bring it their wingless, frail chicks in the nests at the tops of trees. He subjugates the hungry lioness to her cubs, so she does not eat the meat she finds but gives it them. He sends the pleasant, nutritious, pure, white milk, like the water of Kawthar, from the springs of breasts to the infants of humans and young of other animals, without it being polluted by red blood and filthy excrement, sending also their mothers’ tenderness to assist them. Then just as in truly wondrous fashion He causes the appropriate sustenance to hasten to all the trees, which need a sort of food, so He bestows an extensive table of foods on man’s senses, which require sustenance physical and non-physical, and on his mind, heart, and spirit. It is as though the universe consists of hundreds of thousands of laden tables of every different kind and sort, all enfolded one within the other like the petals of the rose and shirts of the maize cob. With a multitude of various tongues, particular and universal, to the number of tables and the foods they bear and their bounties, these point out to everyone who is not completely blind a Most Merciful Provider, an All-Compassionate and Munificent One.

 

If it is said: The calamities, ugliness, and evils in this world are contrary to that all-embracing mercy, and spoil it.

 

The Answer: This question has been answered completely satisfactorily in various parts of the Risale-i Nur such as the Treatise On Divine Determining. Referring you to them, here we make only a brief allusion, as follows:

 

All the elements, all the realms of beings, and all creatures, have numerous duties, particular and universal, and each of those duties yields numerous results and fruits. For the most part these are beneficial, beautiful, good, and are mercy. Only a few of them encounter those lacking ability, those who act wrongly, or those who deserve punishment and disciplining, or those who will be the means of producing many shoots of good. An apparent, minor evil is ugliness; it is apparently unkind. But if for that minor evil not to occur, the element and universal being is prevented by mercy from performing its duty, then all its other good and beautiful results would not come into existence. Since the non-existence of a good is evil and the spoiling of beauty is ugly, evils, ugliness, and pitilessness would occur to the number of those results. Thus, hundreds of evil and instances of unkindness would be perpetrated just so that one evil would not occur, which would be entirely contrary to wisdom, benefit, and the mercy of dominicality. For example, things like snow, cold, fire, and rain have hundreds of benefits and purposes. If through their own choice careless or imprudent people harm themselves, for instance if they put their hands in the fire and say there is no mercy in its creation, the innumerable good, beneficial, merciful uses of fire will give them the lie, and hit them in the mouth.

 

Moreover, man’s selfish desires and lowly emotions, which are blind to consequences, cannot be the criteria, measure, or balance of the laws of mercy, sovereignty, and dominicality which are in force in the universe. He sees things according to the colour of his own mirror. A black-hearted, cruel person sees the universe as weeping, ugly, dark, and tyrannical. But if he looks through the eye of belief, he sees a macroanthropos clothed in seventy thousand beautiful garments one over the other, sewn of instances of mercy, good, and wisdom. Like a houri of Paradise dressed in seventy fine garments, it is always laughing, smiling with mercy. He will observe that mankind within it is a miniature universe, and each individual man a microcosm. He will exclaim with all his heart and spirit:

 

“All praise be to God, the Sustainer of All the Worlds * The Merciful, the Compassionate. * Owner of the Day of Judgement!”

 

FOURTH PHRASE: ‘Owner of the Day of Judgement’

 

A very concise indication of the proof contained in this phrase:

 

Firstly: All the evidences which testify to the proof of ‘And to Him is your return,’ and to the resurrection of the dead and hereafter at the end of the Part One of this lesson, testify to the extensive truth of belief which ‘Owner of the Day of Judgement’ indicates.

 

Secondly: As is said at the end of the Tenth Word, just as the eternal dominicality, mercy, and wisdom of the universe’s Maker, and his pre-eternal and post-eternal beauty, glory, and perfection, and His endless other attributes and hundreds of Names certainly require the hereafter; so does the Qur’an testify to the abode of the hereafter with thousands of its verses and proofs, as does Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him) with his hundreds of miracles and evidences, and all the prophets (Peace be upon them) and the revealed books and scriptures, with their innumerable evidences. The person, therefore, who does not believe in the everlasting life of the hereafter casts himself into a sort of Hell in this world, arising from his unbelief, and suffers constant torment. As is described in A Guide For Youth, through their death and parting, all the past and the future and creatures and universes continuously rain down endless pains on his spirit and heart, making him suffer the torments of Hell before going there.

 

Thirdly: ‘The Day of Judgement’ (Yawm al-Din) alludes to a vast and powerful proof of the resurrection of the dead, but a situation has arisen here causing the postponement of that proof to another time. Perhaps too, no need remains for it. For various parts of the Risale-i Nur have proved with hundreds of powerful arguments that the morning and spring of the resurrection of the dead and Great Gathering will occur as certainly as day follows night and spring follows winter.

 

FIFTH PHRASE: ‘You alone do we worship and from You alone do we seek help.’

 

It occurred to me that before pointing out the proof contained in this phrase, I should relate a true journey of the imagination which is described in the Twenty-Ninth Letter. It was like this:

 

As is explained in the Risale-i Nur, and especially in the Qur’anic commentary, Signs of Miraculousness (Isharat al-I‘jaz) and The Eight Symbols (Rumûz-u Semâniye), one time when I was seeking out the Qur’an’s miracles I found four or five miraculous predictions at the end of Sura al-Fath and an historical miracle in the verse: This day We shall save you in your body,9 and even flashes of miraculousness in numerous other words and sometimes miraculous points in letters. Then, when reciting Sura al-Fatiha during the prayers, a question occurred to me in order to inform me of a miracle in the Nun of na‘budu and nasta‘in ([You alone] do we worship [and from You alone] do we seek help).

 

Why was it not “You alone do I worship and from You alone do I seek help,” rather than the first person plural, that is, “We worship You and We seek help from You”? Suddenly the broad arena of a journey of the imagination opened up through the door of that “Nun” (we). I understood experientially the mighty mystery and vast benefits of praying in congregation, and that this single letter is a miracle, and I actually saw this. It was as follows:

 

At that time while performing the prayers in Bayezid Mosque in Istanbul, I said: “You alone do we worship and from You alone do we seek help.” I looked and saw that the congregation in the mosque was saying “Guide us!” the same as me; its members were all participating in my supplication, corroborating it. Then another veil was drawn back. I saw that all the mosques in Istanbul had as though become a huge Bayezid Mosque. All their congregations were exclaiming: “You alone do we worship and from You alone do we seek help” like me, setting their seals on my assertions and entreaties, and saying “Amen!” to them. Then within their taking on the form of intercessors for me, a further veil was unfolded in my imagination. I saw that the World of Islam had assumed the form of a huge mosque, with Mecca and the Ka‘ba as the mihrab. The rows of all the Muslims performing the prayers were in circles facing the sacred mihrab. Saying like me “You alone do we worship and from You alone do we seek help * Guide us...” each was both supplicating in the name of all, and testifying, and affirming it; also making all the others intercessors for himself. Then, when thinking: “What such a vast community claims could not be wrong and its supplications would not be rejected; it repulses Satanic doubts,” and when affirming the vast, self-evident benefits of performing the prayers in congregation, another veil was unfolded. I saw that the universe and all the varieties of creatures were as though performing the prayers through the tongues of their beings and worshipping in a way particular to each. Responding with extensive worship to the all-embracing dominicality of the Glorious All-Worshipped One, each group affirmed the testimonies and affirmation of Divine unity of all the others. While observing that this was the case since they all take up positions proving the same result, yet another veil was unfolded. I saw that just as the universe, the macroanthropos, exclaims: “You alone do we worship and from You alone do we seek help” with the tongue of disposition, and numerous of its parts declare it through the tongue of capacity and innate need, and conscious beings say it verbally, all thus displaying their worship before the Creator’s compassionate dominicality; in just the same way, through the silent tongue of need and submission to their Creator’s dominicality, all the particles, powers, and senses of my body, like those of all my companions in that vast congregation, each resembling a tiny universe, declared: “You alone do we worship and from You alone do we seek help.” In this way they showed that they were acting in accordance with the Divine will and command and were at every instant in need of their Creator’s grace and mercy and assistance. And just as entering through the door of the Nun, I had observed in wonderment both the sacred mystery of performing the prayers in congregation and the beautiful miracle of the Nun, so I went out from it. “All praise be to God!”, I exclaimed. Thereafter I became accustomed to reciting the verse, You alone do we worship and from You alone do we seek help on account of those three congregations and those companions, great and small.

 

Now we have completed the introduction and come to our main topic, and a brief indication of the proof alluded to by You alone do we worship and from You alone do we seek help:

 

Firstly: We see with our own eyes that in the universe and especially on the face of the earth, within an awesome, continuous, regular activity and creativity, a compassionate, administering absolute dominicality responds with perfect wisdom and favour to the pleas for help and entreaties made by act, tongue, and state, replying actively to each. Sound intelligences and the eye of belief see within the appearance of this dominicality, the response of the manifestation of an absolute Godhead, an Object of universal worship, to the thousands of sorts of worship of all beings, particularly living beings, and the voluntary, innate worship of all the groups of mankind in all its varieties. All the revealed scriptures and prophets also tell of this.

 

Secondly: As signified by the nun of na‘budu in the introduction above, each of the three congregations, and all of them, being engaged all together in their different, innate, voluntary worship, is without doubt a grateful response to a ‘worshippedness,’ and a boundless, unequivocal testimony to a Most Holy Object of Worship. As signified by the nun of nasta’in, the three congregations mentioned above, that is, every group and every individual from the totality of the universe to the congregation of the particles of a living body utters pleas for help and supplications both by act and state, testifying indubitably to the One Who administers them compassionately and hastens to assist them, and replies to and accepts their entreaties. For example, as is said in the Twenty-Third Word, the acceptance of the three sorts of supplications of all the creatures on the earth in a way which is truly wondrous and beyond all expectation, testifies definitely to a Compassionate Sustainer and Answerer of Prayer. Yes, before our eyes the supplications of grains and seeds to their Creator through the tongue of innate capacity to become shoots and trees, are accepted. Similarly, all living creatures seeking from someone through the tongue of innate need, their sustenance, which their hands cannot reach, and all their vital necessities and desires, which are beyond their power, testifies clearly to a Munificent Creator Who before our eyes accepts all those supplications they offer through the tongue of innate need, and at exactly the right time wisely makes strange, unconscious creatures speedily reply to their calls for help.

 

Thus, as in the above two paragraphs, the acceptance of the verbal supplications of all groups, especially the wondrous acceptance of the prophets’ (Peace be upon them) supplications and those of the elite, attest to the proof of Divine unity which From You alone do we seek help comprises.

 

SIXTH PHRASE: ‘Guide us to the Straight Path’

 

Yes, just as the shortest way among paths leading from one place to another, and the shortest of lines drawn from one distant point to another, are the straightest and most direct; in exactly the same way, the straightest and most direct of spiritual paths and interior ways are the shortest and easiest. For example, all the comparisons in the Risale-i Nur between the ways of belief and unbelief demonstrate decisively that the way of belief and the affirmation of Divine unity is extremely short, direct, straight, and easy, while the ways of unbelief and denial are extremely lengthy, difficult, and dangerous. That is to say, unbelief and the association of partners with God are not tenable in this straight, wise universe, in which everything is driven down the easiest and shortest path, and belief and the affirmation of Divine unity are as necessary and essential in the universe as the sun.

 

Also, the most comfortable, beneficial, and the shortest and safest way in human morality and conduct is the way of the straight path and moderation.

 

For example, if the power of reason deviates from the wisdom of the middle way and the easy, beneficial straight path, it falls into either excess and a pernicious wiliness, or deficiency and a calamitous stupidity, and is prey to all sorts of difficulties on their lengthy paths.

 

And if the power of anger does not follow the path of courage, which is the middle way, it descends into either excess and a most injurious, oppressive fury and arrogance, or into deficiency and an abased, painful cowardice and timidity, and as the penalty for the error of deviating from the straight path, suffers continuous torments of the conscience.

 

And if the power of animal appetites strays from the safe middle way of chastity, it falls into either excess and a calamitous, shameful debauchery and immorality, or into deficiency and frigidity, that is, an inability to experience pleasure, and suffers the torments of that spiritual sickness.

 

Thus, like these, in personal life and social life, in all their ways, the direct path is the easiest, shortest, and most beneficial. And ways other than the straight path are full of troubles, and are lengthy and harmful.

 

That is to say, just as Guide us to the straight path is a comprehensive supplication and wide-reaching worship, so it indicates a proof of Divine unity, instruction in wisdom, and moral training.

 

SEVENTH PHRASE: ‘The path of those whom You have blessed’

 

A concise indication of the proof contained in this phrase:

 

Firstly: The answer to the question of who “those” are, is the verse:

 

Of the prophets [who teach], the sincere [lovers of the truth], the witnesses [or martyrs] [who testify], and the righteous [who do good].10

 

This verse lists the four classes of mankind who have received the bounty of right-guidance. That is, with “the prophets” it indicates Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him), who is the leader of the four classes, with “the sincere [lovers of the truth]” Abu Bakr the Veracious, and with “the witnesses [or martyrs] [who testify]” ‘Umar, Uthman, and ‘Ali (May God be pleased with them). With these prophecies, that after the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and after Abu Bakr, both ‘Umar, and ‘Uthman, and ‘Ali would be both Caliphs and martyrs, this verse displays a flash of miraculousness.

 

Secondly: The truth of Divine unity, which these most elevated, most true and rightly-guided four classes of mankind have taught with all their strength since the time of Adam, with innumerable proofs, miracles, wonders, evidences, and illuminations, and whom the majority of mankind have affirmed, is most certainly as definite as the sun. With their hundreds of thousands of miracles and proofs, these pre-eminent members of mankind have proved their veracity and truthfulness, and their consensus and agreement in positive matters such as Divine unity and the Creator’s necessary existence forms such a proof it can be in no way doubted. They are the straightest and the most veracious and verified of guides and the leaders in perfection among mankind, and man is the most important result of the universe, the Divine vicegerent on earth, and of living creatures the most elevated and with the most comprehensive capacity. Those therefore who do not recognize a truth upon which those four classes have unanimously agreed, and deny the truths in which they believed unshakeably, with ‘absolute certainty’, ‘vision of certainty’, and ‘knowledge of certainty’, and in proof of which they put forward the universe together with all its beings, such deniers surely perpetrate an infinite crime and are deserving of infinite punishment.

 

EIGHTH PHRASE: ‘Not those who have received Your wrath nor those who have gone astray’

 

A concise indication of the proof contained in this phrase:

 

Based on unanimous reports, and universal, certain events and observations, human history and the sacred revealed scriptures relate in clear, definite fashion how on thousands of occasions succour arrived wondrously from the Unseen for the prophets, the people of the straight path, and how what they sought was given them exactly, and how on hundreds of occasions wrath and heavenly blows were visited on their enemies, the deniers. This demonstrates conclusively and unmistakably that the universe and mankind within it have a sovereign, just, generous, munificent, mighty, subjugating Disposer and Sustainer Who in various historical incidents wondrously bestowed victory and salvation on many of the prophets such as Noah, Abraham, Moses, Hud, and Salih (Peace be upon them), and visited terrible heavenly calamities on numerous oppressors and deniers like the Thamud, ‘Ad, and Pharaoh, as punishment in this world too for rebellion against the prophets.

 

Since the time of Adam (Peace be upon him), two mighty conflicting currents have come down to us. One is that of the people of prophethood, righteousness, and belief, who, following the straight path, receive the bounty of happiness in this world and the next. Since they act in accordance with the true beauty, order, and perfection of the universe, they both receive the favours of the universe’s Owner, and experience happiness in this world and the next. Being the means of mankind rising to the level of the angels, or higher, through the truths of belief they attain to a sort of Paradise in this world, and to bliss in the hereafter, and they cause others to win these too.

 

As for the second current, because it deviates from the straight path and through excess and deficiency transforms the intelligence into an instrument of torture amassing pains, it casts humanity down to a degree lower than the animals. Moreover, in addition to receiving the blows of Divine wrath in return for their wrongdoing in this world, due to their intelligences, they see the universe as a place of universal mourning and as the slaughterhouse of living creatures toppling over in death, and as exceedingly ugly and confused, thus causing their consciences to suffer a perpetual Hell in this world and making themselves deserving of everlasting torment in the next.

 

Thus, the verse,

 

Not those who have received Your wrath nor those who have gone astray

 

at the end of Sura al-Fatiha informs us of these two mighty currents. It is also the source, basis, and master of all the comparisons in the Risale-i Nur. Since the treatises of the Risale-i Nur expound this verse with hundreds of comparisons, we refer you to them for further explanation, and here suffice with this brief indication.

 

NINTH PHRASE: ‘Amen’

 

An extremely brief allusion to this:

 

The nun in na’budu and nasta’in points out to us those three great congregations, particularly the congregations of those who affirm Divine unity in the mosque of the World of Islam, and especially the congregations of millions performing the prayers at that time, and it places us among them and opens the way for us to receive a share of their intercession; we too, then, through the word “Amen,” join in the supplications of that congregation of believing worshippers, affirming what they say, and offering a plea that their intercession and seeking of help will be accepted. It transforms our insignificant worship, supplications, and entreaties into universal, extensive worship, causing universal dominicality to respond to it. That is to say, through the mystery of the brotherhood of belief and Islamic unity, through the bonds of unity of the congregation of millions in the mosque of the Islamic world at the time of the prayers, and by means of ‘spiritual radios,’ the “Amen” at the end of Sura al-Fatiha acquires universality and may become millions of “Amens.”11

 

All praise be to God, the Sustainer of All the Worlds.

 

Glory be unto to You! We have no knowledge save that which you taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise.12

 

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

 

And from Him do we seek help

 

[Part Three of a single lesson of the third School of Joseph]

 

Introduction

 

Part Two was written at the implied command of Sura al-Fatiha in the five daily prayers, and through the effulgence of ‘I testify that there is no god but God.’ Now I have been obliged —for three reasons I am not at present permitted to disclose— to write this Third Part, prompted by the tongue of ‘I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of God,’ and through the effulgence of the sublime verses at the end of Sura al-Fath:

 

It is He Who sent His Prophet with guidance and the Religion of Truth, to proclaim it over all religion, and enough is God for a Witness. * Muhammad is the Messenger of God; and those who are with him are strong against unbelievers, [but] compassionate among each other,13

 

which contain five miraculous predictions. Referring the details, explanations, and documented proofs to The Miracles of Muhammad in Zülfikâr, which is about the Messengership of Muhammad (PBUH), and to the Arabic al-Hizb al-Nuri in The Supreme Sign, here shall be written very briefly and concisely in the second and third of three ‘Indications’, a summary of the Hizb al-Nuri and a sort of translation of the part of the testimony of faith “Muhammad is the Messenger of God” which I constantly use in my Arabic reflective thought together with the affirmation of Divine unity, repeating them in the tesbihat following the prayers.

 

FIRST INDICATION

 

Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him), who responded with universal worship and teaching to the manifestation of the dominicality of the universe’s Owner, and His eternal Godhead, and His infinite bounties, is as necessary for the universe as is the sun. For he is the supreme master of mankind and its greatest prophet, the Glory of the World, and the one addressed by “If not for you, if not for you, I would not have created the spheres.”14 The Muhammadan Reality was the reason for the world’s creation, and is its result and most perfect fruit. So too, truths connected with the universe such as its true perfections and its being the enduring mirrors of an eternal Beauteous One of Glory, and the manifestation of His Names, and the works —charged with duties— of His wise acts, and His most meaningful missives, and its bearing an everlasting world, and its producing the result of the hereafter and an abode of bliss for which all conscious creatures yearn, — these are all realized through the Muhammadan (PBUH) Reality and his messengership. Since this is so, the universe testifies most powerfully and decisively to his messengership. Moreover, the messengership of Muhammad (PBUH) and the Muhammadan Reality give certain good news of eternal life, which, in order to be saved from non-existence, nothingness, eternal extinction, and absolute annihilation, foremost the World of Islam, and all mankind and all conscious creatures, constantly and earnestly seek, with all the powers of their comprehensive natures, with the tongues of all their abilities, and with all their supplications, worship, and entreaties. They thus testify to Muhammad’s messengership and the Muhammadan Reality, endorsing that he is the pride of mankind and the most noble of creatures. Moreover, in accordance with the rule “the cause is like the doer,” the equivalent of all the good works performed every day by three hundred and fifty million believers being recorded in Muhammad’s (Peace and blessings be upon him) book of good works, and the single person of Muhammad (PBUH) attaining to a ‘station’ manifesting the universal worship and effulgence of hundreds of millions of righteous worshippers, and perhaps thousands of millions, testifies in truly powerful fashion to his messengership, affirming it.

 

SECOND INDICATION

 

The following indicates more than twenty testimonies, which I always ponder over reflectively in the course of my invocations:

 

Muhammad is the Messenger of God, ever faithful to his promise, through the testimony of his sudden appearance with a perfect religion, Islam, and Shari‘a despite being unlettered, with the firmest belief, faith, and worship, the most elevated cause, supplications, and prayers, the most general message, utter steadfastness, and wondrous fruitfulness, all without equal.

 

A translation of the above15 and a brief exposition of its meaning are the following testimonies to the messengership of Muhammad (PBUH).

 

The First is a proof of prophethood proceeding from eleven of his attributes and states. Yes, his appearing —despite being unlettered— suddenly and without experience with a religion which has left in amazement the learned men and philosophers of fourteen centuries and has won first place among the revealed religions is an attribute without equal.

 

Also unequalled is the fact that Islam, which emerged from his words, actions, and conduct, has at all times educated and trained the spirits, souls, and minds of three hundred and fifty million people, taking them to spiritual advancement.

 

Moreover, he appeared with such a Shari‘a that for fourteen centuries it has ruled with its just laws one fifth of mankind, leading it to material and spiritual progress.

 

So too that Being (PBUH) appeared with such a faith and creed, and such strength of belief that all the people of reality have unanimously affirmed that, since they receive perpetual effulgence from it, his belief was at the highest and strongest degree. The opposition of his innumerable opponents at that time not causing him the slightest anxiety, doubt, or scruple, shows too that the strength of his belief was without equal or like.

 

He also displayed such worship of God and servitude to Him that bringing together the beginning and end of worship, imitating no one, he saw and conformed to the subtlest mysteries of worship, and fulfilled them even in times of greatest disturbance. This was an incomparable attribute, as was his offering such prayers, supplications and entreaties to his Creator that up to the present his degree has not been reached, even with the meeting of many minds. For example, in the supplication Jawshan al-Kabir, taking as intercessor a thousand and one Divine Names, he so describes and acquaints his Creator that it has no like. Thus, no one has attained to his knowledge of God.

 

He called people to religion with such steadfastness and announced his prophethood with such boldness that although his people, his uncle, the great powers of the world, and the followers of the former religions were all opposed and hostile to him, he did not fear or hold back even a jot, but challenged them all and successfully accomplished his task. This too was an unparalleled attribute.

 

Thus, these eight wondrous, matchless attributes form a truly powerful testimony to his veracity and prophethood. They show too that there is complete certainty concerning his utter seriousness, trustworthiness, veracity, and truthfulness. Every day in the tashahhud with millions of tongues the World of Islam declares: “Peace be upon you, O Prophet! And may God’s mercy and blessings be upon you.” It submits to the function with which he was charged, and affirming the good news of the eternal happiness which he brought, it gratefully says: “Peace be upon you, O Prophet!” in the face of the sure way leading to eternal life which mankind seeks and yearns for with an innate, profound longing, thus meeting with him in spirit and congratulating him in the name of three hundred million, indeed, thousands of millions.

 

The Second Testimony, which comprises twenty universal testimonies, as well as many others: Through the testimony to his veracity of all truths of the pillars of belief.

 

That is, the truths, realities, and veracity of the six pillars of belief testify decisively to Muhammad’s (PBUH) messengership and veracity. For the collective personality of his life as Messenger and the basis of all he claimed and the essence of his prophethood were those six pillars. In which case, all the evidences verifying the pillars of belief proved the truth of Muhammad’s (PBUH) messengership, and his veracity. The evidences for the hereafter of the other pillars of faith are set forth in The Fruits of Belief (Meyve Risalesi) and the Addenda of the Tenth Word; and all the pillars together with their proofs form a proof of his messengership.

 

The Third Universal Testimony, which comprises thousands of testimonies: Through the testimony of his self (Peace and blessings be upon him), through his thousands of miracles, perfections, and fine morality.

 

That is: he was a proof of himself as brilliant as the sun, through the powerful testimony to his messengership and veracity of his thousands of miracles, attainments and perfections, and his elevated character and fine morality. Yes, as is proved in the wondrous treatise of The Miracles of Muhammad (PBUH) through more than three hundred sound narrations, in accordance with the explicit verses

 

And the moon split,16

 

and

 

And when you threw, it was not you who threw; it was rather God that threw,17

 

the moon splitting in two at the sign of a single finger of his hand; and water flowing forth in five springs from the five fingers of the same hand, and an entire thirsty army drinking from these and testifying to it; and his casting a handful of dust with the same hand at an attacking enemy army, and their turning tail and fleeing when the dust entered the eyes of all of them; and small pebbles uttering glorifications in the same hand, as though they were human, saying: “Glory be to God!” —hundreds of incidents such as these, which are related in ‘sound’ narrations; and some about which there are unanimous reports described in the histories, and miracles, which according to exacting scholars numbered around a thousand, appearing at his hand; and according to friend and foe alike his fine attributes and good character being of the very highest degree;18 and the unanimous agreement —at the degree of ‘absolute certainty’— of all the people of reality, who have attained to spiritual perfection through following him and reached ‘the vision of certainty’ in the realities, that Muhammad’s (PBUH) perfections and attainments were of the very highest level; and the spiritual achievements of the World of Islam, which proceeds from his religion; as well as the truths of mighty Islam — all these furnish evidence for his wondrous perfections. This surely means that this Being (PBUH) testified in most brilliant and universal fashion to his own messengership.

 

The Fourth Testimony, which comprises numerous powerful testimonies: Through the testimony of the Qur’an, with all its truths and proofs. That is, the Qur’an of Miraculous Exposition testifies to his messengership and veracity with its innumerable truths and proofs.

 

Yes, with all its veracious truths, the Qur’an of Mighty Stature, which as is proved Zülfikâr is miraculous in forty respects, has illumined fourteen centuries and governed through its unchanging laws one fifth of mankind; and from that time to this has challenged all those who have opposed it; and not even one of the suras of which anyone has dared to produce the like of; and as is proved in The Supreme Sign, whose six aspects are luminous and cannot be penetrated by doubts; and whose veracity is endorsed by six supreme ‘stations’; which is based on six unshakeable truths; and is eagerly and respectfully recited every moment by hundreds and millions of tongues, and is inscribed with its sacredness on the hearts of hafizes; and from whose testimony proceeds all the testimony and belief of the World of Islam; and from whose source flow forth all the sciences of belief and of Islam; and just as it affirms all the previous revealed scriptures, so is it affirmed by them; — with all its truths and all its proofs of its veracity, the Qur’an of Mighty Stature testifies to the truthfulness and messengership of Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him).

 

The Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Universal Testimonies:

 

Through the testimony of Jawshan al-Kabir, and the sacredness of its allusions; and the Risale-i Nur, and the power of its proofs; and the past, and the unanimity of its signs of a forthcoming prophet; and the future, and the confirmation of thousands of its events.

 

That is to say, Jawshan al-Kabir, which looks both explicitly and allusively to a thousand and one Divine Names; is a wondrous supplication that in one respect proceeds from the Qur’an; is superior to all the other invocations recited by those who advance in knowledge of God; which was brought as revelation by Gabriel during a military expedition, who said: “Cast away your armour and in its place read this Jawshan!” — the truths it contains and its perfectly accurate descriptions of the Sustainer testify to Muhammad’s (PBUH) messengership and veracity. So too, through proving rationally and logically as a single proof with its one hundred and thirty parts all the truths of the messengership of Muhammad (PBUH), and teaching matters which in the view of philosophy are remote from reason in the most reasonable and easy fashion as though they were before one’s very eyes, the Risale-i Nur —which in one respect received effulgence from the Jawshan and was born of it— testifies in universal fashion to Muhammad’s (PBUH) messengership and veracity.

 

Also, the past was a universal witness to his messengership, for numerous incidents which occurred before the commencement of his prophethood called irhasat, and wonders which were counted as miracles of the coming prophet and are related unanimously in the histories and books of biography, testify in authentic fashion to his messengership. These are of many different sorts. A part of them are described in the coming ‘Testimonies’ below, and others are related in the form of sound narrations in Zülfikâr and in books of history.

 

For example, close to the time of the Prophet’s (PBUH) birth stones being rained down from the claws of the ababil birds on the heads of Abraha’s soldiers, who had come to destroy the Ka‘ba; and on the night of his birth the idols in the Ka‘ba all toppling over; and the palace of Chrosroes the Persian being destroyed; and the fire-worshipping Zoroastrians’ fire being extinguished that night, which had been burning continuously for a thousand years; and on the certain reports of Bahira the Monk and Halima al-Sa‘diya, clouds throwing shadows around his head; numerous events like these gave forewarning of his prophethood before its commencement.

 

Also, there were very many events of differing kinds that he predicted would occur in the future, that is, after his death. Some were prophecies about his Family and Companions, and the conquests of Islam, which are given in The Miracles of Muhammad in Zülfikâr, together with their authentic sources. Others were eighty accurate predictions, including ‘Uthman (May God be pleased with him) being martyred while reading the Qur’an, Husayn (May God be pleased with him) being martyred at Karbala, the conquests of Syria and Iran and Istanbul, and emergence of the ‘Abbasid dynasty, and Jenghiz and Hulagu defeating and destroying it, have all been described in detail on the basis of sound narrations and the books of history and the Prophet’s biography. This means that numerous predictions of future events, and the future, which proved Muhammad’s (PBUH) veracity, testify also in powerful and universal fashion to Muhammad’s messengership and its veracity.

 

The Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Testimonies:

 

Through the testimony of Muhammad’s Family to his veracity through the power of their certain belief at the degree of ‘absolute certainty;’ and of his Companions, through their perfect belief at the degree of ‘the vision of certainty;’ and of the purified scholars through the power of their investigations at the degree of ‘knowledge of certainty;’ and of the spiritual poles, through the conformity of their illuminations and unfoldings with his messengership and its certainty.

 

That is, of the universal testimonies to Muhammad’s (PBUH) truthfulness and veracity,

 

The Ninth: With their unanimous and absolutely certain belief, and their unfoldings and illuminations, and the extraordinary guidance they gave the Umma and their wonder-working, the great saints of Prophet’s (PBUH) Family, who in benedictions for the Prophet are held equal to the descendants of Abraham (Peace be upon him), who manifested the meaning of “The scholars of my community are the equivalent of the prophets of the Children of Israel,”19 and ‘Ali, Hasan, Husayn, and the twelve Imams of the Prophet’s Family, and the spiritual poles and leaders like Gawth al-A‘zam, Ahmad al-Rufa’i, Ahmad al-Badawi, Ibrahim al-Dassuqi, and Abu’l-Hasan al-Shazali all ratified through their belief and testimonies the messengership, veracity, and truthfulness of Muhammad (PBUH).

 

The Tenth: The Companions of the Prophet, regarded as the most elevated and esteemed group after the prophets, through the light of Muhammad (PBUH) came in a short time to govern with justice from east to west despite being illiterate nomads, and becoming advanced, educated, civilized masters, teachers, diplomats and just judges, they defeated world powers and made that century into an age of happiness. After scrutinizing every aspect of his conduct, through the power of the many miracles they witnessed with their own eyes, they abandoned their former enmities and the ways of their forefathers, and many of them such as Khalid ibn al-Walid and Ikrima Ibn Abu Jahl gave up the tribalism of their fathers. Their embracing Islam in truly devoted and self-sacrificing manner, and believing in Muhammad’s veracity and messengership at the degree of ‘vision of certainty’ forms an unshakeable universal testimony.

 

The Eleventh: The belief in Muhammad’s messengership and veracity in reasoned, logical manner at the degree of ‘knowledge of certainty’ of the mujtahids, imams, and authoritative scholars, who are known as the purified ones and veracious ones, and of the thousands of investigative scholars such as the brilliant philosophers Ibn Sina and Ibn Rushd, based on thousands of categorical arguments and definitive proofs, each following his own way, forms a testimony so universal that only one with the intelligence of all of them could oppose them.

 

One of those innumerable witnesses at the present time is the Risale-i Nur, before which the deniers have found themselves helpless, so deceiving the police and judiciary, have tried to silence it by means of the courts.

 

The Twelfth: In their spiritual progress, the profoundest people of reality and researchers into the realities known as spiritual poles, each of whom drew into the circle of his instruction a significant part of the Umma in the World of Islam, and through his wondrous guidance and wonder-working caused those people to advance spiritually, and whose progress was based on illumination and disclosing the realities in place of proofs —they saw ‘experientially’ through their illuminations Muhammad’s (PBUH) messengership and truthfulness and that his veracity was of the very highest degree. Their unanimous and mutually conforming testimony to his prophethood forms such a signature that no one who does not attain to a degree of perfections as elevated as all of them can erase it.

 

The Thirteenth Testimony, which consists of four universal, most extensive and definite proofs:

 

Through the testimony of the past and the agreement in the tidings of the soothsayers, the voices from the Unseen, and the gnostics in all the periods of the past, and the testimony of the tidings of the prophets and Divine messengers, Peace be upon them, and the good news of the messengership of Muhammad, Peace and blessings be upon him, in the previous holy scriptures.

 

A brief explanation of the above passage will be given here, for there are precise details together with the chains of authorities in the end section of The Miracles of Muhammad, in Zülfikâr.

 

It is recorded with sound narrations, and in part with unanimous reports, in the histories and books of Hadith and the Prophet’s biography that among the most prominent and famous of mankind in past times, foremost the prophets and the gnostics, soothsayers, and ‘voices from the Unseen’ foretold Muhammad’s (PBUH) messengership and coming unanimously, explicitly and repeatedly in the form of irhasat. Since the most powerful and certain of those thousands of predictions are described in detail in The Miracles of Muhammad, we refer you to that and here only say by way of a brief indication: out of hundreds in the revealed scriptures of the Torah, Gospels, and Psalms, brought by the prophets, twenty verses about the prophethood of Muhammad (PBUH) which are close to being explicit are written in the Nineteenth Letter (The Miracles of Muhammad). While Husayn al-Jisri found a hundred verses about Muhammad’s prophethood, despite the numerous corruptions in their texts made by Jews and Christians, and wrote them in his book.20

 

According to a sound narration concerning which were unanimous reports, the soothsayers, and foremost Shiqq and Satih, who by means of jinns and spirit beings gave information about the Unseen and are now called mediums, foretold explicitly the coming of God’s Messenger (PBUH) and that he would wipe out the Persian Empire. They stated repeatedly in a way that could not be doubted that a prophet was shortly to appear in the Hijaz.

 

Similarly, Ka‘b ibn Lu’ayy, one of the Prophet’s forefathers and a gnostic, and many other gnostics and the saints of that time such as the rulers of Yemen and Abyssinia, Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan and Tubba, foretold clearly Muhammad’s (PBUH) messengership, and proclaimed it in their poetry. The most important and certain of these are included in the Nineteenth Letter. One of those kings even said: “I would choose to be Muhammad’s (PBUH) servant in preference to ruling this kingdom.” Another said: “If I had lived to see him, I would have been his cousin.” That is, I would have been a devoted servant and minister of his like ‘Ali (May God be pleased with him). The histories and books of biography have published all these prophecies, showing that the gnostics affirmed Muhammad’s (PBUH) messengership and veracity with a powerful, universal testimony.

 

Similarly, spirit beings called ‘hatif,’ which are heard but not seen, made predictions about Muhammad’s messengership, the same as the gnostics and soothsayers, foretelling his prophethood in most explicit fashion. Also, by foretelling his prophethood, many other things affirmed his messengership and veracity, such as animals sacrificed to idols, idols, and gravestones, testifying through the tongue of history.

 

The Fourteenth Testimony: The following Arabic piece alludes to the universe’s powerful testimony:

 

Through the testimony of the universe to the comprehensive messengership of Muhammad (PBUH) through its aims and the Divine purposes in it, which would otherwise come to nothing, for through the sending of man and particularly of Muhammad its value and duties were established, and its beauties and perfections became clear, and the wisdom in its truths were realized. For his messengership revealed them and was the means of their realization. If it had not been for his messengership, this perfect universe, this eternal and meaningful mighty book, would have gone for nothing, its meanings would have vanished and its perfections declined utterly, which is impossible in numerous respects.

 

In The Supreme Sign, the above is interpreted as follows:

 

Just as the universe points to its Maker, Writer, and Inscriber, Who creates, administers, and organizes it, and Who decorating, determining, and planning it, has disposal over it as though it was a palace, a book, an exhibition, or place of display; so it requires and demands an elevated herald, a truthful discoverer, an exacting master, a faithful teacher, who will know the Divine purposes in its creation, and make them known, and will teach the instances of dominical wisdom in its changes, and announce the results of its dutiful motions, and proclaim its value and the perfections of the beings within it. Since this is so and it points to his existence, surely testifying in powerful and universal fashion to the veracity of Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him), who performed these duties better than anyone, and to his being the highest and most loyal official of its Creator, it declares: “I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of God.”

 

Yes, through the Light Muhammad (PBUH) brought the universe’s nature, value, and perfections, and the duties, results, and value of the beings within it and the fact that they are officials, all became known and were realized. From top to bottom it became Divine missives full of meaning, an embodied dominical Qur’an, and a magnificent exhibition of Divine works. If not for his Light, it becomes a mere desolate ruin, confused, a terrible place of mourning, toppling over into the darknesses of non-existence, nothingness, death, and obliteration. It is in consequence of this truth that the universe’s perfections, purposeful transformations, and eternal meanings declare in powerful fashion: “We testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of God!”

 

The Fifteenth Testimony: The following is an Arabic piece which comprises numerous sacred testimonies. It indicates the sacred testimony to Muhammad’s (PBUH) messengership given through the acts of the dominicality and deeds of mercifulness of the Necessarily Existent One Who has disposal over the universe, and through Whose will, command, and power occur all change and transformation, motion and rest, from minute particles to the planets, and all the disposals of life and death.

 

Through the testimony of the universe’s Owner, its Creator and Disposer, to the messengership of Muhammad, through the deeds of His mercifulness and acts of His dominicality; such as the mercy of revealing to him the Qur’an of Miraculous Exposition; and displaying many varieties of miracles at his hand; and assisting him and protecting him in all circumstances; and through perpetuating his religion together with all its truths; and by raising him to a position of high respect and honour and bestowal over all creatures, as is to be seen and observed; and His act of dominicality of making Muhammad’s messengership a spiritual sun in the universe, and making his religion the index of the perfections of His servants; and making his reality a comprehensive mirror to the manifestations of His Godhead; and His entrusting him with duties necessary for the existence of creatures in the universe such as mercy, wisdom, and justice, as necessary as food and water, and air and light.

 

Referring details of this most extensive, certain, and sacred testimony to the Risale-i Nur, here we shall merely take a look at a brief and concise meaning of it.

 

Since —in accordance with the justice and wisdom, mercy, favour, and protection which we see in the regular, orderly disposals in the universe— it is the practice of dominicality to always protect the good and deal blows at the bad and liars, as demanded by ‘the acts of His mercifulness,’ this world’s Disposer and Administrator revealed the Qur’an of Miraculous Exposition to Muhammad (PBUH); and He bestowed on him nearly a thousand miracles of very many sorts; and compassionately preserved him in all circumstances and dangerous situations, even by means of a pigeon and a spider; and gave him complete success in all his duties; and perpetuated his religion together with all its truths; and caused his religion of Islam to spread over all the earth and to all mankind; and by raising him to a position of honour above all creatures and a permanent rank of acceptance superior to all the pre-eminent of mankind and, as is agreed by friend and foe alike, bestowed on him the highest character and qualities, and made one fifth of mankind his community — all of which testify most decisively to his faithfulness and messengership; so we see from the point of view of ‘the acts of dominicality’ that this world’s Disposer and Administrator made Muhammad’s (PBUH) messengership a sun in the universe, and as is proved in the Risale-i Nur, caused it to dispel all kinds of darknesses and show its luminous truths, and make happy all conscious beings, indeed the universe, with the good news of eternal life; and He made his religion an index of perfections for all the acceptable people of worship and a sound programme for their acts of worship; and as is indicated by the Qur’an and Jawshan, He made Muhammad’s Reality, which is his collective personality, a comprehensive mirror to the manifestations of His Godhead; and as is indicated by the above-mentioned truths, and by the fact that every day for fourteen centuries he has gained the equivalent of all the good works of all his community, and by his works and traces in man’s social and spiritual life, He made him the highest leader, master, and authority of mankind; and sent him to the assistance of mankind with sacred, sublime duties, and made men as needy for his religion, his Shari‘a, and the truths of Islam21 as they are for mercy, wisdom, justice, food, air, water, and light; thus offering sacred testimony to Muhammad’s (PBUH) messengership with twelve universal, decisive proofs — since this is so, is it at all possible that the messengership of Muhammad (PBUH), which thus manifests these universal, extensive testimonies of the universe’s Owner, Who is not indifferent to the ordering of the wing of a fly even or a flower, should not be a Sun of the universe?

 

Each of these fifteen Testimonies comprise numerous testimonies, and through the tongue of miracles the Second even comprises thousands, thus proving the profession “I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of God” most powerfully and definitely and proclaiming its reality, value, and importance, so that every day five times in the tashahhud the World of Islam announces it to the universe with millions of tongues. So too, thousands of millions of believers unhesitatingly accept and affirm that the Muhammadan (PBUH) Reality, which is the basis of that profession, is the original seed of the universe, a reason for its creation, and its most perfect fruit. And the universe’s Owner (May His Glory be exalted) made that collective personality of Muhammad (PBUH) the loudest herald of the sovereignty of His dominicality; the accurate discloser of the talisman of the universe and riddle of creation; a shining exemplar of His favour and mercy; an eloquent tongue of His compassion and love; the most powerful bringer of the good tidings of everlasting life and happiness in the eternal realm; and of His messengers, His final and greatest Prophet.

 

It may be seen from this what a great error, foolishness, and crime those people commit who do not accept a truth such as this, or attach no importance to it, and what a terrible loss they suffer.

 

Thus, as indicated in Part Two, Sura al-Fatiha in the ritual prayers demonstrates with decisive proofs the affirmation of Divine unity in the profession “I testify that there is no god but God,” which is said in the tashahhud, setting innumerable signatures to it; so too this Third Part sets forth powerful testimonies to the reality of messengership claimed in “I testify that Muhammad is God’s Messenger,” again stated in the tashahhud, stamping it with innumerable confirmatory signatures.

 

O Most Merciful of the Merciful! In veneration of Your Most Noble Messenger (PBUH) allow us his intercession, give us success in following his Sunna, and make us neighbours to his Family and Companions in the Realm of Bliss! Amen. Amen. Amen.

 

O God! Grant him blessings and peace, and to his Family and Companions, to the number of the letters of the Qur’an, both those recited and those written. Amen.

 

Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise.22

 

 

The Shining Proof

 

Second Station

 

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

 

And from Him do we seek help

 

[One of the truths contained in the last verse of Sura al-Fatiha, which indicates the comparison of the people of guidance and the straight path and the people of misguidance and rebellion, and is the source of all the comparisons in the Risale-i Nur, is expressed also in wondrous and miraculous fashion by the verse of Sura al-Nur:

 

God is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The parable of His light is as if there were a niche and within it a lamp; the lamp enclosed in glass; the glass as it were a brilliant star; lit from a blessed tree, an olive, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil is well-nigh luminous, though fire scarce touched it: Light upon Light! God guides whom He will to His Light; God sets forth parables for men; and God knows all things.23

 

and a subsequent verse:

 

Or [the unbelievers’ state] is like the depths of darkness in a vast deep ocean, overwhelmed with billow topped by billow, topped by [dark] clouds...(to the end of the verse)]24

 

It is proved in the First Ray that the first verse above, the Light Verse, contains ten allusions to the Risale-i Nur; it miraculously foretells that Qur’anic commentary. This was the main reason the name ‘Nur’ (light) was given to the Risale-i Nur. In consequence of the description in the comparison of a journey of the imagination in a section of the Twenty-Ninth Letter, of a miracle resembling that of the “Nun of Na‘budu” in the word “Nur” in this extraordinary verse, the traveller in The Supreme Sign (Âyetü’l-Kübra) questioned the whole universe and every sort of being in order to seek, find, and learn about his Creator. He came to know Him through thirty-three ways and cogent proofs with ‘the certainty of knowledge’ and ‘the vision of certainty.’ The untiring, insatiable traveller journeyed too with his mind, heart, and imagination through the centuries and the levels of the heavens and earth, and seeing and inspecting the whole world as a city, he mounted his reason sometimes on the wisdom of the Qur’an, sometimes on philosophy, and gazing at the most distant levels through the powerful telescope of imagination, he saw reality as it is, and in part informed us of it in The Supreme Sign.

 

Now, of those many worlds and levels he entered on his journey of the imagination, which had the meaning of a comparison and was completely in conformity with reality, we shall explain by way of example only three levels, extremely concisely, in order to illustrate the comparison at the end of Sura al-Fatiha. However, this will be only from the point of view of the power of reason. We refer you to the Risale-i Nur for the other observations and comparisons.

 

The First Example is like this:

 

The traveller, who had come into the world solely to find his Creator and become acquainted with Him, said to his reason: “We have asked everything concerning our Creator and have received perfectly satisfying answers. In order to learn about the Sun one has to ask the Sun itself, so now we shall make a further journey in order to find and become acquainted with our Creator through the manifestations of His sacred attributes of knowledge, will, and power, and through His visible works, and through the manifestations of His Names.” So he entered the world. Then the people of misguidance, a second current, embarked on the ship of the earth. The traveller put on the spectacles of the science and philosophy which does not follow the wisdom of the Qur’an, and looking in accordance with the programme of the geography that does not read the Qur’an, saw that the earth was travelling seventy times faster than a cannon-ball, covering a twenty-thousand-year distance in one year in an orbit in the midst of the infinite void. It had taken upon itself myriad species of wretched, helpless living beings. He realized that if it confused its way even for a minute, or if a stray star collided with it, it would disintegrate, pouring all those wretched creatures into nothingness and non-existence. Perceiving the awesome calamity of the currents of

 

Not those who have received Your anger, nor those who have gone astray,25

 

and the suffocating darkness of

 

Or [the unbelievers’ state] is like the depths of darkness in a vast deep ocean,26

 

he exclaimed: “Alas! What have we done? Why did we board this terrible ship? Is there any way of being saved from it?” Then smashing the spectacles of blind philosophy, he joined the current of “Those whom You have blessed.”27

 

Suddenly the wisdom of the Qur’an came to his assistance. Giving to his reason a telescope which shows reality, it told him to look through it. He looked and saw the Name of Sustainer of the Heavens and Earth28 rising like a sun in the constellation of

 

It is He who has made the earth subservient to you, so traverse you its tracts, and eat of its sustenance.29

 

The Sustainer had made the earth an orderly, safe ship, and filled it with living beings together with their sustenance, causing it to journey around the sun in the seas of the universe for numerous benefits and instances of wisdom, bringing the produce of the seasons to those who wished for sustenance. Two angels called Thawr and Hut had been appointed captains of the ship, and they took it on its voyage through the magnificent dominical regions for the enjoyment of the Glorious Creator’s creatures and guests. The traveller understood that this showed the reality of “God is the Light of the heavens and the earth,” making known his Creator through this Name. With all his heart and spirit he exclaimed: “All praise be to God, the Sustainer of All the Worlds,” and joined the group of “Those whom You have blessed.”

 

The Second Sample of what the traveller saw on his journey through the worlds:

 

The traveller alighted from the ship of the earth and entered the world of animals and men. He looked at that world through the spectacles of the natural science which does not receive its spirit from religion, and saw that although those innumerable animate creatures had endless needs and were assaulted by numberless vexatious enemies and pitiless events, their capital was only a thousandth, or even a hundred thousandth of what they needed. Their power too was perhaps a millionth of what was necessary to combat those harmful things. Being connected to them through his intelligence and out of compassion for his fellow beings, he so pitied them in their ghastly plight, and feeling a hellish pain was so sorry and despairing, that he regretted a thousand times over his ever having come to that wretched world. Then suddenly Qur’anic wisdom came to his assistance, and handing him the telescope of “Those whom You have blessed,” it told him to look through it. He looked and saw that through the manifestation of “God is the Light of the heavens and the earth,” numerous Divine Names such as Most Merciful, All-Compassionate, Provider, Bestower, Munificent, and Preserver, each rose like the sun in the constellations of such verses as:

 

And there is no living thing but He has hold of its forelock.30 * The beasts do not carry their own sustenance; God sustains them, and you.31 * And we have ennobled the sons of Adam.32 * And the pious shall be in bliss.33

 

They filled the world of men and beasts with mercy and bounties, transforming it into a temporary Paradise. He understood that they make known perfectly the generous host of this fine, instructive guest-house, which is well worth being gazed upon, and a thousand times he repeated: “All praise be to God, the Sustainer of All the Worlds!”

 

The Third Example of the hundreds of his observations during his journey:

 

The traveller from the world, who wanted to know his Creator through the manifestations of His Names and attributes, turned to his mind and imagination and said: “Come! Like the spirits and angels we shall leave our bodies behind and ascend to the skies. We shall question the inhabitants of the heavens concerning our Creator.” His spirit mounted his imagination, and his mind mounted his thought, and together they rose to the heavens. They took astronomy as their guide, and looked with the view of the philosophy which does not heed religion, and the currents of “Those who have received Your wrath” and “Those who have gone astray.” He saw thousands of heavenly bodies and fiery stars, a thousand times larger than the earth and travelling a hundred times faster than a cannon-ball, speeding one within the other, unconscious, lifeless, and aimless. If by chance one of them had confused its way for a second, it would have collided with another unconscious globe in that boundless, empty, infinite world, causing utter confusion and chaos, like doomsday.

 

Whichever direction he looked, the traveller was filled with terror and bewilderment; he was sorry a thousand times over he had ascended to the skies. His mind and imagination went utterly to pieces. They declared: “Our duty is to see and point out fine truths. We resign then from observing and understanding such infernally ugly and painful things. We do not want any such thing.” Then suddenly, through the manifestation of “God is the Light of the heavens and the earth,” numerous Names like “Subjugator of the sun and moon,” and “Sustainer of all the worlds,” each rose like suns in the constellations of verses such as:

 

And We have adorned the lower heavens with lamps,34

 

and

 

Do they then not look at the heavens above them, how We have raised them and adorned them,35

 

and,

 

Then he withdrew to the sky and formed it into seven heavens.36

 

They filled all the heavens with light and with angels, transforming it into a huge mosque or military encampment. The traveller entered the current of “Those whom You have blessed.” He was saved from that of “Those who have gone astray” and “Or [the unbelievers’ state] is like the depths of darkness in a vast deep ocean.” He saw a magnificent land, as beautiful and well-ordered as Paradise. Observing that on all sides its inhabitants were making known the All-Glorious Creator, the value of his mind and imagination was increased a thousandfold, and their duties advanced likewise.

 

Referring to the Risale-i Nur the other observations of the traveller through the universe, which are comparable with these three examples out of hundreds, together with knowledge of the Necessarily Existent One through the manifestations of His Names, here we suffice with these brief indications and cut a long story short. Now, like that traveller through the world, we shall try to know the Creator of the universe through the works and manifestations of only three of His sacred ‘seven attributes:’ knowledge, will, and power. For details, we refer you to the Risale-i Nur.

 

The following piece in Arabic is the sum and substance of the Arabic Hizb al-Nuri,37 which I constantly recite reflectively. It expounds three of the thirty-three degrees of the phrase “God is Most Great” (Allahu Akbar). This is followed by a sort of translation of the Arabic piece, consisting of brief indications, which opens up the way to acquiring belief in Divine knowledge, will, and power at the degree of ‘the vision of certainty’ through pointing out their manifestations in the universe, a subject which greatly preoccupied the scholars of theology and of the tenets of belief. Through pointing out the manifestations of knowledge, will, and power, the following indications thus open up the way to complete belief —at the degree of knowledge of certainty— in the Necessarily Existent One’s existence and unity, and to the affirmation of that belief.

 

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

 

Say: “Praise be to God, Who begets no son, and has no partner in [His] dominion; nor [needs] He any to protect Him from humiliation; Yes, magnify Him for His greatness and glory!”38

 

God is greater than everything in respect of power and knowledge, for He is knowing of all things with all-encompassing knowledge necessary to His Essence.39 Nothing can be hidden from His knowledge because of the mystery of its presence and witnessing and all-encompassing luminosity; existence necessitates universality, and the light of knowledge encompasses all the world of existence. Yes, the balanced order, and regular balances, and general, purposeful wisdom, and all-embracing, particular favours, and the well-ordered decrees, and fruitful determining, and specified appointed hours of death, and the regular sustenance, and the wise skills, and the adorned solicitude, and the utterly perfect order, harmony, arrangement, proficiency, and balance, and absolute distinction with absolute ease all point to the all-encompassing knowledge of the One All-Knowing of the Unseen.

 

Should He not know, He that created? And He is the One Who understands the finest mysteries [and] is well-acquainted [with them].40

 

The comparison between man’s fine art, which points to his consciousness, and the fine creation of man, which points to man’s Creator, is the comparison between the tiny glimmer of a fire-fly on a dark night and the splendour of the sun at full noon.Offering a concise translation of the above, we shall make brief indications to Divine knowledge, this most important truth of belief, and refer detailed discussion of it to the Risale-i Nur.41Yes, just as mercy shows itself as clearly as the sun through the wonders of sustenance and proves decisively a Most Merciful and Compassionate One behind the veil of the Unseen; so too, through the wisdom, purposes, and fruits of order and balance in things, knowledge, which is mentioned in hundreds of Qur’anic verses and in one respect is the chief of the sacred seven attributes, displays itself like the light of the sun, making known with certainty the existence of One Knowledgeable of All Things. Yes, the comparison between ordered, measured art, which points to man’s consciousness and knowledge, and man’s fine creation, which indicates the knowledge and wisdom of man’s Creator, resembles the comparison between the tiny glow of the fire-fly on a dark night and the encompassing light of the sun at noon.Now, before explaining the evidences of Divine knowledge, we shall mention briefly the sacred conversation which took place during the Prophet’s Ascension. For Muhammad’s (PBUH) Ascension indicates and testifies that, through its manifestations in the universe, the sacred attribute of knowledge shows the Most Pure and Holy One most clearly. When on that night he received the Divine address in God’s presence, since he had been sent as an envoy on behalf of all living beings and every sort of creature, instead of giving the greeting (al-salam) of conscious beings, he said: “Salutations, blessings, benedictions and supplications, and good words — all are God’s,”42 thus offering to his Creator the creatures’ gifts, showing the manner they make known their Sustainer through the manifestations of the attribute of knowledge. That is, with the four words “Salutations, blessings, benedictions and supplications, and good words” he was alluding to the salutations, congratulations, worship, and recognition of the One All-Knowing of the Unseen of the four main groups of living beings which they offer through the manifestations of pre-eternal and post-eternal knowledge. For this reason, the recitation of this sacred conversation of the Ascension in its broad meaning has become an obligatory part of the tashahhud for all Muslims. Referring detailed exposition of that sacred conversation to the Risale-i Nur, we shall explain one meaning of it in the form of four very brief indications.

 

The First is “Salutations to God” (al-tahiyyatu lillah). Briefly, its meaning is this: for example, a master craftsman invents a wonderful machine with his profound knowledge and miraculous intelligence, and everyone who sees it applauds and congratulates the craftsman, and praising and saluting him, offers him gifts both material and immaterial. The machine too, by displaying the craftsman’s wondrously subtle art, and skill and knowledge, and working perfectly in exactly the way he wanted, aapplauds him through the tongue of its being, in effect greeting him and offering him immaterial gifts. In exactly the same way, all the species of living beings in the universe, together with all their individual members, are in every respect miraculous, wonderful machines, which —like conscious beings, men, and jinn and angels, applaud and salute their Maker verbally— through the tongues of their beings and lives applaud and salute their craftsman, the All-Glorious Maker, Who makes Himself known through the profound and subtle manifestations of His all-comprehending knowledge, which sees the relationship of everything with everything else, and knows all the things necessary for the life of each and conveys them to it at the right time. Greeting Him, the beings declare: “Salutations to God!” They worshipfully offer the price of their lives directly to their Creator, Who knows all creatures together with all their states. On the night of the Ascension, in the name of all living creatures, Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him) said “Salutations to God!” instead of the greeting of peace in the presence of the Necessarily Existent One, and offered the salutations, gifts, and greetings of all those species of living beings.

 

Yes, just as with its order and balance, an ordinary regular machine undoubtedly shows a painstaking, skilful craftsman; so each of the numberless living machines which fill the universe displays a thousand and one miracles of knowledge. Whatever the comparison between the light of the sun and the feeble glow of the fire-fly, that is the comparison of the former and the brilliance with which, through the manifestations of knowledge, the living beings testify to the necessary existence of their eternal Maker and Craftsman, and His fitness to be worshipped.

 

Tbe Second Sacred Word from the Ascension is “blessings” (al-mubarakat). Since according to Hadiths, the ritual prayers are the believer’s ascension43 and receive the manifestation of the supreme Ascension; and since the traveller found in every world his Creator, the One Knowing of the Unseen, through His attribute of knowledge; accompanying the traveller, we shall enter the broad world of blessed things and “blessings,” which make those who behold them declare: “How great are God’s blessings!” Like the traveller, we shall behold that world of “blessed beings” and foremost the innocent, blessed infants of beings with spirits, and the seeds of animate creatures, which are the tiny containers of the programmes of their lives, and through studying them shall attempt to know our Creator with ‘the knowledge of certainty,’ through the miraculous, subtle manifestations of His sacred attribute of knowledge.

 

Yes, with our own eyes we see that through the knowledge of an All-Wise and Knowledgeable One, all those innocent young and blessed minute treasuries and boxes, —both altogether and singly— suddenly awaken and stir into motion, and proceed towards the aim of their creation. They cause those who see them as they are in reality to exclaim: “May God bless these a thousand times over! What endless wonders God has willed!”

 

For example, all seeds, eggs, sperm, and grains have a precise order which springs from knowledge; and the order is within a perfect balance, which arises from skill; and the balance is within a constant reordering, and the reordering is within a constant measuring and balancing; and the measuring and balancing are within a distinguishing and nurturing, each possessing marks intentionally distinguishing it from its fellows; and this distinguishing and nurturing are within an artful decorating and adorning; and this adorning is within the giving of wise, appropriate, perfect forms and members; and this giving of form is together with differences in the flesh and edible parts of those creatures and fruits, for the purpose of generously gratifying the tastes of those desiring sustenance; and this is within miraculous embroideries and adornments which reflect knowledge and are all different; and this is together with pleasing smells and delicious tastes which are all different. Thus, through the unfolding and development of all these forms with perfect orderliness and distinction, and while being different, without fault or error in absolute profusion, and with absolute speed and over an infinite area, and with this wondrous situation continuing throughout the seasons; all those blessed beings, singly and altogether, demonstrate visibly through the above fifteen tongues the marvels of their Craftsman’s skills and His miraculous knowledge, making known as clearly as the sun the One All-Knowing of the Unseen, their Necessarily Existent Maker. It was because of this truly brilliant and extensive testimony of theirs and congratulations of their Maker, that on the night of the Ascension when speaking on behalf of all creatures, Muhammad (PBUH) used the word “blessings” instead of the greeting of peace.

 

The Third Word is “benedictions” (al-salawat). This sacred word, which was spoken during the supreme Ascension of Muhammad (PBUH), hundreds of millions of believers offer to the Divine Court every day at least ten times in the tashahhud during the obligatory prayers, which are the believers’ ascension. They proclaim it to the universe. Since all the truths of the Ascension have been proved in the Thirty-First Word in most powerful and decisive fashion, even to obdurate, atheist deniers, which it in part addresses, for the proofs and details we refer you to that Word, and here, extremely concisely, we shall take a look at the strange world of the various sorts of conscious beings and beings with spirits, which illustrates the broad meaning of this Third Word of the Ascension. We shall also try to understand by means of the manifestation of His pre-eternal knowledge, the perfect mercy and compassion of our Creator, and the vastness of His power and all-encompassing will, within His existence and unity.

 

Yes, we see in this world that even if not consciously and with their minds, by nature all beings with spirits feel and perceive that despite their boundless impotence and weakness, they have innumerable enemies and things detrimental to them, and despite their infinite want and need, they have endless needs and desires. Since their power and capital are insufficient to meet even a thousandth of these, they cry out and weep with all their strength, and by their nature implore and entreat. Each with its own particular voice and tongue offers supplications, entreaties, prayers of a sort, and benedictions to One All-Knowing and All-Powerful. Then while seeking refuge His Court, we see that suddenly an All-Wise and Powerful One Who is Absolutely Knowing and perceives all the needs of those crying out, understands their plaints and plight, and hears their innate petitions and supplications, comes to their assistance and does all that they wish. He transforms their weeping into smiles and their cries into thanks. This wise, knowing, compassionate assistance makes known in truly brilliant fashion through the manifestations of knowledge and mercy, an Assisting Answerer of Prayer, a Munificent and Compassionate One. During the Supreme Ascension, Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him), and during the prayers, the lesser ascension, his community, all declare “Benedictions and supplications, and good words —all are God’s,” which has the meaning of offering specifically to Him all the benedictions and worship of the world of beings with spirits.

 

The Fourth Sacred Word is “Good words—all are God’s!” (al-tayyibat lillah). Since many of the truths of the Risale-i Nur have been imparted to me while reciting the tesbihat following the prayers, quite simply I have been driven involuntarily to explain by means of brief indications the truths associated with both Sura al-Fatiha, and the words of the tashahhud.

 

The sacred word “good words,” which was spoken during Muhammad’s (PBUH) Ascension, refers to the good words and deeds and worship of those with knowledge of God and the believers, and of men, jinn, angels, and spirit beings, who possess universal consciousness, with which they beautify the universe. They look to the world of beauties, and understand fully the infinite beauties of the eternal Absolutely Beauteous One and the perpetual beauties of His Names, which adorn the universe, and they respond to them with passion and ardour and universal worship. This word refers to the endless good words they utter to their Creator through the fragrant odours of their shining belief, extensive knowledge of Him, and praise and laudation. Since good words in this meaning were spoken during the Ascension, every day without wearying the whole Umma repeats that sacred word in the tashahhud.

 

Yes, the universe is the mirror of an infinite, sempiternal beauty and loveliness, and consists of manifestations of it. All the beauties and perfections of the universe come from that eternal beauty and become beautiful through their connection with it, and increase in value. The universe would otherwise be a ruin, a house of sorrows, a place of utter confusion. Their connection with that beauty is understood through the knowledge and affirmation of men, angels, and spirit beings, who are the heralds and announcers of the sovereignty of the Godhead. It was even imparted to me that there is a strong possibility that in order to broadcast everywhere the beautiful, sweet praise and laudation of those heralds and their extolling the One they worship, and to send them up to the Sublime Throne and present those good words at the Divine Court, the element of the air has been given a truly strange and wondrous state whereby its particles, like soldiers under orders, are miniscule tongues and ears.

 

Thus, just as through their belief and their worship, men and the angels make known the All-Glorious All-Worshipped One; so through making each of those announcers a microcosm connected to the whole universe through the comprehensive capacities, wondrous faculties, and subtleties of knowledge He has given them, that All-Glorious and Wise One makes Himself known in brilliant fashion. For example, He shows Himself and clearly as the sun by creating numerous wonderful machines in a space the size of a walnut in man’s tiny head such as his faculties of memory, imagination, and thought, and by making his memory into a large library.44

 

We shall now allude to a very brief meaning of the Arabic piece mentioned above which points out universal proofs of all-encompassing knowledge, comprises innumerable proofs, bringing them together and making them one extensive proof, and demonstrates all-encompassing knowledge through fifteen evidences. We shall give a sort of translation of the piece.

 

The First of Fifteen Evidences: “The balanced order”

 

The measured regularity and balanced order observed in all creatures testify to an all-encompassing knowledge. Yes, there being in all things —from the universe, which resembles an orderly palace, and the solar system, and the page of the air, whose particles display an astonishing order in the broadcasting of words and sounds, and the face of the earth, which every spring with perfect order and regularity raises three hundred thousand different species, to the members, cells, particles, and bodily systems of all living beings— a balanced order and perfect regularity, which are the works of a profound, comprehensive, unfailing knowledge, means that they testify in extremely clear and decisive manner to an all-encompassing knowledge.

 

The Second Evidence: “And regular balance”

 

In all the creatures in the universe, particular, universal, from the planets to the red and white corpuscles in blood, in everything, there is an exceedingly orderly measure and appropriate balance which point self-evidently to an all-encompassing knowledge and testify to it decisively. Yes, we see for instance that the members and bodily systems of a fly or human being, and even the cells of the body and red and white corpuscles in the blood, are placed with so sensitive a balance and fine a measure, and they are so fitting and suitable for each other, and their mutual proportion with the other members of the body is so orderly, and they are in such harmony with them, that it is in no way possible that one lacking infinite knowledge could have given them those situations.

 

Similarly, a balance so perfect and measure so regular and unfailing govern in all living creatures and sorts of creatures from minute particles to the planets of the solar system that they prove conclusively an all-encompassing knowledge and testify to it with complete clarity. This means that all the evidences for knowledge are evidences also for the existence of the All-Knowing One. Since it is impossible and precluded that there should be an attribute without the one it qualifies, all the proofs of knowledge form a powerful and completely certain supreme proof of the Pre-Eternal All-Knowing One’s necessary existence.

 

The Third Evidence: “And the general, purposeful wisdom”

 

In all the creativity and activity in the universe, and in all the changes, raising to life, employing in duties and discharging from them, all creatures and all species of creatures have functions, uses, and purposes which are so intentional and knowing that they leave no room for chance. We see that with respect to creation one who does not possess all-encompassing knowledge could in no way lay claim to any of them. For example, although it is only a piece of flesh, together with its two main functions, the tongue, which is one of man’s hundred members —man being only one of innumerable animate creatures— is the means to hundreds of instances of wisdom, results, fruits, and uses. Its functions of tasting foods, recognizing all their different savours, informing the body and the stomach, being an exacting inspector of the kitchens of Divine mercy, and an accurate interpreter and telephone exchange for the heart, spirit, and mind in the function of speech all point in most brilliant and decisive manner to all-encompassing knowledge. If through its purposes and fruits a single tongue furnishes such evidence, innumerable tongues and innumerable living beings, infinite creatures, point to and testify to an infinite knowledge with the clarity and certainty of the noonday sun. They proclaim that there is nothing at all outside the bounds of the knowledge of the One All Knowing of the Unseen, or outside His wisdom and will.

 

The Fourth Evidence: “And all-embracing, particular favours”

 

The favours and instances of compassion and protection bestowed on all living creatures in the world of conscious beings, on every species and individual, particularly and appropriately, point self-evidently to an all-encompassing knowledge, and offer innumerable testimonies to the necessary existence of One Gracious and All-Knowing Who knows those who receive the favours and their needs.

 

NOTE: The explanation of the words of the Arabic piece, which is the summary and essence of the Risale-i Nur, indicates the truths which the Risale-i Nur —being distilled from the Qur’an— has taken from the flashes of Qur’anic verses, and particularly the proofs and evidences for knowledge, will, and power. For the Risale-i Nur expounds the scholarly proofs which the Arabic words indicate. This means that rather than being elucidations, explanations, and translations of those Arabic words, each of these scholarly proofs explains an indication and fine point made by numerous Qur’anic verses.

 

To return to our main question. Yes, with our own eyes we see that there is an All-Knowing and Compassionate One Who knows us and all beings with spirits, and knowing them, protects them, and knows all their needs and plaints, and knowing them comes to their assistance with His favours. One out of numberless examples: the general and particular favours bestowed on man as sustenance, medicines, and the minerals he needs point most clearly to an all-encompassing knowledge, offering testimonies to a Most Merciful and Compassionate One to the number of foods, medicines, and minerals. Yes, wise and purposive works like the feeding of man, and particularly of the helpless and infants, and especially their conveying from the kitchen of the stomach the nutrients necessary for all their members and even their cells, and the mountains being pharmacies and stores of all the minerals necessary for man, could only occur through an all-encompassing knowledge. Aimless chance, blind force, deaf nature, and lifeless, unconscious causes and the simple, overwhelming elements could in no way interfere in this feeding, administering, preservation, and planning, which is knowing, percipient, wise, compassionate, and gracious. Apparent causes such as those are merely employed and utilized within the bounds of the knowledge and wisdom of One possessing absolute knowledge, and at His command and with His permission, as a veil to the dignity of Divine power.

 

The Fifth and Sixth Evidences: ‘And the regular decrees and fruitful determining’

 

The forms and proportions of all things, particularly plants, trees, animals, and men have been cut out with skilful art according to the principles of Divine decree and determining, which are two sorts of pre-eternal knowledge, sewn in a way entirely appropriate to the stature of each, and clothed on them perfectly. Each is given most well-ordered, regular, and wise shapes. These singly and all together point to an infinite knowledge and testify to their number to an All-Knowing Maker.

 

Yes, out of innumerable examples, we look at only a single tree and a human individual, and we see that both outwardly and inwardly the fruit-bearing tree and multi-membered man have been delimited by unseen compasses and a subtle pen of knowledge, and that each of their members have been given perfectly ordered fitting forms so that they may produce the required fruits and results and perform the duties of their natures. As for this, since it could occur only through infinite knowledge, they testify to the number of plants and animals to the necessary existence and boundless knowledge of a Maker and Giver of Form, an All-Knowing Determiner Who knows the relationships of everything with everything else and keeps these in view, and knows the definition through the compasses and pen of the decree and determining of pre-eternal knowledge of the outsides and insides of their fellow-men and fellow-trees and their species, and of their measured proportions and form, and they testify to the One Who does this.

 

The Seventh and Eighth Evidences: ‘And the specified appointed hour of death and fixed, regular sustenance’

 

Superficially, the appointed hour and sustenance appear to be un-known and unspecified, but for an important instance of wisdom under the veil of vagueness, the appointed hour is determined and specified on the page of every living being’s destiny in the notebook of pre-eternal Divine decree and determining; it can be neither brought forward nor delayed. There are numerous evidences that the sustenance of every living being is also appointed and determined and inscribed on the tablets of decree and determining. For example, a huge tree leaving behind when it dies its seed, which is its spirit of a sort, to continue its duties in its place, and this occurring through the wise law of an All-Knowing Preserver; and milk, the sustenance of infants and young, flowing forth from breasts, and its appearing from between blood and execrement, and pouring into their mouths pure and clean without being polluted; reject decisively the possibility of chance and shows clearly that they occur through the compassionate law of an All-Knowing and Compassionate Provider. You can make an analogy with these two small examples for all living creatures and beings with spirits.

 

This means that in reality both the appointed hour of death is specified and determined, and each person’s sustenance has been determined and recorded in the notebook of his destiny. But for most important instances of wisdom, both the appointed hour and sustenance are concealed behind the veil of the Unseen, and appear to be to be vague, unspecified, and apparently bound to coincidence. For if the appointed hour had been specified like the setting of the sun, the first half of life would be passed in absolute heedlessness and be lost by not working for the hereafter, and the second half would passed in ghastly terror, as one was as though every day taking one more step towards the gallows of death, exacerbating the calamity of death a hundredfold. For which reason the calamities one suffers, and the resurrection of the dead, which is the world’s appointed hour of death, have mercifully been left in concealment in the Unseen.

 

As for sustenance, since after life itself it is the greatest treasury of bounties, and the richest source of thanks and praise, and the most comprehensive mine of worship, supplication, and entreaty, it has apparently been left vague and shown to be tied to chance. For in this way the door of seeking sustenance through the intercession of continuously seeking refuge at the Divine Court, and pleading and beseeching, and praise and thanks, is not closed. For if it had been clearly specified, its nature would have been altogether changed. The doors of thankful, grateful supplications and entreaties, indeed of humble worship, would have been closed.

 

The Ninth and Tenth Evidences: ‘And the regular excellence and careful adornment’

 

All the beautiful creatures which display the manifestations of an eternal beauty and loveliness especially in the spring on the face of the earth, for instance the flowers, fruits, small birds and flies, and especially the gilded, sparkling flying insects — in their creation, forms, and members are such a miraculous skill and precision, such a wonderful art, mastery, and excellence, and all sorts of shapes and tiny machines which show their craftsman’s wondrous proficiency, that they point decisively to a truly comprehensive knowledge, and —let there be no mistake in the expression— an extremely skilful, scientific innate knowledge, and testify that it is impossible that aimless chance and unconscious, confused causes could interfere. While the phrase “and careful decoration” means that those fine artefacts are adorned in a way so agreeable, are decorated in a way so sweet, display a beauty and art so attractive, that their maker could create these works only through an infinite knowledge. He knows the best manner of everything, and wishes to display to conscious beings the beauty of exquisite craftsmanship and the perfection of its beauty. For He creates and decorates the most insignificant flower and tiniest fly with the greatest care, skill, and art, giving them the greatest importance. This attentive adorning and beautifying self-evidently point to a boundless and all-encompassing knowledge, and testify to the number of those beauties to the necessary existence of an All-Knowing and Beauteous Maker .

 

The Eleventh Evidence, which comprises five universal evidences and proofs: ‘The utterly perfect order, balance, and total distinction with absolute ease, and the creation of things in unlimited abundance with absolute skill and speed with absolute balance, to an unrestricted extent with perfect beauty and art, over infinite distances with complete congruence, with unlimited intermingling yet with complete distinction.’

 

This evidence is another and better form of the similar lines at the end of the Arabic piece above, but because of my severe illness it explains the five or six evidences it comprises in the form of a very brief indication only.

 

Firstly: Throughout the earth we see the making of wondrous living machines, some instantaneously and some in a minute or two, in orderly and measured fashion, each different from its fellows, with the greatest ease, arising from a thorough knowledge and skill, all of which point to an infinite knowledge and testify that the perfection of knowledge is proportionate to the ease resulting from the skill and knowledge in the art.

 

Secondly: Perfect creations of the greatest art within the greatest profusion and multitude, point to a boundless knowledge within an infinite power, and testify to their number to One Who is Absolutely Knowing and Powerful.

 

Thirdly: Creations which are of the finest balance and measure despite being made with absolute speed, point to a boundless knowledge and testify to their number to One Absolutely Knowing and Absolutely Powerful.

 

Fourthly: The making of innumerable animate beings on the broad face of the earth with the greatest craft, adornment, and beauty of art despite their wide extent, points to an all-encompassing knowledge which confusing nothing, sees all things together, and for which nothing is an obstacle to anything else. It testifies too that singly and altogether they are the artefacts of One Knowing of All Things, an Absolutely Powerful One.

 

Fifthly: The coming into being of the members of a species which are far from each other, with one in the east, one in the west, one in the north, and one in the south, in the same way, both resembling each other and differing, could occur only through the infinite power of One Absolutely Knowing and Absolutely Powerful Who governs the whole universe, and through His infinite knowledge, which encompasses all beings together with all their states, thus pointing to an all-encompassing knowledge and testifies to One All-Knowing of the Unseen.

 

Sixthly: The creation of a great multitude of living machines in confusing circumstances and dark places, for example seeds under the ground, without confusion, despite their similarity and all being mixed up together, in miraculous fashion without neglecting any single one of any sort, together with all their distinguishing features, points as clearly as the sun to pre-eternal knowledge and testifies as brilliantly as daylight to the creativity and dominicality of One Absolutely Powerful and Absolutely Knowing. For the details we refer you to the Risale-i Nur and here cut a long story short.

 

Now we begin the question of “Will,” which is in Hulâsatü’l-Hulâsa, the summary of The Supreme Sign:45, 46

 

This piece consists of one long universal proof of Divine will, which comprises many of the proofs of Will. In a short translation of it, we set out evidence proving decisively Divine will and choice and volition. All the above evidences for Divine knowledge are also evidences for will. For the manifestations and works of knowledge and will are apparent together in all creatures.

 

The meaning of the above Arabic piece in brief:

 

Everything exists through His will and volition. What He wills occurs, what He does not will does not occur. If He did not will it, nothing would occur. A proof is this:

 

We see that among infinite, confused possibilities and various fruitless ways, amid intervening and mutually opposing elements which flow like floods causing chaos, in the midst of numerous others resembling themselves, which is the cause of disorder, every creature with its own specific essence, particular attributes, individual character, and distinctive form, is taken within a precise, perfect, regular order; all its members and organs are weighed up with a sensitive, exact measure and balance and attached to it; its mutually opposing members are created living and with extreme art from simple, lifeless matter. For example, a human being is created with a hundred different organs from a droplet of fluid, and a bird is made with numerous different members and organs from a simple egg and clothed in a miraculous form, and a tree is drawn out of a tiny seed comprising simple, lifeless carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen, together with its branches and twigs and various members and parts, and dressed in an orderly, fruitful form. This self-evidently, indubitably, decisively, and necessarily proves that all those creatures together with all their parts and particles, form and nature, are given their particular perfect states through the will, choice, volition, and intention of One possessing Absolute Power. It proves too that everything is governed by an all-embracing will. These single creatures pointing in this indubitable way to Divine will shows that all creatures offer testimony to their number with a certainty as clear as the sun at noon to Divine will encompassing all things, and that they comprise numberless proofs of the necessary existence of an All-Powerful Possessor of Will.

 

All the evidences for Divine knowledge mentioned above are also evidences for Divine will, since both function together with power. One cannot be without the other. Just as all the correspondence and conformities between the members of species and sorts of beings indicate that their Maker is One and the same; so their features being distinctive and different from each other in wise and purposive fashion indicates definitely that their Single Maker of Unity acts with will and choice. He creates everything with will, choice, volition, and intention.

 

This marks the end of my explanations of the Arabic piece’s meaning, which sets forth one universal proof of Divine will. I had intended to write many more important points, as for the question of Divine knowledge, but my brain was exhausted due to the illness I was suffering as a result of being poisoned, so it was postponed to another time.

 

The Arabic piece about Divine power:

 

God is Most Great! Through His power and will, greater than all things. For He is powerful over all things with absolute, all-encompassing power, necessary and intrinsic to His Most Pure and Holy Essence. It is impossible that the opposite of His power should intervene in it, for it has no degrees; equal before it are particles and stars, particulars and universals, the part and the whole, the seed and the tree, the world and man — through the mystery of the observable utterly perfect order, balance, distinction, and precision, together with the ease in the absolute abundance, speed, and intermingling; and through the mysteries of luminosity, transparency, reciprocity, balance, order, and obedience; and through the mysteries of the assistance of unity, facility of unity, and the manifestation of oneness; and through the mysteries of necessity, total detachment, and complete otherness of essence; and through the mysteries of unrestrictedness, not being bound by space, and indivisibility; and through the mysteries of the transformation of obstacles and obstructions into means of facility; and through the mystery of the intuition that the particular, the part, the seed and man are not inferior as regards art and eloquence to the star, and that the Creator of the universal, the whole, the tree, and the world is the Creator of the former; and through the mystery of the surroundings and wholes inevitably being in the grasp of the Creator of the things which are surrounded and the parts, like the miniature inscribed beings similar to them, or ‘milked,’ extracted droplets, for they and their likes are included in the former with the balance of His knowledge, or are ‘milked’ from them in accordance with the principles of His wisdom; and through the mystery of a Qur’an of Dignity inscribed with particles of ether on an atom or minutest particle not being of less eloquence or wondrous art than a Qur’an of Grandeur written with the ink of the stars and suns on the page of the heavens; similarly, through their relation to the power of the universe’s Creator, the blooming rose not being of less eloquence and art than the star Venus; nor the ant being inferior to the elephant; nor the microbe inferior to the rhinoceros, nor is the bee inferior to the date-palm. Moreover, the extreme ease and speed in the creation of things causes the people of misguidance to confuse formation with self-formation, which necessitates innumerable impossibilities and is a delusion; while it proves to the people of guidance that in relation to the power of the universe’s Creator particles and the stars are equal, may His glory be exalted, for there is no god but He; God is Most Great!

 

Before giving a translation of this Arabic piece from the point of view of the truly vast question of Divine power, and a brief meaning of it, I shall disclose a truth which was imparted to me. It was like this:

 

The existence of Divine power is more certain than the existence of the universe. Indeed, singly and all together creatures are the embodied words of power; they demonstrate its existence with ‘the vision of certainty.’ They testify to their number to the Absolutely Powerful One, the One qualified by it. There is no need to prove that power with further proofs. But because it is one of the most important bases of faith, and the most necessary means to understanding the Qur’anic truths, and as claimed by the verse,

 

Your creation and your resurrection is but as a single soul,47

 

and because not everyone has found the way to it through the use of reason, some people have remained bewildered and uncomprehending before power and others have denied it, and it is therefore necessary to prove an awesome truth concerning it.

 

As for the above-mentioned basis, foundation, means, assertion, and truth, it is the meaning of the above verse. That is to say: “Men and jinn! The creation of all of you and your being resurrected and raised to life at the resurrection is as easy for My power as the creation of a single individual!” Divine power creates the spring as easily as it creates a single flower. For that power, there is no difference between particular and universal, small and large, many and few. It spins planets as easily as it spins particles.

 

In nine ‘Steps’, the above Arabic passage expounds a most conclusive, cogent proof of this awesome question. Very briefly, its meaning is as follows. The basis of the steps is indicated by this:

 

For He is powerful over all things with absolute, all-encompassing power, necessary and intrinsic to His Most Pure and Holy Essence; it is impossible that the opposite of His power should intervene in it, for it has no degrees; equal before it are particles and stars, particulars and universals, the part and the whole, the seed and the tree, the world and man.

 

That is, Divine power is such that it is powerful over all things, encompasses all things, is essential to the Necessarily Existent One, and according to logic, is “necessary” to Him; it is impossible that it should be separated from Him; there is no possibility that it could be. Since the Most Pure and Holy Essence possesses such necessary power, impotence, its opposite, could certainly in no way intervene in it. Impotence could not impinge on the All-Powerful Essence. Since the existence of degrees in a thing occurs through the intervention of its opposite —for example, the degrees and levels of heat occur through the intervention of cold, and the degrees of beauty, through the intervention of ugliness— impotence, the opposite of this essential power, can in no way approach it; there is no possibility whatsoever that it could. There can be no degrees in that absolute power. Since there can be no degrees in it, stars and particles are equal to that power, and there are no differences for it between the part and the whole, or an individual and a species. The raising to life of a seed and a huge tree, and the universe and man, and one individual and all beings with spirits at the resurrection of the dead is equal in relation to that power, and all are equally easy. There is no difference between great and small, many and few. Decisive witnesses to this truth are the perfect art, order, balance, distinction and profusion that we see in the creation of things with absolute speed, absolute ease, and complete facility.

 

First Step

 

Through the mystery of the observable utterly perfect order, balance, distinction, and precision, together with the ease in the absolute abundance, speed, and intermingling.

 

For the meaning of this, see the above truth.

 

Second Step

 

Through the mysteries of luminosity, transparency, reciprocity, balance, order, and obedience.

 

For detailed explanation of this we refer you to the end of the Tenth Word, the Twenty-Ninth Word, and the Twentieth Letter, and here make only a brief allusion. Just as with respect to luminosity and through dominical power, the sun’s light is reflected as easily on the surface of the sea and in all its bubbles as is it on a single fragment of glass; the two are equal; so it is as easy for the luminous power of the Light of Lights to create and rotate the heavens and stars as it is to create flies and particles and rotate them; neither presents any difficulties for it.

 

Also, just as through the quality of transparency and through Divine power, the sun’s image is present with the same ease in a tiny mirror or in the pupil of the eye as, through the Divine command, its light is reflected on all shining things and droplets, and translucent motes, and on the surface of the sea; so too, since the inner faces of the essences of things are transparent and shining, the manifestation and effect of absolute power creates all living beings with the ease of creating a single individual; there is no difference between many and few, great and small.

 

Also, if two walnuts of equal weight were placed on a pair of scales which were absolutely precise and large enough to weigh mountains, and a tiny seed was added to one of the walnuts, it would raise one of the pans to the height of a mountain-top and lower the other to the bottom of the valley with the same ease as raising one pan to the skies and lowering the other to the valley bottom if two mountains of equal weight had been placed in the pans and a walnut added to one. In exactly the same way, in the terminology of the science of theology (kalam), contingency is equal in regard to existence and non-existence. That is, if there is nothing to cause their existence, things which are not necessary but contingent are equal in regard to existence and non-existence; there is no difference. Few or many, big or small are the same in regard to this contingency and equality. Thus, creatures are contingent, and since within the sphere of contingency their existence and non-existence are equal, it is as easy for the boundless pre-eternal power of the Necessarily Existent One to give existence to a single contingent being as to give all contingent beings existence and clothe everything in an appropriate being, spoiling the balance of non-existence. And when the being’s duties are completed, He takes off its garment of external existence and sends it apparently to non-existence, but in fact to an existence within the sphere of His knowledge. This means that if things are ascribed to the Absolutely Powerful One, the raising to life of the spring becomes as easy as that of a flower, and the raising to life of all mankind at the resurrection of the dead as easy as raising to life a single soul. Whereas if they are ascribed to causes, a flower becomes as difficult as the spring, and a fly as difficult as all living beings.

 

Also, through the mystery of order, the setting in motion of a large ship or an aeroplane through pressing a button with one’s finger is as easy as setting in motion the mainspring of a clock by turning the key with one’s finger. So too since through the principles of pre-eternal knowledge, and laws of eternal wisdom, and universal manifestations of dominical will and its specified principles, all things, universal and particular, large and small, many and few, have been given an immaterial mould, particular measure and proportions, and sheer limits, they are entirely within the order of Divine knowledge and laws of Divine will. Certainly, it is as easy for the Absolutely Powerful One to rotate the solar system and cause the ship of the earth to voyage around its annual orbit through His infinite power as it is for Him to make blood circulate in a body in orderly and wise fashion and the red and white corpuscles circulate in the blood, and the particles circulate in the tiny corpuscles, for without difficulty He creates a human being together with his wondrous organs from a droplet of fluid on the pattern of the universe. This means, if ascribed to that pre-eternal, infinite power, the creation of the universe is as easy as the creation of a single human being. But if not ascribed to that power, it becomes as difficult to create a single human being together with his wondrous organs, members and senses as to create the universe.

 

Also, through the mystery of obedience, compliance, and conforming to commands, with the command of “Forward march!” a commander impels a single soldier to attack, and with the same command he drives forward to the attack a large, disciplined army. So too, with innate desire and eagerness resembling soldiers totally obedient to the laws of Divine will and subservient to the signs of the dominical creational commands, creatures are a thousand times more obedient than the soldiers of an army —within the bounds of the line of action determined by pre-eternal knowledge and wisdom— and are completely compliant and subservient. It is therefore as easy through the dominical command of “Come into existence out of non-existence and get down to your business!” and in the manner determined by knowledge and in the form specified by will, for power to clothe an individual animate being in an existence particular to it, and take it by the hand and bring it into being as it is to create the army of living beings of the spring and to assign them their duties. That is to say, if everything is attributed to that power, the creation of the entire army of minute particles and divisions of stars is as easy and free of trouble as the creation of a single particle and single star. Whereas if attributed to causes, the creation of a particle in the pupil of a living being’s eye or in its brain together with its ability to perform its wondrous duties, would be as difficult and troublesome as that of the army of animals.

 

Third Step

 

Through the mysteries of the assistance of unity, facility of unity, and the manifestation of oneness.

 

We shall look at the meaning of this by means of brief indications. That is, due to the unity of sovereignty and all his subjects acting in conformity to his commands alone, it is as easy for a ruler and commander-in-chief to govern a large country and numerous nation as it is to govern the people of a village. For due to the unity of his decree, the members of the nation become a means of facility just like the soldiers, and his com-mands and laws are easily executed. Whereas if it was left to various rulers, in addition to sinking into confusion, to govern a village, or even a household, would be as difficult as governing the country. And since the obedient nation is attached to the single commander, like individual soldiers, through the strength of relying on the commander’s strength, and his ammunition stores and army, each may take an enemy king captive and perform works far exceeding his own individual strength. His connection with the ruler obtains for him an infinite strength and power, so that he may perform great works. But if the relation is severed, he loses that vast strength, and with his own petty strength performs works only to the extent of the arms and ammunition on his back. For if it was required of him to perform all the works he carried out relying on the power of his connection with the ruler, he would have to have in his arm the strength of the army and on his back all the ruler’s stores of arms and ammunition.

 

In exactly the same way, due to the unity of His sovereignty and absolute rulership, the Monarch of Pre-Eternity and Post-Eternity, the All-Powerful Maker, creates the universe as easily as a city, and raises to life the spring as easily as a garden, and raises to life all the dead at the resurrection as easily as creating the leaves, flowers, and fruits of the garden’s trees in the spring. He easily creates a fly on the pattern of an eagle. He easily makes man the microcosm. Whereas if ascribed to causes, a microbe would be as difficult as a rhinoceros, and a fruit as difficult as a mighty tree. Perhaps too, every particle which performs its wondrous tasks in the body of a living creature would have to be given an eye that sees all things and knowledge that knows all things so that it could carry out those subtle and perfect vital duties.

 

Also, ease and facility reach such a degree in unity that they become necessary. For if the equipping of an army is from one hand, from one factory, it becomes as easy as equipping a single soldier. Whereas if numerous different hands interfere and the various parts of the equipment are all brought from different factories, quantitively a single soldier’s equipment could be prepared only with a thousand difficulties; since numerous officers interfered, it would be as difficult as a thousand soldiers. Also, if the management and command of a thousand soldiers is given to a single officer, in one respect it becomes as easy as a single soldier, whereas if they were assigned to ten officers or the soldiers themselves, it would result in confusion and great difficulty.

 

In exactly the same way, if all things are attributed to the Single One of Unity, they become as easy as a single thing. But if they are attributed to causes, a single living creature becomes as difficult as the whole earth, and perhaps impossible. This means that in unity ease and facilty are at the level of necessity. And with the interference of numerous hands, the difficulties amount to impossibility.

 

As it is said in Letters (Mektûbat), if the alternations of day and night, and the motions of the stars, and the seasons of the year, the autumn, winter, spring, and summer, are left to a single officer and organizer, that commander-in-chief commands the globe of the earth, which is a soldier: “Rise up, rotate, and travel!” Out of joy and delight at receiving the command, with two motions like a Mevlevi dervish in ectasy, it is easily the means to the daily and annual changes and the apparent, imaginary movements of the stars, thus demonstrating the total ease and facility of unity. But if it is left not to the single commander but to causes and the caprices of the stars, and earth is told: “You stop in your place and don’t travel!”, every night and every year thousands of stars and suns thousands of times larger than the earth would have to cut distances of thousands of millions of years, so that through their travelling, the situations of the earth and heavens such as the seasons and day and night, might come about. But it would be so difficult as to be impossible.

 

The phrase And the manifestation of oneness alludes to a vast and extremely subtle, profound, and extensive truth. Referring explanation and proof of it to the Risale-i Nur, we shall here set out a single point by means of a comparison.

 

Yes, just as through its light the sun illuminates the whole earth and is an example of unity, so through its image, reflection, seven-coloured light, and shape appearing in all the transparent things that face it, such as mirrors, it forms an example of oneness. If the sun possessed knowledge, power, and will, and the fragments of glass and droplets and bubbles in which the tiny suns appeared had the capacity, through the law of Divine will, in each and next to each a complete sun would be present together with its image and attributes, as well as in all the other places. There being no deficiency in its power of disposal, through the command, effect, and word of dominical power, it would be the cause of truly extensive manifestations, thus demonstrating the extraordinary ease and facility of oneness.

 

In exactly the same way, just as in respect of His unity, the All-Glorious Maker looks through His knowledge, will, and power, which encompass all things, and is all-present and all-seeing everywhere, so with respect to His oneness and through its manifestation, He is present together with His Names and attributes with all things, and particularly living things, so that easily, in an instant, He creates a fly on the pattern of an eagle and a human being according to the system of the universe. He creates living creatures in a way so miraculous that if all causes were to gather together, they could not make a nightingale or a fly. And the One Who creates the nightingale, is the One Who creates all birds; and the One Who creates a human being could only be the One Who creates the universe.

 

The Fourth and Fifth Steps

 

Through the mysteries of necessity, total detachment, and complete otherness of essence; and the mysteries of unrestrictedness, not being bound by space, and indivisibility.

 

It being very difficult to express the reality of these two steps to everyone, their meaning will be explained in one or two very brief points. That is, in relation to the power of an Absolutely Powerful One Whose existence is at the degree of necessity, the most powerful and stable of the degrees of existence, and is pre-eternal and post-eternal, and Who is totally detached from and free of materiality, and Whose holy nature is totally different to all other natures, — in relation to His power, the stars are like minute particles, and the resurrection of the dead like the spring, and to raise to life all men at the resurrection is as easy as raising to life a single soul. For as much as a fingernail from the levels of existence that are powerful may hold a mountain from an insubstantial level of existence, and may manipulate it. For example, a mirror and faculty of memory from the level of powerful, external existence may hold a hundred mountains and a thousand books from the level of existence of the World of Similitudes and non-material existence, which are weak and insubstantial, and they may have disposal over them. Thus, however inferior as regards power the level of existence of the World of Similitudes is to the level of external existence, the created, accidental existences of contingent beings are thousands of times more inferior and weaker than a pre-eternal, everlasting, necessary existence, so that through the manifestation of a particle He can manipulate a world from the worlds of contingent beings. Regretably, for the time being, three important reasons do not permit me to explain this lengthy truth and its fine points in full, so we refer it to the Risale-i Nur and another time.

 

Sixth Step

 

Through the mystery of the transformation of obstacles and impediments into means of facility.

 

Through a law of the manifestation of Divine will called in science “the knot of life,” and of the creational command, and through the command and will being turned towards them, the unconscious branches and hard twigs of a huge tree do not form obstacles or impediments to the necessary substances and foods which pass to its fruits, leaves, and flowers from the “knot of life,” which is like the tree’s mainspring and stomach; indeed, they facilitate the process. In just the same way, since all [potential] obstacles in the creation of the universe and creatures cease being obstacles in the face of a manifestation of will and regard of the dominical command and become means of facility, eternal power creates the universe and all the species of creatures on the earth as easily as creating a single tree. Nothing at all is difficult for it. If all those acts of creation are not ascribed to that power, then the creation and administration of the single tree would be as difficult as the creation and administration of all trees, indeed, as the universe. For then everything would become obstacles and obstructions, and if all causes were to gather together, they could not send the necessary sustenance to the fruits, leaves, branches and twigs in orderly, regular fashion from the stomach and mainspring of a tree’s “knot of life,” which proceeds from command and will. Unless all the parts of the tree, and all its particles even, were given an eye, all-encompassing knowledge, and wondrous power which would see the entire tree together with its parts and particles, and know them and assist them.

 

So climb these five steps and take a look; see what difficulties —indeed, impossibilities— are present in unbelief and associating partners with God, and how distant they are from reason and logic, and how precluded they are. Then see what ease there is on the way of the Qur’an, indeed, that its facility is at the degree of necessity, and how acceptable and reasonable it is, and what certain and satisfying truth is found on its way, so certain as to be necessary. Understand this and say: “All praise be to God for the bounty of belief!”

 

(The difficulties I was suffering and my indisposition caused the remaining part of this important step to be postponed.)

 

Seventh Step

 

And through the mystery that the particular, the part, the seed and man are not inferior as regards art and eloquence to the star, the universal, the whole, the tree, and the world.

 

[NOTE: The basis, mine, and sun of the truths contained in these nine Steps are the verses: Say, He is God, the One; * God, the Eternal and Ever-Besought.48 They are brief indications to flashes from the manifestation of Divine oneness and eternal besoughtedness. Making one or two points, we shall take a very brief look at the meaning of this Seventh Step, and for the details refer you to the Risale-i Nur.]

 

That is, a particle which performs wonderful duties in the eye or brain is not inferior to a star; nor is a part inferior to the whole; for instance, the brain and eye are not inferior to the human being as a whole; nor with regard to beauty of art and the marvels of its creation is a particular individual inferior to a universal species; nor with his strange members and faculties is a man inferior to all the animal species; nor in regard to fine craftsmanship and being treasury-like, and resembling an index, programme, and memory, is a seed inferior to a mighty tree; nor in regard to his creation, and wondrous, comprehensive organs and faculties created so as to perform thousands of amazing duties, is a man, the microcosm, inferior to the universe. This means that the One Who creates the particle cannot lack the power to create the star. And the One Who creates an organ like the tongue, certainly easily creates man. And the One Who creates a single man thus perfectly surely can create all animals, and this He does before our eyes. And the One Who creates a seed as a list, an index, a notebook of the laws issuing from the Divine command, and as a “knot of life,” is certainly the Creator of all trees. And the One Who creates man as a sort of seed of the world and as its comprehensive fruit, and makes him the mirror to all the Divine Names, and connected to all the universe, and His vicegerent on earth, most certainly possesses such power that He creates the universe as easily as He creates man, and sets it in order. In which case, whoever is the Creator, Maker, and Sustainer of the particle, part, particular individual, seed, and man must be the Creator, Maker, and Sustainer of the stars, species, the whole, universals, trees, and the whole universe. That it should be otherwise is impossible and precluded.

 

Eighth Step

 

Through the mystery of the surroundings and wholes inevitably being in the grasp of the Creator of the things which are surrounded and the parts, like the miniature inscribed beings similar to them, or ‘milked,’ extracted droplets, for they and their likes are included in the former with the balance of His knowledge, or are ‘milked’ from them in accordance with the principles of His wisdom.

 

That is, the relation to the large universals which encompass them of the particulars which are encompassed, and of individuals, seeds, and grains which are within universals and wholes, is as tiny miniatures, and as the identical samples of the universal and wholes, inscribed in miniature in the very finest writing. Since this is so, the encompassing universal must be within the grasp of the Creator of the particulars and completely under His disposal so that through the balances of His knowledge and its fine pens He can include that huge all-encompassing book in hundreds of miniscule sections and notebooks. The relation and comparison, then, of the encompassed parts and particulars with their surroundings is as droplets ‘milked’ from what encompasses them, like milk, or as if someone squeezed the surroundings and those points dripped from them. For example, a melon seed is a droplet milked from all its surroundings or a point in which is written the whole book, for it contains its index, list, and programme. Since it is thus, the encompassing wholes and universals must be within the hand of the Maker of those particulars, droplets, and points so that He can milk the individuals, droplets, and points from them with the sensitive principles of His wisdom. This means that the One Who creates the seed and individual must the One Who creates the whole and the universals, and the other universals and sorts, which encompass the latter and are bigger than them; it could not be anyone else. In which case, the One Who creates a single soul can only be He Who creates all mankind. And the One Who raises to life one dead person, can raise to life all jinn and men at the resurrection of the dead, and will raise them to life. So see, what is claimed and stated by the verse,

 

Your creation and your resurrection is but as a single soul49

 

is most definitely and brilliantly pure truth and reality.

 

Ninth Step

 

And through the mystery of a Qur’an of Dignity inscribed with particles of ether on an atom or minutest particle not being of less eloquence or wondrous art than a Qur’an of Grandeur written with the ink of the stars and suns on the page of the heavens; similarly, through their relation to the power of the universe’s Creator, the blooming rose not being of less eloquence and art than the star Venus; nor the ant being inferior to the elephant, nor the microbe inferior to the rhinoceros, nor the bee inferior to the date-palm. Moreover, the extreme ease and speed in the creation of things causes the people of misguidance to confuse formation with self-formation, which necessitates innumerable impossibilities and is a delusion; while it proves to the people of guidance that in relation to the power of the universe’s Creator particles and the stars are equal, May His glory be exalted, for there is no god but He; God is Most Great!

 

[i wanted to explain the meaning of this last step at length, but regretably I have been prevented by my extreme distress, arising from arbitrary oppression and harassment, and my weakness and serious ssicknesses, resulting from poisoning. I have therefore have been compelled to suffice with a brief indication.]

 

That is, if a Qur’an of Mighty Stature was written on a particle which is supposed to be indivisible and called in the science of theology (kalam) and in philosophy “jawhar-i fard,” in particles of ether, which is matter even finer, and if another mighty Qur’an was written in stars and suns on the pages of the heavens, then the two were compared, the microscopic Qur’an written in particles would not be inferior in respect of marvels and miraculous art than the vast Qur’an gilding the face of the heavens; indeed, in some ways it would be superior.

 

In exactly the same way, from the point of view of the originality and eloquence in their creation, in relation to the power of the universe’s Creator, the rose is not inferior to the star Venus, the ant is not inferior to the elephant, and a microbe is more wondrous as regards its creation than a rhinoceros, and with its marvellous inborn faculties the bee is superior to the date-palm. This means that the One Who creates the bee can create all animals. The One Who raises a single soul to life can raise to life all men at the resurrection of the dead and gather them together in the arena of the Great Gathering, and will gather them together. Nothing at all is difficult for Him, for before our eyes every spring He creates a hundred thousand samples of the resurrection with the greatest ease and speed.

 

Very briefly, the meaning of the final Arabic sentence is this: since the people of misguidance do not know the unshakeable truths of the above ‘Steps,’ and since creatures come into existence extremely easily and extremely quickly, they imagine their formation and creation through a Maker’s infinite power to be self-formation and that they come into existence of themselves. They have thus opened for themselves the door of in every way impossible and precluded superstitions, which no mind, and not even delusion, could accept. For example, in that case, every single particle of every animate creature would have to be ascribed an infinite power, knowledge, and eye that sees everything, and power sufficient to execute every art and skill. Thus, by not accepting a single God, they are bound by their ways to accept gods to the number of particles, and thus deserve to enter among the lowest of the low of Hell.

 

As for the people of guidance, the powerful truths and irrefutable proofs of the above ‘Steps’ afford to their sound hearts and straight minds the firmest conviction and most powerful belief and assent at the level of ‘the vision of certainty,’ so that they believe without doubt or misgiving and with peace of mind that in relation to Divine power there is no difference between stars and particles, or the smallest and the largest, for all these wondrous things occur before our very eyes. And every marvel of art confirms the assertion of the verse,

 

Your creation and your resurrection is but as a single soul,

 

and testifies that what it states is pure truth and reality, and through the tongues of their beings they declare: “God is Most Great!” We too declare: “God is Most Great!” to their number. And with all our strength and conviction we affirm the verse’s claim, and we testify with innumerable proofs that what it states is pure truth and reality.

 

Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise.50

 

O God! Grant blessings and peace to the one whom You sent as a Mercy to all the worlds, and all praise be to God, the Sustainer of All the Worlds.

 

* * *

 

 

 

[A Eulogy which answers the questions: What is the Risale-i Nur? What is its true nature, and what is the true nature of its Interpreter?]

 

The high servants of religion who are described in Hadiths as coming at the start of every century are not innovators, they are followers. That is to say, they do not create anything new themselves, they do not bring any new ordinances; they adjust and strengthen religion by way of following to the letter the fundamentals and ordinances of religion and the Sunna of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH); they proclaim the true and original meaning of religion; they remove and render null and void the baseless matters which have been mixed up with it; they reject and destoy the attacks made on religion; they establish the Divine commands, and proclaim and make known the nobility and exaltedness of the Divine ordinances. Only, without spoiling the basic position or damaging the original spirit, they carry out their duties through new methods of persuasion appropriate to the understand of the age, and in new ways and with new details.

 

These dominical officials confirm their positions through their actions and deeds. They carry out their duty of reflecting the firmness of their belief and their sincerity. They display in their actions their degree of faith. They show that they follow to the letter the practices of Muhammad (PBUH) and that truly they have been invested with the Prophetic robe. In short: for the community of Muhammad (PBUH) they form perfect models in respect of deeds and morality and following and adhering to the Prophet’s Sunna; they are examples worthy of being followed. The works they write expounding God’s Book and elucidating the injunctions of religion, and their presenting these in accordance with the understanding of the age and its degree of learning, are not the products of their own elevated, fertile minds; they are not the result of their own intelligence and knowledge. They are directly the inspirations and promptings of the Pure Essence of Messengership (PBUH), who is the source of revelation. Jaljalutiyya, Mathnawi-i Sharif, and Futuh al-Ghayb and such works are all of this sort. Those holy persons have a part in the ordering of those choice works, and in their manner of exposition; that is, they are the places where their meanings are manifested and reflected.

 

To come to the Risale-i Nur and its Interpreter: since in this lofty work are an elevated effulgence and endless perfection never before encountered in any similar work; and since it is observed that, in a way hitherto unseen in any work, it is the heir to the effulgences of the Qur’an, which is a Divine lamp and the sun of guidance and moon of happiness; it is a fact as clear as the sun that its basis is the pure light of the Qur’an and that it bears the effulgence of the lights of Muhammad (PBUH) to a greater extent than the works of the saints, and that the share in it, and concern with it, and sacred disposal over it of the Pure Essence of Messengership (PBUH) are greater than in the works of the saints, and the attainment and perfections of the one who is its Interpreter and place of manifestation is elevated and matchless to the same degree.

 

Yes, while still in his childhood and never having studied, in the space of three month’s study in order to be saved from externals, the Risale-i Nur’s Interpreter was made heir to the early and later sciences, mystic knowledge, the realities of things, the mysteries of the universe, and Divine wisdom, which had been bestowed on no one previously. With his learning and moral fortitude, consisting of his being embodied chastity, and his extraordinary courage and complete self-sufficiency, he was a miracle of creation, an embodiment of Divine favour; his abilities were God-given.

 

As a matchless scholar, an extraordinary prodigy, challenging the whole world of learning before reaching the age of puberty, he silenced all the scholars with whom he debated, answered absolutely correctly and without hesitation just about all the questions posed to him, bore the mantle of ‘master’ from the age of fourteen, and continuously irradiated the effulgence of knowledge and light of wisdom. With the subtlety and profundity of his exposition, the conciseness and loftiness of his explanations, and his insight, perspicacity and light of wisdom, he astonished the scholars and learned, deservedly earning the illustrious title of ‘Bediuzzaman’ (Wonder of the Age). As someone who with his elevated qualities and scholarly virtues propagated and proved most perfectly the religion of Muhammad (PBUH), he surely received the highest favours of the Lord of the Prophets (PBUH), and was under his lofty protection and auspices. Doubtless he was one of noble virtue who advanced at the decree of the Most Holy Prophet (PBUH), and acted under his command, and was the heir to his truths and reflected his lights.

 

As indicated by his making the lights and knowledge of Muhammad (PBUH) and radiance of the Divine Candle (Qur’an) shine most brilliantly, and the mathematical significances of the Qur’an and Hadith being fulfilled in him, and the mathematical expositions of verses expressing the prophetic utterances concentrating on himself, there is no doubt that he was a burnished mirror to the Divine Messengership in serving the cause of belief, and the final luminous fruit of the tree of Messengership, and the final mouth of reality in respect of the legacy of the tongue of Messengership, and a final happy bearer of ‘the Divine Candle’ in respect of serving belief.

 

Signed in the name of the Risale-i Nur students who attended the single ‘lesson’ of the third School of Joseph, consisting of The Shining Proof and Zühretü’n-Nur,

 

Ahmed Feyzi, Ahmed Nazif, Salâhaddin, Zübeyir, Ceylan, Sungur, Tabancali

 

They have accorded me a share far exceeding my due. But lacking the courage to offend these signatories, I remained silent, and accepted their eulogy in the name of the collective personality of the Risale-i Nur students.

 

S a i d N u r s i

 

* * *

 

 

 

In His Name, be He glorified!

 

And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.

 

Peace be upon you and God’s mercy and blessings, for ever and ever!

 

Our Most Beloved, Blessed, Highly-Valued, Kindly Master!

 

Our revered Master, who has completely abandoned his own will and left all matters to dominical will, who sees the mercy and wisdom of Divine Determining in every apparent calamity and hardship, and with perfect trust and submission awaits in perfect patience the results of that dominical manifestation! In this terrible century when in some places the things on which the believers rely have begun to crumble, and with publications opposing the pillars of belief the deniers of God flaunt themselves openly and arrogantly, and to act in opposition to the Qur’an’s commands and not believe in spiritual forces, and to ascribe the right of creation to unconscious, blind, deaf nature are considered marks of civilization and of being ‘cultured’ and intellectual —at such a time, our gracious Master wrote the Risale-i Nur, a miracle of the Qur’an, and offering its soothing cures to agitated, wretched hearts needy for the water of life of belief, gave them the good news of eternal happiness. On its highway of reality which proves its teachings with decisive, categorical arguments and proofs, and through the mystery of our Illustrious Leader (PBUH), to whom refers “the cause is like the doer,” the equivalent of all the good deeds performed by hundreds of thousands of Risale-i Nur students who have saved their belief through the Risale-i Nur has passed to the register of his good deeds!

 

Just as in Denizli Prison Almighty God bestowed The Fruits of Belief, whose remedies were sufficiently efficacious to reduce to nothing the distress of the incarceration, and that rose’s sweet scent eliminated all the pains of its thorns, dispelling all our temporary distress; so too here in Afyon Prison, the physical discomforts of one day of which are equal to a month’s discomfort in Denizli Prison, the Most Munificent and Compassionate One of Beauty has bestowed at the hand of you our beloved Master sublime proofs affirming Divine unity and praise, and the messengership of Muhammad (PBUH), which are cures and antidotes. We most faulty students of yours, who through the effulgences of the Risale-i Nur have learnt to read and write, consider these three short treatises to be both conclusive proofs of the Risale-i Nur’s veracity and a sort of summary of it, in the same way that the programme and index of a mighty pine-tree is encapsulated in its seed.

 

We are incapable of describing the virtues of these three treatises, but on reading them our spirits experience a powerful relief, our physical sufferings are transformed into joy, and they bring us innumerable fruits from the garden of belief. With its eleven proofs of Divine unity, the first of them dispels the darknesses of disbelief, misguidance, and nature at this time. The second expounds with sacred proofs of belief Sura al-Fatiha, the source, basis, and master of all the comparisons in the Risale-i Nur. And the third explains brilliantly in a way that ensures complete certitude the part about the messengership of Muhammad (PBUH), which was imparted to you, our beloved Master, here in Afyon Prison.

 

Although we are in no way worthy of anything, we shall strive with all our power to publish these works, which we have received. Offering endless thanks to Almighty God, we pray to Him saying: “Most Merciful of the Merciful! May You be pleased with our Master for ever and ever!”

 

The Enduring One, He is the Enduring One!

 

In the name of the Risale-i Nur students,

 

Zübeyir, Ceylan, Sungur, Ibrahim

 

* * *

 

 

 

Introduction to the Turkish Translation of the Original Arabic ‘Damascus Sermon’

 

In His Name, be He glorified!

 

And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise

 

Peace be upon you and God’s mercy and blessings for ever and ever!

 

My Dear, Loyal Brothers!

 

[With a presentiment of the future, the Old Said perceived the truths expressed in this Arabic sermon, which, on the insistence of the Damascus religious authorities, he delivered forty years ago in the Umayyad Mosque to a congregation of close on ten thousand, which included a hundred religious scholars; he gave news of those truths with complete certainty as though they were going to be realized shortly. However, the two World Wars and twenty-five years of absolute despotism delayed their realization; it is now that the signs of this, which were predicted then, are beginning to be seen in the World of Islam. Therefore, if you consider it appropriate, you may publish the translation of this most important and instructive piece, not as an old, outdated sermon, but as fresh, pertinent instruction on social and Islamic questions addressing directly, in 1371 instead of 1327, the congregation of three hundred and seventy (now more than a million) million in the mosque of the Islamic world, rather than in the Umayyad Mosque.]

 

It is fitting here to write the most important answer to a most important question. For the Old Said spoke prophetically in that lesson of forty years ago as though he was seeing the wondrous teachings of the Risale-i Nur and its effects. It is for this reason that I am writing that question and answer here. It is like this:

 

Many have asked both me and the Risale-i Nur students: “Why is it that the Risale-i Nur is not defeated in the face of so much opposition and so many obdurate philosophers and people of misguidance? By preventing to an extent the dissemination of numerous valuable, true books on belief and Islam, and by means of their worldly pleasures and vices, they have deprived many youths and others of the truths of belief. But their most violent attacks, vicious treatment, lies and propaganda have been directed at the Risale-i Nur, to destroy it and to scare people away from it and make them give it up. Despite this, the Risale-i Nur has spread in a way never seen in any other work, six hundred thousand copies of its treatises being written out by hand with unflagging zeal and published secretly. How is it that it causes itself to be read with such enthusiasm, both within the country and abroad? What is the reason for it? In reply to the many questions of this sort, we say:

 

Being a true commentrary on the All-Wise Qur’an through the mystery of its miraculousness, the Risale-i Nur demonstrates that in misguidance is a sort of Hell in this world, while in belief is a sort of Paradise. It points out the grievous pains in sins, bad deeds, and forbidden pleasures, and proves that in good deeds and virtues and the truths of the Shari‘a are to be found pleasures like the pleasures of Paradise. In this way it saves the sensible among those who have fallen into vice and misguidance. For at this time there are two awesome conditions:

 

T h e F i r s t : Since man’s emotions, which are blind to the consequences of things and prefer an ounce of present pleasure to tons of future joys, have come to prevail over mind and reason, the only way to save the dissipated from their vice is to show them the pain present in their pleasure and to defeat their emotions. Although they are aware of the diamond-like bounties and pleasures of the hereafter, as the verse,

 

They deem lovable the life of this world51

 

indicates, while being believers, the people of misguidance choose worldly pleasures, which are like pieces of glass soon to be shattered. The only way of saving them from this love of the world and from the danger of succumbing to it is by showing them the hellish torments and pains they suffer even in this world. This is the way the Risale-i Nur takes. For at this time, due to the obduracy arising from absolute unbelief and the intoxication caused by the vice and misguidance arising from science, perhaps only one in ten or even twenty can be induced to give up his evil ways by proving the existence of Hell and its torments, after having told him of Almighty God. Having heard this, such people are likely to say: “God is Forgiving and Compassionate, and Hell is a long way off,” and continue in their dissipation. Their hearts and spirits are overcome by their emotions.

 

Thus, by showing through most of its comparisons the grievous and terrible results in this world of disbelief and misguidance, the Risale-i Nur makes even the most stubborn and arrogant people feel disgust at those inauspicious, illicit pleasures, leading them to repent. The short comparisons in the Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Words, and the long one in the Third Stopping-Place in the Thirty-Second Word lead a person to feel repugnance at the vice and misguidance of the way he has taken, and cause him to accept what they teach. As an example, I shall recount briefly the situations I beheld on a journey of the imagination, which were in fact reality. Those wishing for a more detailed account may look at the end of Sikke-i Tasdik-i Gaybi (The Ratifying Stamp of the Unseen Collection).

 

When on that journey of the imagination I looked at the animal kingdom through the eyes of materialist philosophy and the people of misguidance and heedlessness, the innumerable needs of animals and their terrible hunger together with their weakness and impotence appeared to me as most piteous and grievous. I cried out. Then I saw through the telescope of Qur’anic wisdom and belief that the Divine Name of All-Merciful had risen in the sign of Provider like a shining sun; it gilded with the light of its mercy that hungry, wretched animal world.

 

Then I saw within the animal world another grievous world which was swathed in darkness and would make anyone feel pity and in which young were struggling in their need and powerlessness. I was sorry I had looked through the eyes of the people of misguidance. Suddenly, belief gave me other spectacles and I saw the Name of All-Compassionate rise in the sign of clemency; it transformed and lit up that pitiful world in joyous and beautiful fashion, changing my tears of complaint and sorrow into tears of joy and thanks.

 

Then the world of humanity appeared to me as though on a cinema screen. I looked through the telescope of the people of misguidance and saw that world to be so dark and terrifying that I cried out from the depths of my heart. “Alas!” I cried. For they had desires and hopes that stretched to eternity, thoughts and imaginings that embraced the universe, the earnest desire for everlasting happiness and Paradise, an innate capacity and powers on which no limit had been placed and which were free, yet despite their innumerable needs and their weakness and impotence they were exposed to the attacks of innumerable enemies and the blows of innumerable calamities. Under the perpetual threat of death, they lived out their brief and tumultuous lives in wretched circumstances. Ever looking to the grave, which for the misguided is the door to everlasting darkness, they suffered the continuous blows of death and separation, the most painful state for the heart and conscience. I saw that singly and in groups they were being thrown into that black well.

 

On seeing the world of humanity in this darkness I was about to cry out with my heart, spirit, and mind, and all my subtle inner faculties, indeed all the particles of my being, when the light and power of belief proceeding from the Qur’an smashed those spectacles of misguidance, giving me insight. I saw the Divine Name of All-Just rising like the sun in the sign of All-Wise, the Name of All-Merciful rising in the sign of Munificent, the Name of All-Compassionate rising in the sign of, that is, in the meaning of, All-Forgiving, the Name of Resurrector rising in the sign of Inheritor, the Name of Granter of Life rising in the sign of Bountiful, and the Name of Sustainer rising in the sign of Owner. They lit up the entire world of humanity and all the worlds within it. They dispelled those hellish states, opened up windows onto the luminous worlds of the hereafter, and scattered lights over the world of humanity. I declared: “Praise and thanks be to God to the number of particles in existence!” I understood with complete certainty that in belief is a sort of paradise in this world too and in misguidance, a sort of hell.

 

Then the world of the earth appeared. On that journey of the imagination, the dark, hypothetical rules of the philosophy which does not obey religion depicted a ghastly world. Voyaging through space on the ship of the aged earth —which travels seventy times faster than a cannon-ball a distance of twenty-five thousand years in one year, ever disposed to break up, its interior in a state of upheaval— the situation of wretched human kind appeared to me in a desolate darkness. My eyes darkened. I flung the spectacles of philosophy to the ground, smashing them. Then I looked with a view illumined with the wisdom of the Qur’an and belief, and I saw the Names of Creator of the Heavens and Earth, All-Powerful, All-Knowing, Sustainer, Allah, Sustainer of the Heavens and Earth, Subjugator of the Sun and Moon had risen like suns in the signs of mercy, grandeur, and dominicality. They lit up that dark, desolate, and terrifying world so that the globe appeared to my eye of belief as a well-ordered, subjugated, pleasant, and safe ship, or aeroplane, or train. It contained everyone’s provisions, and had been decked out for trade and enjoyment and to carry beings with spirits through the dominical realms around the sun. I exclaimed: “All praise be to God to the number of particles of the earth for the bounty of belief.”

 

This has been proved with many comparisons in the Risale-i Nur, that those who follow vice and misguidance suffer a hellish torment in this world too, while through the manifestations of belief, the believers and righteous may taste through the stomachs of Islam and humanity the pleasures of Paradise. They may benefit according to the degree of their belief. But in these stormy times, currents which numb the senses and scatter man’s attention on peripheral matters, plunging him into them, have deadened his senses and bewildered him. As a result of this the people of misguidance are temporarily unable to feel their torment, while the people of guidance are overwhelmed by heedlessness and cannot truly appreciate its pleasures.

 

The Second Awesome Condition This Age: In former times, compared with the present there was very little absolute disbelief, or misguidance arising from science, or the disbelief arising from perverse obstinacy. The instruction of the Islamic scholars of those times and their arguments were therefore sufficient, quickly dispelling any unbelief arising from doubts. Belief in God was general, and they could persuade most people to give up their misguidance and wrongdoing through teaching them about God and reminding them of Hell-fire. But now there are a hundred absolute disbelievers in one small town instead of perhaps one in a whole country. Those who lose their way due to science and learning and obstinately oppose the truths of belief have increased a hundredfold in relation to former times. With pride like that of the Pharaoh and their terrible misguidance these obdurate deniers oppose the truths of belief. A sacred truth is therefore much needed that will completely destroy the bases of their disbelief in this world, like an atom bomb, and will halt their aggression and bring some of them to belief.

 

All praise be to Almighty God that with its many comparisons, as the perfect remedy for the wounds of this time, the Risale-i Nur —a miracle of the Qur’an of Miraculous Exposition proceeding from its effulgence— has routed even the worst of those obdurate deniers with the diamond sword of the Qur’an. Its proofs and arguments to the number of the atoms of the universe demonstrating Divine unity and the truths of belief show that in twenty-five years it has not been defeated in the face of the severest attacks, but has itself prevailed and been victorious. Yes, with its comparisons of belief and unbelief, and guidance and misguidance, the Risale-i Nur proves those truths self-evidently. If note is taken, for example of the proofs and flashes of the Second Station of the Twenty-Second Word, the First Stopping-Place of the Thirty-Second Word, the ‘Windows’ of the Thirty-Third Letter, and the eleven proofs of The Staff of Moses (Asa-yi Musa), it will be understood that it is the truths of the Qur’an manifested in the Risale-i Nur that will smash and destroy absolute disbelief and perverse misguidance at this time.

 

In the same way that the parts of the Risale-i Nur which solve the greatest mysteries of religion and the riddles of the world’s creation have been collected together in The ‘Mysteries’ Collection (Tilsimlar Mecmuasi), the pieces which describe the hell in this world of the people of misguidance and the paradise-like pleasures of the people of guidance and show that belief is like a seed of Paradise while unbelief is a seed of the Zakkum-tree of Hell, will be put together in a small collection, God willing, and published.

 

S a i d N u r s i

 

In His Name, be He glorified!

 

And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.

 

My Dear, Loyal, Unshakeable, Constant, Devoted, Faithful Brothers!

 

You know that the Ankara experts’ committee was unable to deny the instances of wonder-working and predictions looking to the Risale-i Nur; its members only wrongly supposed that I had a part in them, and objected saying: “Such things should not have been written in the book; wonder-working should not be made public.” In reply to this minor criticism, I said in my defence:

 

They are not mine and anyway I would not dare to lay claim to such wonders, they are rather distillations and flashes of the Qur’an’s miraculousness, which taking the form of wonders in the Risale-i Nur, which is a true commentary on it, are a sort of Divine bestowal (in order to strengthen the morale of its students). To make public Divine bestowal is thanks of a sort and permissible, and it is acceptable. Now, for an important reason, I shall elucidate my answer a little. I was also asked why I make them public and why I concentrate so much on this point, and why for the last few months I have gone much further in the subject. Most letters are related to the wonder-working.

 

T h e A n s w e r : Although at this time in the Risale-i Nur’s service of religious belief hundreds of thousands of ‘repairers’ are necessary in the face of the thousands of destructive forces; and although I have need of hundreds of scribes and assistants; and although the people and the authorities should appreciatively and encouragingly help us and get in touch with us rather than avoiding us and not having contact with us; and although the believers are obliged to give preference to the service of belief over the occupations of this worldly life and its benefits, since it looks to eternal life; taking myself as an example, I say this:

 

Because of our opponents preventing me from having contact with people and having helpers, and from everything; and their destroying the morale of my friends as much as they possibly can, and making them look coldly on me and the Risale-i Nur; and because of my being burdened with the duties of a thousand people despite being an aged, ill, weak, wretched stranger with no one; and because of my being compelled to avoid having contact with people and mixing with them due to a sort of physical illness caused by being isolated and oppressed; and because of their scaring off the people so effectively and destroying their morale; —because of all these and in the face of all those obstacles, I was made to write things of that sort in order to muster spiritual forces around the Risale-i Nur, and describe the Divine bestowals, which are a means of strengthening the morale of the Risale-i Nur students, and to show that on its own the Risale-i Nur is as powerful as an army (and is in no need of others). For to sell myself, God forbid, and make myself liked, and to boast and show off would be to damage the mystery of sincerity, which is an important principle of the Risale-i Nur. Just as, God willing, the Risale-i Nur will both defend itself and demonstrate its true value, so will it in effect also defend us, and be the means of having our faults pardoned.

 

Sending thousands of greetings to all my brothers and sisters, and particularly to the innocent and venerable elderly, whose prayers are acceptable, and offering prayers for all, we congratulate them on the month of Ramadan and request that they pray for us.

 

Your ill brother,

 

S a i d N u r s i

 

* * *

 

 

 

In His Name, be He glorified!

 

This powerless brother of yours says this both to that old friend who objected, and to the attentive, and to yourselves: through the effulgence of the Qur’an of Miraculous Exposition, the New Said puts forward proofs of the truths of belief so logical and correct that they compel not only the Muslim scholars, but also the most obdurate European philosophers to submit, and this they do. As for the signs and allusions of the Qur’an of Miraculous Exposition, from the level of its allusive meanings, attracting attention to the Risale-i Nur, which is one of its miracles at this time, it is a mark of the Qur’an’s miraculousness —similar to the allusive and symbolic prophecies of Imam ‘Ali (May God be pleased with him) and Gawth al-A‘zam (May God be pleased with him) concerning the Risale-i Nur’s importance and value. To do so is also necessitated by the miraculous eloquence of that tongue of the Unseen.

 

Yes, it was imparted to me in Eski_ehir Prison at a terrible time when we were in dire need of a sacred solace: “You cite the saints of olden times as testifying to the Risale-i Nur’s acceptability, but in accordance with the inner meaning of the verse,

 

Nor anything fresh or dry [green or withered], but is [inscribed] in a Record Clear,52

 

it is the Qur’an that should have the word in this matter. Does it find the Risale-i Nur acceptable? How does it look on it?” I was faced with this strange question. So I sought help from the Qur’an, and within the space of an hour I perceived that the Risale-i Nur was one element of the level of allusive meanings of thirty-three verses, from the level constituted by details of their explicit meanings (and included in the generality of the allusive meanings), and that there were powerful inferences to its inclusion and distinction. A part of these I saw in some detail, and a part I saw in summary form. In my view, no doubt, hesitation, suspicion, or misgiving remained. And I wrote that firm conviction of mine with the intention of strengthening the faith of the believers through the Risale-i Nur, and I gave it to my closest (has) brothers on condition it was held to be confidential. In the treatise, we do not say that this is the explicit meaning of the verse, lest the hojas say “he has been smitten by the evil-eye.” And we do not say that this is the generality of the allusive meaning. We say that underlying the explicit meaning are numerous layers or levels, one of which is the allusive and symbolic meaning, and that the allusive meaning is a generality. Every century, this has particularities. And this century the Risale-i Nur is one element in the generality of that level of its allusive meaning. Inferences drawn by means of the principles of jafr and numbers, practised since early times by the ‘ulama, indeed, proofs, show that that element is intentionally held in view and will perform an important function, and this does not harm the verse of the Qur’an or its clear meaning, but serves its miraculousness and eloquence. One who cannot deny the innumerable deductions made by the people of reality from Qur’anic allusions, should not deny this, and no one can deny it.

 

However, if the person who out of amazement deems it unlikely that such an important work should appear at the hand of an insignificant person like myself thinks of the creation of a pine-tree the size of a mountain out of a seed the size of a grain of wheat as being a sign of Divine power and grandeur, he is surely bound to say that the appearance of this work at such a time of intense need from someone as absolutely impotent and wanting as myself is evidence for the vast extent of Divine mercy. By the honour of the Risale-i Nur, I assure you and those who object, that these allusions and symbolic predictions and indications of the saints always drove me to offer thanks and praise and to seek forgiveness for my sins. I can prove to you through the glimpses you have had of my life, under your very eyes these twenty years, that at no time, not even for a minute, did they inflate my ego and make my evil-commanding soul proud and arrogant. Nevertheless, man is not free of fault or forgetfulness. I have numerous faults of which I am not aware. Also, perhaps my own ideas crept in and there are some errors in some of the treatises. But since they do not object to the false and corrupting interpretations of the people of misguidance, screened by setting up man-made translations in place of the sacred letters of the Qur’an, in the deficient letters of the new [Latin] script, and their harming the clear meanings of verses, they surely should not object to someone wretched and persecuted expounding a fine point of the Qur’an’s miraculousness in order to strengthen the belief of his brothers, to the extent of discouraging him in his service of belief, as not only the people of reality, anyone with even a grain of fairness would agree.

 

In addition I say this: in the face of the awesome attacks of misguidance at this time, the powerful, true ways, paths, and tariqats with millions of devoted followers have been apparently defeated. But a semi-literate person under constant surveillance living opposite the police-station, who is alone and the object of a many-sided campaign of slander in order to make everyone execrate him, cannot lay claim to the Risale-i Nur, which is more advanced than those other ways and has resisted the attacks more strongly, and that work cannot be the product of his skill, and he cannot take pride in it. It has rather been bestowed directly by Divine mercy as a miracle of the All-Wise Qur’an at this time. He laid hands on that gift of the Qur’an together with thousands of his friends. For sure the duty of chief interpreter fell to him, but evidence that it is not the work of his thought, knowledge, and intelligence is that in the Risale-i Nur are parts which were written in six hours, others that were written in two hours, others in one hour, and some in ten minutes even. I swear that even with the power of memory of the Old Said (May God be pleased with him)53 with my own thought I could not write in ten hours what was written in ten minutes. With my own mind and capacity I could not write in two days the treatise that was written in an hour. And neither myself nor the most exacting religious philosopher could research the matters of the Thirtieth Word and write it in six days, although it was written in one day in six hours. And so on.

 

That is to say, despite being bankrupt, I am the herald and servant of a wonderfully rich jeweller’s shop. Out of His grace and munificence may Almighty God make us and all Risale-i Nur students purely and sincerely constant in this service, and give us success. Amen. In veneration of the Lord of Messengers.

 

S a i d N u r s i

 

* * *

 

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1. According to Bediuzzaman, the aim of the Risale-i Nur is to gain for its readers or students ‘true, verified belief’ (iman-i tahkikî — Arabic: tahqiqi). This has been defined as: “To acquire certain knowledge of all the questions related to belief through close investigation, and to live that belief... Firm, unshakeable belief.” See, Abdullah Ye¤in, Yeni Lugat (3rd. ed.) Istanbul 1975, 271.

 

2. See, page 478, footnote 63.

 

3. Bukhari, Adhan, 155; Tahajjud, 21; ‘Umra, 12; Jihad, 133; Bad’ al-Khalq, 11; Maghazi, 29; Da’wat, 18, 52; Riqaq, 11; I’tisam, 3; Muslim, Dhikr. 28, 30, 74, 75, 76; Witr, 24; Jihad, 158; Adab, 101; Tirmidhi, Mawaqit, 108; Hajj, 104; Da’wat, 35, 36; Nasa’i, Sahw, 83-6; Manasik, 163, 170; Iman, 12; Ibn Maja, Tijara 40; Manasik, 84; Adab, 58; Du’a, 10, 14, 16; Abu Da’ud, Manasik, 56; Darimi, Salat, 88, 90; Manasik, 34; Isti’dhan, 53, 57; Muwatta, Hajj, 127, 243; Qur’an, 20, 22; Musnad, i, 47; ii, 5; iii, 320; iv, 4; v, 191; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, i, 538.

 

4. Qur’an, 17:42.

 

5. Qur’an, 2:117, etc.

 

6. Qur’an, 67:8.

 

7. Qur’an, 2:32.

 

8. Qur’an, 1:1-7.

 

9. Qur’an, 10:92.

 

10. Qur’an, 4:69.

 

11. Thus, if, according to his degree, an ordinary man receives a tiny share like a date-stone of this sacred truth, a perfected man who has advanced spiritually may receive a share like the palm-tree. But a person who has not advanced should not intentionally recall these meanings while reciting the Fatiha,* lest he impairs his sense of the Divine presence. When he advances to such a station, those meanings will anyway make themselves clear to him.

 

* We asked our Master what was meant by “intentionally” in the footnote above, and we are writing here exactly the answer we received:

 

I consider that to dwell on the comprehensive, elevated meanings of the Fatiha and tashahhud, not intentionally but indirectly, and not in detail, which induces a sort of heedlessness of the Divine presence, but concisely and briefly, dispels heedlessness and imparts a brilliance to the worship and invocations. This shows up completely the high value of the prayers, the Fatiha, and the tashahhud. What is meant by “not dwelling intentionally” at the end of the second part, is that sometimes to ponder over the meanings themselves in detail causes one to forget the prayers, lessening the sense of the Divine presence. But I feel that to dwell on them indirectly and concisely yields great benefits.

 

Signed in the name of the Risale-i Nur students of the third School of Joseph,

 

Ceylan

 

12. Qur’an, 2:32.

 

13. Qur’an, 48:28-9.

 

14. al-‘Ajluni, Kashf al-Khafa’, ii, 164; ‘Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa’, i, 26.

 

15. In the original, the above and the passages in italics at the head of the subsequent fifteen ‘Testimonies’ are in Arabic. [Tr.]

 

16. Qur’an, 54:1.

 

17. Qur’an, 8:17.

 

18. The hero ‘Ali (May God be pleased with him), whose courage was of the very highest order, said: “When we were frightened when fighting in battle, we used to hide behind God’s Messenger (PBUH).” The histories relate how even his enemies of that time corroborated that all his virtues were superior, the same as his courage.

 

19. al-‘Ajluni, Kashf al-Khafa’, ii, 64; Tecrid-i Sahih (Turk. trans.), i, 107.

 

20. Husayn al-Jisri, al-Risalat al-Hamidiyya [Turk. trans. Manastirli Ismail Hakki], Istanbul 1308, 4 vols.

 

21. In my old age and wretchedness, I perceived a millionth of the spiritual sustenance brought by Muhammad (PBUH). If I had been able, I would have thanked him by uttering benedictions for him with millions of tongues. It was like this:

 

I suffer greatly from separation and parting, but the world I love and the things in it leave me and depart. I know that I too shall depart. And it is only by hearing from Muhammad (PBUH) the good news of everlasting happiness and eternal life that I am saved from that severe pain and soul-searing despair and I find complete solace. In fact, when I say: “Peace be upon you, O Prophet, and God’s mercy and blessings!” in the tashahhud during the prayers, I am both paying allegiance to him, and declaring my submission and obedience to his rank, and offering him congratulations on his duty, and expressing a sort of thanks and response to the good news he brought of eternal happiness. All Muslims offer these greetings five times every day.

 

22. Qur’an, 2:32.

 

23. Qur’an, 24:35.

 

24. Qur’an, 24:40.

 

25. Qur’an, 1:7.

 

26. Qur’an, 24:40.

 

27. Qur’an, 1:7.

 

28. Qur’an, 13:16.

 

29. Qur’an, 67:15.

 

30. Qur’an, 11:56.

 

31. Qur’an, 29:60.

 

32. Qur’an, 17:70.

 

33. Qur’an, 82:13.

 

34. Qur’an, 67:5.

 

35. Qur’an, 50:6.

 

36. Qur’an, 2:29.

 

37. See page 501, footnote 78.

 

38. Qur’an, 17:111.

 

39. And God’s is the highest similitude: like all-encompassing light is necessary to the sun.

 

40. Qur’an, 67:14.

 

41. The remaining part of this treatise was written while I was suffering from a terrible illness, a result of being poisoned, such as I had never previously experienced in my life. My faults should therefore be looked on tolerantly. Husrev may modify, change, and correct any parts he considers inappropriate.

 

42. For further discussion, see The Sixth Ray, in the present work. [Tr.]

 

43. Bukhari, Salat, 39; Musnad, ii, 34, 36, 67, 129. (With the meaning of “The one who performs the prayers converses with his Sustainer.”)

 

44. My severe illness does not permit me to continue; this is only a source and assistant to Husrev’s duty of translation.

 

45. Since the Turkish is given for the Arabic piece here, the English translation of the Arabic is not given. [Tr.]

 

46. Hulâsatü’l-Hulâsa: The ‘sum and substance’ in Arabic of The Supreme Sign, which describes in thirty-three degrees how all the realms of creation testify to their Creator’s existence and unity. It is included in the collection of invocations and supplications called Hizb Anwar al-Haqa’iq al-Nuriyya, which includes Jawshan al-Kabir. [Tr.]

 

47. Qur’an, 31:28.

 

48. Qur’an, 112:1-2.

 

49. Qur’an, 31:28.

 

50. Qur’an, 2:32.

 

51. Qur’an, 14:3.

 

52. Qur’an, 6:59.

 

53. Intending it to be a prayer, some of the scribes wrote the phrase (May God be pleased with him) after this wretched Said’s name. I wanted to change it, but it occurred to me that since it is a prayer seeking God’s pleasure, it should not be interfered with, so I did not change it.

 

 

 

The Second Chapter

 

of the Twenty-Ninth Flash

 

(On the phrase: All praise be to God!)

 

[This short treatise, called the Second Chapter, explains only nine of the countless lights and advantages of belief in God, which make man declare: “All praise be to God!”]

 

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

 

FIRST POINT

 

First of all, two things will be pointed out:

 

1. Philosophy is a pair of dark glasses which shows everything to be ugly and frightful. While belief in God is a transparent, clear, luminous pair of spectacles which shows everything to be beautiful and familiar.

 

2. Man is connected with all creatures, has a sort of commerce with all things, and by nature is compelled to meet, talk, and be neighbourly with the things that blockade him; so too he possesses six aspects: a left, right, upper, lower, front, and back aspect.

 

On wearing either of these two pairs of spectacles, man can see the creatures and things present in the aspects mentioned above.

 

Right Aspect: What is meant by this aspect is the past. When it is looked at through the spectacles of philosophy, what is seen is a vast, dark, terrifying, overturned graveyard, where the doomsday of the land of the past has come to pass. There can be no doubt that this sight casts man into great terror, fear, and despair.

 

However, when this aspect is looked at through the spectacles of belief, even if the land appears to have been turned upside down, as indeed it has, there has been no loss of life; it is understood that its crew and inhabitants have been transferred to a better world, one full of light. The graves and pits are seen to be underground tunnels, dug to lead to another, light-filled world. That is to say, the joy, relief, confidence, and peace of mind belief gives to man is a Divine bounty which makes him repeat thousands of times over: “All praise be to God!”

 

Left Aspect: When the future is looked at through the spectacles of philosophy, it appears in the form of a huge, black, terrifying grave which is going to rot us and make us prey to snakes and scorpions which will eliminate us. But when it is looked at through the spectacles of belief, it is seen in the form of a repast comprising every variety of the finest and most delicious foods and drinks which Almighty God, the Most Merciful and All-Compassionate Creator, has prepared for man. So it makes him repeat many thousands of times: “All praise be to God!”

 

Upper Aspect: This is the heavens. When a person looks at this aspect through the spectacles of philosophy, he feels an awful terror at the great speed and variety of the motions —like horse races or military manoeuvres— of the millions of stars and heavenly bodies in endless space. Whereas when a believer looks at them, he sees that just as those strange and wonderful manoeuvres are being carried out under the supervision of a commander and at his command, so the stars are adorning the world of the heavens and are light-giving lamps for him. As a result he feels not fear and fright at those horses racing, but familiarity and affection. It is surely little to say: “All praise be to God!” thousands of times for the bounty of belief which thus illuminates the world of the heavens.

 

Lower Aspect: This is the earth. When man looks at this world with the eye of philosophy, he sees it as an untethered, unhaltered animal wandering aimlessly around the sun, or like a holed and captainless boat, and he is carried away by fear and anxiety. But when he looks with belief, he sees it in the form of a ship of the Most Merciful One ploughing its course around the sun under the command of God Almighty, with all its food, drink, and clothing on board, for the pleasure of mankind. So he starts to declare with great feeling: “All praise be to God!” for this great bounty which springs from belief.

 

Front Aspect: If a person who indulges in philosophy looks at this aspect, he sees that all living creatures, whether human or animal, are disappearing group by group and with great speed towards it. That is to say, they are going to non-being and ceasing to exist. Since he knows that he too is a traveller on that road, he goes out of his mind with grief. But for a believer looking with the eye of belief, men journeying to that aspect are not passing to the world of non-existence, they are being transferred from one pasture to another like nomads, and migrating from a transitory realm to an everlasting one, and from a farm of service and labour to the wages office, and from a country of hardship and difficulty to one of plenty and ease. The believer meets this aspect with pleasure and gratitude.

 

Difficulties which occur on the road like death and the grave are sources of happiness by reason of their results. For the road which leads to the luminous worlds passes through the grave, and the greatest happiness is the result of the worst, most grievous disasters. For example, Joseph (PUH) attained the happiness of being ruler of Egypt only by way of being thrown into the well by his brothers and cast into prison at the slanders of Zulaikha. In the same way, a child coming into the world from his mother’s womb only reaches the happiness of this world as a result of the excruciating, crushing difficulties he experiences on the way.

 

Back Aspect: That is, since one who looks at those who have remained behind with the view of philosophy can find no answer to the question: “Where have they come from and where are they going, and why did they come to the land of this world?”, he naturally remains in a torment of bewilderment and doubt. But should he look through the spectacles of belief, he will understand that men are observers, sent by the Pre-Eternal Sovereign to contemplate and study the wonderful miracles of power displayed in the exhibition of the universe, and that after receiving their marks and ranks in conformity with the degree they have grasped the value and grandeur of those miracles of power and the degree to which the miracles point to the grandeur of the Pre-Eternal Sovereign, men will return to the Sovereign’s realm. So he will say: “All praise be to God!” for the bounty of belief which has given him this bounty.

 

Since the praise offered in saying: “All praise be to God!” for the bounty of belief, which thus banishes the above-mentioned layers of darkness, is also a bounty, praise should be offered for it too. And praise should be offered a third time for this second bounty of praise, and a fourth time for the third bounty of praise... That is to say, an infinite chain of praise is born of a single uttering of the phrase: “All praise be to God!”

 

SECOND POINT

 

One should say: “All praise be to God!” for the bounty of belief which illuminates these six aspects, for just as since it disperses the darkness of the six aspects, it may be considered a great bounty for the warding off of evil, so too since it illuminates them it may be thought of as a second bounty, for the attraction of benefits. Therefore, since man is by nature civilized, he is connected with all the creatures in the six aspects, and through the bounty of belief has the possibility of benefiting from the six aspects.

 

Thus, according to a meaning of the verse:

 

Wheresoever you turn, there is the countenance of God,1

 

man finds enlightenment in whichever of the six aspects he is found. In fact, someone who is a believer has a life which in effect stretches from the foundation of the world to its end. This life of his receives assistance from the light of a life which extends from pre-eternity to post-eternity. In the same way, thanks to the belief which illuminates the six aspects, man’s narrow time and space are transformed into a broad and easy world. This extensive world becomes like man’s house, and the past and the future like present time for his spirit and heart. The distance between between them disappears.

 

THIRD POINT

 

The fact that belief affords sources of support and assistance necessitates saying: “All praise be to God!”

 

Yes, because of their impotence and their multitudinous enemies, humankind are in need of a source of support to which they can have recourse to repulse those enemies. Likewise, because of the abundance of their needs and their extreme poverty, they need a source of assistance from which they may seek help, so that through it they may meet their needs.

 

O man! Your one and only point of support is belief in God. The only source of assistance for your spirit and conscience is belief in the hereafter. One who does not know of these two sources suffers constant fear in his heart and spirit, and his conscience is perpetually tormented. While the person who seeks support from the first point and help from the second, experiences many pleasures and delights in his heart and spirit, so that he is both consoled, and his conscience is at ease.

 

FOURTH POINT

 

Through showing that similar pleasures exist and will be bestowed, the light of belief removes the pain that occurs when lawful pleasures start to fade. Furthermore, through pointing out the source of bounties, it ensures that the bounties continue and do not diminish.

 

Similarly, through showing the pleasure of renewed acqaintance, it removes the pain of separation and parting. That is to say, while many pains occur at the thought of the passing of a single pleasure, belief removes them by calling to mind the recurrence of the pleasure. In any event there are further pleasures in the renewal of pleasure. If a fruit has no tree, its pleasure is restricted to and ceases on its being eaten, and its ceasing is the cause of sorrow. But if the fruit’s tree is known, there is no pain when the fruit ceases to exist, for there are others to come in its place.

 

At the same time, renewal is in itself a pleasure. For what troubles the human spirit most are the pains arising from separation. Whereas the light of belief removes those pains through the hope of renewed meeting and the recurrence of similar encounters.

 

FIFTH POINT

 

The things among these beings man imagines to be hostile and foreign, and lifeless and lost as though orphans or dead, the light of belief shows to him as friends and brothers, as living, and as glorifying God. That is to say, a person who looks with the eye of heedlessness supposes the beings in the world to be harmful like enemies, and he takes fright; he sees things as foreign. For in the view of misguidance, there are no bonds of brotherhood between the things of the past and those of the future. There is only an insignificant, partial connection between them. As a consequence, the brotherhood of the people of misguidance is only for one minute within thousands of years.

 

In the view of belief, all the heavenly bodies appear as living and as familiar with one another. Belief shows each of them to be glorifying its Creator through the tongue of its being. It is in this respect that all the heavenly bodies possess a sort of life and spirit according to each. There is no fear and fright therefore when the heavenly bodies are considered with this view of belief; there is familiarity and love.

 

The view of unbelief sees human beings, powerless as they are to secure their desires, as ownerless and without protector; it imagines them to be grieving and sorrowful like weeping orphans on account of their impotence. The view of belief on the other hand, sees them as living creatures; not as orphans but officials charged with duties; as servants glorifying and extolling God.

 

SIXTH POINT

 

The light of belief depicts this world and the hereafter as two tables displaying numerous varieties of bounties from which a believer benefits through the hand of belief, his inner and external senses, and his subtle, spiritual faculties. In the view of misguidance, the sphere from which a living being may benefit diminishes and is restricted to material pleasures. While in the view of belief, it expands to a sphere which embraces the heavens and the earth. Yes, a believer considers the sun to be a lamp hanging in the roof of his house, and the moon to be a night-light. They thus become bounties for him, and the sphere from which he benefits is broader than the heavens. With the eloquent verses,

 

And He has made subject to you the sun and the moon,2

 

and,

 

He it is Who enables you to travel the land and the sea,3

 

the Qur’an of Miraculous Exposition alludes to these wonderful bounties and blessings which arise from belief.

 

SEVENTH POINT

 

It is known through belief that God’s existence is a bounty surpassing all other bounties, a great bounty which is a source, a fountain, containing endless varieties of bounties, innumerable sorts of blessings, and uncountable kinds of gifts. It is consequently incumbent on man and a debt to offer praise and laudation for the bounties of belief to the number of particles in the world. A number of these have been shown in various parts of the Risale-i Nur; discussing belief in God, they raise the veil from these bounties and point them out.

 

One of the bounties for which praise should be offered with all the praise that the phrase “All praise be to God!” indicates with the ‘Lam of specification,’4 is the bounty of Divine mercy. Indeed, mercy comprises bounties to the number of living beings which manifest Divine mercy. For man in particular is connected with all living creatures, and in this respect is gladdened by their happiness and saddened by their pain. Thus, a bounty found in a single individual is a bounty also for his fellows.

 

Another which comprises bounties to the number of children which are blessed with their mother’s tenderness, and which deserves praise and laudation, is Divine compassion. Yes, a person with conscience who feels sorrow and pity at the weeping of a motherless, hungry child, surely feels pleasure at a mother’s compassion for her child, surely he is pleased and happy. Thus, pleasures of this sort are each a bounty and require praise and thanks.

 

Another of the bounties requiring praise and thanks to the number of all the varieties and instances of wisdom contained in the universe is Divine wisdom. For just as man’s self is endowed with the manifestation of Divine mercy and his heart with the manifestation of Divine compassion, so too does his intellect take pleasure at the subtleties of Divine wisdom. So in this respect they require endless praise and laudation through the declaring of “All praise be to God!”

 

Another is the bounty of preservation, for which praise should be offered to the number of manifestations of the Divine Name of Inheritor, and the number of descendants who endure after the passing of their forbears, and the number of the beings of the next world, and the number of men’s actions which are preserved so as to be the means of their receiving their rewards in the hereafter; praise should be offered with so great an “All praise be to God!” that it fills all space with its sound. For the continuation of a bounty is more valuable than the bounty itself. The perpetuation of pleasure is more pleasurable than the pleasure itself. To abide permanently in Paradise is superior to Paradise itself; and so on. Consequently, the bounties which Almighty God’s attribute of Preserver comprise are greater and far superior to all the bounties existent in all the universe. Thus, this attribute requires an “All praise be to God!” as great as the world. You can compare the rest of the Divine Names with the four mentioned here, and since in each are endless bounties, each requires endless praise and thanks.

 

Likewise, the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him), who is the means of attaining the bounty of belief and has the authority to open all the treasuries of bounty, is also such a bounty that mankind bears for all eternity the debt of praising and applauding him.

 

Likewise, the bounties of Islam and the Qur’an, which are the index and source of all varieties of bounties, material and spiritual, require and deserve unending, infinite praise.

 

EIGHTH POINT

 

Praise be to God, Whom, according to the Qur’an of Mighty Stature, which is its expounder, this mighty book known as the universe praises and extols with all its chapters and sections, all its pages and lines, all its world and letters — the Most Pure and Holy One, Whom it praises and extols through making manifest His attributes of beauty and perfection. It is as follows:

 

According to its capacity, whether great or small, each inscription in this mighty book praises and extols its Inscriber, Who is the Single and Eternally Besought One, through displaying His glorious attributes.

 

Likewise, each inscription in the book of the universe offers praise through exhibiting the attributes of Beauty of its Scribe, Who is the Most-Merciful and Compassionate One.

 

Likewise, through reflecting and mirroring the manifestations of the Most Beautiful Names, all the inscriptions and points and embroideries in this book utter the praises of the Most Pure and Holy One through lauding, glorifying, and exalting Him.

 

Likewise, each ode in this book of the universe extols and glorifies its Composer, Who is All-Powerful and All-Knowing.

 

NINTH POINT

 

... ... ...5

 

* * *

 

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1. Qur’an, 2:115.

 

2. Qur’an, 14:33.

 

3. Qur’an, 10:22.

 

4. ‘Lam of specification’; that is, the li in al-hamdulillah. [Tr.]

 

5. I do not have the key to these cyphers that I might decode them. Moreover, the head of one who is fasting can neither decypher them, nor disclose their meanings. Forgive me, I could do only this much, and that through the moral assistance of the author, the spiritual effulgence of the Night of Power, and being in the vicinity of Mawlana Jalaluddin.

 

The translator,

 

Abdülmecid Nursi

 

 

 

The Supplicant

 

My demolished grave in which are piled up1

 

Seventy-nine dead Said’s2 with his sins and sorrows.

 

The eightieth is a gravestone to a grave;

 

Altogether they weep at Islam’s decline.3

 

Together with my gravestone and moaning grave of dead Said’s

 

I go forward to the field of tomorrow’s future.

 

I am certain that the skies of the future and Asia

 

Will together surrender to Islam’s clean, shining hand.

 

For it promises the prosperity of belief;

 

It affords peace and security to mankind.

 

 

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1. This line is his signature.

 

2. Since the body is renewed twice every year, it means that [each year] two Said’s have died. Also, this year Said is in his seventy-ninth year. It means one Said has died every year, so that he will live to this date. [bediuzzaman died in 1379 according to the Hijri calendar, and his grave was demolished and moved in 1380. —Tr.]

 

3. With a premonition of the future, he perceived its present state, twenty years later.