In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
And We send down [stage by stage] in the Qur'an that which is a healing
and a mercy to those who believe.1 * We have
not instructed [the Prophet] in poetry, nor is it meet for him.2
If you want to compare the results yielded by the wisdom of the All-Wise
Qur'an and of the sciences of philosophy, and
their instruction and teaching and the degrees in their knowledge,
then listen carefully to the following words:
With its acute expositions, the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition rends
the veil of familiarity and the habitual cast over all the
beings in the universe, which are known as ordinary things but are
each extraordinary and a miracle of Divine Power, and
reveals those astonishing wonders to conscious beings. It attracts
their gazes and opens up for minds an inexhaustible
treasury of knowledge.
As for philosophy, it conceals within veils of the commonplace all the
miracles of Power, which are extraordinary, and
passes over them in an ignorant and indifferent fashion. It only puts
forward to be noted freaks, which have fallen from
being extraordinary, and come out of the order of creation, and deviated
from the perfections of their true natures; it offers
them to conscious beings as objects of wise instruction. For example,
it says that man's creation is commonplace, which is a
most comprehensive miracle of Power, and looks at it indifferently.
But it displays with cries of astonishment as an object of
instruction, a person who has come out of the perfection of creation,
and has three legs or two heads.
And for example, it sees as ordinary the regular sustenance of all infants
and young from the treasury of mercy, which is a
most delicate and general miracle of mercy, and draws a veil of ingratitude
over it. Whereas, on seeing an insect under the
sea which is an exception from the general order and is alone and become
isolated from its fellows, being fed with green
sea-weed, it wants to make the fishermen weep for it, because of the
Divine favour and munificence manifested on it.3
And so, see the wealth and riches of the Holy Qur'an in regard to knowledge,
wisdom, and knowledge of God, and at the
poverty and bankruptcy of philosophy in regard to learning, instruction,
and knowledge of the Maker! See them, and take a
lesson!
It is because of this, because the All-Wise Qur'an contains infinite
brilliant, elevated truths, that it is free of the fancies of
poetry. Another reason the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition is not in
verse, despite the perfection of its word-order and
orderedness and its expounding with its well-ordered styles the order
and art of the book of the universe, is that by not
entering under the restrictions of meter, each star of its verses can
be a sort of centre to the most of the other verses, and
be a brother to them, and each can form a connecting line with the
verses within the sphere encompassing it in order to be a
bond in the relationships which exist between them. It is as if each
independent verse has an eye which looks to most of the
other verses, and a face turned towards them. Thousands of Qur'ans
are present within the Qur'an, one of which it offers to
followers of different paths. As is described in the Twenty-Fifth Word,
in Sura al-Ikhlas is a treasury of knowledge of
Divine Unity comprising thirty-six Sura al-Ikhlas's, formed of a compound
of six phrases, each winged. Indeed, like with the
stars in the sky which apparently enter under no order, each is unrestricted
and as a sort of centre extends a line of
connection to each of the stars in the area surrounding it, indicating
a hidden relation between beings. It is as if, like the stars
of verses, each single star has an eye which looks to all stars and
a face which is turned to them. And so, see the perfect
order with the apparent lack of order, and take a lesson! Understand
one meaning of the verse,
We have not instructed [the Prophet] in poetry, nor is it meet for him!4
And understand also from it that the mark of poetry is to adorn insignificant
and dull facts with big and shining images and
fancies, and make them attractive. Whereas the truths of the Qur'an
are so great, elevated, shining and brilliant, that if the
greatest and most brilliant imaginings are compared with them, they
remain dull and insignificant. Innumerable truths like the
following verses testify to this. For example:
The Day that We roll up the heavens like a scroll rolled up for books
[completed]. 5 * He draws the night as a veil over the
day, each seeking the other in rapid succession.6 * It will be no more
than a single blast, when lo! they will all be brought up
before Us! 7
If you want to see and appreciate how, like shining stars, each of the
Qur'an's verses scatters the darkness of unbelief by
spreading the light of miraculousness and guidance, imagine yourself
in the age of ignorance and desert of savagery where
everything was enveloped in veils of lifelessness and Nature amid the
darkness of ignorance and heedlessness. Then
suddenly from the elevated tongue of the Qur'an, you hear verses like:
Whatever is in the heavens and earth declares the praises and glory
of God, the Sovereign, the Most Holy One, the Mighty,
the Wise.8
See how those dead or sleeping creatures of the world spring to life
in the minds of those listening at the sound of declares
the praises and glory, how they awake, spring up, and mention God's
Names! And at the sound of,
The seven heavens and the earth and all within them extol and glorify Him,9
the stars in those black skies, each a lifeless piece of fire, and the
wretched creatures on the face of the earth present the
following view to those listening: the sky appears as a mouth and the
stars each as wisdom-displaying words and
truth-uttering lights. The earth appears as a head, the land and sea
each as tongues, and all animals and plants as words of
glorification. Otherwise you will not appreciate the fine points of
the pleasure at looking from this time to that. For if you
look at each verse as having scattered its light since that time, and
having become like universally accepted knowledge with
the passage of time, and as shining with the other lights of Islam,
and taking its colour from the sun of the Qur'an, or if you
look at it through a superficial and simple veil of familiarity, you
will not truly see what sort of darkness each verse scatters
or how sweet is the recital of its miraculousness, and you will not
appreciate this variety of its miraculousness among its
many varieties. If you want to see one of the highest degrees of the
Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition's miraculousness, listen
to the following comparison:
Let us imagine an extremely strange and vast and spreading tree which
is concealed beneath a veil of the unseen and hidden
in a level of concealment. It is clear that there has to be a relationship,
harmony, and balance between a tree and all its
members like its branches, fruits, leaves, and blossom, the same as
between man's members. Each of its parts takes on a
form and is given a shape in accordance with the nature of the tree.
So if someone appears and traces a picture on top of
the veil corresponding to the members of the tree, which has never
been seen, then delimits each member, and from the
branches to the fruit, and the fruit to the leaves draws a form proportionately,
and fills the space between its source and
extremities, which are an infinite distance from one another, with
drawings showing exactly the shape and form of its
members, certainly no doubt will remain that the artist sees the concealed
tree with an eye that penetrates and encompasses
the unseen, then he depicts it.
In just the same way, the discriminating statements of the Qur'an of
Miraculous Exposition concerning the reality of
contingent beings (that is, concerning the reality of the tree of creation
which stretches from the beginning of the world to
the farthest limits of the hereafter, and spreads from the earth to
the Divine Throne and from minute particles to the sun)
have preserved the proportion between the members to such a degree
and have given each member and fruit a form so
suitable that at the depictions of the Qur'an, all exacting scholars
have declared at the conclusion of their investigations:
"What wonders God has willed! How great are God's blessings!" They
have said: "It is only you who solves and unravels the
talisman of the universe and riddle of creation, Oh All-Wise Qur'an!"
And God's is the highest similitude10 - and there is no error in the
comparison - let us represent the Divine Names and
attributes, and Dominical acts and deeds as a Tuba-tree of light, the
sphere of whose grandeur stretches from pre-eternity to
post-eternity, and the limits of whose vastness spread through infinite,
endless space, and encompass it, and the limits of
whose deeds stretch from,
It is God Who splits the seed-grain and date-stone,11 and, Comes between
man and his heart,12 and, It is He Who shapes
you in the wombs as He wishes,13
to,
Who created the heavens and the earth in six days,14 and, And the heavens
rolled up in His right hand,15 and, He has
subjected the sun and the moon.16
The All-Wise Qur'an has described that luminous reality, the truths
of those Names and attributes, and acts and deeds,
together with all their branches and twigs and aims and fruits in a
way so harmonious, so fitting for one another, so
appropriate for one another, without marring one another or spoiling
the decree of one other, or their being remote from one
another, that all those who have penetrated to the reality of things
and penetrated the mysteries, and all the wise and the
sage who have journeyed in the realm of the inner dimension of things,
have declared: "Glory be to God!" in the face of that
Discriminating Exposition, and have affirmed it, saying: "How right,
how conformable with reality, how fine, how worthy!"
Take, for example, the six pillars of belief, which are like a single
branch of those two mighty trees which look to the entire
sphere of contingency and sphere of necessity: it depicts all the branches
and boughs of those pillars - as far as the furthest
fruits and flowers - observing such a harmony and proportion between
them, and describes them in a manner so balanced,
and illustrates them a way so symmetrical that the human mind is powerless
to perceive it and stands astonished at its
beauty. And the proof that a beauty of proportion and perfect relation
and complete balance have been preserved between
the five pillars of Islam, which are like one twig of the branch of
belief, down to the finest details, smallest point of conduct,
furthest aims, most profound wisdom, and most insignificant fruits,
is the perfect order and balance and beauty of proportion
and soundness of the Greater Shari'a of Islam, which has emerged from
the decisive statements, senses, indications, and
allusions of the comprehensive Qur'an; they form an irrefutable and
decisive proof and just witness that cannot be doubted.
This means that the expositions of the Qur'an cannot be attributed
to man's partial knowledge, and particularly to the
knowledge of someone unlettered. They rest rather on a comprehensive
knowledge and are the word of One Who is able to
see all things together and observe in one moment all truths between
pre-eternity and post-eternity. The verse:
Praise be to God, Who has revealed to His servant the Book, and has allowed no crookedness therein.17
concerns this fact.
O God! O Revealer of the Qur'an! For the sake of the Qur'an and for
the sake of the one to whom You revealed the
Qur'an, illuminate our hearts and our graves with the light of belief
and the Qur'an. Amen. O One from Whom help is
sought!
* * *
The Second Station
of the Thirteenth Word
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
[A conversation held with some young people who, though surrounded by
temptation, had not yet lost their power of
reason.]
Being assaulted by the deceptive, seductive amusements of the present
time, a group of young people were asking: "How
can we save our lives in the Hereafter?", and they sought help from
the Risale-i Nur. So I said the following to them in the
name of the Risale-i Nur:
The grave is there and no one can deny it. Whether they want to or not,
everyone must enter it. And apart from the
following 'Three Ways', there is no other way it can be approached:
First Way: For those who believe, the grave is the door to a world far better than this world.
Second Way: For those who believe in the Hereafter, but who approach
it on the path of dissipation and misguidance, it is
the door to a prison of solitary confinement, an eternal dungeon, where
they will be separated from all their loved ones.
Third Way: For the unbelievers and the misguided who do not believe
in the Hereafter, it is the door to eternal extinction.
That is to say, it is the gallows on which both themselves and all
those they love will be executed. Since they think it is thus,
that is exactly how they shall experience it: as punishment.
These last two Ways are self-evident, they do not require proof, they
are plain for all to see. Since the appointed hour is
secret, and death may come any time and cut off one's head, and it
does not differentiate between young and old,
perpetually having such an awesome and serious matter before him, unhappy
man will surely search for the means to deliver
himself from that eternal extinction, that infinite, endless solitary
confinement; the means to transform the door of the grave
into a door opening on to an everlasting world, eternal happiness,
and a world of light. It will be a question for him that looms
as large as the world.
The certain fact of death, then, can only be approached in these three
ways, and one hundred and twenty-four thousand
veracious messengers -the prophets, in whose hands are miracles as
signs of confirmation- have announced that the three
ways are as described above. And, relying on their illuminations and
visions, one hundred and twenty-four million saints have
confirmed and set their signatures on the prophets' tidings. And innumerable
exact scholars have proved it rationally with
their categorical proofs at the level of 'certainty at the degree of
knowledge.'1 They have all unanimously declared it to be a
ninety-nine per cent certain probability, saying: "The only way to
be saved from extinction and eternal imprisonment, and be
directed towards eternal happiness, is through belief in God and obedience
to Him."
If a person considers but does not heed the word of a single messenger
not to take a dangerous road on which there is a one
per cent danger of perishing, and takes it, the anxiety at perishing
that he suffers will destroy even his appetite for food.
Thus hundreds of thousands of veracious and verified messengers announced
that there is a one hundred per cent
probability that misguidance and vice lead to the gallows of the grave,
ever before the eyes, and eternal solitary confinement,
and that there is a one hundred per cent probability that belief and
worship remove those gallows, close the solitary prison,
and transform the ever-apparent grave into a door opening onto an everlasting
treasury and palace of felicity; and they have
pointed out signs and traces of these. Confronted as he is, then, with
this strange, awesome, terrifying matter, if wretched
man -and especially if he is a Muslim- does not believe and worship,
is he able to banish the grievous pain arising from the
anxiety he suffers as he all the time awaits his turn to be summoned
to those gallows, ever-present before his eyes, even if
he is given rule over the whole world together with all its pleasures?
I ask you.
Since old-age, illness, disaster, and on all sides death open up the
frightful pain and are a reminder, even if the people of
misguidance and vice enjoy a hundred thousand pleasures and delights,
they most certainly experience a sort of hell in their
hearts, but a profound stupor of heedlessness temporarily makes them
insensible to it.
Since for the people of belief and obedience the grave, which is always
before their eyes, is the door to an everlasting
treasury and eternal happiness, and since, by reason of the 'belief
coupon', a ticket from the pre-eternal lottery of Divine
Determining for millions upon millions of poundsworth of gold and diamonds
has come up for each of them, they all the time
await the word, "Come and collect your ticket" with a profound and
true pleasure and real spiritual delight. This pleasure is
such that if it materialized and the seed became a tree, it would be
like a private paradise. However, one who abandons the
delight and great pleasure due to the drives of youth, and chooses
in a dissolute and licentious manner temporary illicit
pleasures, which resemble poisonous honey polluted with those innumerable
pains, falls to a degree a hundred times lower
than an animal.
Furthermore, such a person will not be like unbelieving Europeans, for
if they deny the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH), they
may recognize the other prophets. And if they do not know God, they
may possess some good qualities which are the means
to certain perfections. But a Muslim knows both the prophets, and his
Sustainer, and all perfection by means of Muhammed
the Arabian (PBUH). If one of them abandons the Prophet's instruction
and puts himself outside his chain, he will not
recognize any other prophet, neither will he recognize God. Nor will
he know any of the fundamentals within his spirit which
will preserve his perfections. For, since Muhammed (PBUH) is the last
and greatest of the prophets, and his religion and
summons are for the whole of mankind, and since he is superior to all
with regard to his miracles and religion, and acts as
teacher to all mankind in all matters concerning reality, and has proved
this in a brilliant manner for fourteen centuries, and is
the cause of pride for mankind, a Muslim who abandons Muhammed (PBUH)'s
essential training and the principles of his
religion will most certainly be able to find no light, nor achieve
any perfection. He will be condemned to absolute decline.
And so, you unfortunates who are addicted to the pleasures of the life
of this world, and with anxiety at the future, struggle
to secure it and your lives! If you want pleasure, delight, happiness,
and ease in this world, make do with what is licit. That is
sufficient for your enjoyment. You will surely have understood from
other parts of the Risale-i Nur that in each pleasure
which is outside this, and is illicit, lies a thousand pains. If the
events of the future-for example, of fifty years hence-were
also shown in the cinema in the same way that they show at the present
time the events of the past, those who indulge in
vice would weep filled with horror and disgust at those things which
now amuse them.
Those who wish to be permanently, eternally happy in this world and
the Hereafter should take as their guide the instruction
of Muhammed (PBUH) within the sphere of belief.
* * *
A Warning, Lesson and Reminder
Given to a Number of Unhappy Youths
One day a number of bright youths came to me, seeking an effective deterrent
in order to guard themselves against the
dangers arising from life, youth, and the lusts of the soul. Like I
had told those who had previously sought help from the
Risale-i Nur, I also said to these youths:
Your youth will definitely leave you, and if you do not remain within
the sphere of the licit, it will be lost, and rather than its
pleasures, it will bring you calamities and suffering in this world,
in the grave, and in the Hereafter. But if, with Islamic
training, you spend the bounty of your youth as thanks honourably,
in uprightness and obedience, it will in effect remain
perpetually and will be the cause of gaining eternal youth.
As for life, if it is without belief, or because of rebelliousness belief
is ineffective, it will produce pains, sorrows and grief far
exceeding the superficial, fleeting enjoyment and pleasure it brings.
Because, since, contrary to the animals, man possesses
a mind and he thinks, he is connected to both the present time, and
to the past and the future. He can obtain both pain and
pleasure from them. Whereas, since the animals do not think, the sorrows
arising from the past and the fears and anxieties
arising from the future do not spoil their pleasure of the present.
And especially if the pleasure is illicit; then it is like an
altogether poisonous honey.
That is to say, from the point of view of the pleasure of life, man
falls to a level a hundred times lower than the animals. In
fact, life for the people of misguidance and heedlessness, and indeed
their existence, rather their world, is the day in which
they find themselves. From the point of view of their misguidance,
all the time and universes of the past are non-existent, are
dead. So their intellects, which connect them to the past and the future,
produce darkness, blackness for them. And, due to
their lack of belief, the future is also non-existent. Furthermore,
because they think, the eternal separations resulting from
this non-existence continuously produce darkness for their lives.
Whereas, if belief gives life to life, then through the light of belief,
both the past and the future are illuminated and find
existence. Like present time, it produces elevated and spiritual pleasures
and lights of existence for the spirit and heart-in
respect of belief. There is an explanation of this truth in the 'Seventh
Hope' in the Treatise for The Elderly. You may refer
to that.
And so, life is thus. If you want the pleasure and enjoyment of life,
give life to your life through belief, and adorn it with
religious duties. And preserve it by abstaining from sins.
Concerning the fearsome reality of death, which is demonstrated by deaths
every day, in every place, at all times, I shall
explain it to you with a comparison, in the same way that I told the
other youths.
For example, a gallows has been erected here in front of your eyes.
Beside it is a lottery office, but one which gives tickets
for truly huge prizes. We people here are ten people, whether we like
it or not, we shall be summoned there; there is no
other alternative. They will call us, and since the time is secret,
any minute they may say either: "Come and collect the ticket
for your execution! Mount the gallows!" Or: "A ticket to win a prize
of millions of dollars' worth of gold has come up for
you. Come and collect it!" While waiting for them to say this, two
people suddenly appear at the door. One of them is a
scantily dressed woman, beautiful and deceiving. In her hand is some
apparently extremely delicious, but in fact poisonous,
candy, which she has brought wanting us to eat it. The other is an
undeceiving and undeceivable serious person. He enters
behind the woman, and says:
"I have brought you a talisman, a lesson. If you study it, and if you
do not eat that candy, you will be saved from the gallows.
With this talisman, you will receive your ticket for the matchless
prize. Look, you see with your own eyes that those who eat
the honey mount those gallows, and until that time they suffer dreadful
stomach pains from the poison of the candy. And
who it is that will receive the ticket for the large prize is not apparent;
it seems that they too mount the gallows. But there
are millions of witnesses who testify that they can enter the prize
arena easily. So, look from the windows! The highest
officials and the high-ranking persons concerned with this business
proclaim with loud voices: 'Just as you see with the clear
certainty of your own eyes those mounting the gallows, so also be certain
as daylight, with no doubt or misgiving, that those
with the talisman receive the ticket for the prize.' "
Thus, like the comparison, since the dissolute pleasures of youth in
the sphere of the illicit, which are like poisonous honey,
lose belief, which is the ticket for an eternal treasury and the passport
for everlasting happiness, a person who indulges in
them descends to death, which is like the gallows, and to the tribulations
of the grave, which is like the door to eternal
darkness. And since the appointed hour is unknown, its executioner,
not differentiating between young and old, may come at
any time to cut off your head. If you give up illicit desires, which
are like the poisonous honey, and acquire belief and
perform the religious duties, which are the Qur'anic talisman, one
hundred and twenty-four thousand prophets (upon whom
be peace) together with innumerable saints and people of truth have
unanimously announced that you shall receive the ticket
for the treasury of eternal happiness which comes up from the extraordinary
lottery of human destiny. And they have
pointed to traces of it.
IN SHORT: Youth will go. And if it goes being squandered, it results
in thousands of calamities and pains both in this world
and in the Hereafter. And if you want to understand how the majority
of such youths end up in hospitals with imagined
diseases arising from misspent youth and prodigality, and in prisons
or hostels for the destitute through their excesses, and in
bars due to the distress arising from their pain and suffering, then
go and ask at the hospitals, prisons and graveyards.
For sure, just as you will hear from most of the hospitals the moans
and groans of those ill from dissipation and debauchery
resulting from the drives of youth, so too will you hear from the prisons
the regretful sighs of unhappy youths who are being
punished for illicit actions mostly resulting from the excesses of
youth. And you will understand that most of the torments of
the grave-that Intermediate Realm the doors of which continuously open
and shut for those who enter it-are the result of
misspent youth, as is testified to by those who have divined the life
of the grave, and is affirmed by the people of truth.
Also, ask the elderly and the sick, who form the majority of mankind.
Certainly, the great majority of them will say with
sorrow and regret: "Alas! We wasted our youth on passion and fancy;
indeed, harmfully. Be careful, do not do as we did!"
Because, as a consequence of the illicit pleasures of five to ten years'
youth, a person suffers years of grief and sorrow in
this world, torment and harm in the Intermediate Realm, and the calamities
of Hell in the Hereafter. And although such a
person is in a most pitiable situation, he in no way deserves pity.
For those who freely consent to indulge in harmful actions
may not be pitied. They are not worthy of it.
May Almighty God save us and you from the alluring temptations of this time, and preserve us from them. Amen.
* * *
A Footnote to the Second Station
of the Thirteenth Word
In His name, be He glorified.
Those in prison are in great need of the true consolation of the Risale-i
Nur. Particularly those who having suffered the
blows of youth, are passing their young, sweet lives in prison; they
need the Risale-i Nur as much as they need bread.
Indeed, youth heeds the emotions rather than reason, and emotions and
desires are blind; they do not consider the
consequences. They prefer one ounce of immediate pleasure to tons of
future pleasure. They kill for the one minute
pleasure of revenge, then suffer for eighty thousand hours the pain
of prison. And one hour's dissolute pleasure in questions
of honour may result in life's enjoyment being utterly destroyed through
distress at the fear of both prison and enemies. And
there are many other examples, many pitfalls for the unfortunate young
because of which they transform their most sweet
lives into the most bitter and pitiable lives.
Consider a vast state to the north;1 it has gained possession of the
passions of its young people and is shaking this century
with its storms. For it has made lawful for its youths the pleasing
daughters and wives of upright people, and these youths
act only according to their feelings, which are blind to all consequences.
Indeed, by permitting men and women to go
together to the public baths, they are encouraging immorality. And
they consider it lawful for vagabonds and the poor to
plunder the property of the rich. All mankind trembles in the face
of this calamity.
And so it is most necessary in this century for all Muslim youths to
act heroically, and to respond to this two-pronged attack
with keen swords like the Fruits of Belief and the Guide for Youth
from the Risale-i Nur. Otherwise those unfortunate
youths will destroy utterly both their futures in this world, and their
agreeable lives, and their happiness in the Hereafter, and
their eternal lives, and transform them into torment and suffering.
And through their abuses and dissoluteness, they will end
up in hospitals, and through their excesses in life, in prisons. In
their old age, they will weep copiously with a thousand
regrets.
If, on the other hand, they protect themselves with Qur'anic training
and with the truths of the Risale-i Nur, they will become
truly heroic youths, perfect human beings, successful Muslims, and
in some ways rulers over animate beings and the rest of
the animal kingdom.
Indeed, when a youth in prison spends one hour out of the twenty-four
each day on the five obligatory prayers, and repents
for the mistakes that were the cause of his disaster, and abstains
from other harmful, painful sins, just as this will be of great
benefit for both his life, and his future, and his country, and his
nation, and his relatives, so too will he gain with his fleeting
youth of ten to fifteen years an eternal, brilliant youth. Foremost
the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition, and all the revealed
scriptures, have given this certain good news.
If such a youth demonstrates his gratitude for the pleasing, delightful
bounty of youth through moderation and obedience, it
will both increase it, and make it eternal, and make it a pleasure.
Otherwise it will be both calamitous, and become painful,
grievous, and a nightmare, and then it will depart. It will cause him
to become like a vagrant, harmful for both his relatives,
and his country, and his nation.
If the prisoner has been sentenced unjustly, on condition he performs
the obligatory prayers, each hour will be the equivalent
of a day's worship, and the prison will be like a recluse's cell. He
will be counted among the pious hermits of olden times
who retired to caves in order to devote themselves to worship. If he
is poor, aged, and ill, and desirous of the truths of belief,
on condition he performs the obligatory prayers and repents, each hour
will become the equivalent of twenty hours' worship,
and prison will become like a resthouse for him, and because of his
friends there who regard him with affection, a place of
love, training, and education. He will probably be happier staying
in prison than being free, for outside he is confused and
subject to the assaults of sins from all sides. He may receive a complete
education from prison. On being released, it will not
be as a murderer, or thirsting for revenge, but as someone penitent,
proven by trial, well-behaved, and beneficial for his
nation. In fact, the Denizli prisoners became so extraordinarily well-behaved
after studying the Risale-i Nur for only a short
time that some of those concerned said: "Studying the Risale-i Nur
for fifteen weeks is more effective at reforming them
than putting them in prison for fifteen years."
Since death does not die, and the appointed hour is unknown, it may
come at any time; and since the grave cannot be closed,
and troop after troop enter it and are lost; and since it has been
shown through the truths of the Qur'an that for those who
believe death is transformed into the discharge papers releasing them
from eternal annihilation, while for the corrupt and the
dissolute it is disappearing for ever into eternal annihilation, and
is unending separation from their loved ones and all beings,
most certainly and with no doubt at all, the most fortunate person
is he who with patience and thanks fully benefits from his
time in prison, and studying the Risale-i Nur works to serve the Qur'an
and his belief on the straight path.
Oh man who is addicted to enjoyment and pleasure! I am seventy-five
years old, and I know with utter certainty from
thousands of experiences, proofs, and events that true enjoyment, pain-free
pleasure, grief-free joy, and life's happiness are
only to be found in belief and in the sphere of the truths of belief.
While a single worldly pleasure yields numerous pains. As
though dealing ten slaps for a single grape, it drives away all life's
pleasure.
Oh you unfortunate people who are experiencing the disaster of prison!
Since your world is weeping and your life is bitter,
strive so that your Hereafter will not also weep, and your eternal
life will smile and be sweet! Benefit from prison! Just as
sometimes under severe conditions in the face of the enemy, an hour's
watch may be equivalent to a year's worship, so too
in the severe conditions you are under, the hardship of each hour spent
as worship becomes the equivalent of many hours, it
transforms that hardship into mercy.
* * *
In His Name, be He glorified.
My dear and loyal brothers!
I shall explain in three 'Points' an effective solace for those who
are experiencing the calamity of prison, and for those who
kindly help them and faithfully supervise their food, which comes from
outside.
First Point: Each day spent in prison may gain as much as ten days'
worship, and, with regards to their fruits, may transform
those transient hours into enduring hours, and through five or ten
years' punishment may be the means of saving a person
from millions of years of eternal imprisonment. For the believers,
the condition for gaining this most significant and valuable
advantage is to perform the obligatory prayers, repent for the sins
that were the cause of their imprisonment, and offer
thanks in patience. For sure, prison is an obstacle to many sins; it
does not provide the opportunity for them.
Second Point: Just as the cessation of pleasure causes pain, so also
does the cessation of pain give pleasure. Indeed, on
thinking of past happy, enjoyable days, everyone feels a pang of regret
and longing, and says: "Alas!", and recalling
calamitous, unhappy days of the past, experiences a sort of pleasure
since they are passed, and says: "Praise and thanks be
to God, that calamity has left its reward and departed." He breathes
a sigh of relief. That is to say, an hour's temporary pain
and sorrow leave behind a sort of pleasure in the spirit, while a pleasurable
hour leaves a pain.
Since the reality is thus; and since past calamitous hours together
with their pains are no longer existent, and future
distressing days are at the present time non-existent, and there is
no pain from nothing, to continually eat bread and drink
water today, for example, because of the possibility of being hungry
and thirsty in several days' time, is most foolish. And in
just the same way, to think now of the past and future unhappy hours,
which simply do not exist, and to show impatience,
and ignoring one's faulty self, to moan as though complaining about
God is also most foolish. So long as the power of
patience is not scattered to left and right, that is, to the past and
future, and is held firm in the face of the present of hour and
day, it is sufficient. The distress falls from ten to one.
In fact, but let it not be complaining, Divine favour pointed out the
above fact to me while, during a few days of material and
spiritual affliction, illness and trial the like of which I had never
before experienced in my life, I was being crushed in
particular by the despair and distress of the heart and spirit which
resulted from my being unable to serve the Qur'an and
belief with the Risale-i Nur. I was then content with my distressing
illness and imprisonment. For, saying: "It is great profit
for an unfortunate like myself who waits at the door of the grave to
make one hour which might be passed in heedlessness
ten hours' worth of worship", I gave thanks.
Third Point: There is great gain in compassionately aiding and assisting
prisoners, in giving them the sustenance they need,
and in soothing their spiritual wounds with consolation. And giving
them their food which comes from outside is like
alms-giving which, exactly to the amount of the food, is written in
the book of good deeds of those, outside and inside, who
do this, together with the warders concerned. And especially if the
unhappy prisoner is old, ill, poor, or a stranger, then the
reward of this alms-giving increases many times over.
Thus the condition of this valuable profit is to perform the obligatory
prayers, so that such service is for God's sake. And
another condition is to hasten to their assistance with sincerity,
compassion and joy, and in such a way as to not make them
feel obliged.
* * *
In His Name, be He glorified.
And there is not a thing but it glorifies Him with praise.
My friends in prison and brothers in religion!
It occurred to me to explain a truth to you which will save you both
from worldly torment and the torment of the Hereafter.
It is as follows:
For example: A person killed someone's brother or one of his relatives.
A murder which yields one minute's pleasure of
revenge causes millions of minutes of both distress for the heart and
the anguish of prison. And the fear of revenge by the
murdered man's relatives, and anxiety of finding himself face to face
with his enemy drives away all his pleasure and
enjoyment in life. He suffers the torment of both fear and anger. There
is only one solution for this, and that is reconciliation,
which the Qur'an commands, and truth, reality, benefit, humanity, and
Islam require and encourage.
Indeed, the reality and requirement is peace, because the appointed
hour is set, it does not change. Since his appointed hour
had come, the murdered man would have stayed no longer in any event.
And as for the murderer, he was the means of
God's decree being carried out. So long as there is no reconciliation,
both sides perpetually suffer the torments of fear and
revenge. It is because of this that Islam commands that "one believer
should not be vexed with another believer for more
than three days". If the murder was not the result of a vindictive
grudge and enmity, and a two-faced trouble-maker
instigated the discord, it is essential to make peace quickly. Otherwise,
that minor disaster becomes a large one, and
continues. If they make peace, and the murderer repents and prays continuously
for the man he killed, then both sides will
gain much and become like brothers. In place of one departed brother,
he will gain several religious brothers. He will be
resigned to Divine Decree and Determining and forgive his enemy. And
especially since they heed the lessons of the
Risale-i Nur, both individual and public peace and well-being, and
the brotherhood that there is in the sphere of the Risale-i
Nur require that they put aside all the hard feelings that exist between
them.
It was thus in Denizli Prison; all the prisoners who were enemies became
brothers through the lessons of the Risale-i Nur. It
was one reason for our acquittal, and caused even the irreligious and
ungodly to say about those prisoners: "Mashallah!
Barekallah!" And it was an utter relief for those prisoners. I myself
have seen here a hundred men suffer inconvenience on
account of one man and not go out to take exercise together. It is
oppression towards them. A manly believer of sound
conscience will not cause each of hundreds of other believers harm
because of some insignificant and minor error or
benefit. If he makes a mistake and does cause harm, he should repent
immediately.
* * *
In His Name, be He glorified.
My loyal new brothers and old prisoners!
I have formed the firm conclusion that, in respect of Divine favour,
you are an important cause in our entering here. That is
to say, with its consolation and the truths of belief, the Risale-i
Nur is to save both you from the distress of this calamity of
prison and from much worldly harm, and your life from passing profitlessly
and quite in vain through grief and sorrow and
being wasted on the winds of fancy, and your Hereafter from weeping
like your world is weeping now; it is to provide you
with true solace.
Since the reality of the matter is this, of course you must be brothers
to one another, like the Denizli prisoners and Students
of the Risale-i Nur. You can see that they examine all your possessions,
food, bread, and soup which come from outside so
that a knife does not get in among you and you do not attack one another.
The warders who faithfully serve you suffer
much trouble. Also, you do not go out to exercise together, as though
you were going to attack one another like wild beasts.
And so, new friends, who are by nature bold and courageous, with great
moral courage you should say to the group at this
time:
"If not knives, but Mausers and revolvers were given us, and the order
to fire as well, we would not hurt our friends who are
unfortunate and suffering this calamity like ourselves. Through the
guidance and at the command of the Qur'an, and belief,
and Islamic brotherhood, and our interests, we have decided to forgive
them and to try not to offend them, even if formerly
there were a hundred reasons for our enmity and hostility." And so
transform this prison into an auspicious place of study.
* * *
AN IMPORTANT MATTER
which occurred to my heart on the Night of Power
(The Addendum to the Second Station of the Thirteenth Word)
I shall allude briefly to a most extensive and lengthy truth which occurred to my heart on the Night of Power.
Because of the extreme tyranny and despotism of this last World War
and its merciless destruction, and hundreds of
innocents being scattered and ruined on account of a single enemy,
and the awesome despair of the defeated, and the
fearsome alarm of the victors and their ghastly pangs of conscience
arising from the supremacy they are unable to maintain
and the destruction they are unable to repair, and the utter transitoriness
and ephemerality of the life of this world and the
deceptive and opiate nature of the fantasies of civilization becoming
apparent to all, and the exalted abilities lodged in human
nature and the human essence being wounded in a universal and awesome
manner, and heedlessness and misguidance and
deaf, lifeless Nature being smashed by the diamond sword of the Qur'an,
and the exceedingly ugly, exceedingly cruel true
face of world politics becoming apparent, which is the widest and most
suffocating and deceptive cover for heedlessness
and misguidance, most certainly and without any shadow of a doubt,
since the life of this world -which is the metaphorical
beloved of mankind- is thus ugly and transient, man's true nature will
search with all its strength for eternal life, which it truly
loves and yearns for, just as there are signs of this occurring in
the North, the West, and in America.
And most certainly there is no doubt that since the Qur'an of Miraculous
Exposition, which each century for one thousand
three hundred and sixty years has had three hundred and fifty million
students, and sets the seal on each of its
pronouncements and claims through the affirmation of millions of profound,
veracious scholars, and each minute has been
present with its sacredness in the hearts of millions of hafiz's and
given instruction to mankind through their tongues, and
which in a way unmatched by any other book conveys the good news of
eternal life and everlasting happiness to mankind
and heals all their wounds,-since the Qur'an has given this certain
good news of eternal life and happiness with thousands of
its insistent, powerful and repeated verses, and with its certain unshakeable
proofs and innumerable indubitable arguments
which invite and give news explicitly and implicitly tens of thousands
of times, so long as human kind does not altogether lose
its mind and a material or immaterial doomsday does not erupt over
its head, the broad masses and great states in the world
will search out the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition, and having grasped
its truths, will embrace it with all their lives and
spirits, just as there are [now] famous preachers in Sweden, Norway,
Finland and England working to have the Qur'an
accepted, and the important community of America is searching for the
true religion. Because in view of this fact, the
Qur'an by no means has-nor can have-any equal. And absolutely nothing
can take the place of this greatest miracle.
SECONDLY: Since the Risale-i Nur has performed a service like a diamond
sword in the hand of this greatest miracle and
compelled its stubborn enemies to submit, and acts as a herald to the
treasures of the Qur'an in a fashion that illuminates and
heals completely both the heart, and the spirit, and the emotions,
and has no source nor authority other than the Qur'an and is
its miracle, it performs that duty perfectly.
Furthermore it has completely routed the obstinate atheists and their
fearsome propaganda against it, and smashed to pieces
with the treatise Nature: Cause or Effect Nature, which is the most
impregnable bastion of misguidance, and, with the Sixth
Matter in the treatise Fruits of Belief together with the First, Second,
Third and Eighth Proofs all of which are included in the
book The Staff of Moses, has banished heedlessness in a most brilliant
fashion in its most dense, suffocating and extensive
sphere under the wide-reaching veils of science and has demonstrated
the light of Divine Unity.
For sure, since religious instruction is now officially permitted and
permission has been given to open private places of study,
it is necessary for us and essential for the nation that, as far as
is possible, Students of the Risale-i Nur should open a small
'Risale-i Nur Study Centre' in every place. Although everyone would
benefit to some extent, not everyone would understand
every matter completely. But since these matters are explanations of
the truths of belief, they are both learning, and
knowledge of God, and lead to God's presence, and are worship.
Insha'llah, these 'Risale-i Nur Medreses' will secure in five to ten
weeks the same results that the former medreses
produced in five to ten years-and they have been so doing for twenty
years.
Also it is essential for the Government not to interfere with these
Flashes of the Qur'an, the Risale-i Nur, which is the
Qur'an's herald and is beneficial in many ways for the worldly and
political life of this nation and country, and for its life in
the Hereafter. Rather, it should work for its total spread and acceptance,
so that it will atone for the grievous sins of the
past, and form a barrier to the severe trials and anarchy of the future.
* * *
THE SIXTH TOPIC FROM THE
FRUITS OF BELIEF
[This consists of a single, brief proof of the pillar of belief, belief
in God, for which there are numerous decisive proofs and
explanations in many places in the Risale-i Nur.]
In Kastamonu a group of high-school students came to me, saying: "Tell
us about our Creator, our teachers do not speak of
God." And I said to them: "All the sciences you study continuously
speak of God and make known the Creator, each with its
own particular tongue. Do not listen to your teachers; listen to them.
"For example, a well-equipped pharmacy with life-giving potions and
cures in every jar weighed out in precise and wondrous
measures doubtless shows an extremely skilful, practised, and wise
pharmacist. In the same way, to the extent that it is
bigger and more perfect and better equipped than the pharmacy in the
market-place, the pharmacy of the globe of the earth
with its living potions and medicaments in the jars which are the four
hundred thousand species of plants and animals shows
and makes known to eyes that are blind even - by means of the measure
or scale of the science of medicine that you study -
the All-Wise One of Glory, Who is the Pharmacist of the mighty pharmacy
of the earth.
"To take another example, a wondrous factory which weaves thousands
of sorts of cloth from a simple material doubtless
makes known a manufacturer and skilful mechanic. In the same way, to
whatever extent it is larger and more perfect than
the human factory, this travelling Dominical machine known as the globe
of the earth with its hundreds of thousands of
heads in each of which are hundreds of thousands of factories shows
and makes known - by means of the measure or scale
of the science of engineering which you study - its Manufacturer and
Owner.
"And, for example, a depot, store, or shop in which has been brought
together and stored up in regular and orderly fashion a
thousand and one varieties of provisions undoubtedly makes known a
wondrous owner, proprietor, and overseer of
provisions and foodstuffs. In just the same way, to whatever degree
it is vaster and more perfect than such a store or
factory, this foodstore of the Most Merciful One known as the globe
of the earth, this Divine ship, this Dominical depot and
shop holding goods, equipment, and conserved food, which in one year
travels regularly an orbit of twenty-four thousand
years, and carrying groups of beings requiring different foods and
passing through the seasons on its journey and filling the
spring with thousands of different provisions like a huge waggon, brings
them to the wretched animate creatures whose
sustenance has been exhausted in winter, - by means of the measure
or scale of the science of economics which you study
- this depot of the earth makes known and makes loved its Manager,
Organizer, and Owner.
"And, for example, let us imagine an army which consists of four hundred
thousand nations and each nation requires
different provisions, uses different weapons, wears different uniforms,
undergoes different drill, and is discharged from its
duties differently. If this army and camp has a miracle-working commander
who on his own provides all those different
nations with all their different provisions, weapons, uniforms, and
equipment without forgetting or confusing any of them,
then surely the army and camp show the commander and make him loved
appreciatively. In just the same way, the spring
camp of the face of the earth in which every spring a newly recruited
Divine army of the four hundred thousand species of
plants and animals are given their varying uniforms, rations, weapons,
training, and demobilizations in utterly perfect and
regular fashion by a single Commander-in-Chief Who forgets or confuses
not one of them - to whatever extent the spring
camp of the face of the earth is vaster and more perfect than that
human army, - by means of the measure or scale of the
military science that you study - it makes known to the attentive and
sensible, its Ruler, Sustainer, Administrator, and Most
Holy Commander, causing wonderment and acclaim, and makes Him loved
and praised and glorified.
"Another example: millions of electric lights that move and travel through
a wondrous city, their fuel and power source never
being exhausted, self-evidently make known a wonder-working craftsman
and extraordinarily talented electrician who
manages the electricity, makes the moving lamps, sets up the power
source, and brings the fuel; they cause others to
congratulate and applaud him, and to love him. In just the same way,
although some of the lamps of the stars in the roof of
the palace of the world in the city of the universe - if they are considered
in the way that astronomy says - are a thousand
times larger than the earth and move seventy times faster than a cannon
ball, they do not spoil their order, nor collide with
one another, nor become extinguished, nor is their fuel exhausted.
According to astronomy, which you study, for our sun to
continue burning, which is a million times larger than the earth and
a million times older and is a lamp and stove in a
guest-house of the Most Merciful One, as much oil as the seas of the
earth and as much coal as its mountains or as much
logs and wood as ten earths are necessary for it not to be extinguished.
And however much greater and more perfect than
this example are the electric lamps of the palace of the world in the
majestic city of the universe, which point with their
fingers of light to an infinite power and sovereignty which illuminates
the sun and other lofty stars like it without oil, wood, or
coal, not allowing them to be extinguished or to collide with one another,
though travelling together at speed, to that degree -
by means of the measure of the science of electricity which you either
study or will study - they testify to and make known
the Monarch, Illuminator, Director, and Maker of the mighty exhibition
of the universe; they make Him loved, glorified, and
worshipped.
"And, for example, a book in every line of which a whole book is finely
written, and in every word of which a Sura of the
Qur'an is inscribed with a fine pen, which is most meaningful and all
of whose matters corroborate one another, a wondrous
collection showing its writer and author to be extraordinarily skilful
and capable, undoubtedly shows its writer and author
together with all his perfections and arts are clearly as daylight,
and makes him known. It makes him appreciated with
phrases like, What wonders God has willed! and, Blessed be God! And
just the same is the mighty Book of the Universe;
we see with our eyes a pen at work which writes on the face of the
earth, which is a single of its pages, and on the spring,
which is a single folio, the three hundred thousand plant and animal
species, which are like three hundred thousand different
books, all together, one within the other, without fault or error,
without mixing them up or confusing them, perfectly and with
complete order, and sometimes writes an ode in a word like a tree,
and the complete index of a book in a point like a seed.
However much vaster and more perfect and meaningful than the book in
the example mentioned above is this compendium
of the universe and mighty embodied Qur'an of the world, which is infinitely
full of meaning and in every word of which are
numerous instances of wisdom, to that degree - in accordance with the
extensive measure and far-seeing vision of the
natural science that you study and the sciences of reading and writing
that you have practised at school - it makes known
the Inscriber and Author of the Book of the Universe together with
His infinite perfections. Proclaiming God is Most Great!,
it makes Him known. Uttering words like Glory be to God!, it describes
Him. Uttering praises like All praise be to God!, it
makes Him loved.
"Thus, hundreds of other sciences like these make known the Glorious
Creator of the universe together with His Names,
each through its broad measure or scale, its particular mirror, its
far-seeing eyes, and searching gaze; they make known His
attributes and perfections.
"It is in order to give instruction in this matter, which is a brilliant
and magnificent proof of Divine Unity, that the Qur'an of
Miraculous Exposition teaches us about our Creator most often with
the verses, Sustainer of the Heavens and the Earth,
and, Creator of the Heavens and Earth." I said this to the schoolboys,
and they accepted it completely, affirming it by saying:
"Endless thanks be to God, for we have received an absolutely true
and sacred lesson. May God be pleased with you!" And
I said:
"Man is a living machine who is grieved with thousands of different
sorrows and receives pleasure in thousands of different
ways, and despite his utter impotence has innumerable enemies, physical
and spiritual, and despite his infinite poverty, has
countless needs, external and inner, and is a wretched creature continuously
receiving the blows of death and separation.
And yet, through belief and worship, he suddenly becomes connected
to a Monarch so Glorious that he finds a point of
support against all his enemies and a source of help for all his needs,
and like everyone takes pride at the honour and rank of
the lord to whom he is attached, you can compare for yourselves how
pleased and grateful and thankful and full of pride
man becomes at being connected through belief to an infinitely Powerful
and Compassionate Monarch, at entering His
service through worship, and transforming for himself the announcement
of the execution of the appointed hour into papers
releasing him from duty."
And I repeat to the calamity-stricken prisoners what I said to the schoolboys:
"One who recognizes Him and obeys Him is
fortunate even if he is in prison. While one who forgets Him is wretched
and a prisoner even if he lives in a palace." Even,
one wronged but fortunate man said to the wretched tyrants who were
executing him: "I am not being executed but being
demobilized and going to happiness. But I see that you are being condemned
to eternal execution and so am taking complete
revenge on you." And saying: "There is no god but God!", he happily
yielded up his spirit.
Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise.1
* * *
THE AIR:
A Window onto Divine Unity
In His Name, be He glorified.
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.
My very dear and loyal brothers!
My brothers, I observed in a subtle point concerning God's Unity, which
suddenly became clear while studying the page of
the air on a journey of the imagination and mind, that is, in the word
HE in the phrases THERE IS NO GOD BUT HE, and,
SAY HE IS GOD, (and that was only in its material aspect) that the
way of belief is infinitely easy, easy to the point of
being necessary, and that the way of misguidance and associating partners
with God is infinitely difficult, so difficult as to be
impossible. I shall explain that long and extensive point with an extremely
brief indication.
Indeed, if soil, one handful of which can act as a flower-pot for hundreds
of plants in turn, is attributed to Nature or causes,
it becomes necessary either for there to be present in such a handful
hundreds of immaterial machines, rather, machines and
factories to the number of the plants, or for each particle of that
small amount of soil to know how to make all those
different plants together with their different characteristics and
living organs; quite simply, each would have to possess
infinite knowledge and limitless power like a god.
The same is true for the air, which is a place of maximum manifestation
of the Divine Will and Command; either there
would have to be present on a minute scale in each of its molecules,
in each waft of wind, each breath, and in the tiny
amount air expended with the word HE, the innumerable different exchanges,
centres, receivers and transmitters of all the
telephones, telegraphs and radios in the world so that each could perform
those innumerable acts at the same time. Or each
particle of each molecule of air exhaled with HE, and indeed of the
element air, would have to possess abilities and
personalities to the number of all the different telephone users, telegraphers,
and those who speak on the radio, and know all
their different languages, and broadcast them to the other particles
at the same time. For such a situation is actually
apparent, and every bit of air possesses that ability. Thus, in the
ways of the unbelievers, Naturalists, and Materialists not
one impossibility, but impossibilities and difficulties are clearly
apparent to the number of molecules of air.
If attributed to the All-Glorious Maker, however, the air together with
all its particles becomes a soldier under His command.
With its Creator's permission and through His power, and through being
connected to its Creator and relying on Him, and
through the manifestation of its Maker's Power, in an instant with
the speed of lightening, and with the ease of uttering the
word HE and the movement of the air in waves, its innumerable universal
duties are performed as easily as an orderly,
single duty of a single particle. That is to say, the air becomes a
page for the endless, wonderful, and orderly writings of the
pen of Power. And its particles become the nibs of the pen, and their
duties the points inscribed by it. The air functions as
easily as the movement of a single particle.
And so, while on my journey of contemplation prompted by the phrases
THERE IS NO GOD BUT HE, and, SAY, HE IS
GOD, and while observing the world of the air and studying the page
of that element, I witnessed this brief truth with utter
certainty and clarity, and in detail. And I understood with 'certainty
at the degree of knowledge' that it was because there is
in the word HE, in the air of its utterance, such a brilliant proof
and flash of Divine Unity, and also in its meaning and
allusions such a luminous manifestation of Divine Oneness and powerful
proof of Divine Unity, and in that proof an
indication that since the pronoun HE is unconditional and indefinite,
it suggests the question, "Who does it refer to?" that both
the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition and those who constantly recite
the Divine Names frequently repeat this sacred word
in the station of Unity.
Indeed, if, for example, there is one point on a piece of white paper
and two or three other points are jumbled around with it
and then someone who already has numerous jobs tries to distinguish
them, he will be confused; and if many burdens are
loaded on a small creature, it will be crushed; and if numerous words
issue from one tongue and enter one ear altogether at
the same time, their order will be broken and they will be a muddle.
Despite this being the case, I saw with complete certainty that with
the key and compass of HE, although thousands of
different points, letters and words had been put in each molecule-and
even in each particle- of the element air, through
which I journeyed in my mind, neither did they become mixed up nor
did they spoil their order; and although they performed
a great many different duties, these were carried out without being
confused in any way; and although very heavy loads
were laid on each molecule and particle, they bore them in order without
lagging or displaying any weakness at all. And I
saw that thousands of different words of all different sorts enter
and issue with perfect order from what is in effect those
minute ears and tongues without being mixed up and spoilt in any way,
they enter those minute ears and issue from those
tiny tongues, and by performing these extraordinary duties, each particle
and each molecule declares through the enraptured
tongue of its being and its perfect freedom, and through the testimony
and tongue of the above truth: THERE IS NO GOD
BUT HE, and: SAY, HE IS GOD, THE ONE, and travels among air-clashing
waves like storms and lightening and thunder
without in any way spoiling their order or confusing their duties.
And one duty is not an obstacle to another duty. I observed
this and was utterly certain.
That is to say, either every particle and piece of the air has to possess
infinite wisdom, knowledge, will, and power, and the
qualities for being absolutely dominant over all the other particles
so that it can be the means of those functions being carried
out, which is absurd and impossible to the number of particles, and
no devil even could imagine it, or else, and it is
self-evident to the degree of 'certainty at the degree of knowledge',
'certainty at the degree of witnessing', and 'absolute
certainty' that the page of the air functions through the boundless,
infinite knowledge and wisdom of the All-Glorious One,
and is the changing page for the pen of Divine Power and Determining,
and like a signboard for writing and erasing, known
as a Tablet of Appearance and Dissolution, which has the function of
the Preserved Tablet in the world of transformation
and change.
Thus, just as the element of air demonstrates the above-mentioned wonders
and manifestation of Divine Unity in only the
duty of transmitting sound and shows the impossibilities of misguidance,
so also does it perform other important duties like
transmitting subtle forces and energy, like electricity, light, and
the forces of attraction and repulsion with order and without
confusing them. And at the same time as conveying these, with perfect
order, it carries out duties essential for the lives of
all plants and animals, such as respiration and pollination. It proves
in decisive fashion that it is a place of maximum
manifestation of the Divine Will and Command. I came to the firm conclusion
that it proves that in no way is there any
possibility of vagrant chance, blind force, deaf Nature, confused,
aimless causes, and powerless, lifeless, unknowing matter
interfering in the writing and duties of the page of the air. And I
understood that every particle and part of it says with the
tongue of its being: SAY, HE IS GOD, THE ONE, and: THERE IS NO GOD
BUT HE. And just as with the key of HE I
saw these wonders in the material aspect of the air, so also, as a
HE, did the element of air become a key to the World of
Similitudes and the World of Meaning.
I saw that the World of Similitudes is all the time taking innumerable
photographs without confusing them, and that each
photograph contains innumerable events occurring in this world. I understood
that it was a gigantic camera, and a vast
cinema of the Hereafter thousands of times larger than the world for
showing the fruits of the transitory and impermanent
states and lives of ephemeral beings in eternal theatres, for showing
to those enjoying everlasting bliss in Paradise scenes
from their old memories and adventures in this world.1
While the faculties of memory and imagination, which are two proofs,
two small examples, and two points of both the
Preserved Tablet and the World of Similitudes situated in man's head,
are as tiny as lentils, within them are written in perfect
order and without being mixed up as much information as contained in
a large library. This proves decisively that the great
and large examples of those faculties are the World of Similitudes
and the Preserved Tablet.
It is definite and certain with 'certainty at the degree of knowledge'
that the elements of air and water, and the element air
and water like seminal fluid in particular, are far superior to the
element of earth, and are written with more wisdom and will,
and with the pen of Divine Determining and Power, and that it is completely
impossible for chance, blind force, deaf nature,
and lifeless and aimless causes to interfere in them, and that they
are a page of the pen of Power and the wisdom of the
All-Wise One of Glory.
* * *