[About the Prophethood of Muhammed (PBUH)]
I could not praise Muhammed with my words; rather, my words were made praiseworthy by Muhammed.
Yes, this Word is beautiful, but what makes it so is the most beautiful
of all things, the attributes and qualities of Muhammed
(PBUH}.
Also being the Fourteenth Flash, this Word consists of Fourteen Droplets.
· FIRST DROPLET
There are three great and universal things which make known to us our
Sustainer. One is the Book of the Universe, a jot of
whose testimony we have heard from the thirteen Flashes together with
the Thirteenth Word of the Risale-i Nur. Another is
the Seal of the Prophets (Upon whom be blessings and peace), the supreme
sign of the Book of the Universe. The third is
the Qur'an of Mighty Stature. Now, we must become acquainted with the
Seal of the Prophets (Upon whom be blessings
and peace), who is the second and Articulate Proof, and must listen
to him.
Indeed, look at the collective personality of this proof: the face of
the earth has become his mosque, Mecca, his mihrab, and
Medina, his pulpit. Our Prophet (Peace and blessings be upon him},
this clear proof, is leader to all the believers, preacher to
all mankind, the chief of all the prophets, lord of all the saints,
the leader of a circle for the remembrance of God comprising
all the prophets and saints. He is a luminous tree whose living roots
are all the prophets, and fresh fruits are all the saints;
whose claims all the prophets relying on their miracles and all the
saints relying on their wonderworking confirm and
corroborate. For he declares and claims: There is no god but God! And
all on left and right, that is, those luminous reciters of
God's Names lined up in the past and the future, repeat the same words,
and through their consensus in effect declare: "You
speak the truth and what you say is right!" What false idea has the
power to meddle in a claim which is thus affirmed and
corroborated by thousands?
· SECOND DROPLET
Just as that luminous Proof of Divine Unity is affirmed by the unanimity
and consensus of those two wings, so too, do
hundreds of indications in the revealed scriptures, like the Torah
and Bible, 1 and the thousands of signs that appeared
before the beginning of his mission, and the well-known news of the
voices from the Unseen and the unanimous testimony
of the soothsayers, the indications of the thousands of his miracles,
like the Splitting of the Moon, and the justice of Shari'a
all confirm and corroborate him. So too, in his person, his laudable
morals, which were at, the summit of perfection; and in
his duties, his complete confidence and elevated qualities, which were
of the highest excellence, and his extraordinary fear
of God, worship, seriousness, and fortitude, which demonstrated the
strength of his belief, and his total certainty and his
complete steadfastness, all show as clearly as the sun how utterly
faithful he was to his cause.
· THIRD DROPLET
If you wish, come! Let us go to Arabian Peninsula, to the Era of Bliss!
In our imaginations, we shall see him at his duties
and visit him. Look! We see a person distinguished by his fine character
and beautiful form. In his hand is a miraculous
Book and on his tongue, a truthful address; he is delivering a pre-eternal
sermon to all mankind, indeed, to man, jinn, and the
angels, and to all beings. He solves and expounds the strange riddle
of the mystery of the world's creation; he discovers and
solves the abstruse talisman which is the mystery of the universe;
and he provides convincing and satisfying answers to the
three awesome and difficult questions that are asked of al1 beings
and have always bewildered and occupied minds: "Where
do you come from? What are you doing here? Where are you going?"
· FOURTH DROPLET
See! He spreads such a Light of truth that, if you look at the universe
as being outside the luminous sphere of his truth and
guidance, you see it to be like a place of general mourning, and beings
strangers to one another and hostile, and inanimate
beings to be like ghastly corpses and living creatures like orphans
weeping at the blows of death and separation. Now look!
Through the Light he spreads, that place of universal mourning has
been transformed into a place where God's Names and
praises are recited in joy and ecstasy. The foreign, hostile beings
have become friends and brothers. While the dumb, dead
inanimate creatures have each taken on the form of familiar officials
and docile servants. And the weeping, complaining
orphans are seen to be either reciting God's Names and praises or offering
thanks at being released from their duties.
1.In his Risale-i Hamidiye, Husayn Jisri extracted one hundred and fourteen
indications from those scriptures. If this many
have remained after the texts have become corrupted, there were surely
many explicit mentions before.
· FIFTH DROPLET
Also, through his Light, the motion and movement of the universe, and
its variations, changes and transformations, cease
being meaningless, futile, and the playthings of chance and rise to
the level of being Dominical missives, pages inscribed with
the signs of creation, and mirrors to the Divine Names, and the world
itself, a book of the Eternally Besought One's wisdom.
And while man's boundless weakness and impotence make him inferior
to all other animals and his reason, the means of
transmitting grief, sorrow, and sadness, makes him more wretched, when
he is illumined with that Light, he rises above all
animals and all creatures. Through his illuminated impotence, want,
and reason, through entreaty he becomes a petted
monarch and through lamenting, a spoiled vicegerent of the earth. That
is to say, if it was not for his Light, the universe and
man, and all things, would be nothing. Yes, certainly such a person
is necessary in such a wondrous universe; otherwise the
universe and firmaments should not be in existence.
· SIXTH DROPLET
Thus, that Being announces and brings the good news of eternal happiness;
he is the discoverer and proclaimer of an infinite
mercy, the herald and observer of the beauties of the sovereignty of
Dominicality, and the discloser and displayer of the
treasures of the Divine Names. If you regard him in that way, that
is in regard to his being a worshipful servant of God, you
will see him to be the model of love, the exemplar of mercy, the glory
of mankind, and the most luminous fruit of the tree of
creation. While if you look in this way, that is, in regard to his
prophethood, you see him to be the proof of God, the lamp of
truth, the sun of guidance, and the means to happiness. And look! His
Light has lighted up from east to west like dazzling
lightening, and half the earth and a fifth of mankind has accepted
the gift of his guidance and preserved it like life itself. So
how is it that our evilcommanding souls and satans do not accept with
all its degrees the basis of all One such as that
claimed, that is, There is no god but God?
· SEVENTH DROPLET
Now, consider how, eradicating in no time at all their evil and savage
customs and habits to which they were fanatically
attached, he decked out the various wild, unyielding peoples of that
broad peninsula with all the finest virtues, and made
them teachers of all the world and masters to the civilized nations.
See, it was not an outward domination, he conquered and
subjugated their minds, spirits, hearts, and souls. He became the beloved
of hearts, the teacher of minds, the trainer of souls,
the ruler of spirits.
· EIGHTH DROPLET
You know that a small habit like cigarette smoking among a small nation
can he removed permanently only by a powerful
ruler with great effort. But look! This Being removed numerous ingrained
habits from intractable, fanatical large nations with
slight outward power and little effort in a short period of time, and
in their place he so established exalted qualities that they
became as firm as if they had mingled with their very blood. He achieved
very many extraordinary feats like this. Thus, we
present the Arabian Peninsula as a challenge to those who refuse to
see the testimony of the blessed age of the Prophet.
Let them each take a hundred philosophers, go there, and strive for
a hundred years, I wonder if they would be able to carry
out in that time one hundredth of what he achieved in a year?
· NINTH DROPLET
Also, you know that an insignificant man of small standing among a small
community in a disputed matter of small
importance cannot tell a small but shameful lie brazenfaced and without
fear without displaying anxiety or disquiet enough to
inform the enemies at his side of his deception. Now look at that Being;
although he undertook a tremendous task which
required an official of great authority and great standing and a situation
of great security, can any contradiction at all be
found in the words he uttered among a community of great size in the
face of great hostility concerning a great cause and
matters of great significance, with great ease and freedom, without
fear, hesitation, diffidence, or anxiety, with pure
sincerity, great seriousness, and in an intense, elevated manner that
angered his enemies? Is it at all possible that any
trickery should have been involved? God forbid! It is naught but Revelation
inspired.2 The truth does not deceive, and one
who perceives the truth is not deceived. His way which is truth is
free of deception. How could a fancy appear to one who
sees the truth to be the truth, and deceive him?
· TENTH DROPLET
Now, look! What curiosity-arousing, attractive, necessary, and awesome truths he shows and matters he proves.
You know that what impels man most is curiosity. Even, should it be
said to you: "If you give half of your life and property,
someone will come from the Moon and Jupiter and tell you all about
them. And will also tell you correctly about your future
and what will happen to you," if you have any curiosity at all, you
would give them. Whereas that Being tells of a Monarch
Who is such that in His realm, the Moon flies round a moth like a fly,
and the moth, the earth, flutters round a lamp, and the
lamp, the sun, is merely one lamp among thousands in one guest-house
out of thousands of that Monarch.(2.Qur'an, 53:4.)
Also, he speaks truly of a world so wondrous and a revolution that is
such that if the earth was a bomb and exploded it
would not be all that strange. Look! Listen to Suras like, When the
sun is folded up3 * When the sky is cleft asunder4 * [The
Day]of Noise and Clamour,5 which he recites.
Also, he speaks truly of a future that is such that the future in this
world is like a tiny mirage in comparison. And he tells
most seriously of a happiness that is such that all worldly happiness
is like a fleeting flash of lightening in comparison to an
eternal sun.
· ELEVENTH DROPLET
For sure, wonders await us under the apparent veil of the universe which
is thus strange and perplexing. And one thus
wonderful and extraordinary, a displayer of marvels, is nece5sary to
tell of its wonders. And it is apparent from that Being's
conduct that he has seen them, and sees them, and says that he has
seen them. And he instructs us most soundly concerning
what the God of the heavens and the earth, Who nurtures us with His
bounties, wants and desires of us. And so, while
everyone should leave everything and run to and heed this Being who
teaches numerous other necessary and
curiosityarousing truths like these, how is it that most people are
deaf and blind, and mad even, so that they do not see this
truth, and they do not listen to it and understand it?
· TWELFTH DROPLET
Thus, just as this Being is an articulate proof and true evidence at
the degree of the truth of the Unity of the Creator of
beings, so too is he a decisive proof and clear evidence for the resurrection
of the dead and eternal happiness. Indeed, just
as with his guidance he is the reason for eternal happiness coming
about and is the means of attaining it, so too, through his
prayers and supplications, he is the cause of its existence and means
of its creation. We repeat here this mystery, which is
mentioned in the Tenth Word, due to its 'station'.
See! This Being prays with a prayer so supreme that it is as if the
Arabian Peninsula and indeed the earth performs the
prayers through his majestic prayer, and offers entreaties. See, he
also entreats in a congregation so vast that it is as if all
the luminous and perfected members of mankind from the time of Adam
till our age and until the end of time, are following
him and saying Amen to his supplications. And see! He is beseeching
for a need so universal that not only the dwellers of
the earth, but also those of the heavens, and all beings, join in his
prayer, declaring: "Yes! O our Sustainer!
3. Qur'an, 81:1.
4. Qur'an, 82:1.
5. Qur'an,101:1.
Grant it to us! We too want it!" And he supplicates with such want,
so sorrowfully, in such a loving, yearning, and
beseeching fashion that he brings the whole cosmos to tears, making
them join in his prayer.
And see! He prays for a such a purpose and aim that it raises man and
the world, and all creatures, from the lowest of the
low, from inferiority, worthlessness, and uselessness to the highest
of the high; that is to having value, permanence, and
exalted duties. And see! He seeks and pleads for help and mercy in
a manner so elevated and sweet that it is as if he makes
all beings and the heavens and the earth hear, and bringing them to
ecstasy, to exclaim:
"Amen, O our God! Amen!" And see! He seeks his needs from One so Powerful,
Hearing, and Munificent, One so
Knowing, Seeing, and Compassionate, that He sees and hears the most
secret need of the most hidden living being and its
entreaties, accepts them, and has mercy on it. For He gives what is
asked for, even if through the tongue of disposition. And
He gives it in so Wise, Seeing, and Compassionate a form that it leaves
no doubt that that nurturing and regulation is
particular to the All-Hearing and All-Seeing One, the Most Generous
and Most Compassionate One.
·THIRTEENTH DROPLET
What does he want, this pride of the human race, who taking behind him
all the eminent of mankind, stands on top of the
world, and raising up his hand, is praying? What is this unique being,
who is truly the glory of the cosmos, seeking? Listen!
He is seeking eternal happiness. He is asking for eternal life, and
to meet with God. He wants Paradise. And he wants all
the Sacred Divine Names, which display their beauty and decrees in
the mirrors of beings. Even, if it were not for reasons
for the fulfilment of those countless requests, like Mercy, Grace,
Wisdom, and Justice, a single of that Being's prayers would
have been sufficient the construction of Paradise, the creation of
which is as easy for Divine Power as the creation of the
spring. Yes, just as his Prophethood was the reason for the opening
of this place of examination and trial, so too his worship
and servitude to God was the reason of the opening of the next world.
Would the perfect order observed in the universe, which has caused scholars
and the intelligent to pronounce: "It is not
possible for there to be anything of greater originality in existence
than what exists", and would the faultless beauty of art
within mercy, the incomparable beauty of Dominicality, permit the ugliness,
the cruelty, the lack of order of its hearing and
responding to the least significant, the least important desires and
voices, and its considering unimportant the most important,
the most necessary wishes, and its not hearing, understanding, and
carrying them out? God forbid! A hundred thousand
times, God forbid! Such a beauty would not permit such an ugliness;
it would not become ugly.
And so, my imaginary friend! That is enough for now, we must return.
For if we remain a hundred years in this age in the
Arabian Peninsula, we still would only completely comprehend one hundredth
of the marvels of that Being's duties and the
wonders that he carried out, and we would never tire of watching him.
Now, come! We shall look at the centuries, which will turn above us.
See how each has opened like a flower through the
effulgence it has received from that Sun of Guidance! They have produced
millions of enlightened fruits like Abu Hanifa,
Shafi'î, Abu Bayezid Bistamî, Shah Geylanî, Shah
Naqshband, Imam Ghazzalî, and Imam Rabbanî. And postponing
the
details of our observations to another time, we must recite some benedictions
for that displayer of miracles and bringer of
guidance, which indicate a number of his certain miracles:
Peace and blessings be upon our master Muhammed thousands and
thousands of times, to the number of the good deeds of his community,
to whom was revealed the All-Wise Criterion of Truth and Falsehood,
from One Most Merciful, Most Compassionate, from the Sublime
Throne; whose Prophethood was foretold by the Torah and Bible, and
told of by wondrous signs, the voices of jinn, saints of man, and soothsayers;
at whose indication the moon split; our master
Muhammed!
Peace and blessings be upon him thousands and thousands of times, to
the number of the breaths of his community; at whose beckoning came
the tree, on whose prayer rain swiftly fell, and whom the cloud shaded
from the heat; who satisfied a hundred men with his food; from between
whose fingers three times flowed water like the
Spring of Kauthar; and to whom God made speak the lizard, the gazelle,
the wolf,
the torso, the arm, the camel, the mountain, the rock, and the clod; the
one who made the Ascension and whose eye did not waver; our master
and intercessor, Muhammed! Peace and blessings be upon him thousands
and thousands of times, to the number of the
letters of the
Qur'an formed in the words represented with the permission of the
Most Merciful in the mirrors of the airwaves at the reciting of all the
words of the Qur'an by all reciters from when it was first revealed to
the end of time. And grant us forgiveness and have mercy on us, O God, for each of those blessings. Amen.
[I have described the Evidences for the Prophethood of Muhammed (PBUH)
which I have here indicated briefly in a
Turkish treatise called Suaât-i Mârifetü'nNebi and
in the Nineteenth Letter (The Miracles of Muhammed). And there too
aspects of the All-Wise Qur'an's miraculousness have been mentioned
briefly. Again, in a Turkish treatise called Lemeât
and in the Twenty-Fifth Word (The Miraculousness of the Qur'an) I have
explained concisely forty ways in which the
Qur'an is a miracle, and indicated forty aspects of its miraculousness.
And of those forty aspects, only the eloquence in the
word order, I have written in forty pages in an Arabic commentary called,
Ishârâtu'l-I'jaz. If you have the need, you may
refer to those three works.]
·FOURTEENTH DROPLET
The All-Wise Qur'an, the treasury of miracles and supreme miracle, proves
the Prophethood of Muhammed (PBUH)
together with Divine Unity so decisively that it leaves no need for
further proof. And we shall give its definition and indicate
one or two flashes of its miraculousness which have been the cause
of criticism.
The All-Wise Qur'an, which makes known to us our Sustainer, is thus:
it is the pre-eternal translator of the great Book of the
Universe; the discloser of the treasures of the Divine Names concealed
in the pages of the earth and the heavens; the key
to the truths hidden beneath these lines of events; the treasury of
the favours of the Most Merciful and pre-eternal
addresses, which come forth from the World of the Unseen beyond the
veil of this Manifest World; the sun, foundation, and
plan of the spiritual world of Islam, and the map of the worlds of
the hereafter; the distinct expounder, lucid exposition,
articulate proof, and clear translator of the Divine Essence, attributes,
and deeds; the instructor, true wisdom, guide, and
leader of the world of humanity; it is both a book of wisdom and law,
and a book of prayer and worship, and a book of
command and summons, and a book of invocation and Divine knowledge
- it is book for all spiritual needs; and it is a sacred
library offering books appropriate to the ways of all the saints and
veracious, the purified and the scholars, whose ways and
paths are all different.
Consider the flashes of miraculousness in its repetitions, which are
imagined to be a fault: since the Qur'an is both a book of
invocation, and a book of prayer, and a book of summons, the repetition
in it is desirable, indeed, it is essential and most
eloquent. It is not as the faulty imagine. For the mark of invocation
is illumination through repetition. The mark of prayer, is
strengthening through repetition. The mark of command and summons is
confirmation through repetition. Moreover,
everyone is not capable of always reading the whole Qur'an, but mostly
is able to read one Sura. Therefore, since the most
important purposes of the Qur'an are included in most of the longer
Suras, each is like a small Qur'an. That is to say, so that
no one should be deprived, certain of its purposes like Divine Unity,
the resurrection of the dead, and the story of Moses,
have been repeated. Also, like bodily needs, spiritual needs also are
various. Man is need of some of them each breath; like
the body needs air, the spirit needs the word Hu {He). Some he is in
need of each hour, like "In the Name of God." And so
on. That means the repetition of verses arises from the repetition
of need. And it makes the repetition in order to point out
the need and awaken and incite it, and to arouse desire and appetite.
Also, the Qur'an is a founder. It is the basis of the Clear Religion,
and the foundation of the world of Islam. It changed
human social life, and is the answer to the repeated questions of its
various classes. Repetition is necessary for a founder in
order to establish things. Repetition is necessary to corroborate them.
Confirmation, repetition, and repeating are necessary
to strengthen them.
Also, it speaks of such mighty matters and minute truths that numerous
repetitions are necessary in different forms in order
to establish them in the hearts of everyone. Nevertheless, they are
apparently repetitions, but in meaning each verse has
numerous meanings, numerous benefits, and many aspects and levels.
In each place they are mentioned for a different
meaning, benefit, and purpose.
Also, the Qur'an's being unspecific and concise in certain matters to
do with cosmos is a flash of miraculousness for the
purpose of guidance. It cannot be the cause of criticism and is not
a fault, like some atheists imagine.
If you ask: "Why does the All-Wise Qur'an not speak of beings in the
same way as philosophy and science? It leaves some
matters in brief form and some it speaks of in a simple and superficial
way that is easy for the general view, does not wound
general feelings, and does not weary or tax the minds of ordinary people.
Why is this?"
By way of answer we say: Philosophy has strayed from the path of truth,
that's why. Also, of course you have understood
from past Words and what they teach that the All-Wise Qur'an speaks
of the universe in order to make known the Divine
Essence, attributes, and Names. That is, it explains the meanings of
the Book of the Universe to make known its Creator.
That means it looks at beings, not for themselves, but for their Creator.
Also, it addresses everyone. While philosophy and
science look at beings for themselves, and address in particular scientists.
In which case, since the All-Wise Qur'an makes
beings evidences and proofs, the evidence has to be superficial so
that it will be quickly understood in the general view. And
since the Qur'an of Guidance addresses all classes of men, the ordinary
people, which form the most numerous class, want
guidance which is concise with unnecessary things beings vague, and
which brings subtle things close with comparisons, and
which does not change things which in their superficial view are obvious
into an unnecessary or even harmful form, lest it
causes them to fall into error.
For example, it says about the sun: "The sun is a revolving lamp or
lantern." Because it does not speak of the sun for itself
and its nature, but because it is a sort of spring of an order and
centre of a system, and order and system are mirrors of the
Maker's skill. It says:
The sun runs its course.6
that is, the sun revolves. Through calling to mind the well-ordered
disposals of Divine power in the revolutions of winter and
summer, and day and night with the phrase, The sun revolves, it makes
understood the Maker's tremendousness. Thus,
whatever the reality of this revolving, it does not affect the order,
which is woven and observed, and which is the purpose. It
also says,
And set the sun as a lamp.7
Through depicting through the word lamp the world in the form of a palace,
and that the things within it are decorations,
necessities, and provisions prepared for man and living beings, and
that the sun also is a subjugated candleholder, it makes
known the mercy and bestowal of the Creator. Now look and see what
this foolish and prattling philosophy says:
"The sun is a vast burning liquid mass. It causes the planets which
have been flung off from it to revolve around it. its mass
is such and such. It is this, it is that." It gives to spirit no perfection
of knowledge apart from a terrible dread and fearful
wonder. It does not speak of it as the Qur'an does. You may understand
from this the value of the matters of philosophy,
whose inside is hollow and outside, ostentatious. So do not be deceived
by its glittering exterior and be disrespectful towards
the most miraculous expositions of the Qur'an!
O God! Make the Qur'an healing, for us, the writer of this and his
peers, from all ills, and a companion to us and to them in our lives and
after our deaths, and in this world, and in the grave, and at the Last
Judgement an intercessor, and on the Bridge a light, and from the Fire
a screen and shield, and in Paradise a friend, and in all good deeds a
guide and leader, through Your grace and munificence and beneficence
and mercy, O Most Munificent of the Munificent
and Most Merciful of the Merciful! Amen.
O God! Grant blessings and peace to the one to whom was revealed
the All-Wise Qur'an, the Distinguisher between Truth and Falsehood,
and to his Family and Companions, all of Them. Amen. Amen.
[NOTE: The Six Drops of the Fourteenth Droplet in the Arabic Risale-i
Nur, and especially the Six Points of the Fourth
Drop, explain fifteen of the approximately forty sorts of miraculousness
of the All-Wise Qur'an. Deeming those to be
sufficient, we have limited the discussion here. If you wish, refer
to them, and you will find a treasury of miracles...]
Qur'an, 36:38. 7. Qur'an, 71:16.