Volume Two of the Risale-i Nur Collection

Bediuzzaman Said Nursi

Letters 1928-1932

[New edition 2008]

Contents

THE FIRST LETTER: The answers to four questions:

The First answers a question about Khidr' s life, and in connection with it
explains the five levels of life. 19

The Second explains how, in accordance with Qur'anic verses, death is
created and a bounty, like life. 21

The Third describes where Hell is situated, and the Greater and Lesser
Hells. It explains in reasoned manner the wisdom in the creation of the
Greater Hell, and how in majestic fashion, manifesting divine favour and
wrath, Heaven and Hell are the two fruits of the tree of the universe and
will be filled with the produce of this world. 23

The Fourth shows that like passing love for individuals may be
transformed into true love, so through belief in God, passing love for this
world may be transformed into true love, which is acceptable 25

THE SECOND LETTER: Six reasons why, in accordance with Qur'anic
verses, those working for the cause of religion should practice self-
sufficiency, and if there is no compelling reason to do so, not accept
alms and gifts. 28

THE THIRD LETTER: A description of two verses which in miraculous
fashion allude to the face of the heavens and orderly motion of the
heavenly bodies. It includes two points, the first explaining how the
wicked will travel to Hell, the second showing the infinite ease in unity
and infinite difficulty in multiplicity. 3 1

THE FOURTH LETTER makes two points about the Risale-i Nur and its
way: firstly, that it manifests the meaning of the verse, "He who has been
given wisdom..." and secondly, about the way of impotence. Finally is a
piece "resembling poetry" on the Utterance of the Stars. . 35

THE FIFTH LETTER: In the face of the tendency to attach too much
importance to Sufism at the expense of spreading the truths of belief, this
letter describes the three sorts of saint

hood. It states that the unfolding of the truths of belief is the chief aim of
the Sufi ways, and that this is also possible through the Risale-i Nur, but
in a shorter time. 38

THE SIXTH LETTER: This explains the meaning of two verses about
reliance on God, and describes a light and consolation proceeding from
them and from belief that dispelled the darkness of five grievous degrees
of exile. 40

THE SEVENTH LETTER: A decisive answer to atheists who seek to
criticize the Prophet Muhammad's (UWBP) number of wives and his
marriage with Zaynab in particular, which elucidates some important
instances of wisdom in his marriages. 43

THE EIGHTH LETTER: In explanation of the verse, "God is the Best of
Protectors and He is the Most Merciful of the Merciful," this shows that
what the Prophet Jacob (UWP) felt for Joseph (UWP), was not love of a
passionate kind, but compassion — compassion being more elevated and
pure, and the means of attaining to the divine names of Merciful and
Compassionate. 46

THE NINTH LETTER: A discussion about wonder-working (kerdmet),
divine bestowal, and divine favour which points out that although it is
harmful to display wonder-working, it is a form of thanks to make
known divine bestowal, since it is a bounty. Secondly is an explanation
of how intense emotions such as curiosity, love, greed, ambition, and
stubbornness are of two sorts, worldly and real, the purpose of the latter
being to gain the hereafter. The former sort are the source of bad morals,
but the latter are beneficial and the source of good morals. Thirdly is a
discussion about the differences between Islam and belief or faith
(iman). 48

THE TENTH LETTER: This consists of the answers to two questions. The
first explains the realities of the Clear Book and the Clear Record,
mentioned in several places in the Qur'an. While the second is a
convincing explanation of where the Great Gathering and Last
Judgement will take place. 52

THE ELEVENTH LETTER: Four Topics. Expounding the verse, "Indeed
the wiles of Satan are weak," the first is a cure for those who suffer from
scruples. The second is included in the Seventeenth Word and not
repeated here. The third and fourth are two examples demonstrating the
impotence of modern civilization before the Qur' an. The examples show
how the Qur' anic decrees on women' s inheritance are both pure justice
and pure compassion. 55

THE TWELFTH LETTER: The brief replies to three questions disputed
over by some people with a modern educational background.

The First explains why Adam was expelled from Paradise and

why some of his descendants are sent to Hell. 58

The Second explains why the creation of evil is not evil, and why divine
mercy permits it. 59

The Third explains why calamities and tribulations being inflicted on even
the innocent and animals is not tyrannical or contrary to justice. 61

THE THIRTEENTH LETTER: The reply to frequent questions as to how
Bediuzzaman endured the oppression inflicted on him by the politicians
and 'the worldly.' It shows how the varieties of ill-treatment were
transformed into various sorts of mercy. It also gives the reasons
Bediuzzaman did not apply for his release papers, and in addition, for his
total indifference towards politics. 63

THE FOURTEENTH LETTER was not written.

THE FIFTEENTH LETTER: Six important answers to six important
questions:

The First: The answer in two stations to the questions why the
Companions of the Prophet (UWBP) did not perceive the troublemakers
with the eye of sainthood, so that it resulted in three of the four Rightly-
Guided Caliphs being martyred. 68

The Second: What was the true nature of the wars that started in 'Ali's
time? How should those who took part in them be looked upon? 70

The Third: An important answer explaining the wisdom in the cruel
treatment received by members of the Prophet' s Family. 73

The Fourth: Narrations state that when Jesus (UWP) kills the Dajjal at the
end of time, most people will enter the true religion, while others say that
no one will remain who says, "Allah! Allah!" A convincing answer to
this. 74

The Fifth: An explanation of the question: Will the immortal spirits be
grieved by the events of the Last Day? 77

The Sixth: A satisfying answer to the question, Does the verse,
"Everything will perish save His countenance" include the hereafter and
Paradise and Hell? 77

THE SIXTEENTH LETTER consists of five points:

First Point explains that service of the Qur'an precluded Bediuzzaman' s
involvement in politics. 80

Second Point: Service of the Qur'an and working seriously for the
hereafter necessitated his aloofness from politics. 81

Third Point: Two stories illustrating why Bediuzzaman endured the severe
oppression he was subject to. 83

Fourth Point: The answer to a number of suspicious questions put to him
by 'the worldly.' It describes some undeniable instances of divine
favours connected with his service of the Qur' an. 85

Fifth Point: The replies concerning five further matters. 89

ADDENDUM TO THE SKTEENTH LETTER: Written to dispel the
groundless fears of the authorities and atheists concerning Bediuzzaman,
despite his having completely withdrawn from the world and politics;
also written to preserve the dignity of learning. 92

THE SEVENTEENTH LETTER: A letter of condolence on the death of a
child. Although it is short and addressed to a close student of
Bediuzzaman, it is of considerable interest. It establishes that, as the
Qur' an teaches, children who die before the age of puberty remain as
children in the Everlasting Realm, and are returned to the embrace of
their parents. 97

THE EIGHTEENTH LETTER consists of three important matters.

The First explains and illustrates by means of a comparison how
sometimes the things the saints witness and have unfolded to them
through illumination in other worlds and levels of existence appear
contrary to reality in this Manifest World. 101

The Second: A clear explanation of the way of the Unity of Existence,
which has been the cause of confusion and controversy. It proves that the
way of the Companions of the Prophet (UWBP) and the veracious, the
people of sobriety, is sounder and more elevated and acceptable. 103

An Addendum to the Second Matter 106

The Third: A brief indication solving one of the three main riddles of
creation. These have been solved completely in the Twenty-Ninth and
Thirtieth Words, and this third one, in the Twenty- Fourth Letter. 110

THE NINETEENTH LETTER, The Miracles of Muhammad (UWBP):

Itself a marvel in several respects, this Letter describes more than three
hundred miracles of Muhammad (UWBP). It consists of nineteen signs.
112

The First Sign establishes that the Master and Owner of the Universe will
speak with man, and foremost the most perfect of mankind, with
Muhammad (UWBP), and make him the guide to the rest of humanity.
114

Second Sign: On the prophethood of Muhammad (UWBP) 115

Third Sign: The evidences for Muhammad's (UWBP) messengership 116

Fourth Sign: Six principles ensuring a complete understanding of the
Noble Prophet's predictions about his Companions, his family, and his
community. 118

Fifth Sign: Examples of Hadiths concerning the Prophet's (UWBP)
predictions relating to the Unseen. It includes important answers to the
questions of why 'Ali did not precede the others in holding the
Caliphate, and why Islam experienced such disorders during his
Caliphate; why the Caliphate did not remain in his family; and the
reasons for the dissensions at that time. 125

Sixth Sign: Further predictions of future events, and includes the answer to
a question about the Shi'a's love for 'Ali. 132

Seventh Sign: Sixteen examples relating to the Prophet's (UWBP) effecting
increase in food. 140

Eighth Sign: Relates miracles which were manifested in connection with
water. 149

Ninth Sign: Examples of miracles related to trees. Like human beings, trees
obeyed his orders, and moving from their places, came to him. 155

Tenth Sign: The miracle of the Moaning of the Pole. 159

Eleventh Sign: Shows how rocks and mountains from among lifeless
creatures demonstrated prophetic miracles 162

Twelfth Sign: Consists of three examples related to the Eleventh Sign, but
which are of great importance. 166

Thirteenth Sign: Examples of the Prophet's (UWBP) healing the sick and
the wounded. 169

Fourteenth Sign describes wonders manifested as a result of his prayers.
175

Fifteenth Sign: Consists of three branches:

The First shows how the animal kingdom recognized the Prophet (UWBP)
and displayed his miracles. 185

The Second concerns corpses, jinns, and angels recognizing God's
Messenger (UWBP). 189

The Third is the protection and preservation of the Noble Prophet (UWBP),
of which there were many instances, and which were clear miracles. 193

Sixteenth Sign: Describes the wonders that took place before his

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prophetic mission, but which were related to it, called irhasat. They were
of three kinds:

The First Kind: The tidings of Muhammad's Prophethood given by the
Torah, the Bible, the Psalms of David, and other scriptures. 197

The Second Kind: Tidings of his coming given by soothsayers, and
people known as saints and gnostics. 209

The Third Kind: The wondrous events that occurred at the time of, and in
conjunction with, the birth of God's Noble Messenger (UWBP). 214

Seventeenth Sign: The Messenger's (UWBP) own self 217

Eighteenth Sign: The greatest miracle of the Messenger (UWBP), the All-
Wise Qur'an. It consists of three points describing aspects of the
Qur'an's miraculousness 219

Nineteenth Sign: Fifteen Principles indicating the integrity, and veracity of
the Prophet (UWBP), the most conclusive proof of divine unity and
eternal happiness. 228

FIRST ADDENDUM TO THE MIRACLES OF MUHAMMAD

(UWBP): The Nineteenth Word, it proves decisively and explains the
Messengership of Muhammad (UWBP). 236

SECOND ADDENDUM: About the Miracle of the Splitting of the Moon.
Refuting objections made to the miracle in the name of science, it
demonstrates that there was nothing to prevent its occurrence, and proves
clearly that it happened. 245

THIRD ADDENDUM: About the Messengership of Mu-hammad (UWBP),
this is a concise answer to the question in the Treatise on the Ascension :
"Why was this mighty Ascension particular to Muhammad the Arabian
(UWBP)?" 250

FOURTH ADDENDUM: The Sixteenth Degree, on the Messengership of
Muhammad, from The Supreme Sign. 254

THE TWENTIETH LETTER contains two stations and an introduction, and
expounds the verse, "So know there is no god but God," and the eleven
phrases of the Hadith: "There is no god but God, He is One, He has no
partner etc." The first station points out the good news contained in each
phrase, and the second demonstrates with powerful proofs the degrees of
the true affirmation of divine unity. 261

ADDENDUM TO THE TENTH PHRASE OF THE TWENTIETH
LETTER: That is: "And He is Powerful over all things." It points out
through three comparisons that when all things are attributed to divine
power, they become as simple

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as one thing, and if they are not and are ascribed to things other than
Him, each thing becomes as difficult as all things. 298

THE TWENTY-FIRST LETTER: A short but important letter showing how
on five levels the verse, "Whether one or both of them attain old age in
your life..." summons children to be kindly to their parents. 303

THE TWENTY-SECOND LETTER: In accordance with a number of
Qur'anic verses, the First Topic summons believers to love and
brotherhood. It points out effective ways of preventing discord, rancour,
and enmity, and proves that they are extremely damaging both from the
point of view of truth, wisdom, humanity, and Islam, and for personal,
social, and spiritual life, and are to be rejected. 306

The Second Topic points out effective ways of avoiding greed, another
awesome disease, as harmful for the life of Islam as enmity. It also
explains the importance of zakat and the wisdom in this pillar of Islam. .
316

Conclusion showing how the Qur'an reproaches the backbiter on six levels
with the verse, "Would any among you like to eat the flesh of his dead
brother?" 321

THE TWENTY-THIRD LETTER: The answers to seven questions:. 323

The First: What is the best way believers can pray for one another? 324

The Second: May the phrase "May God be pleased with him" be used for
anyone other than the Companions? 325

The Third: Which were superior, the great interpreters of the Holy Law, or
the 'shahs' of the true Sufi paths? 325

The Fourth: What is the meaning of the verse, "God is with those who
patiently persevere?" 326

The Fifth: How did the Prophet (UWBP) worship before his prophetic
mission? 327

The Sixth: What was the wisdom in his prophethood commencing when he
was forty years of age? 327

The Seventh: Is the following a Hadith: "The best of your youths are those
who resemble men of mature age."l 328

The letter concludes with a subtle point about Joseph's (UWP) elevated
veracity, inspired by the verse, "Take my soul at death as one submitting
to Your will.".. 329

THE TWENTY-FOURTH LETTER consists of two stations which solve
one of the obscure riddles of the universe, and form an

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answer to the question: How can the divine names of All-
Compassionate, Wise, and Loving be reconciled with death, separation,
calamity, and suffering? The first station consists of five signs which
show the necessitating cause and reason, the second station, five
indications, which point out the aims and benefits. 330

FIRST ADDENDUM TO THE TWENTY-FOURTH LETTER: In five
points, this expounds significant aspects of the verse, 'Wo importance
would your Sustainer attach to you, were it not for your supplication"

347

SECOND ADDENDUM: A convincing, reasoned answer, in five points,
to three important questions about the Ascension of the Prophet
Muhammad (UWBP) and the Mevlid. The conclusion shows God's
Messenger (UWBP) to be the most perfect person in the cosmos and its
universal master. 352

THE TWENTY-FIFTH LETTER was to consist of twenty- five points about
Sura Ya. Sin., but was not realized.

THE TWENTY-SIXTH LETTER: Consists of four topics.

First Topic: 'A Proof of the Qur'an Against Satan and His Party.' This
defeats in argument the Devil and his followers by refuting clearly one
of their cunning stratagems, which is to be 'unbiased;' that is, their
deceiving people into considering the Qur'an and matters of religion
impartially.. 359

Second Topic explains how a person may have numerous personalities in
respect of his different duties, and describes the author's three
personalities. 370

Third Topic: In seven matters, this expounds the verse, "We... made you
into nations and tribes, that you may know each other," pointing out
significant truths about social relations and mankind being created as
different peoples and groups. A beneficial remedy for nationalism, an
awesome disease of the times, and also exposes the pseudo-patriots and
their fraudulent attitudes 372

Fourth Topic: Consists of ten unrelated matters, which form the answers to
six questions.

First Matter explains several points inspired by the Qur' an related to "the
worlds" in the phrase "Sustainer of All the Worlds," and their numbering
eighteen thousand. 379

Second Matter explains what Muhyi'1-Din al-'Arabi meant by saying to
Fakhr al-Din Razi: "To know God is different to knowing He exists."
381

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Third Matter: How the verse, "Wie have honoured the sons of Adam" is
conformable with the verse, "He was indeed unjust and foolish!" 382

Fourth Matter: A brilliant reply to a question about the wisdom contained
in the Hadith: "Renew your belief by means of 'There is no god but
God:" 383

Fifth Matter: Are both parts of the confession of faith necessary? 386

Sixth Matter: With a comparison, this drives Satan and his party into a
corner and takes possession of the field in the name of the Qur'an, thus
showing all the Prophet's (UWBP) qualities and conduct to be miraculous
and proving his prophethood. 387

Seventh Matter: Seven brief examples of people who for various reasons
ceased their service to the Qur'an and received blows contrary to their
intentions, written to strengthen their morale and dispel their groundless
fears. 389

Eighth Matter: A lucid explanation of why the Qur' an and glorifications
of the Prophet (UWBP) cannot be translated 391

Ninth Matter: A reply to the question, "Can there be saints outside the
Sunnis, since they are the people of truth?" 394

Tenth Matter: Principles for Bediuzzaman' s visitors, who are of three
sorts, and their connection with his three personalities. 394

THE TWENTY-SEVENTH LETTER has been published separately under
the titles of Barla Lahikasi, Kastamonu Lahikasi, and Emirdag Lahikasi.

THE TWENTY-EIGHTH LETTER consists of eight matters.

First Matter: Seven points explaining the reality and benefits of true
dreams. 399

Second Matter: A reply intending to solve an argument about the Hadith
which describes how Moses (UWP) struck Azra'il (UWP) in the eye, and is
a satisfying answer to objections of this sort levelled at Hadiths.. 404

Third Matter: Five points explaining that those who visit Bediuzzaman
should do so only in respect of his being herald of the Qur' an, not with
any other intention. It mentions too some examples of the divine favours
associated with service of the Qur' an that Bediuzzaman and his students
had received. 408

Fourth Matter: Four points written in the tongue of the Old Said, in reply
to questions about the small mosque he used

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being unlawfully raided on a number of occasions, and subsequently
closed 415

Fifth Matter: On Thanks; this expounds most convincingly the many
Qur'anic commands to offer thanks. It demonstrates that the universe is a
treasury with thanks being the key; and that sustenance is its result and
prompts thanks. 419

Sixth Matter: This was not included here as it was to be included in
another collection.

Seventh Matter consists of seven signs describing seven instances of
divine favour connected with the Risale-i Nur and those who serve it.
These are preceded by seven reasons for making known the above
favours. 424

Answer to a Confidential Question explains the power and effectiveness
of the Risale-i Nur. 434

Conclusion to the Seventh Matter describes a further divine favour in the
form of the coincidences (tevdfukat) 436

Eighth Matter consists of eight points, which form the answers to six
questions:

First Point concerns 'coincidences' being found in all the parts of the
Risale-i Nur. 439

Second and Third Points were not included.

Fourth Point consists of answers to six questions about the Last
Judgement and Great Gathering 441

Fifth Point: In the period between prophets, did the Messenger's (UWBP)
forefathers belong to a religion and were they religious? 443

Sixth Point: Were there any prophets among the Messenger's (UWBP)
forefathers? 444

Seventh Point: Which of the narrations about the belief of the
Messenger's (UWBP) parents and his grandfather are the most authentic?

444

Eighth Point: Which is the authentic narration concerning his uncle, Abu
Talib? 445

THE TWENTY-NINTH LETTER consists of nine sections, and contains
twenty- nine important points.

First Section is nine points.

First Point: An answer to those who say, "The Qur'an's mysteries are not
known; the commentators have not understood its realities." 447

Second Point: Explains the wisdom in such Qur'anic oaths as,

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"By the sun and its glorious splendour." 448

Third Point is about the Disjointed Letters, found at the beginning of
some Suras. 449

Fourth Point points out a flash of the Qur'an's miraculousness in its style,
showing that its true translation is not possible. 449

Fifth Point demonstrates that it is impossible to translate the phrase, "All
praise be to God" since its meaning can be expressed only in a few
lines. 451

Sixth Point: An illuminating explanation of the use of the first person
plural in "You alone do we worship and from You alone do we seek
help." 452

Seventh Point: Expounding "Guide us to the Straight Path" it points out
the harm caused by innovations. 455

Eighth Point explains a point about the marks of Islam being general
rights. 455

Ninth Point explains the reason matters of the Shari'a related to worship
are of two kinds 456

Second Section: On the Month of Ramadan. Nine points explaining nine
instances of wisdom in the fast of Ramadan, expounding the verse, "It
was the month of Ramadan in which the Qur' an was revealed" 457

Third Section concerns the writing of a Qur' an showing the 'coinciding' of
the word Allah. Consists of nine matters, only the first was included here
465

Fourth Section is also about 'coincidences,' it consists of three points, the
four points of the third being included here 466

Fifth Section: One beautiful light of the many mysteries of the verse, "God
is the Light of the heavens and earth." This treatise is short, yet
important. 470

Sixth Section: Written to warn students and servants of the Qur' an against
being deceived by six of the stratagems of satanic individuals and
dissemblers.

First Stratagem exposes their attempts to attract people through desire for
rank and position. 474

Second Stratagem points out how they take advantage of the vein of fear.

477

Third Stratagem: They hunt many people through greed and ambition, in
order to make them give up service to the Qur' an. 480

Fourth Stratagem: They excite nationalist feelings in or-der to create
discord and make Bediuzzaman' s students lose their love of him. 482

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Fifth Stratagem: They encourage egotism 488

Sixth Stratagem: They take advantage of the human characteristics of
laziness, the desire for physical comfort, and attachment to other duties.
490

A Sacred Date: The date a Qur'anic mystery became clear 91 1

Addendum to the Sixth Section: Sixth Questions exposing the arbitrary,
unjust treatment Bediuzzaman received 492

Seventh Section: Seven signs consisting of seven powerful answers to
seven questions.

First Sign: A firm answer to those people of innovation who claim that it
is permissible to translate the call to prayer into other languages because
certain people who have embraced Islam do so in Europe. 496

Second Sign: Decisive answers to false comparisons between Christianity
and Islam 498

Third Sign: An illuminating answer to misplaced accusations of bigotry
and its results. 501

Fourth Sign: An answer revealing the false claims of nationalists. 502

Fifth Sign: A powerful answer explaining the reality of the Mahdi. 503

Sixth Sign: A brief answer mentioning the Mahdi' s community and a
Christian community routing the secret society of the Dajjal 505

Seventh Sign: An explanation of why as the New Said, Bediuzzaman
gave up the scholarly method of the Old Said 505

Eighth Section: The Eight Symbols. These eight short treatises on
'coincidences' (tevdfukat) are not included here.

Ninth Section: The Nine Allusions, which elucidate the ways of sainthood
and Sufism:

First Allusion: A definition of the Sufi path, and explanation of the truth
underlying the terms Sufism, path, sainthood, and spiritual journeying
507

Second Allusion explains how the heart is worked through reflective
thought and remembrance of God, and how this is a means to happiness.
508

Third Allusion explains how sainthood is a proof of prophethood, and the
Sufi way, a proof of the Shari'a.508

Fourth Allusion: This explains the two ways on the Sufi path, of inner
journeying and outer journeying. 510

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Fifth Allusion explains the reality of the Unity of Existence and the Unity
of Witnessing, and establishes the superiority of the followers of the
legacy of prophethood. 513

Sixth Allusion: Three points showing that the best of the ways of
sainthood is following the practices of the Prophet (UWBP), and its most
important foundation, sincerity; and that this world is the realm of
wisdom and service, not reward. 515

Seventh Allusion: Four points explaining that the Sufi way should serve
the Shari'a; that its highest degrees are matters of the Shari'a; that it
should always remain as a means and follow the Shari'a; and whether or
not those outside the bounds of the Sunna and Shari'a are acceptable 516

Eighth Allusion describes eight abysses on the Sufi way 520

Ninth Allusion: Nine of the sweet fruits of the Sufi way 527

ADDENDUM: A short, safe, and direct way leading to Almighty God,
taken from the Qur' an 524

THE THIRTIETH LETTER: The Arabic Qur'anic commentary, Signs of
Miraculousness: The Inimitability of the Qur 'an 's Conciseness (Isharat
al-I'jazfi Mazann al-Ijaz).

THE THIRTY-FIRST LETTER: The thirty-one Flashes.

THE THIRTY-SECOND LETTER: The treatise in free verse called Lemeat.
It is also the Thirty-Second Flash and has been included at the end of
Sozler.

THE THIRTY-THIRD LETTER: Thirty-Three Windows making known
the Creator. It is in one respect the Thirty- Third Word and has therefore
been included in The Words (Sozler).

SEEDS OF REALITY: Aphorisms compiled from some of Bediuzzaman' s
early works and first published in 1920. 528

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IN THE NAME OF GOD,
THE MERCIFUL, THE COMPASSIONATE

And from Him do we seek help

The First Letter

In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.

[This consists of the brief answers to four questions.]

FIRST QUESTION

Is Khidr alive? If he is alive, why do some leading religious scholars not accept
it?

The A n s w e r : He is alive, but there are five levels of life. He is at the
second. It is because of this that some religious scholars have been doubtful about it.

The First Level of Life is that of our life, which is very restricted.

The Second Level of Life is that of Khidr and Ilyas (May God grant them
peace), which is free to an extent. That is to say, they can be present

1 Bediuzzaman explained as follows his reasons for heading his letters with this verse (17:44): "This
was the first door opened to me from the sacred treasuries of the All- Wise Qur'an. Of the divine truths
of the Qur'an, it was the truth of this verse that first became clear to me and it is this truth that pervades
most parts of the Risale-i Nur. Another reason is that the masters in whom I have confidence used it at
the head of their letters." (See, Barla Lahikasi, 335.) (Tr.)

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in numerous places at the same time. They are not permanently restricted by the
requirements of humanity like we are. They can eat and drink like us when they want
to, but are not compelled to like we are. Saints who attain to direct vision and
knowledge of reality have reported virtually unanimously their adventures with Khidr
and these elucidate and prove this level of life. One of the degrees of sainthood, even,
is called the degree of Khidr. A saint who reaches it receives instruction from Khidr
and meets with him. But it sometimes happens that such a person is mistakenly
thought to be Khidr himself.

The Third Level of Life is that of Idris and Jesus (May God grant them peace),
which is removed from the requirements of humanity, and is an angelic level of life
and acquires a luminous fineness. Quite simply, Idris and Jesus are present in the
heavens with their earthly bodies, which have the subtlety of bodies from the World
of Similitudes and the luminosity of astral bodies. There is a Hadith that states that at
the end of time, Jesus (Upon whom be peace) will come and will act in accordance
with the Shari'a of Muhammad (UWBP). 2 This indicates that at the end times the
religion of Christianity will be purified and divest itself of superstition in the face of
the current of unbelief and atheism born of naturalist philosophy, and will be
transformed into Islam. At that point, on the one hand the collective personality of
Christianity will kill the fearsome collective personality of irreligion with the sword
of heavenly revelation; and on the other, representing the collective personality of
Christianity, Jesus (Upon whom be peace) will kill the Dajjal, who represents the
collective personality of irreligion; that is, he will kill atheistic thought.

The Fourth Level of Life is that of the martyrs. According to the Qur'an, the
martyrs are at a level of life higher than that of the other dead in their graves. Since
they sacrificed their worldly lives in the way of truth, in His perfect munificence
Almighty God bestows on them in the Intermediate Realm a life resembling earthly
life, but without its sorrows and hardships. They do not know themselves to be dead
and suppose only that they have gone to a better world. Enjoying themselves in
perfect happiness, they do not suffer the pains of separation that accompany death. 3
For sure the spirits of the dead are immortal, but they know they are dead. The
happiness and pleasure they experience in the Intermediate World are not equal to the
martyrs' happiness. Like if two men in their dreams enter a beautiful palace
resembling Paradise: one knows that he is dreaming and the

2 Bukhari, Mazalim, 31: Buyu', 102; Muslim, Iman, 242, 343; Ibn Maja, Fitan, 33.

3 See, Tirmidhi, Jihad, 6; Nasa'i, Jihad, 35; Ibn Maja, Jihad, 16: Darimi, Jihad, 7.

21

pleasure and enjoyment he receives are deficient. He thinks: "If I wake up, all this
enjoyment will disappear." While the other man is unaware that he is dreaming, and
he experiences true pleasure and delight.

Thus, the martyrs partake of life in the Intermediate Realm differently to the
other dead. It has been definitely established by innumerable incidents and narrations
that they manifest life in the way described above and suppose themselves to be alive.
Indeed, their level of life has been illuminated and proved on numerous occasions by
such occurrences as Hamza (May God be pleased with him) - the lord of the martyrs
- protecting those who have recourse to him, and his performing and making
performed tasks in this world. I myself, even, had a nephew and student called Ubeyd.
He was killed at my side and in my place and became a martyr. Then, when I was
being held as a prisoner-of-war at a place three months' distance away, I entered his
grave in a true dream, which was a sort of dwelling-place under the earth, although I
did not know where he was buried. I saw him living the martyrs' level of life. He
evidently thought that I was dead and said that he had grieved over me greatly. He
thought he was alive, but having retreated before the Russian invasion, had made
himself a good home under the ground. Thus, owing to such indications, my
unimportant dream convinced me about the above-mentioned truth as certainly as
having witnessed it.

The Fifth Level of Life is that of the spirits of the dead in their graves. Yes,
death is a change of residence, the liberation of the spirit, a discharge from duties; it is
not annihilation, non-existence, and a going to nothingness. Many evidences
illuminate and prove this level of life, such as the innumerable occasions the spirits of
saints have assumed forms and appeared to those who unveil the realities, and the
other dead have communicated with us while awake or sleeping and have told us of
things that are conformable with reality. In fact, the Twenty-Ninth Word, which is
about the immortality of man's spirit, demonstrates this level of life with
incontrovertible proofs.

SECOND QUESTION

Who creates death and life that He may try you, which of you is the best in
conduct. (67:2)

Verses like this in the All- Wise Qur'an, the Criterion of Truth and Falsehood,
make it understood that death is created like life; it too is a bounty. But on the face of
it, death is dissolution, non-existence, decay, the extinction of life, the annihilator of
pleasures; so how can it be created and a bounty?

22

The Answer: As was stated at the end of the answer to the first question,
death is a discharge from the duties of life; it is a rest, a change of residence, a
transformation of existence; it is an invitation to eternal life, a beginning, the
introduction to an immortal life. Just as life comes into the world through an act of
creation and is appointed and determined, so departure from the world is created and
determined, and is planned wisely and purposively. The ways plants die, plant life
being the simplest level of life, show their death to be a more orderly work of art than
life. For although the death of fruits, seeds, and grains appears to occur through their
decay and dissolution, it is in fact a sort of kneading that comprises exceedingly well-
ordered chemical reactions and a balanced combining of elements and wise formation
of particles; their unseen, orderly and wise deaths appear through the life of the new
shoots. That is to say, the death of the seed is the onset of the shoot's life. Indeed,
since its death is like life itself, it is created and regular the same as life is.

Moreover, the death of living fruits or animals in the human stomach is the
beginning of their rising to the level of human life; it may therefore be said that being
thus, their death is more orderly and created than is their life.

If the death of plant life, the lowest level of life, is created, wise, and ordered in
that way, the death that befalls human life, the highest level of life, must be the same.
Similarly, as a seed sown in the ground becomes a tree in the world of the air, so a
man who is laid in the earth will surely produce the shoots of an everlasting life in the
Intermediate Realm.

Now for the aspects of death that are bounties; we shall point out four of them.

The First: Death is a great bounty because it means one is freed from the duties
and obligations of life, which become burdensome. It is also a door through which
one passes in order to join and be united with one's friends, ninety-nine out of a
hundred of whom are already in the Intermediate Realm.

The Second: It is to be released from the narrow, irksome, turbulent prison of
this world, and to receive an expansive, joyful, troublefree immortal life, and to enter
the sphere of the Eternally Beloved One's mercy.

The Third: There are numerous factors like old age which make life arduous and
show death to be a far superior bounty. For example, if together with your very
elderly parents who cause you much distress you beheld before you your
grandfather's grandfathers in all their pitiful state, you would understand what a
calamity life is, and what a bounty, death.

23

Another example: one can imagine how difficult life is in the harsh conditions of
winter for the beautiful flying insects, the lovers of the beautiful flowers, and what a
mercy death is for them.

The Fourth: Just as sleep is a comfort, a mercy, a rest, particularly for those
afflicted by disaster and the wounded and the sick, so too is death, the elder brother of
sleep, a pure bounty and mercy for the disaster-struck and those who suffer
tribulations that drive them to suicide. However, as is proved decisively in many of
the Words, for the people of misguidance, death is pure torment the same as life, and
pure affliction, but that is outside the discussion here.

THIRD QUESTION

Where is Hell?
The Answer:

Say: the knowledge is with God alone. (67 :26) * None knows the Unseen save
God.(27:65)

According to some narrations, Hell is beneath the earth. 4 As we have explained in
other places, in its annual orbit the globe traces a circle around an area that in the
future will accommodate the Great Gathering and Last Judgement. It means that Hell
is beneath the area of its orbit. It is invisible and imperceptible because it consists of
veiled, lightless fire. Within the vast stretch of space travelled by the earth many
creatures are found that are invisible because they are without light. Just as the moon
loses its existence when its light recedes, so we are unable to see numerous lightless
globes and creatures, although they are before our eyes.

There are two Hells, the Lesser and the Greater. In the future, the Lesser will be
transformed into the Greater and is like its seed; in the future it will become one of its
habitations. The Lesser Hell is under the earth, that is, at the earth's centre. It is the
inside and centre of the globe. Geology informs us that in digging downwards, the
heat for the most part increases one degree every thirty-three metres. That means that
since half the diameter of the earth is around six thousand kilometres, the fire at the
centre is at a temperature of around two hundred thousand degrees, that is, two
hundred times hotter than fire at the circumference; this is in agreement with what is
stated in Hadiths. 5 The Lesser Hell performs many of the Greater Hell's functions in
this world and Intermediate Realm, and this is indicated in

al-'Ajluni, Kashf al-Khafa' ', i, 281; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iv, 568.
5 See, Bukhari, Bad' al-Khalq, 10; Muslim, Janna, 30; Tirmidhi, Jahannam, 7; Musnad, ii, 313.

24

Hadiths. Just as in the world of the hereafter, the earth will pour its inhabitants into
the arena of the resurrection within its annual orbit; so at the divine command it will
hand over the Lesser Hell within it to the Greater Hell.

Some of the Mu'tazilite authorities said that Hell will be created later, but such an
idea is mistaken and foolish, and arises from Hell not having completely opened up at
the present time and developed into a form entirely appropriate for its inhabitants. In
order to see with our worldly eyes the dwelling places of the next world within the
veil of the Unseen and to demonstrate their existence, either the universe has to be
shrunk to the size of two provinces, or our eyes have to be enlarged to the size of
stars, so that we can see and specify their places. God knows best, the dwelling-places
of the hereafter are not visible to our worldly eyes, but as indicated by certain
narrations, the Hell of the hereafter is connected with our world. A Hadith says about
the intense heat of summer: "It gives an inkling of Hell." 6 That is to say, the Greater
Hell is not visible to the tiny, dim eyes of this world's minds. However, we may look
with the light of the divine name of All-Wise, as follows:

The Greater Hell beneath the earth's annual orbit has as though made the Lesser
Hell at the earth's centre its deputy and made it perform some of its functions. The
possessions of the All-Powerful One of Glory are truly extensive; He situated the
Greater Hell wherever divine wisdom required. Yes, the All-Powerful One of Glory,
the All- Wise One of Perfection, who issues the command of " 'Be!' and it w,"(36:82)
has tied the moon to the earth before our very eyes with perfect wisdom and order,
and with vast power and perfect order tied the earth to the sun, and has made the sun
travel together with its planets at a speed close to that of the annual rotation of the
earth, and with His majestic dominicality, according to one possibility, made it travel
towards the sun of suns, and like a fleet decked out with electric lights has made the
stars luminous witnesses to His sovereign dominicality. It is not far from the perfect
wisdom, tremendous power, and sovereign dominicality of one thus All-Glorious to
make the Greater Hell like the boiler of an electric-light factory and with it set fire to
the stars of the heavens that look to the hereafter, and give them heat and power. That
is, give light to the stars from

6 Bukhari, Mawaqit, 9, 10; Adhan 18; Bad'l-Khalq, 10; Muslim, Masajid, 180, 181, 183, 184, 186; Abu
Da'ud, Salat, 4; Tirmidhi, Mawaqit, 5; Nasa'i, Mawaqit, 5; Ibn Maja, Salat, 4; Tibb, 19; Darimi, Salat,
14; Muwatta', Waqut, 27, 28, 29; Musnad, ii, 229, 238, 256, 266, 285, 318, 324, 393, 394, 462, 501,
507; iii, 9, 53, 59; iv, 250, 662; v, 155, 162, 176, 368.

25

Paradise, the world of light, and send them fire and heat from Hell, and at the same
time, make part of that Hell a habitation and place of imprisonment for those who are
to be tormented. Furthermore, He is an All-Wise Creator who conceals a tree as large
as a mountain in a seed the size of a finger-nail. It is surely not far then from the
power and wisdom of such an All-Glorious One to conceal the Greater Hell in the
seed of the Lesser Hell in the heart of the globe of the earth.

In Short: Paradise and Hell are the two fruits of a branch of the tree of
creation, which stretches out towards eternity. The fruits' place is at the branch's tip.
And they are the two results of the chain of the universe; and the places of the results
are the two sides of the chain. The base and heavy are on its lower side, the luminous
and elevated on its upper side. They are also the two stores of the flood of events and
the immaterial produce of the earth. The store-places vary according to the produce,
the bad beneath, the good above. They are also the two pools of the flood of beings,
which flows in waves towards eternity. As for the pool's place, it is where the flood
stops and gathers. That is, the obscene and filthy below, the good and the pure above.
They are also the two places of manifestation, the one of beneficence and mercy, the
other of wrath and grandeur. Places of manifestation may be anywhere; the All-
Merciful One of Beauty, the All-Compelling One of Glory, situates His places of
manifestation where He wishes.

As for the existence of Paradise and Hell, they have been proved conclusively in
the Tenth, Twenty- Eighth, and Twenty- Ninth Words. Here, we only say this: the
existence of the fruit is as definite and certain as the existence of the branch; the result
is as definite as the chain; the store as the produce; the pool as the river; and the
places of manifestation are as definite and certain as the existence of mercy and
wrath.

FOURTH QUESTION

Passing (mecazi) love for things can be transformed into true love, so can the
passing love most people have for this world also be transformed into true love?

The Answer: Yes, if a person who loves with passing love the transitory
face of the world sees the ugliness of the decline and transience on that face and turns
away from it; if he searches for an immortal beloved and is successful in seeing the
world's other two, beautiful, faces, of being a mirror to the divine names and the
tillage of the hereafter, his illicit passing love then starts to be transformed into true
love. But on the one condition that he does not confuse with the outside world his
inner fleeting, unstable

26

world, which is bound to his life. If like the people of misguidance and heedlessness
he forgets himself, plunges into the outside world, and supposing the general world to
be his private world comes to love it, he will fall into the swamp of nature and drown.
Unless, extraordinarily, a hand of favour saves him. Consider the following
comparison which will illuminate this truth.

For example, if on the four walls of this finely decorated room are four full-
length mirrors belonging to the four of us, then there would be five rooms. One would
be actual and general, and four, similitudes and personal. Each of us would be able to
change the shape, form, and colour of his personal room by means of his mirror. If we
were to paint it red, it would appear red, if we were to paint it green, it would appear
green. Likewise, we could alter it by adjusting the mirror; we could make it ugly, or
beautiful, or give it different forms. But we could not easily adjust and change the
outer, general room. While in reality the general and personal rooms are the same, in
practice they are different. You could destroy your own room with one finger, but you
could not make one stone of the other stir.

Thus, this world is a decorated house. The life of each of us is a full-length
mirror. Each of us has a world from this world, but its support, centre, and door is our
life. Indeed, that personal world of ours is a page and our life is a pen; many things
that are written with it pass to the page of our actions. We love our world, but later
see that since it is constructed on our life, like it it is fleeting, transitory, and unstable.
We perceive and understand this, and our love for it is redirected to the beautiful
impresses of the divine names to which our personal world is the mirror and which it
reflects; it switches from our world to the manifestations of the names. Moreover, if
we are aware that that personal world of ours is a temporary seed-bed of the hereafter
and Paradise, and if we direct our feelings for it like intense desire, love, and greed,
towards the benefits of the hereafter, which are its results, fruits, and shoots, then that
passing love is transformed into true love. Otherwise, manifesting the meaning of the
verse,

Those who forget God; and he made them forget their own souls. Such are
the rebellious transgressors, (59:19)

a person will forget himself, not think of life's fleeting nature, suppose his personal,
unstable world to be constant like the general world, and imagine himself to be
undying; he will fix himself on the world and embrace it with intense emotions; he
will drown in it and depart. Such love will be boundless torment and tribulation for
him. For an orphan-like compassion, a

27

despairing softness of heart will be born of that love. He will pity all living beings.
Indeed, he will feel sympathy for all beautiful creatures which suffer decline, and the
pain of separation, but he will be able to do nothing, he will suffer in absolute despair.
However, the first man, who is saved from heedlessness, finds an elevated
antidote for the pain of that intense compassion. For in the death and decline of all the
living beings he pities, he sees that the mirrors of their spirits are immortal, for in
them are depicted the perpetual manifestations of the enduring names of an Ever-
Enduring One; his compassion is transformed into joy. He also sees behind all
beautiful creatures, which are subject to death and transience, an impress, a making
beautiful, an art, adornment, bestowal, and illuminating that are permanent and that
make perceived a transcendent beauty, a sacred loveliness. He sees the death and
transience to be renewal, the purpose of which is to increase the beauty, refresh the
pleasure, and exhibit the art, and this augments his pleasure, his ardour, his wonder.

The Eternal One, He is the Eternal One

Said N ur si

28

The Second Letter

In His Name, be He Glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise .(17 ':44)

[Part of a letter written in response to a gift from his
above-mentioned, well-known student. 1 ]

Thirdly: You sent me a present and want to break an extremely important
rule of mine! Just this time I am not going to say: "I don't accept presents from you in
the same way that I don't accept them from Abdulmecid 2 and Abdurrahman, 3 my
brother and nephew," because since you are more advanced than them and closer in
spirit, I can't refuse them even if I refuse everyone else's. But apropos of this, I shall
tell you the reason for my rule. It is like this:

The Old Said never accepted favours. He preferred death to becoming obliged to
people. He never broke that rule of his despite suffering great hardship and difficulty.
This wretched brother of yours inherited this characteristic from the Old Said, and it is
not asceticism or artificial self-sufficiency; there are four or five important reasons for
it:

This refers to Hulusi Yahyagil, "the first student of the Risale-i Nur." He was from Elazig in eastern
Turkey and was then serving as a captain in the army stationed at Egridir. He first visited Bediuzzaman
in the spring of 1929. In Bediuzzaman' s Words, "his zeal and seriousness were the most important
reason for the last of The Words (Sozler) and Letters (Mektubat) being written. See, Barla Lahikasi, 21.
Also, Necmeddin §ahiner, Son Sahitler, i (1st ed.), 33-55. (Tr.)

2 Abdulmecid ('Abd al-Majid) was Bediuzzaman' s younger brother. A teacher of the religious
sciences, then a Mufti, he translated parts of the Risale-i Nur into Arabic, and Isharat al-I'jaz and al-
Mathnawi al-'Arabi al-Nuri (Mesnevi-i Nuriye) from Arabic into Turkish. He died in 1967. (Tr.)
3 . Abdurrahman was the son of Bediuzzaman' s elder brother, Abdullah. He was born in Nurs in 1903.
Bediuzzaman called him his spiritual son, student, and assistant. He joined his uncle in Istanbul
following First World War, and published a short biography of him at that time. He died in 1928. (Tr.)

29

The First: The people of misguidance accuse religious scholars of securing
advantage through their learning. They attack them unfairly, saying: "They are
exploiting knowledge and religion to make a living for themselves." This has to be
shown to be false in practice.

The Second: We are charged with following the prophets in disseminating the
truth. In the All- Wise Qur'an those who do this say:

My reward is only due from God * My reward is only due from God,(10:72,
etc.)

and they display independence. Most meaningful in regard to this matter is the verse
in Sura Ya. Sin. :

Follow those who ask no reward of you, and who have themselves received
guidance. (36:21)

The Third: As is explained in the First Word, one should give in God's name
and take in God's name. Whereas mostly either the one giving is heedless and gives
in his own name and implicitly puts the recipient under an obligation, or the recipient
is heedless; he gives the thanks and praise due to the True Provider to apparent causes
and is in error.

The Fourth: Reliance on God, contentment, and frugality are such a treasury and
wealth they can be exchanged for nothing. I do not want to take things from people
and shut up that inexhaustible treasury. I offer endless thanks to the All-Glorious
Provider that since my childhood He has not compelled me to remain under obligation
and so suffer abasement. Relying on His munificence, I beseech His mercy that I may
remain faithful to this rule for the rest of my life.

The Fifth: In consequence of many signs and experiences over the past year or
two I have formed the firm conviction that I am not permitted to accept people's
goods and particularly the gifts of the rich and of officials. Some make me ill. Indeed,
they are made to be like that; they are made so that I cannot eat them. Sometimes they
are turned into a form that upsets me. This must be a sort of command not to accept
the goods of others, prohibiting me from accepting them. Moreover, I have a need for
solitude, I cannot receive everyone all the time. Accepting people's gifts necessitates
considering their feelings and accepting them at times I do not want to. And I do not
find that agreeable. I find it more agreeable to eat a small piece of dry bread and wear
clothes patched in a hundred places, and be saved from fawning and artificiality. It is
disagreeable for me to eat the best quality baklava and wear the finest clothes at the
hands of others and be obliged to consider their feelings.

30

The Sixth: The most important reason for self-sufficiency is what Ibn Hajar, the
most reliable scholar of our school of law, says: "If you are not righteous it is
forbidden to accept something intended for the righteous." 4

Out of their greed and ambition, the people of this age sell the smallest gift very
expensively They imagine a sinful wretch like myself to be righteous or a saint and
they give him a loaf of bread. If, God forbid, I consider myself to be righteous, it is a
sign of pride and points to the absence of righteousness. If I do not consider myself to
be righteous, it is not permissible to accept those goods. Also, to receive alms and
gifts in return for actions that look to the hereafter, means consuming the eternal fruits
of the hereafter in transitory form in this world.

The Eternal One, He is the Eternal One!

SaidNursi

' Ibn Hajar al-Haythami al-Shafi'i, Tuhfat al-Muhtaj li-Sharh al-Minhaj, i, 178.

31

The Third Letter

In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise. (17 ':44)

[Part of a letter sent to the well-known student of his. 1 ]

Fifthly: You wrote in one of your letters to me that you wanted to share my
feelings here, so listen now to one thousandth of them.

One night at the height of a hundred- storey building in my tree-house at the top
of a cedar tree, I looked at the beautiful face of the heavens gilded with stars and saw
an elevated light of miraculousness and brilliant secret of eloquence in the All- Wise
Qur'an's oath of,

So verily I call to witness the planets * That recede, go forth, or hide.(Sl:\5-
16)

This verse, which refers to the planets and their being concealed and spread abroad,
displays to the gaze of observers an elevated embroidery full of art and an exalted,
instructive tapestry. The planets emerge from the sphere of the sun, their commander,
and entering that of the fixed stars, display fresh embroideries and instances of art in
the skies. Sometimes they come shoulder to shoulder with another star like
themselves and display a beautiful situation. At other times they enter among the
small stars and assume the position of commander. Especially in this season after
evening, Venus on the horizon, and before the early dawn one of its shining
companions, display a truly graceful and lovely scene. Later, after carrying out their
duties as inspectors and acting as shuttles in the tapestries of art, they return, and
entering the dazzling sphere of the sun, hide themselves. Now they demonstrate as
brilliantly as the sun the majestic dominicality and glittering

1 See, p. ?, fn. 1.

32

divine sovereignty of the One who spins this earth of ours and the planets described in
the above verse with perfect order in space, each like a ship or aeroplane. See that
majestic dominion which has under its sway ships and aeroplanes a thousand times
larger than the earth, and that travel thousands of times faster.

You can see from this what an elevated happiness, what a great honour, it is to be
connected to such a Monarch through worship and belief, and to be his guest.

Then I looked at the moon and saw a shining light of miraculousless in the verse,

And the moon, We have measured for her mansions till she returns like the
old lower part of a date stalk.(36:39)

Indeed, the determining, rotating, regulating, and illuminating of the moon, and its
positioning in regard to the earth and the sun with precise reckoning is so wonderful,
so astonishing, that nothing at all could be difficult for the All-Powerful One who
orders and determines it thus. It instructs all beings with intelligence who behold it,
conveying to them the idea that the One who makes it thus can surely do everything.
It follows the sun and does not deviate from its path even for a second, or lag behind
one iota in its duties. It makes those who observe it carefully exclaim: "Glory be to
the One whose art bewilders the mind !" Especially when like at the end of May it
comes into conjunction with the Pleiades in the shape of a fine crescent, appearing as
the curved white branch of a date-palm, and the Pleiades appear as a bunch of grapes,
it conjures up in the imagination the existence of a huge luminous tree behind the veil
of the green heavens. As if the pointed tip of one of the tree's branches had pierced
the veil and stuck out its head together with its bunch of grapes and become the
Pleiades and the crescent moon, and the other stars had become the fruits of that
hidden tree. See the subtlety and eloquence of the metaphor of: "Like the old lower
part of a date stalk."

Then this verse occurred to me,

He it is who has made the earth submissive to you, so traverse you its
tracts, (67:15)

which suggests that the earth is a mastered ship or mount. From this I saw myself high
up in a huge ship speeding through space. I recited the verse,

Glory be to Him Whom has subjected these to us, for we could never have
accomplished this,(43:\3)

33

which it is Sunna to recite when mounting such means of transport as horses or ships. 2

I saw that with its motion the globe of the earth had assumed the position of a
projector showing images as in the cinema; it brought into movement all the heavens
and began to mobilize all the stars like a magnificent army. It shows such lofty scenes
that it intoxicates those who think and fills them with wonder. "Glory be to God!", I
exclaimed, "what numerous, vast, strange, wonderful, and elevated works are
performed at so little expense!" Two subtle points concerning belief occurred to me
after this:

The First: A few days ago I was asked a question by a guest: the gist of it, which
inferred doubt, was this: Paradise and Hell are a great distance away. Through divine
grace, the people of Paradise will pass through the resurrection like lightning or as
swiftly as Buraq, and enter Paradise. But the people of Hell, how will they go, with
their ponderous bodies, loaded down with the heavy burdens of their sins? How will
they travel?

What occurred to me was this: if for example all nations are invited to a general
congress in America and each boards a huge boat and goes there, in the same way, the
globe, which travels the long distance of twenty-five thousand years in one year in the
vast ocean of the universe, will take on its people, travel to the field of the
resurrection, and disembark them. Furthermore, the Hell at the centre of the earth is
indicated by the fact that the earth's temperature increases one degree every thirty-
three metres. That Hell will pour its fire into the Greater Hell, whose temperature of
two hundred thousand degrees is similar to that described in Hadith and according to
Hadiths will carry out some of the duties of the Greater Hell in this world and the
Intermediate Realm. 3 Then at a divine command, the earth will be transformed into a
better, eternal form, and will become one of the habitations of the hereafter.

The Second Point which comes to mind: it is the custom of the All-Powerful
Maker, the All-Wise Creator, the Single One of Unity, in order to demonstrate the
perfection of His power and beauty of His wisdom and proofs of His unity, to perform
many works with very little and to have large duties carried out by small things. As I
have said in some of the Words, if all things are attributed to a single being, they
become so easy as to be necessary. Whereas if they are attributed to numerous makers
and causes, as many difficulties arise as to make them impossible. For a single

2 Muslim, Hajj, 425; Abu Da 'ud, Jihad, 72, 74; Tirmidhi, Da' wat, 46.

3 See, Bukhari, Bad' al-Khalq, 10; Muslim, Janna, 30; Tirmidhi, Jahannam, 7; Musnad, ii, 313.

34

person like an officer or master builder easily positions numerous soldiers or
numerous stones with a single act, a single movement, and obtains a result. But if, in
order to obtain those positions and results, it is referred to the soldiers in the army or
the stones of the dome, which is without support, they could be achieved only with
truly numerous acts, numerous difficulties, and great confusion.

And so, if such acts as the whirling and rotations, the circulation and revolutions,
and the glorification-scattering promenading and excursions of the four seasons and
day and night in the universe are ascribed to unity, then by impelling a single globe
with a single command, a Single Being can obtain those elevated situations and
exalted results. He can display the wonders of art in the alternation of the seasons, and
the marvels of wisdom in the revolutions of day and night, and the graceful spectacles
in the apparent motions of the stars, sun, and moon. For the army of all beings is His.
If He wishes, He may appoint a soldier like the earth to be commander of all the stars,
make the mighty sun a lamp furnishing heat and light for his people, and the four
seasons, which are tablets of the inscriptions of His power, as shuttles, and night and
day, which are pages for the writings of His wisdom, He can make into bows. By
showing each day the moon in a different shape, He makes it a calendar for reckoning
time. And just as He makes the stars adorned, elegant, shining lanterns in the hands of
the angels, dancing in ecstasy, so too He demonstrates many instances of wisdom that
look to the earth. If these situations are not sought from One Being whose command,
order, law, and regulation address all beings, then all the suns and stars would have to
cut an infinite distance each day with actual motion and infinite speed.

It is because of the infinite ease in unity and infinite difficulty in multiplicity that
businessmen and industrialists give a unity to multiplicity and so make things easy;
that is, they form companies.

In Short: There are infinite difficulties in the way of misguidance, and infinite
ease in the way of unity.

The Eternal One, He is the Eternal One!

Said N u r s i

35

The Fourth Letter

In His Name be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise. (17 ':44)

May God's peace and mercy and blessings be upon you, and upon my brothers
especially...

My Dear Brothers !

I am now on a high peak on Cam Dagi (Pine Mountain), at the top of a mighty
pine-tree in a tree-house. In lonely solitude far from men, I have grown accustomed to
this isolation. When I wish for conversation, I imagine you to be here with me, and I
talk with you and find consolation. If there is nothing to prevent it, I would like to
remain alone here for a month or two. When I return to Barla, 1 1 shall search for some
means for the verbal conversation with you I so long for, if you would like it. For now
I am writing two or three things that come to mind here in this pine-tree.

The First: This is somewhat confidential, but no secrets are concealed from you.
It is as follows:

Some of the people of reality manifest the divine name of Loving One, and with
its manifestations at a maximum degree look to the Necessarily Existent One through
the windows of beings. In the same way - but only when he is employed in service of
the Qur'an and is the herald of its infinite treasuries - this brother of yours who is
nothing, but nothing, is given a state whereby he manifests the divine names of All-
Compassionate and All- Wise. God willing, the Words manifest the meaning of the
verse: "He who has been given wisdom, has been given great good." {2:269)

The Second: This excellent saying about the Naqshbandi Order suddenly
occurred to me: "On the Naqshbandi way one has to abandon four

1 Barla: the village in Isparta Province in S. W. Turkey where Bediuzzaman spent eight years in exile,
from 1926-1934. (Tr.)

36

things: the world, the hereafter, existence, and abandoning itself." It gave rise to the
following thought:

"On the way of impotence four things are necessary: absolute poverty, absolute
impotence, absolute thanks, and absolute ardour, my friend."

Then the rich and colourful poem you had written, "Look at the multicoloured
page of the book of the universe, etc." came to mind. I gazed at the stars on the face
of skies in the light of it, and I said to myself: If only I could have been a poet and
completed it! Then I set about it although I have no ability to write poetry or verse,
and what I wrote was not poetry. I wrote it as it occurred to me. You, my heir, may
convert it into poetry and put it into verse. This is what occurred to me:

Then listen to the stars, listen to their harmonious address!

See what wisdom has emblazed on the decree of its light.

Altogether they start to speak with the tongue of truth,

They address the majesty of the All-Powerful, All-Glorious One's sovereignty:

We are each of us light-scattering proofs of the existence of our Maker,

We are witnesses to both His Unity and His Power,

We are subtle miracles gilding the face of the skies for the angels to gaze upon.

We are the innumerable attentive eyes of the heavens which watch the earth,
which study Paradise.

We are the innumerable exquisite fruits that the hand of wisdom of the All-
Glorious and Beauteous One has fastened

To the celestial portion of the tree of creation, to all the branches of the Milky
Way.

For the inhabitants of the heavens,

We are each of us a travelling mosque, a spinning house, a lofty home;

Each is an illumining lamp, a mighty ship, an aeroplane.

We are each of us a miracle of power, a wonder of creative art

Created by the Powerful One of Perfection, the All-Wise One of Glory;

A rarity of His wisdom, a marvel of His creation, a world of light.

We demonstrated to mankind innumerable proofs,

That is, since innumerable miracles of power are exhibited on the face of the earth, which is the seed-
bed and tillage for Paradise, the angels in the world of the heavens gaze on those miracles, those
marvels. And like the angels, the stars, resembling the eyes of the heavenly bodies, gaze on the finely
fashioned creatures on the earth, and in so doing look at the world of Paradise. They look on both the
earth and Paradise at the same time; they observe those fleeting wonders in an enduring form in
Paradise. That is to say, in the heavens, there are prospects of both worlds.

37

We made them hear with these innumerable tongues of ours;

But their accursed unseeing, unbelieving eyes did not see our faces,

They did not hear our words.

And we are signs that speak the truth:

Our stamp is one, our seal is one,

We are mastered by our Sustainer,

We glorify Him through our subjugation,

We recite His Names,

We are each of us in ecstasy,

A member of the mighty circle of the Milky Way.

The Eternal One, He is the Eternal One!
Said N u r s i

38

The Fifth Letter

In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise. (17:44)

In his Letters (Maktubat), Imam-i Rabbani 1 (May God be pleased with him), a
sun of the Naqshbandi Order and its hero, said: "For me, the disclosure of a single
matter of the truths of faith is preferable to thousands of illuminations, ecstasies, and
instances of wonder-working." 2

He also said: "The final point of all the Sufi ways is the clarification and
unfolding of the truths of faith." 3

He also said: "Sainthood is of three sorts: one is the lesser sainthood, which is the
well-known sainthood. The others are the middle sainthood and the greater sainthood.
Greater sainthood is to open up by way of the legacy of prophethood a direct way to
reality without entering the intermediate realm of Sufism." 4

He said also: "The Naqshi way is traversed with two wings; that is, by having
firm belief in the truths of faith and by carrying out the religious obligations. The way
cannot be covered if either of these two wings is defective." 5 In which case, the
Naqshi way consists of three veils:

The First and most important is to serve the truths of faith directly; Imam-i
Rabbani travelled this way in his later years.

The Second is to [advance the cause of] the religious obligations and serve the
glorious practices (Sunna) of the Prophet (UWBP) under the veil of the Sufi way.

1 Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi was also known by the titles of Imam-i Rabbani, Ahmad Faruqi, and
Regenerator of the Second Millennium. He lived in India 971/1563-1034/1624, where he purified the
religion of Islam of polytheistic accretions and efforts to degenerate it. He is also famous for his efforts
to reform Sufism. (Tr.)

2 Imam Rabbani, al-Maktubat, i, 182 (no: 210).

4 Ibid., i, 240 (no: 260).

5 Ibid., i, 98 (no: 91); i, 99 (no: 94).

39

The Third is to strive to eliminate the sicknesses of the heart by way of Sufism
and to journey with the feet of the heart.

Of these, the first is the equivalent of obligatory, the second, close to obligatory,
and the third, Sunna.

Since the reality of the matter is thus, my conjecture is that if such persons as
Shaykh 'Abd al-Qadir Gilani 6 (May God be pleased with him) and Shah Naqshband 7
(May God be pleased with him) and Imam-i Rabbani (May God be pleased with him)
were alive today, they would expend all their efforts on strengthening the truths of
faith and tenets of Islam. For it is through them that eternal happiness is won. Any
deficiency in them results in eternal misery. A person without faith will not enter
Paradise, but very many will go there without Sufism. Man cannot live without bread,
but he can live without fruit. Sufism is the fruit, the truths of Islam, basic sustenance.
In former times, through spiritual journeying from forty days to as much as forty
years, a person could rise to some of the truths of faith. But now, if through Almighty
God's mercy there is a way to rise to those truths in forty minutes, it surely is not
sensible to remain indifferent to it.

Thus, people who have studied the thirty-three Words closely state that they have
opened up just such a Qur'anic way. Since this is a fact, I am of the opinion that the
Words so far written about the mysteries of the Qur'an are a most appropriate
medicine and salve for the wounds of this time, and a most beneficial light for Islam
as a whole, which has been subject to the assaults of darkness, and a most right guide
for those wandering bewildered in the valleys of misguidance.

You know that if misguidance arises from ignorance, it is easy to dispel. Whereas
if it results from science and learning, it is difficult to eliminate. In former times, only
one person in a thousand was in the latter category, and only one in a thousand such
people would be reformed through guidance. For such people fancy themselves. They
do not know, but they think they do know. I think that Almighty God has bestowed
the Words at this time, which are flashes of the Qur'an's miraculousness, as an
antidote to this atheistic misguidance.

The Eternal One, He is the Eternal One!

Said N u r s i

6 Sayyid 'Abd al-Qadir Gilani (Geylani), known as the Gawth al-A'zam, was a towering spiritual
figure in the history of Islam. He lived 47011077-5611U 166. (Tr.)

7 Muhammad Baha'uddin Naqshband. He was the founder of the Naqshbandi Order, and died in
79111389 in Bukhara. (Tr.)

40

The Sixth Letter

In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise .{\1 ':44)

May God's peace and His mercy and His blessings be upon you and upon your
brothers so long as day and night continue and the ages follow on in succession and
the sun and moon endure and the two stars in Ursa Minor are in opposition.

My hard-working brothers, zealous friends, and means of consolation in these
lands of exile known as the world!

Seeing that Almighty God has made you shareholders in the notions He has
imparted to my mind, it is surely also your right to share in my feelings. So as not to
sadden you unduly, I shall skip the excessively grievous part of my loneliness in exile
and tell you about another part, as follows:

These last two or three months I have been very much alone. Sometimes, once
every two or three weeks or so, I have a guest with me; the rest of the time I am alone.
For nearly three weeks now there has been no one working in the mountains near me;
they have all dispersed.

One night in these foreign mountains, silent and alone amid the mournful sighing
of the trees, I saw myself in five exiles of different hues.

The first: because of old age I was alone and a stranger far from most of my
friends, relations, and those close to me; I felt a sad exile at their having left me and
departed for the Intermediate Realm. Then another sphere of exile was disclosed
within that one: I felt a sad sense of separation and exile at most of the beings to
which I was attached, like last spring, having left me and departed. Then within that
one a further sphere of exile opened u, which was that I had been parted from my
native land and relatives, and was alone. I felt a sense of separation and exile arising
from that too. Then because of it, the loneliness of the night and the mountains made
me feel another pitiable exile. And then I beheld my spirit in an overwhelming

41

exile: it was ready to journey to eternity both from this exile and from the temporary
guest-house of this world. I exclaimed to myself suddenly: My God! How can I
endure these exiles and layers of darkness? My heart cried out:

My Lord! I am a stranger, I have no one, I am weak, I am powerless, I am

impotent, I am old;
I am without will; I seek recourse, I seek forgiveness, I seek help from Your

Court, O God!

Suddenly the light of belief, the effulgence of the Qur' an, and the grace of the
Most Merciful came to my aid. They transformed those five dark exiles into five
luminous, familiar spheres. My tongue declared:

God is enough for us, and He is the best disposer of affairs. (3:173)

While my heart recited the verse:

And if they turn away, say: God is enough for me, there is no god but He; in
Him do I place my trust, for He is the Lord of the Mighty Throne. (9:129)

My mind too addressed my soul, crying out in such distress and terror, saying:

Cry not out at misfortune, O wretch, come, trust in God!
For know that complaint compounds the misfortune and is a great error.
Find misfortune's Sender, and know it is a gift within gifts, and pleasure.
So leave complaint and offer thanks; like the nightingale, smile through your

tears!
If you find Him not, know the world is all pain within pain, transience and

loss.
So why lament at a small misfortune while upon you is a worldful of woe?

Come trust in God!
Trust in God! Laugh in misfortune's face; it too will laugh.
As it laughs, it will diminish; it will be changed and transformed.

As Mawlana Jalal al-Din, 1 one of my masters, addressed his soul, I said:

He said: "Am I not your Lord? ", and you assented. So what is

Mawlana Jalal al-Din Rumi, born in Balkh in 6041(1208. He migrated to Konya with his father, where
he died in 672/1273. He was the author of the Mathnawi, and pir of the Mevlevi Order.

42

thanks for that "Yes"? It is to suffer tribulation. And what is the true
meaning of tribulation? It is to be the door-knocker on the abode of poverty
and annihilation.

So then my soul declared: "Yes, yes, through impotence and reliance on God, and
poverty and seeking refuge with Him, the door of light is flung open and the layers of
darkness are dispersed. All praise be to God for the light of belief and Islam!" I
understood the elevated truth expressed by the following lines of the famous Hikam
Ata'iyya:

What does he who finds God lose? And what does he who loses Him find?

That is, the person who finds Him finds everything, while the person who fails to find
Him, can find nothing. If he does find something, it will only bring him trouble. I
understood the meaning of the Hadith, "Tuba (happiness) for strangers in exile," 4 and I
offered thanks.

My brothers ! Those dark exiles were lit up through the light of belief, yet they
still affected me somewhat, provoking the following thought: "Seeing that I am a
stranger and in exile and shall go to another exile, have my duties in this guesthouse
been completed? Should I hand over the Words to my brothers and completely sever
all my ties?" This is why I asked you whether the Words that have been written will
suffice or whether they are lacking something. That is, have I accomplished my duty
so that with an easy heart I can cast myself into a light-filled, pleasurable, true exile,
forget the world and say like Mawlana Jalal al-Din,

Do you know what the sama' is? To become unconscious of existence,
To taste eternity in absolute annihilation?

Asking, "Can I search for an elevated exile?", I troubled you with these questions.

The Eternal One, He is the Eternal One!
Said N u r s i

2 Mawlana Jalal al-Din, Diwan-i Kabir, 157 (ghazal no: 251).

3 Ibn 'Ata'illah al-Iskandari, Sharh al-Hikam al- 'Ata'iyya, 208.

^Muslim, Iman, 232; Tirmidhi, Iman, 132; Ibn Maja, Fitan, 15; Darimi, Riqaq, 42; Musnad, i, 184,
398; ii, 177, 222, 389; iv, 73.

43

The Seventh Letter

In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise. (17:44)

May peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings for ever and ever.

My Dear Brothers !

I gather you told Samh Hafiz 1 to ask me two things:

THE FIRST

"Like the dissemblers in early times, the misguided of modern times make the
marriage of God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) with Zaynab a
pretext for criticism, considering it was intended to satisfy the lusts of the soul."

The Answer: God forbid, a hundred thousand times! Such vile doubts
cannot be harboured against that lofty one! The Messenger (UWBP) was such that
from the age of fifteen to forty when the blood is fiery and exuberant and the passions
of the soul enflamed, with complete chastity and purity he sufficed and was content
with a single older woman, Khadija the Great (May God be pleased with her) - as is
agreed by friend and foe alike. His having numerous wives after the age of forty, that
is, when bodily heat subsides and the passions are quietened, is decisive, self-evident
proof for those who are even a little fair-minded that such marriages were not to
satisfy the carnal appetites, but were for other important reasons and instances of
wisdom.

One of those instances of wisdom is this: as with his words, the actions, states,
conduct, and deeds of God's Messenger (UWBP) are the sources of religion and the
Shari'a, and provide authority for its injunctions. The

1 Tevfik Goksu; he was known as $amh since his father had been an army officer in Damascus for
twenty years. See, §ahiner, Son Sahitler, i (new ed.), 288.

44

Companions transmitted the outward, public things, and his wives were the
transmitters and narrators of the private matters of religion and injunctions of the
Shari'a that became clear from his private conduct in the personal sphere; they
performed that function. Perhaps half of the personal matters of religion and the
injunctions concerning them come from them. That is to say, numerous wives of
differing temperament were required to perform this necessary duty.

Now let us consider his marriage with Zaynab. In connection with the verse,

Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but [he is] the Messsenger
of God and the Seal of the Prophets, (33:40)

which is one of the examples given in the Third Ray of the First Light in the Twenty-
Fifth Word, it is written that given their many aspects, single verses state meanings
that address all classes of men, each with its own understanding.

One class's share of understanding of the above verse is this: according to a
sound narration based on his own admission, Zayd, the Noble Messenger's (UWBP)
servant whom he addressed as "my son," divorced his proud wife because he did not
find himself equal to her. That is to say, with his perceptiveness, Zayd realized that
Zaynab had been created with an elevated character different to his and that it was in
her nature to be a prophet's wife. As a spouse he found himself unequal to her and
this caused incompatibility, so he divorced her. At God's command, His Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace) took her. That is, as indicated by the verse,

We joined her in marriage to you,{33:31)

which shows that it was a heavenly contract, the marriage was out of the ordinary,
above external relations, and entered into purely on the orders of divine determining.
Thus, the Noble Messenger (UWBP) submitted to the decree of divine determining and
was compelled to do so; it was not at the behest of carnal desire.
The verse,

In order that [in future] there may be no difficulty to the believers in [the
matter of[ marriage with the wives of their adopted sons(33:37)

comprises an important injunction of the Shari'a, a general instance of wisdom, and a
comprehensive, general benefit pertaining to this decree of divine determining; it
indicates that adults calling the young "my son" is not forbidden so that it should be
the cause of ordinances being changed -

45

as though "zihar" that is, a man saying to his wife "you are like my mother," is
forbidden. Also, great personages look to their followers in fatherly fashion and
address them as such, and divine messengers do the same with their communities. But
this is because of their positions as leaders and messengers; it is not in respect of their
human personalities making it inappropriate for them to take wives from among them.
Another class's share of understanding the verse is this: a great ruler looks on his
subjects with paternal compassion. If he is a spiritual king holding both outward and
inward rule, his compassion will be a hundred times greater than that of a father, and
his subjects will look on him as their father as though they were his real sons. The
paternal view is not easily transformed into that of a husband, nor a girl's view into
that of a wife. Since according to this the public find it inappropriate that a prophet
should take the believers' daughters in marriage, the Qur'an repels such doubts,
saying: By virtue of divine mercy the Prophet (UWBP) is kindly towards you and he
deals with you in fatherly fashion, and in the name of messengership you are like his
children. But in regard to his human personality he is not your father so that it should
be inappropriate for him to take a wife from among you. Even if he calls you "son,"
according to the Shari'a you can't be his children!"

46

The Eighth Letter

In His Name!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.(\l:AA)

There are numerous instances of wisdom in the names of Most Merciful and
Compassionate being included in "In the Name of God, the Merciful, the
Compassionate" and at the start of all good things. Postponing the explanation of
these to another time, I shall for now recount a feeling of mine:

My brother, to me the names of Merciful and Compassionate appear as a light so
vast it embraces the whole universe and satisfies all the eternal needs of all spirits,
and so luminous and powerful it secures a person against all his innumerable enemies.
The most important means I have found for attaining to these names, these two vast
lights, are poverty and thanks, impotence and compassion. That is, worship and
realizing one's neediness. What comes to mind in this connection and I say contrary
to the great mystics and religious scholars, and even to Imam-i Rabbani, one of my
masters, is this: the intense and brilliant emotion the Prophet Jacob (Upon whom be
peace) felt for Joseph (Upon whom be peace) was not love or passion, but
compassion. For compassion is much more acute and brilliant and elevated than
passionate love, and purer and more worthy of the rank of prophethood. Intense love
and passion for worldly (mecazi) beloveds and creatures are not fitting for the
elevated rank of prophethood. This means Jacob's feelings, which the All- Wise
Qur' an describes with brilliant eloquence, and were a way of attaining to the name of
All-Compassionate, were a high degree of compassion. As for passionate love, which
is a way of attaining to the name of All-Loving, it is more like Zulaikha' s love for
Joseph (Upon whom be peace). That is to say, however much higher the Qur' an of
Miraculous Exposition shows Jacob's (Upon whom be peace) emotions to be than
Zulaikha' s, compassion is higher than passionate love

47

to the same degree. My master, Imam-i Rabbani, did not consider worldly love to be
altogether fitting for the rank of prophethood and therefore said: "Joseph's virtues
pertained to the hereafter, so love for him was not of a worldly kind that it should
have been defective." 1 But I say: "Master! That is an artificial interpretation, the truth
of the matter must be this: Jacob's was not love but a degree of compassion a hundred
times more brilliant, more extensive, and more elevated than love." Yes, in all its
varieties, compassion is subtle and pure, while many sorts of love and passion may
not be condescended to.

Furthermore, compassion is extremely broad. Because of the compassion a
person feels for his child, he may well feel a kindness towards all young and all living
beings even, and act as a sort of mirror to the comprehensive name of All-
Compassionate. Whereas passionate love restricts its gaze to its beloved and sacrifices
everything for it. Or else while elevating and praising its beloved, it denigrates others
and in effect insults them and abuses their honour. For example, someone said: "The
sun espied my beloved's beauty and was embarrassed. Not to see it, it veiled itself in
cloud." Lover, fine sir! What right do you have to impute shame to the sun, which is a
light- filled page of eight Greatest Names?

Moreover, compassion is sincere and wants nothing in return; it is pure and seeks
no recompense. The self-sacrificing, unselfish tenderness of animals towards their
young is evidence for this at the lowest level. Passionate love, however, desires
remuneration and seeks return. The weepings of passionate love are a sort of
demanding, a desiring remuneration.

Thus, Jacob's (Upon whom be peace) compassion, the most brilliant light of Sura
Yusuf - the most brilliant of the Qur'an's Suras - points to the names of Merciful and
Compassionate. It informs us that the way of compassion is the way of mercy. And as
a salve for the pain of compassion, it induces a person to utter:

For God is the Best of Protectors and He is the Most Merciful of the
Merciful!(l2:64)

The Eternal One, He is the Eternal One!

Said N u r s i

1 Imam Rabbani, al-Maktubat, iii, 134 (no: 100).

48

The Ninth Letter

In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise .(17 ':44)

[Again part of a letter he sent to the same sincere student of his.]

Secondly: Your success, endeavour, and eagerness in spreading the lights of
the Qur'an are a divine bestowal, a wonder of the Qur'an, a dominical (rabbdni)
favour. I congratulate you! Now that we have come to a discussion of wonder-
working, bestowal, and favour, I shall tell you one of the differences between wonder-
working and bestowal. It is like this:

So long as there is no necessity for it, to display wonder-working is harmful.
Whereas to make known bestowal is to make known a divine bounty. If someone
honoured with wonder-working knowingly manifests an extraordinary matter and his
evil-commanding soul is persistent, then since he relies on himself and on his soul and
what he has disclosed and falls into pride, it may be that Almighty God is drawing
him on by at first granting him success. If he displays a wondrous act unknowingly;
for example, a person has an unvoiced question and involuntarily he gives an
appropriate answer and afterwards realizes this, it increases his confidence, not in
himself but in his Lord and Sustainer. He says: "I have a Preserver who is training me
better than I could myself," and this increases his reliance on God. It is a harmless
sort of wonder-working. He is not obliged to conceal it but should not advertize it
intentionally, because of pride. For since it is apparently associated with the human
power to act, he may ascribe it to himself. When it comes to bestowal, it is sounder
than the second sort of wonder-working, the sound sort, and in my opinion is more
elevated. To make it known it is to make known a bounty. The power to act has no
connection with it, and the soul does not ascribe it to itself.

My brother! The divine bounties received by both you and me, particu

49

larly in our service of the Qur'an, which for a long time past I have seen and written
about, are bestowals, and to make them known is to make known a divine bounty.
This is why - to make known the divine bounty - I am mentioning the success of both
of us in our service. I always knew that it would encourage you to offer thanks and
not make you proud .

Thirdly: I observe that the most fortunate person in this worldly life is he
who sees the world as a military guest-house, and submits himself and acts
accordingly. Seeing it in this way, he may rise swiftly to the rank of winning God's
pleasure, the highest rank. Such a person will not give the price of a lasting diamond
for something as valueless as glass, doomed to be broken. He will pass his life
uprightly and with pleasure. Yes, matters to do with this world are like pieces of glass
that will be broken, while the lasting matters of the hereafter are as precious as
flawless diamonds. The intense curiosity, fervent love, terrible greed, stubborn
desires, and other intense innate human emotions were given to gain the matters of the
hereafter. To direct them fervently towards the transitory things of this world is to
give the price of eternal diamonds for doomed fragments of glass. A point has
occurred to me in connection with this, so I shall recount it. It is like this:

Passionate love is an ardent sort of love. When it is directed towards transitory
objects, it either causes its owner perpetual torment and pain, or, since the ephemeral
(mecazi) beloved is not worth the price of such fervent love, it causes the lover to
search for an eternal one. Then passing love is transformed into true love.

Man possesses thousands of emotions, each of which has two degrees, one
worldly (mecazi), the other, true. For example, everyone feels anxiety about the
future. A person is intensely anxious about the future, but then sees that he has no
guarantee that he will reach the future he is so anxious about. Also, if it is his
livelihood he is worried about, anyway it is promised, and the brief future is not worth
such terrible anxiety. So he turns away from the future towards the true future beyond
the grave, which is long-lasting and which for the heedless has not been promised.

Man also displays intense ambition for possessions and rank, then he sees that the
transient property which has been put temporarily under his supervision, and
calamitous fame and high rank, which are dangerous and lead to hypocrisy, are not
worth such intense ambition. He turns away from them towards spiritual rank and
degrees in closeness to God, which constitute true rank, and towards provisions for
the hereafter, and good works, which are true property. Worldly ambition, which is a
bad quality, is transformed into true ambition, a lofty quality.

50

And, for example, with wilful obstinacy man expends his emotions on trivial,
fleeting, transient things. Then he sees that he pursues for a year something not worth
even a minute's obstinacy. Also, just to be obstinate, he persists in something
damaging and harmful. Then he sees that this powerful emotion was not given to him
for such things and that to expend it on them is contrary to wisdom and truth. So he
utilizes his intense obstinacy, not on those unnecessary transient matters, but on the
elevated and eternal truths of belief and essentials of Islam and service and duties
pertaining to the hereafter. Worldly obstinacy, a base quality, is transformed into true
obstinacy; that is, ardent steadfastness and constancy in what is right, a fine and good
quality.

As these three examples show, if man uses the faculties given to him on account
of the soul and this world, and behaves heedlessly as though he were going to remain
here for ever, they will be the cause of bad morals and will be misspent and futile. But
if he expends the lesser of them on the matters of this world and the more intense of
them on spiritual duties and tasks pertaining to the hereafter, they become the source
of laudable morals and the means to happiness in this world and the next in
conformity with wisdom and reality.

My guess is that one reason the advice and admonitions given at the present time
have been ineffective is that those offering them say: "Don't be ambitious! Don't be
greedy! Don't hate! Don't be obstinate! Don't love the world!" That is, they propose
something that is apparently impossible for those they address like changing their
inborn natures. If only they would say: "Turn these emotions towards beneficial
things, change their direction, their channel," both their advice would be effective,
and they would be proposing something within those persons' will power.

Fourthly: The differences between Islam and belief (or faith-ema\n) have
been frequently discussed by Islamic scholars. One group has said that they are the
same, while another has said that they are not the same but that you cannot have one
without the other. They have expressed various ideas similar to this. I myself have
understood the following difference:

Islam is a preference, while belief is a conviction. To put it another way, Islam is
to take the part of the truth and is submission and obedience to it, and belief is
acceptance of and assent to the truth. Long ago I saw certain irreligious people who
fervently supported the injunctions of the

51

Qur' an. That is to say, by taking the part of the truth, such people were in one respect
Muslim and were called "irreligious Muslims." Then later I saw certain believers who
did not evince support for the injunctions of the Qur' an nor take the part of them, and
they reflected the epithet "non-Muslim believers."

Can belief without Islam be the means of salvation?

The Answer: Neither can Islam without belief be a means of salvation, nor can
belief without Islam be a means. All praise and bounty is God's, through the grace of
the Qur' an' s miraculousness the comparisons of the Risale-i Nur have shown the
fruits of the religion of Islam and results of the Qur' anic truths in such a way that
even if someone without religion does not understand them, he cannot be
unsympathetic towards them. And they have demonstrated proofs of belief and Islam
in such powerful fashion that if even a non-Muslim understands them, he is sure to
assent to them. While being a non-Muslim, he would believe. Yes, the Words show
that the fruits of belief and Islam are as delectable as the fruits of the Tuba-tree of
Paradise, and that their results are as agreeable as the pleasures of happiness in this
world and the next. They therefore induce in those who see them and know them a
feeling of infinite partiality, support, and surrender. Demonstrating proofs as powerful
as the chains of beings and numerous as minute particles, they give rise to infinite
submission and strength of belief. On certain occasions even, when testifying to belief
while reciting the invocations of Shah Naqshband, and when saying: "In accordance
with that we live, in accordance with it we shall die, and in accordance with it shall
we be raised up on the morrow," I have experienced an infinite feeling of partiality. If
the whole world were given me, I would not sacrifice a single truth of belief. It causes
me extreme distress to imagine the reverse of a single truth for a minute even. Were
the whole world to be given me, my soul would renounce it unhesitatingly for the
existence of a single truth of belief. I feel an infinite strength of belief when I say,
"We believe in what You have sent through the Prophet, and we believe in what You
have revealed through the Book, and we assent to it." I consider the opposite of any of
the truths of belief to be rationally impossible, and I look on the people of
misguidance as infinitely foolish and crazy.

I send many greetings to your parents and offer them my respects. Let them pray
for me. They are mother and father to me since you are my brother. And I send
greetings to the people of your village, especially all those who listen to you reading
the Words.

The Eternal One, He is the Eternal One!

Said N u r s i

52

The Tenth Letter

In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise .(17 ':44)

[This consists of the answers to two questions.]

The First is about the footnote to the long sentence describing the
transformations of minute particles in the Second Aim of the Thirtieth Word. 1

The Clear Book and the Clear Record are mentioned in many places in the All-
Wise Qur'an. Some Qur'anic commentators said they are the same, while others said
they are different. Their explanations as to their reality differ, but in short they said
they are titles for divine knowledge. However, through the effulgence of the Qur'an I
have formed this opinion: the Clear Record is a title for a variety of divine knowledge
and command that looks to the World of the Unseen rather than to the Manifest
World. That is, it looks to the past and the future more than to the present. That is, it
looks to the origin, progeny, roots and seeds of things more than to their external
existence. It is a notebook of divine determining (kader), the existence of which has
been proved both in the Twenty- Sixth Word and in a footnote in the Tenth Word. 2

Yes, the Clear Record is the title for an aspect of divine knowledge and the divine
command. For since the origins, roots, and sources of things result, with the utmost
order and perfect art, in their [external] existences, they show that they are set in order
in accordance with a notebook of the principles of divine knowledge. And since the
results, progeny, and seeds of things comprise the programmes and indexes of beings
that will come in

See, The Words (Istanbul: Sozler Publications, new edn. 2004), 571-2, fn. 21. (Tr.)
2 See, Words, pp. 483-6 and 64 respectively. (Tr.)

53

the future, they surely infer that they are miniature collections of divine commands.
For example, it may be said that a seed resembles the programmes and indexes which
will impart order to all the parts of the tree, and is like a miniature embodiment of the
creative commands that specify the index and programme.

In short, the Clear Record resembles a programme or index of the tree of
creation, the branches of which have spread throughout the past and the future and the
World of the Unseen. In this sense it is a notebook of divine determining and a
collection of its principles. Minute particles are despatched to their duties and motions
in the bodies of things through the dictation and decree of those principles.

As for the Clear Book, it looks to the Manifest World rather than the World of the
Unseen. That is, it looks to the present more than to the past and the future. It is a title,
a notebook, a ledger, of divine power and will more than of divine knowledge and
command. If the Clear Record is the notebook of divine determining, the Clear Book
is the notebook of divine power.

That is to say, the perfect art and order in the beings, essences, attributes, and
qualities of things show that they are being clothed in existence through the principles
of a perfect power and the laws of a penetrating will. Their forms are determined and
specified, each is given definite proportions and a particular shape. This means the
power and will have a universal, general collection of laws, a great ledger, according
to which the particular existences and forms of things are cut out, sewn, and clothed.
The existence of this notebook, like the Clear Record, has been proved in the
discussions about divine determining and man's will. So see the foolishness of the
people of misguidance, heedlessness, and philosophy, for they perceived the
Preserved Tablet of creative power and the manifestation, reflection, and similitude in
things of that perspicuous book of dominical wisdom and will, but, God forbid,
calling it "nature," they made it blind. Thus, through the dictation of the Clear
Record, that is, through the decree of divine determining and according to its
principles, on creating, divine power writes the chains of beings, each of which is a
sign, on the page of time known as the Tablet of Appearance and Dissolution (Levh-i
Mahv, Isbat), and causes the motion of particles.

This means that the motion of particles is a vibration, a movement, arising from
that writing and copying, as beings pass from the World of the Unseen to the Manifest
World, from knowledge to power. As for the Tablet of Appearance and Dissolution, it
is an ever-changing notebook, a slate for writing and erasing, of the Supreme
Preserved Tablet - which is fixed and

54

constant - in the sphere of contingency, that is, in beings, which constantly manifest
life and death, existence and annihilation; it is the reality of time. Yes, time has a
reality as does everything; the reality of what we call time, a mighty river flowing
through the universe, is like the page and ink of power as it writes on the Tablet of
Appearance and Dissolution.

None knows the Unseen save God.

Second Question: Where will the Great Gathering and Last Judgement
take place?

The Answer: The knowledge is with God alone. The elevated instances of
wisdom the All-Wise Creator displays in all things, and His even attaching vast
instances of wisdom to a single insignificant thing, suggests to the point of being plain
that the globe does not revolve in a circle aimlessly and pointlessly, but revolves
around something important; it depicts the circumference of a vast arena. It travels
around a huge place of exhibition and hands over its immaterial produce to it; because
in the future the produce will be displayed there before the gazes of men. That is to
say, it will fill the circle, the circumference of which is a distance of approximately
twenty-five thousand years. Syria will be like a seed, according to one narration; 3 the
arena of the Great Gathering will be expanded out of that region. All the immaterial
produce of the earth is for now sent to the notebooks and tablets of the arena which is
beneath the veil of the Unseen, and in the future when the arena is opened up, the
earth will pour its inhabitants into it too. Its immaterial produce will also be
transposed to the Manifest Realm from that of the Unseen. Yes, as though it were an
arable field, a spring, or a measure, the earth has produced crops enough to fill that
vast arena, and the creatures that will occupy it have flowed on from the earth; the
beings to fill it have departed from the earth. That is to say, the globe is a seed, and
the arena of the Great Gathering and what it holds, a tree, a shoot, and a store. Just as
a point of light becomes a luminous line or circle on moving at speed, so with its
rapid, purposeful motion, the earth describes a circle of existence, and together with
that circle of existence and its produce, gives rise to the arena of the Great Gathering.

Say, the knowledge of it is with God alone.(67:26)

The Eternal One, He is the Eternal One!

Said N u r s i

3 al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, ii, 440; Musnad, iv, 447; v, 3, 5.

55

The Eleventh Letter

In His Name,
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise .(17 ':44)

[This letter comprises a significant remedy and points
out four small gems from the treasuries of four verses.]

My Dear Brother!

The All- Wise Qur'an taught my soul these four different matters at various times.
I am writing them now so that those of my brothers who wish may also receive
instruction or have a share of them. With regard to subject matter, each is a sample, a
small jewel, from the treasuries of four different verses and their truths. The form of
each of the four topics is different, and so are the benefits each yields.

FIRST TOPIC

Indeed the wiles of Satan are weak.(A:16)

O my soul which is in despair due to doubts and scruples! The association of
ideas and the imaginings or suppositions that occur to one are a sort of involuntary
expression or depiction. If they arise from good and luminosity, the qualities and
reality they possess are transposed to an extent to their forms and images - just like
the sun's light and heat are transposed to its reflection in a mirror. If such depictions
are of something evil and dense, their qualities and requirements cannot pass or
spread to their reflections. For example, the reflection in a mirror of something
unclean or corrupt is neither unclean nor corrupt. Nor can a snake's image bite.

In consequence, to imagine unbelief is not unbelief, and to imagine abuse is not
abuse. Particularly if it is involuntary or some notion or speculation occurs to one,
then it is altogether harmless. Furthermore, according to the Sunni school, the people
of truth, if the Shari'a rules that a thing is

56

bad or unclean, it is because it is prohibited by God. Since what we are discussing are
involuntary associations of ideas and imaginings that occur to one without one's
consent, they are not subject to such prohibitions. However ugly or unclean the form
they take, they are not ugly and unclean.

SECOND TOPIC

This is a fruit of the Pine, Cedar, and Black Poplar trees of Tepelice in the
mountains of Barla, which has been included in The Words 1 and not repeated here.

THIRD TOPIC

The two following matters are part of the examples given in the Twenty-Fifth
Word 2 showing the impotence of present-day civilization before the miraculousness
of the Qur'an. They are two examples out of thousands proving how unjust are the
laws of present-day civilization, which opposes the Qur' an:

The ruling of the Qur' an:

And for the man a portion equal of that of two women{A:\16)

is both pure justice, and pure compassion. Yes, it is justice, for the overwhelming
majority of men take a wife and undertake to provide for her. As for women, they
take a husband and load their livelihood on him, and this makes up for the deficiency
in what they inherit. It is also a mercy, for a weak girl is greatly in need of kindness
from her father and brothers. The Qur'an decrees that she receives this without worry.
Her father does not look on her with misgivings, thinking of her as a harmful child
because of whom half of his wealth will go to a stranger. His kindness is untainted by
anxiety and anger. Her brother's kindness and protection are free of rivalry and
jealousy. He does not consider her as a rival who will destroy half the family and give
a significant part of their property to someone else. His protective and kindly feelings
for her will not be marred by resentment and hostility. Thus, the girl, who is delicate
and weak by nature, is apparently deprived of a small part, but in place of it she gains
inexhaustible wealth in the form of the compassion and kindness of those close to her.
Also, to give her more than her due with the idea of being more merciful to her than
divine mercy, is not kindness but a great wrong. Indeed, the savage greed of the
present time, which recalls the appalling cruelty of the live burial of girl children in
the Age of Ignorance due to savage jealousy, may possibly

See, the Second Station of the Seventeenth Word, Words, 234-6.
2 See, Words, 419-24.

57

open the way to merciless wickedness. Like this one, all Qur'anic rulings confirm the
decree,

And we did not send you but as a Mercy to all the worlds. (21 : 107)

FOURTH TOPIC

And to the mother, a sixth.{4:\\)

This low civilization, which causes injustice by giving daughters more than their
due, perpetrates an even greater injustice by denying the mother her right. Yes, the
compassion of mothers is a truly sweet, subtle, and lovely manifestion of dominical
mercy, and among the truths of the universe, is the one most worthy of respect and
reverence. A mother is so generous, so compassionate, so self-sacrificing a friend that
driven by her compassion she will sacrifice all her world, her life, and her comfort for
her child. A timid hen, even, at the simplest and lowest level of motherhood, will cast
herself at a dog or attack a lion in order to protect her young, through a tiny
manifestation of that compassion.

To deprive a mother, who is the bearer of such an honourable, lofty truth, of the
property of her child is an appalling injustice, a savage lack of respect, a compounded
wrongful insult, an ingratitude for bounties, that causes the divine throne of mercy to
tremble and adds poison to a brilliant and benefical cure for man's social life. If those
human monsters who claim to love humanity cannot understand this, for sure true
humans can. They know that the All- Wise Qur'an's command of, "And to the mother
a sixth" is pure truth and pure justice.

The Eternal One, He is the Eternal One!

Said Nu r s i

58

The Twelfth Letter

In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise. (17 ':44)

Peace be upon you and upon your companions.

My Dear Brothers !

You asked me a question that night and I did not reply, because it is not
permissible to argue over questions of belief. Your discussion of them had turned into
a dispute. For now I am writing very brief replies to your three questions, about which
you were arguing. You will find the details in The Words; the chemist wrote down
which. But it did not occur to me to mention the Twenty-Sixth Word, about divine
determining and man's faculty of will; have a look at that too, but don't read it like a
newspaper. The reason I advised the chemist to study of those Words is this: doubts
about matters of that sort arise from weakness of belief in the pillars of faith. Those
Words prove all of them.

FIRST QUESTION

What wisdom does it spring from, Adam (Upon whom be peace) being expelled
from Paradise and some of mankind, the sons of Adam, being sent to Hell? What was
the reason for it?

The Answer: The reason for it concerns the charging of duties: the duty
with which Adam was charged yielded such results as the unfolding of all human
spiritual progress and the revealing of all human potentialities and man's essential
nature being a comprehensive mirror to all the divine names. If he had remained in
Paradise, his rank would have been fixed like that of the angels; man's potentialities
would not have been disclosed. In any case, the angels, with their unchanging ranks,
are numerous and there is no need for man to perform their sort of worship. Since
divine wisdom required a realm of accountability commensurate with the
potentialities of

59

man, who would traverse infinite degrees, he was expelled from Paradise for his well-
known sin, sin being the requirement of human nature and contrary to that of the
angels. That is to say, just as it was pure wisdom and pure mercy that Adam should be
expelled from Paradise, so is it just and right that the unbelievers should be sent to
Hell.

As is mentioned in the Third Indication in the Tenth Word, the unbeliever only
committed only one sin in his short life, but the sin comprised infinite wrongdoing.
For unbelief is an insult to the whole universe; it negates the value of all beings, it
denies the testimony to divine unity of all creatures, and is contempt towards the
divine names, the manifestations of which are to be seen in the mirrors of beings.
Therefore, in order to avenge the rights of beings on the unbeliever, their monarch,
the All-Compelling One of Glory, casts the unbelievers into Hell, and this is pure
right and justice. For an infinite crime demands infinite punishment.

SECOND QUESTION

Why are devils created? Almighty God created Satan and evil; what is the
wisdom in it? Isn't the creation of evil, evil, and the creation of bad, bad?

The Answer: God forbid, the creation of evil is not evil, the acquisition of
(kesb) or desire for evil, is evil. For creation and bringing into existence look to all the
consequences, whereas such a desire looks to a particular result, since it is a particular
relation. For example, there are thousands of consequences of rain falling, and all of
them are good. If due to misuse of their wills some people receive harm from the rain,
they cannot say that the creation of rain is not mercy or that it is evil. For it is evil for
them due to their mischoice and inclinations. Also, there are numerous benefits in the
creation of fire and all of them are good. But if some people are harmed by fire due to
their misuse of it and their wills, they cannot say that the creation of fire is evil;
because it was not only created to burn them. Rather, they made a wrong choice and
thrust their hands into the fire while cooking the food, and made that servant inimical
to themselves.

In Short: A lesser evil is acceptable for a greater good. If an evil which will lead
to a greater good is abandoned so that a lesser evil should not occur, a greater evil will
have been perpetrated. For example, there are certainly some minor material and
physical harms and evils in sending soldiers to fight a jihad, but the jihad leads to a
greater good whereby Islam is saved from being conquered by infidels. If the jihad is
abandoned due to those lesser evils, the greater evil will come after the greater good
has gone, and that is absolute wrong. Another example: to amputate a finger

60

which is infected with gangrene and has to be amputated is good and right, although it
is apparently an evil. For if it is not amputated, the hand will be amputated and that
would be a greater evil.

Thus, the creation and bringing into existence of evils, harms, tribulations, satans,
and harmful things, is not evil and bad, for they are created for the many important
results they yield. For example, satans have not been set to pester the angels, and the
angels cannot progress; their degrees are fixed and deficient. However, in the world of
humanity the degrees of progress and decline are infinite. There is an extremely long
distance through which to progress, from the Nimrod's and Pharaoh's as far as the
veracious saints and the prophets.

Thus, because of the creation of satans and the mystery of man's accountability
and the sending of prophets, an arena of trial and examination and striving and
competition has been opened so that coal-like base spirits may be differentiated and
separated out from diamond-like elevated spirits. If there had been no striving and
competition, the potentialities in the mine of humanity, resembling diamonds and
coal, would have remained equal. The spirit of Abu Bakr the Veracious at the highest
of the high would have remained on a par with Abu Jahl at the lowest of the low. This
means that since the creation of satans and evils looks to vast, universal results, it is
not evil or bad. The evils and instances of bad that arise from abuses and the
particular causes known as man's acquisition pertain to his voluntary actions not to
divine creation.

I f y o u ask? The majority of humanity become unbelievers due to the
existence of Satan; they embrace unbelief and suffer harm, despite the sending of
prophets. If, according to the rule "The majority has the word," the majority suffers
evil as a result, then the creation of evil is evil and it may even be said that the
sending of prophets is not a mercy. Isn't that so?

The Answer: Quantity has no importance in relation to quality. The true
majority looks to quality. For example, if a date-palm has a hundred seeds and they
are not planted in the earth and watered and so do not undergo a chemical reaction
and manifest the struggle for life, they remain a hundred seeds worth virtually
nothing. But if they are watered and are subject to the struggle for life, and then
eighty out of the hundred rot due to their faulty make-up, but twenty become fruit-
bearing trees, can you say that watering them was evil because most of them rotted?
Of course you cannot say that, for the twenty have become twenty thousand. A person
who loses eighty and gains twenty thousand suffers no loss, so it cannot be evil.

Another example: a peahen lays one hundred eggs and they are worth five
hundred kurush. If the hen sits on the hundred eggs and eighty go bad

61

and twenty hatch into peacocks, can it be said that the loss was high and the affair,
evil; that it was bad to put the broody hen on the eggs and an evil occurred? No, it
was not thus, it was good. For the peacock species and egg family lost eighty eggs
worth four hundred kurush, but gained twenty peacocks worth eighty liras.

Thus, through the sending of prophets and the mystery of man's accountability,
and through striving and fighting with satans, in return for the hundreds of thousands
of prophets and millions of saints and thousands of millions of purified scholars they
have gained, who are like the suns, moons, and stars of the world of humanity,
mankind has lost the unbelievers and dissemblers, who are numerous in regard to
quantity, insignificant in regard to quality, and like pernicious beasts.

THIRD QUESTION

Almighty God sends calamities and inflicts tribulations; isn't this an injustice
towards the innocent in particular, and animals even?

The Answer: God forbid, sovereignty is His. He holds sway over His
possessions as He wishes. Moreover, a skilful craftsman makes you a model in return
for a wage and dresses you in a bejewelled garment that he has artistically fashioned.
Then in order to display his art and skill, he shortens it and lengthens it, measures it
and trims it, and he makes you sit down and stand up. Can you say to him: "You have
made the garment that makes me beautiful ugly. You have caused me trouble, making
me sit down and stand up."? Of course, you cannot say that. If you did, you would be
crazy.

In just the same way, the All-Glorious Maker has clothed you in an artistically
wrought being bejewelled with such faculties as the eye, the ear, and the tongue. To
display the embroideries of various of His names, He makes you ill, He afflicts you
with tribulations, He makes you hungry, He fills you, He makes you thirsty; He
makes you revolve in states like these. To strengthen the essence of life and display
the manifestation of His names He makes you pass through numerous such
conditions. As is indicated in the comparison, if you ask: "Why do you inflict these
calamities on me?" a hundred instances of wisdom will silence you. In any event,
calm, repose, idleness, monotony, and arrest from motion are forms of non-existence,
and harm. Motion and change are existence and good. Life finds its perfection
through motion, it progresses by means of tribulations. Life performs various motions
through the manifestation of the divine names; it is purified, finds strength; it unfolds
and expands; it becomes a mobile pen to write its own appointed course; it performs
its duty and acquires the right to receive reward in the hereafter.

62

Briefly, these are the answers to the three questions you were arguing over.
Explanations of them are to be found in the thirty-three Words.

My Dear Brother!

Read this letter to the chemist and to any of those who heard the argument you
deem suitable. And convey my greetings to my new student, the chemist, and tell him
the following:

It is not permissible to have a heated discussion about subtle matters of belief like
these in a social gathering. If it turns into an uncontrolled contest, while being a
panacea it becomes poison. It is harmful for both those who speak and those who
listen. It is permissible to discuss such matters moderately and fairly, exchanging
ideas. And tell him that if doubts occur to him about matters of this sort and he cannot
find the answer in The Words, he may write to me privately. And tell the chemist that
it occurred to me that the dream he had about his late father might mean this: since his
late father was a doctor, he may have helped some people who were close to God, and
at the time of his death the spirits of those blessed people who were grateful to him
were seen by the one closest to him, his son, in the form of birds. It occurred to me
that they came to meet him with a sort of welcome and this would be intercession for
his spirit.

I send greetings to all the friends who were together here that night, and I pray for
them.

The Eternal One, He is the Eternal One!

Said N u r s i

63

The Thirteenth Letter

In His Name!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise .(17 ':44)

Peace on those who follow guidance, and may those who follow their own desires
be censured!

My Dear Brothers !

You frequently ask about my situation and how I am, and why I have not applied
for my release papers, and concerning my indifference towards politics and the state
of the world. Since you have asked these questions on numerous occasions, and also
ask them implicitly, I am compelled to reply not as the New Said, but in the language
of the Old Said.

YOUR FIRST QUESTION

Are you comfortable? How are you?

The Answer: I offer endless thanks to the Most Merciful of the Merciful
that He has transformed the various wrongs the worldly 1 perpetrate against me into
various forms of mercy. It is like this:

Having given up politics and withdrawn from the world, I was living in a
mountain cave and thinking of the hereafter when the worldly wrongfully plucked me
from it and sent me into exile. The All-Compassionate and Wise Creator turned the
exile into mercy; He transformed the solitude on the mountain, which was unsafe and
exposed to factors that would harm sincerity, into a retreat in the safe and sincere
mountains of Barla. While a prisoner-of-war in Russia I made up my mind to
withdraw into a cave towards the end of my life and prayed for it. The Most Merciful
of the Merciful made Barla the cave and bestowed the benefits without burdening my

1 . 'The worldly' (ehl-i diinya): those people whose view is restricted to the life of this world and who
disregard the hereafter, or those who sell religion for this world. (Tr.)

64

weak self with the difficulties and troubles of a cave. Only, in Barla there were two or
three distrustful people, and I suffered torments because of their groundless fears. It
was as though those friends of mine were thinking of my comfort, but because of their
suspicions, they harmed both my heart and our service of the Qur'an.

Moreover, although the worldly gave the document in question to all the exiles,
and released the criminals from prison and offered them an amnesty, they wrongfully
did not give it to me. However, in order to further employ me in the service of the
Qur'an and make me write to a greater extent the lights of the Qur'an called the
Words, my Compassionate Sustainer left me untroubled in this exile and transformed
it into a great instance of compassion.

In addition, although the worldly left all the influential, powerful leaders and
shaikhs who could interfere in their world in the towns and cities and permitted them
to meet with their relatives and everyone, they unjustly isolated me and sent me to a
village. With one or two exceptions they allowed none of my relatives and fellow-
countrymen to visit me. But my All-Compassionate Creator transformed that isolation
into a vast mercy for me, for it left my mind clear and I was able to receive the
effulgence of the All- Wise Qur'an as it is, free of malice and ill-will.

Also, the worldly deemed excessive the two commonplace letters I wrote in two
years at the beginning of my exile. And now even, they are displeased at one or two
people visiting me purely for the sake of the hereafter once every week or two or once
a month; and they have harassed me because of this. But my Compassionate Sustainer
and All- Wise Creator transformed their tyranny into mercy, for He transformed it into
a desirable solitude and acceptable retreat for me during these Three Months, 2 which
may gain for a person ninety years of spiritual (manevi) life. All thanks be to God for
all situations, my situation and comfort are thus.

YOUR SECOND QUESTION

Why don't you apply for your release papers?

The Answer: I have been sentenced by divine determining (kader) in this
matter, not by the worldly, so I apply to it. Whenever it gives permission, whenever it
cuts off my sustenance here, then I shall go. The reality of this is as follows: there are
two causes of everything that befalls one, one apparent and the other, real. The
worldly are the apparent cause; they brought me here. As for divine determining, that
was the true cause; it sen

2 $uhur-u selase: the holy months of Rajab, Sha'ban, and Ramadan. (Tr.)

65

tenced me to this isolation. The apparent cause acted wrongfully, whereas the true
cause acted with justice. The apparent one thought like this: "This man performs
strenuous services to learning and religion; he may interfere in our world." Because of
this possibility, they exiled me and perpetrated a threefold wrong. Then divine
determining saw that my service of religion and learning was not really sincere, so it
sentenced me to this exile. It transformed their compounded tyranny into a multiple
mercy. Divine determining governs in the question of my exile and it is just, so I have
recourse to it. The apparent cause certainly has some ostensible reasons and things,
but they make it meaningless to apply to them. If they possessed some right or some
powerful cause, then application could have been made to them too.

I have completely given up their world - may it be the end of them - and their
politics - may it rebound on them - so I do not want to imbue their suspicions with
reality by applying to them, since the pretexts and suspicions they think up are of
course baseless. If I had felt any appetite to meddle in world politics, the reins of
which are held by Westerners, it would not have remained thus secret for eight hours
let alone eight years; it would have leaked out and become known. However, for eight
years I have felt no desire to read a newspaper, and I have not read one. And for four
years I have been here under surveillance, and there has not been the slightest sign
that I have meddled in politics. That is to say, service of the All- Wise Qur'an is
superior to all politics so that it does not let a person condescend to [concern himself
with] world politics, which consists mostly of falsehood.

The second reason for my not applying is this: to claim a right before those who
suppose wrong to be right, is a sort of wrong. I do not want to perpetrate such a
wrong.

YOUR THIRD QUESTION

Why are you so indifferent towards world politics? You don't change your
attitude at all, even though so many things are happening. Does this mean you
consider them to be good, or are you frightened, so remain silent?

The Answer: Service of the All-Wise Qur' an severely prohibited me from
the world of politics. It even made me forget about it. For the whole story of my life
testifies that fear has never taken me by the hand and held me back from taking a way
I deemed right, nor could it. And why should I be frightened? I have no connection
with the world apart from the appointed hour. I have no family or children to think of,
nor any property. I don't belong to a noble family that I should consider its honour. I
would

66

not want to preserve worldly glory and renown which consists of hypocritical,
undeserved fame; may God bless those who help in destroying it! So all that remains
is my death and that is in the hands of the All-Glorious Creator. Who has the power to
intervene in it before the time of its coming? Anyway we are one of those who prefer
honourable death to degradation in life. Someone resembling the Old Said spoke the
following lines: "We are those for whom there is no middle way; For us is either a
place of honour among the people, or the grave." 3

In any event, service of the Qur'an prohibits me from thinking of socio-political
life. It is like this: human life is a journey. I saw at this time through the light of the
Qur'an that the way has entered a swamp. The caravan of mankind is stumbling
forward in stinking, filthy mud. Part of it is travelling a safe way. Another part has
found certain means to save itself as far as is possible from the muddy swamp. But the
great majority are travelling in darkness in the midst of it. Twenty per cent suppose
the filthy mud to be musk and ambergris because they are drunk, and are smearing it
over their faces and eyes; they stumble on till they drown in it. However, eighty per
cent understand it is a swamp and realize it is stinking and filthy, but they are
bewildered and cannot discern the safe way. There are two solutions:

The First: to bring the drunken twenty per cent to their senses with a club.

The Second to point out the safe way to the bewildered by showing them a light.

I look and see that eighty people are brandishing clubs at the twenty per cent,
while the light is not properly shown to the unhappy, bewildered eighty. Even if it is
shown, since those showing it hold both the club and the light in the same hand, it
does not inspire confidence. The bewildered person anxiously wonders: "Does he
want to attract me with the light then hit me with the club?" And sometimes when,
due to some defect, the club is broken, the light flies away too or else is extinguished.

Thus, the swamp is mankind's dissolute social life, which breeds heedlessness
and misguidance. The drunkards are those obdurate people who take delight in
misguidance, while the bewildered ones are those who detest misguidance but cannot
extract themselves from it. They want to be saved, but cannot find the way; they are
confused. As for the clubs, they are the political currents, and the light, the truths of
the Qur'an. Light can

3 Abu Firas al-Hamadani. (Tr.)

67

not be disputed, nor can enmity be felt towards it. No one can detest it apart from
Satan the Accursed. So that I might take up the Qur'an's light, I declared: "I seek
refuge with God from Satan and from politics" and threw away the club of politics; I
embraced the light with both hands. I saw that among the political movements are
lovers of those lights in both the opposition and the supporters. No side or group
should cast aspersions on or hold back from the lights of the Qur'an that are held up,
or from the teachings of the Qur'an, which are far superior to all political currents and
partisanship and are exempt from and free of all their biased considerations. Only
satans in human form or animals in human dress would do so since they imagine
irreligion and atheism to be politics and support them.

All praise be to God, because I withdrew from politics, I did not reduce to the
value of glass fragments the truths of the Qur'an, which are as precious as diamonds,
and leave myself open to accusations of political propaganda. Indeed, the diamonds
increase their value in the view of all groups in brilliant fashion.

And they shall say: "All praise be to God, who has guided us to this
[felicity]; never could we have found guidance, had it not been for the
guidance of God; indeed it was the truth that the prophets of our Sustainer
brought to us! "(1:43)

The Eternal One, He is the Eternal One!

Said Nu r s i

The Fourteenth Letter

was not written

68

The Fifteenth Letter

In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise. (17 ':44)

My Dear Brother!

YOUR FIRST QUESTION

Why didn't the Companions discover the troublemakers with the eye of
sainthood, with the result that three of the four Rightly-Guided Caliphs were
martyred? For it is said that even the lesser Companions were greater than the greatest
saints?

The Answer: This matter comprises two stations.

First Station

The question may be solved by explaining as follows a subtle mystery of
sainthood:

The Companions' sainthood, known as the greater sainthood, is one that proceeds
from the legacy of prophethood, and passing directly from the apparent to reality
without travelling the intermediate path, looks to the unfolding of divine immediacy.
Although this way of sainthood is very short, it is extremely elevated. Its wonders are
few, but its virtues are many. Illuminations and wonder-workings are to be
encountered on it only infrequently. Moreover, the wonder-working of the saints is
mostly involuntary; wonders appear from them unexpectedly as a divine bestowal.
And the majority of such illuminations and wonder-workings occur during their
spiritual journeying, as they traverse the intermediate realm of the Sufi path; they
manifest those extra-ordinary states because they have withdrawn to a degree from
ordinary humanity. As for the Companions, due to the reflection, attraction, and elixir
of the company of prophethood, they were not obliged to traverse the vast sphere of
spiritual journeying of the Sufi way. They were able to pass from the apparent to
reality in one step,

69

through one conversation with the Prophet (UWBP). For instance, there are two ways
of reaching the Night of Power, if it was last night:

One is to travel and wander for a year to reach it. One has to traverse a year's
distance to gain proximity to it. This is the method of those who embark on spiritual
journeying, the way taken by most of those who follow the Sufi path.

The second is to slip free of and be divested of the sheath of corporeality, which
is restricted by time, to rise in the spirit and see the Night of Power, which was last
night, together with the night of the 'Id, which is the day after tomorrow, as being
present like today. For the spirit is not restricted by time. When the human emotions
rise to the level of the spirit, present time expands. Time, which for others consists of
the past and the future, is as though the present for such a person.

According to this comparison, to reach the Night of Power one has to rise to the
level of the spirit and see the past as though it were the present. Essentially, this
obscure mystery is the unfolding of divine immediacy. For example, the sun is near to
us, for its light and heat are present in the mirror we are holding. But we are far from
it. If we perceive its immediacy from the point of view of luminosity, and understand
our relation to its reflection in our mirror, which is a similitude; if we come to know it
by that means and know what its light, heat, and totality are, its immediacy is
unfolded to us and we recognize it as close to us and we become connected to it. If we
want to draw near to it and get to know it in respect of our distance from it, we are
compelled to embark on an extensive journeying in the mind, so that by means of
thought and the laws of science we can rise to the skies in the mind and conceive of
the sun there, and through lengthy scientific investigation understand its light and heat
and the seven colours in its light. Only then may we attain to the non-physical
proximity the first man attained with little thought through his mirror.

Thus, like this comparison, the sainthood of prophethood and of the legacy of
prophethood looks to the mystery of the unfolding of divine immediacy. The other
sainthood proceeds mostly on the basis of proximity, and is compelled to traverse
numerous degrees in spiritual journeying.

Second Station

The persons who were the cause of those events and instigated the trouble did not
consist of a few Jews so that having discovered them the trouble could have been
averted. For with numerous different peoples entering Islam, many mutually
conflicting currents and ideas had confused the situation. Particularly since the
national pride of some of them had been terribly

70

wounded by 'Umar's (May God be pleased with him) blows; they were waiting to
take their revenge. For both their old religions had been rendered null and void and
their old rule and sovereignty, the source of their pride, been swept away. Knowingly
or unknowingly, they were emotionally in favour of seeking vengeance on Islamic
rule. It was therefore said that some clever, scheming dissemblers like the Jews took
advantage of that state of society. That is to say, it could have been averted by
reforming the society and the various ideas of the time, not by discovering one or two
troublemakers.

// it is asked: Why, with that piercing eye of sainthood of his, didn't
'Umar (May God be pleased with him) see his murderer, Firuz, who was with him,
although while in the pulpit he said to one of his commanders called Sariya who was
a month's distance away, "Sariya! The mountain, the mountain!", 1 making Sariya
hear it and in wondrous fashion causing a strategic victory - showing how penetrating
his sight was?

The Answer: Our answer is that of the Prophet Jacob (UWP). That is, Jacob
was asked: "How did you perceive the odour of Joseph's shirt from Egypt when you
did not see him in the well at Cana'an close by?" He replied: "This ability is like
lightning; sometimes it appears and sometimes it is hidden. Sometimes we are as
though seated on the highest spot and can see everwhere, and sometimes we can't see
even the arch of our foot."

In Short: Man is free to act as he wills, still, in accordance with the verse, "You
do not will it except as God wills,"(76:30) divine will is fundamental, divine
determining (kader) is dominant. Divine will restores man's will. It confirms the
statement, "The eye no longer sees when divine determining acts;" 2 that is, when
divine determining speaks, it is beyond human power to speak; man's will falls silent.

THE GIST OF YOUR SECOND QUESTION

What was the true nature of the wars that started in the time of 'Ali (May God be
pleased with him)? What should we call those who took part in them, and those who
died and those who killed?

The Answer: The war between 'Ali and Talha, and Zubayr and 'A'isha

1 Tabari, Ta'rilch al-'Umam wa'l-Mululc, ii, 380; Abu Na'im, al-Dala'il, iii, 210, 211; Bayhaqi, Dala'il
al-Nubuwwa, vi, 370; Suyuti, Ta'rilch al-Khulafa' , 128; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, vii, 131; al-
'Asqalani, al-haba, ii, 3; Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, al-Sawa'iq al-Muhriqa, 101; Suyuti, al-Durar al-
Muntathira, 182, No: 462; al-'Ajluni, Kashf al-Khafa' , ii, 380.

2 Bayhaqi, Shu'ab al-Iman, i, 233. See also, Musnad, v, 234; al-Haythami, Majmu' al-Zawa'id, x, 146;
Ibn Hajar, al-Matalib al- 'Aliya, iii, 234; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, ii, 405, 406.

71

the Veracious (May God be pleased with all of them), called the Event of the Camel,
was a struggle between pure justice and relative justice. It was as follows:

'Ali took pure justice as his guiding principle and in his judgement of the Law
proceeded on that basis, as was the case in the time of the Caliphs Abu Bakr and
'Umar. Those who opposed him said that previously the purity of Islam had permitted
pure justice, but since with the passage of time various peoples whose Islam was
weak had joined Islamic society, to apply pure justice was extremely difficult. For this
reason, their judgement of the Law was based on relative justice, known as the lesser
of two evils. Dispute over interpretation of the Law led to war. Since the
interpretations had been purely for God's sake and for the benefit of Islam, and war
had broken out because of interpretation of the Law, we may surely say that both
those who killed and those who were killed won Paradise, and both acted rightfully.
'Ali's interpretation was accurate, just as those who opposed him were in error, but
they still did not deserve punishment. For if a person makes a correct interpretation,
he gains two rewards, but if he fails to do this he still earns one reward, the reward for
making an interpretation, which is a form of worship. He is forgiven his error. A
learned person who was widely known amongst us and whose pronouncements were
authoritative wrote in Kurdish: "Don't gossip about the war between the Companions,
for both killer and killed were destined for Paradise."

Pure justice and relative justice may be explained as follows: according to the
allusive meaning of the verse,

If any one slew a person - unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief
in the land- it would be as if he slew the whole people, ,(5:32)

the rights of an innocent man cannot be cancelled for the sake of all the people. An
individual may not be sacrificed for the good of all. In the view of Almighty God's
compassion, right is right, there is no difference between great and small. The small
may not be annulled for the great. Without his consent, the life and rights of an
individual may not be sacrificed for the good of the community. If he consents to
sacrifice them in the name of patriotism, that is a different matter.

As for relative justice, a particular is sacrificed for the good of the universal; the
rights of an individual are disregarded in the face of the community. The attempt is
made to apply a sort of relative justice as the lesser of two evils. But if it is possible to
apply pure justice, to apply relative justice is wrong and may not be undertaken.

Thus, Imam 'Ali (May God be pleased with him) judged it possible to

72

apply pure justice as in the time of the Caliphs Abu Bakr and 'Umar, and he set up the
Islamic Caliphate on that basis. Those who opposed him and objected to him said that
it was impossible because of the great difficulties, and judged according to the Law
that they should proceed with relative justice. The other historical reasons are not true
reasons, they are pretexts.

Ifyou ask: What was the reason for Imam 'Ali's lack of success in regard to
the Islamic Caliphate relatively to his predecessors, despite his extraordinary
capabilities, unusual intelligence, and great deservedness?

The Answer: That blessed person was deserving of weighty duties other
than politics and rule. If he had been completely successful in politics and
government, he would have been unable to acquire fully the meaningful title of King
of Sainthood. Whereas he won a spiritual rule far surpassing the external, political
Caliphate, and became a Universal Master; in fact, his spiritual rule will continue
even until the end of the world.

As for his war with Mu'awiya at Siffin, it was a war over the Caliphate and rule.
That is to say, Imam 'Ali gave priority to the injunctions of religion, the truths of
Islam, and the hereafter, and sacrificed some of the laws of government and pitiless
demands of politics. Whereas Mu'awiya and his supporters, in order to strengthen
Islamic society with their governmental policies, left aside resoluteness and favoured
permissiveness; they supposed they were obliged to in the political realm; choosing
permissiveness, they fell into error.

As for Hasan and Husain's struggle against the Umayyads, it was a war between
religion and nationalism. That is, the Umayyads founded the Islamic state on Arab
nationalism and put the bonds of nationalism before those of Islam, causing harm in
two respects:

The First Respect: They offended the other nations and frightened them off.

The Other: The principles of racialism and nationalism are not based on justice
and right, so are unjust and wrongful. They do not proceed on justice. For a ruler of
racialist leanings gives preference to people of the same race and cannot act justly.
According to the clear decree of, "Islam abrogated the tribalism of Ignorance. There is
no difference between an Abyssinian slave and a leader of the Quraish, once they
have accepted Islam," 3 the bonds of nationalism may not be set up in place of the
bonds of religion. If they are, there will be no justice; right will disappear.

3 See, Bukhari, Ahkam, 4; 'Imara, 36, 37; Abu Da'ud, Sunna, 5; Tirmidhi, Jihad, 28; 'Ilm, 16; Nasa'i,
Bay' a, 26; Ibn Maja, Jihad, 39; Musnad, iv, 69, 70, 199, 204, 205; v, 381; vi, 402, 403.

73

Thus, Husain accepted the bonds of religion as fundamental and struggled against
those others as someone executing justice, until he attained the rank of martyrdom.

If it is asked:Ifhe was so right and just, why wasn't he successful? Also,
why did divine determining and divine mercy permit them to meet with the tragic end
they did?

The Answer: It was not Husain' s close supporters that harboured feelings
of revenge towards the Arab nation, but members of other nations who had joined his
community, out of their wounded national pride. They caused harm to the pure,
shining creeds of Husain and his supporters, and were the cause of their defeat.

The wisdom in their tragic end from the point of view of divine determining was
this: Hasan and Husain and their family and descendants were destined to hold
spiritual rule. It is extremely difficult to bring together worldly rule and spiritual rule.
Therefore, divine determining made them feel disgust at the world; it showed them its
ugly face so that they should cease to feel any attachment to it in their hearts. They
lost a temporary, superficial rule, but were appointed to a splendid, permanent
spiritual rule. They became the authorities of the spiritual poles among the saints
instead of commonplace governors.

YOUR THIRD QUESTION

What was the wisdom in the tragically cruel treatment those blessed persons
received?

The A n s w e r : As was explained above, there were three main reasons for
the pitiless cruelty Husain' s opponents displayed during Umayyad rule:

One was the heartless principle of politics: "Individuals may be sacrificed for the
welfare of the government and preservation of public order."

The Second was the cruel rule of nationalism: "Everything may be sacrificed for
the well-being of the nation." For his opponents' rule was based on racialism and
nationalism.

The Third: The traditional vein of rivalry between the Umayyads and the
Hashimites was present in some people like Yazid, and he displayed a merciless
ability to be cruel.

A Fourth Reason: The Umayyads made Arab nationalism the basis of their rule,
and they looked on the members of other nations - who were found among Husain' s
supporters - as slaves. This had wounded their national pride. So, since the other
nations had joined Husain' s community with mixed intentions and to take revenge,
they felt excessively affronted

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at the Umayyad's fanatic nationalism and were the cause of that terrible well-known
tragedy.

The four reasons mentioned above are outward and apparent. When considered
from the point of view of divine determining, the results pertaining to the hereafter
and spiritual rule and spiritual progress that the tradegy won for Husain and his
relatives were of such high worth that the distress they suffered due to it was made
easy and cheap. It resembled a soldier who dies after an hour's torture and becomes a
martyr: he attains a rank so high that anyone else could reach it only if they strove for
ten years. If the soldier were to be asked about it after he had died, he would reply
that he had gained much for very little.

THE GIST OF YOUR FOURTH QUESTION

After Jesus (Upon whom be peace) kills the Antichrist (Dajjal) at the end of time,
most people will enter the true religion. But it says in some narrations: "The end of
the world will not occur as long as there remain on the earth people who say, Allah!
Allah!" 4 So how after most people have come to believe, will they become
unbelievers?

The Answer: Some people whose belief is weak regard as unlikely what is
narrated in the sound Hadith: "Jesus (Upon whom be peace) will come and will act in
accordance with the Shari'a of Islam. He will kill the Dajjal." 5 But when its meaning
is explained, it is seen that there is nothing unlikely about it. It is as follows:

What this Hadith and those about the Sufyan and the Mahdi 6 mean is this: at the
end of time two atheistic movements will gain strength.

One of them: Behind a screen of duplicity, a fearsome individual named the
Sufyan will deny the messengership of Muhammad (UWBP), and coming to lead the
dissemblers, will try to destroy the Islamic Shari'a. To oppose him, a luminous
individual called Muhammad Mahdi of the Family of the Prophet (UWBP) will assume
leadership of the people of sainthood and perfection, who are bound to the luminous
line of the Prophet's (UWBP) Family, and he will kill the current of dissemblers, which
will consist of the collective personality of the Sufyan, and scatter it.

The Second Current: A tyrannical movement born of naturalist philos

^Muslim, Iman, 234; Tirmidhi, Fitan, 35; Musnad, ii, 107, 201, 259; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, vi, 494.
5 , Anbiya', 49; Muslim, Iman, 242-7; Tirmidhi, Fitan, 62; Musnad, iv, 226.
6 For the Sufyan, see, al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iv, 520; Bukhari, Fitan, 101-2; Tirmidhi, Fitan, 62;
Musnad, iii, 1 15, 211, 228, 249-50; v, 38, 404-5; vi, 139-40. For the Mahdi, Bukhari, Anbiya', 49;
Muslim, Iman, 244-5; Ibn Maja, Fitan, 33; Musnad, ii, 336; iii, 368.

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ophy will gradually grow strong at the end of time and spread by means of materialist
philosophy, going so far as to deny God. A savage who does not recognize the king or
accept that the officers and soldiers in the army are his soldiers ascribes a sort of
kingship and rulership to everyone and to all the soldiers. In just the same way, the
members of that movement, who deny God, each ascribes dominicality to his soul like
a little Nimrod. And the greatest of them, the Dajjal, who will come to lead them, will
manifest awesome wonders, a sort of spiritualism and hypnosis; he will go even
further, and imagining his tyrannical, superficial rule to be a sort of dominicality, he
will proclaim his godhead. It is clear just what foolish buffoonery it is for impotent
man, who may be defeated by a fly and cannot create even a fly's wing, to claim
godhead.

At that point, just when the movement appears to be very strong, the religion of
true Christianity, which comprises the collective personality of Jesus (Upon whom be
peace), will emerge. That is, it will descend from the skies of divine mercy. Present-
day Christianity will be purified in the face of that reality; it will cast off superstition
and distortion, and unite with the truths of Islam. Christianity will in effect be
transformed into a sort of Islam. Following the Qur' an, the collective personality of
Christianity will be in the rank of follower, and Islam, in that of leader. True religion
will become a mighty force as a result of its joining it. Although defeated before the
atheistic movement while separate, as a result of their union Christianity and Islam
will acquire the capability to defeat and rout it. Then the person of Jesus (Upon whom
be peace), who is present with his human body in the world of the heavens, will come
to lead the current of true religion, as, relying on the promise of One Powerful Over
All Things, the Bringer of Sure News has said. 7 Since he has told of it, it is true, and
since the One Powerful Over All Things has promised it, He will certainly bring it
about.

Indeed, it is not far from the wisdom of the All- Wise One of Glory who all the
time sends the angels to the earth from the heavens, sometimes in human form - like
Gabriel appearing in the form of Dihya 8 - and sends spirit beings from the Spirit
World making them appear in human form, and even sends the spirits of most of the
dead saints to the world with similitudes of their bodies, it would not be far from His
Wisdom - even if

7

See, Qur' an, 4: 159. See also, Bukhari, Anbiya', 49; Muslim, Iman, 242-7; Tirmidhi, Fitan, 62;
Musnad, iv, 226.

8 See, Bukhari, Manaqib, 25; Muslim, Fada'il al-Sahaba, 100; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, ix,
276.

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he were not alive and present with his body in the skies of the world and had truly
died and departed for the furthest corner of the hereafter - to clothe Jesus (Upon
whom be peace) in his body and send him to the world, so to bring the religion of
Jesus to a fitting conclusion; for such a momentous result. Indeed He promised it
because His wisdom required it to be thus, and since He promised it, He will most
certainly send him.

When Jesus (Upon whom be peace) comes, not everyone will know him to be the
true Jesus. His elect and those close to him will recognize him through the light of
belief. It will not be self-evident so that everyone will recognize him.

Question: There are narrations which say: "The Dajjal has a false paradise
where he sends those who follow him, and he also has a false hell into which he casts
those who do not follow him. He has even made one of his mount's ears into a
paradise and the other one into a hell; his body is of such-and-such vast dimensions;" 9
they describe him like this?

The Answer: The Dajjal superficially resembles a human being. But he is
arrogant and pharaoh-like and has forgotten God, so is a foolish satan and intriguing
man who calls his superficial, tyrannical rule godhead. But his atheistic movement,
his collective personality, is truly vast. The awesome descriptions of the Dajjal in the
narrations allude to that. 10 At one time, the commander-in-chief of the Japanese army
was depicted with one foot in the Pacific Ocean and the other ten days' distance away
in Port Arthur. The collective personality of the commander-in-chief's army was
illustrated by depicting him in that way.

The Dajjal' s false paradise consists of the alluring amusements and enticements
of civilization. His mount is means of transport like the railway; at one end of the
train is the fire-box which sometimes sprays fire on those who do not follow him. The
other of the mount's ears, that is, the other end of it, has been furnished like Paradise,
where he seats his followers. Anyway, the railway, an important mount of sinful,
cruel civilization, brings a false paradise for the dissolute and the worldly, while for
the people of religion and Islam like the angels of Hell it brings dangers in the hand of
civilization, and casts them into captivity and indigence.

For sure, when the true religion of Christianity emerges and is transformed into
Islam, it will spread its light to the great majority of people in

9 Bukhari, Anbiya', 3; Muslim, Fitan, 109; Musnad, iii, 376; Ibn Abi Shayba, al-Musannaf, viii, 655.

10 See, Bukhari, Anbiya', 3; Muslim, Fitan, 100-5; Abu Da'ud, Fitan, 1; Tirmidhi, Fitan, 55-61.

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the world, but when the end of the world approaches, an atheistic movement will
again appear and become dominant. According to the rule, "The word is with the
majority," no one will remain on earth who says, "Allah! Allah!;" 11 that is, "Allah!
Allah!" will not be uttered by any significant group that holds an important position
on the earth. The people of truth will form a minority or will be defeated, but they will
remain permanently till the end of the world. Only, the moment Doomsday occurs, as
a token of divine mercy, the spirits of the believers will be seized first so that they do
not see the terrors of the Last Day, and it will break forth over the unbelievers. 12

THE GIST OF YOUR FIFTH QUESTION

Will the immortal spirits be grieved at the events of the Last Day?

The Answer: They will be grieved according to their degrees. They will be
grieved in the same way that they are grieved at the overwhelming, wrathful
manifestations of the angels towards themselves. A person is affected in his mind and
conscience if others are trembling in the snow and cold outside while he himself is
inside in the warmth. Similarly, since they are connected to the universe immortal
spirits are affected according to their degree by its awesome events. The Qur'an
indicates and alludes to this and to the tormented being grievously afflicted, and those
destined for happiness being struck by wonder and amazement, and even rejoicing.
For the All- Wise Qur' an always mentions the extraordinary events of the resurrection
in the form of threats; it says: "You will see it!" Whereas those who will witness it
physically are those living at the Last Day. That is to say, spirits whose bodies have
rotted in their graves are also addressed by those Qur'anic threats.

THE GIST OF YOUR SIXTH QUESTION

Does the verse,

Everything will perish save His countenance(2S:SS)

include the hereafter, Paradise, and Hell, and their inhabitants, or does it not include
them?

The Answer: This question has been much discussed by the scholars, the
saints, and those who uncover the realities of creation. They have the say in this
matter. Moreover, the verse is very broad and contains many

11 Muslim, Iman, 234; Tirmidhi, Fitan, 35; Musnad, iii, 107.

12 See, Ibn Hajar, al-Matalib al-'Aliya, iv, 353; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, viii, 9.

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levels. The majority of scholars said that it does not include the everlasting realm,
while others suggested that those realms too will perish for just an instant, a brief
interval of time, but so briefly that their being annihilated and restored will be
imperceptible. However, the absolute annihilation stated by some of those who
uncover the realities whose ideas are extreme, is not right. For since the Most Pure
and Holy Divine Essence is eternal and everlasting, His attributes and names are also
surely eternal and everlasting. And since His attributes and names are everlasting and
eternal, the immortal beings in the realm of eternity, which are the mirrors,
manifestations, impresses, and places of reflection of His attributes and names, of
necessity will not vanish into absolute non-existence.

A couple of points have occurred to me from the effulgence of the Qur'an, and I
shall write them here in summary:

The First: Almighty God is the possessor of such absolute power that He can
bring existence into being and despatch it to non-existence most easily, as though they
were two houses in relation to His power and will. If He wishes He can do this in a
day or in an instant. Anyway there is no absolute non-existence, for His knowledge is
all-embracing; there is nothing outside the sphere of divine knowledge so that
something can be cast there. The non-existence within the sphere of His knowledge is
external non-existence and a title for something concealed but existent in divine
knowledge. Some scholars have called the beings existent in divine knowledge "latent
realities." In which case, to go to extinction is to be temporarily divested of external
dress and to enter upon existence in divine knowledge, existence in meaning. That is
to say, transitory, ephemeral beings leave external existence and their essences are
clothed in what has the meaning of existence; they pass from the sphere of divine
power to that of divine knowledge.

The Second: As we have explained in many of the Words, in regard to their
faces which look to themselves, all things are nothing. They do not possess existences
that are of themselves independent or constant, and they do not possess realities that
subsist of themselves. But in regard to their aspects that look to Almighty God, that is,
that signify a meaning other than themselves, they are not nothing. For in that aspect
are to be seen the manifestations of eternal names. That aspect is not doomed for non-
existence, for it bears the shadow of an eternal existent. It has a reality, it is constant,
and it is elevated. For it is a sort of constant shadow of the eternal name which it
manifests.

Furthermore, "Everything will perish save His countenance" is a sword to cut
man's attachment to things other than God. It looks to the transitory

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things of this fleeting world in order to sever attachment to them, if it is not for
Almighty God's sake. That is to say, if man's attachment is for God's sake and on
account of the face that looks to Him, and for Him, he cannot embrace what is other
than Him so that his head should be cut off with the sword of "Everything will perish
save His countenance."

In Short: If a person looks at things for God, if a person finds God, nothing will
be other than Him so that his head should be severed. But if he does not find God and
does not look on his account, everything will be other than Him. A person has to use
the sword of "Everything will perish save His countenance;" he has to rend the veil so
that he can find Him.

The Eternal One, He is the Eternal One!

Said Nu r s i

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The Sixteenth Letter

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

Men said to them: "A great army is gathering against you, " and frightened
them. But it [only] increased their belief; they said: "For us God suffices,
and He is the best Disposer of Affairs."(3:l73)

This letter manifested the meaning of the verse, "But speak to him
mildly,"(20:44) and was not written vehemently. It is the answer to a question asked
me explicitly and implicitly by many people.

[To reply is not agreeable to me and I do not want to, for I have bound
everything to reliance on God. But since I have not been left in peace to
myself in my own world and since they have turned my attention towards the
world, I am compelled to propound five points in the language of the Old Said
in order to explain the reality of the situation both to my friends, and to the
worldly, 1 and to those in authority, so as to save not myself, but my friends
and my Words, from the suspicions and ill-treatment of the worldly.]

FIRST POINT

I am asked: "Why have you withdrawn from politics and now have nothing to do
with them?"

The Answer: The Old Said of nine or ten years ago was involved in politics
to a degree; indeed, thinking he would serve religion and learning by means of
politics, he was wearied for nothing. He saw that it is a dangerous way which is
dubious and full of difficulties, and for me superfluous as well as forming an obstacle
to the most necessary duties. It is mostly lies and may be exploited by foreigners
without one being aware of it. Furthermore, a person who enters politics either wins
or is in opposition. As for

11 For 'the worldly,' see, p. fn.

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winning, since I am neither an official nor a deputy, to work in politics is unnecessary
and nonsense for me. Politics has no need for me that I should meddle in them for
nothing. If I join the opposition, I would do so either with ideas or with force. If it was
with ideas there is no need for me, for the questions are all clear and everyone knows
them as I do. To wag one's chin for nothing is pointless. If I join the opposition
intending to use force and to provoke an incident, I might commit thousands of sins to
reach one doubtful goal. Numerous people would be struck by disaster on account of
one. So saying that in all conscience he could not commit sins and cause the innocent
to commit them for a one or two in ten possibility, the Old Said gave up cigarettes
together with the newspapers, politics, and worldly conversation about politics.
Decisive evidence for this is the fact that for the past eight years I have not read a
single newspaper nor listened to one being read. Let someone come forward and say
that I have read one or listened to one. Whereas eight years ago the Old Said used to
read perhaps eight newspapers every day. Furthermore, for the past five years I have
been under the closest scrutiny and surveillance. Anyone who has observed the
slightest hint of political activity should say so. For someone like me who is nervous,
fearless, and without attachment, who considers the best stratagem to be without
stratagem, his ideas will not remain secret for eight days, let alone eight years. If he
had had any appetite or desire for politics, there would have been no need for
investigation and scrutiny, for he would have given voice like the firing of a cannon.

SECOND POINT

Why does the New Said avoid politics with such vehemence?

The A n s w e r : He avoids it so vehemently in order to serve belief and the
Qur'an, which is of the greatest importance, the greatest necessity and is most pure
and most right, and so as not to sacrifice unnecessarily and officiously for one or two
doubtful years of worldly life the work of gaining more than millions of years of
eternal life. For he says: I am growing old and I do not know how much longer I shall
live, so for me the most important question should be working for eternal life. The
prime means of gaining eternal life and the key to everlasting happiness is belief
(ema\n), so I have to work for that. But since I am obliged by the Shari'a to serve
people in respect of learning so that they may profit too, I want to perform that duty.
However, such service will either concern social and worldly life, which I cannot do,
and also in stormy times it is not possible to perform such service soundly. I therefore
gave up that side of it and chose the side of serving belief, which is the most
important, the most necessary, and the soundest. I

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leave that door open so that the truths of belief I have gained for myself and the
spiritual remedies I have myself experienced may be acquired by others. Perhaps
Almighty God will accept this service and make it atonement for my former sins.
Apart from Satan the Accursed, no one, be it a believer or an unbeliever, one of the
veracious or an atheist, has the right to oppose this work. For unbelief resembles
nothing else. In tyrannizing, vice, and grievous sins there may be an inauspicious
diabolical pleasure, but in unbelief there is no sort of pleasure at all. It is pain upon
pain, darkness upon darkness, torment upon torment.

Just how contrary to reason it would be for someone like me who is unattached,
alone, and compelled to atone for his former sins to leave aside working for an
endless eternal life and serving a sacred light like belief, and to cast himself in old age
into the unnecessary, perilous games of politics - just how contrary to wisdom, just
what a lunacy it would be even lunatics would understand !

But if you ask why service of the Qur ' an and belief prohibit me, I would say this :
the truths of belief and the Qur' an are each like diamonds. If I were polluted by
politics, the ordinary people who are easily deceived, would wonder about those
diamonds I was holding: "Aren't they for political propaganda, to attract more
supporters?" They might regard the diamonds as bits of common glass. Then, by
being involved with politics I would be wronging the diamonds by as though reducing
their value. O you whose view is restricted to this world! Why do you struggle against
me? Why do you not leave me to myself?

If you say: The shaikhs sometimes interfere in our business, and they sometimes
call you a shaikh.

I reply: Good sirs! I am not a shaikh, I am a hoja (teacher). The evidence is this:
I have been here four years and if I had taught a single person the Sufi way, you
would have had the right to be suspicious. But I have told everyone who has come to
me: Belief is necessary, Islam is necessary; this is not the age of Sufism.

If you say: They call you Said-i Kurdi; perhaps you have some nationalist ideas
and that doesn't suit our interests.

I would reply: Sirs! The things the Old Said and the New Said have written are
clear. I cite as testimony the certain statement, "Islam has abrogated the tribalism of
Ignorance." 2 For years I have considered negative

2 See, Bukhari, Ahkam, 4; 'Imara, 36, 37; Abu Da'ud, Sunna, 5; Tirmidhi, Jihad, 28; 'Dm, 16; Nasa'i,
Bay' a, 26; Ibn Maja, Jihad, 39; Musnad, iv, 69, 70, 199, 204, 205; v, 381; vi, 402, 403.

83

nationalism and racialism to be fatal poisons, since they are a variety of European
disease. And Europe has infected Islam with it thinking it would cause division, and
Islam would break up and be easily swallowed. My students and those people who
have had anything to do with me know that for years I have tried to treat that disease.
Since it is thus, good sirs, why you make every incident a pretext to harass me?
According to what principle do you cause me distress at every worldly incident,
which is like punishing and inflicting trouble on a soldier in the West because of a
mistake made by a soldier in the East because they both belong to the army, or
convicting a shopkeeper in Baghdad because of a crime committed by a tradesman in
Istanbul due to their being in the same line of business? Who could do this in all
conscience? What advantage is there that could require it?

THIRD POINT

My friends who wonder how I am and are astonished at my meeting in patience
every calamity, silently ask the following question: "How can you endure the
difficulties you're faced with, when formerly you were very proud and angry and
could not endure even the least insult?"

The Answer: Listen to two short stories about two incidents and you will
receive your answer:

The First Story: Two years ago an official spoke insultingly and contemptuously
about me behind my back. They told me about it later. A vein of temperament
remaining from the Old Said made me feel upset about it for about an hour. Then
through Almighty God's mercy the following occurred to me; it dispelled the distress
and made me forgive the man. It was this:

I addressed my soul saying: if his insults and the faults he described concerned
my person, may God be pleased with him, because he recalled the faults of my soul. If
he spoke the truth, he prompted me to train my soul and helped to save me from
arrogance. If he spoke falsely, he helped to save me from hypocrisy and undeserved
fame, the source of hypocrisy. No, I am not reconciled with my soul, for I have not
trained it. If someone tells me there is a scorpion on my neck or breast or else points it
out to me, I should be grateful to him, not offended. But if the man's insults were
directed at my belief and my being a servant of the Qur' an, it does not concern me. I
refer him to the Qur' an' s Owner, who employs me. He is mighty, He is wise. And if it
was merely to curse at me, insult me, and blacken my character, that does not concern
me either. For I am an exile, a prisoner, a stranger, and my hands are tied; it does not
fall to me to try to restore my honour myself. To do so is the business of the
authorities of this village where I am a guest and

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under surveillance, then of the district, then of the province. Insulting a person's
prisoner concerns the person; he defends the prisoner. Since that was the reality of the
matter, my heart became easy. I declared: "My [own] affair I commit to God; for God
[ever] watches over His servants. "(40:44) I thought of the incident as not having
happened. But unfortunately it was later understood that the Qur' an had not forgiven
the man.

The Second Story: This year I heard that an incident had occurred. Although I
only heard a brief account of it after it had happened, I was treated as though I had
been closely connected with it. Anyway I hardly correspond with anyone, and if I do,
I only write extremely rarely to a friend concerning some question of belief. In fact I
have written only one letter to my brother in four years. Both I prevent myself from
mixing with others, and the worldly prevent me. I have only been able to meet with
one or two close friends once or twice a week. As for visitors to the village, once or
twice a month perhaps one or two used to meet with me for one or two minutes
concerning some matter to do with the hereafter. In exile, a stranger, alone, with no
one, I was barred from everything, from everyone, in a village that was unsuitable for
someone like me to work for a livelihood. As a matter of fact, four years ago I
repaired a tumble-down mosque. Although with the certificate I had from my own
region to act an imam and preacher, I acted as imam in the mosque for four years
(May God accept it), this past Ramadan I could not go there. Sometimes I performed
the five daily prayers alone. I was deprived of the twenty-fivefold merit of performing
the prayers in congregation.

I showed the same patience and forbearance in the face of these two incidents
that befell me as I did in the face of that official's treatment two years ago. God
willing I shall continue to do so. I think like this, and say: if this ill-treatment, distress,
and oppression inflicted on me by the worldly is for my faulty soul, I forgive it.
Perhaps my soul will be reformed by means of it, and perhaps it will be atonement for
its sins. I have experienced many good things in this guest-house of the world; if I
experience a little of its trials, I shall still offer thanks. But if the worldly oppress me
because of my service of belief and the Qur' an, it is not up to me to defend it. I refer it
to the Mighty and Compelling One. If their intention is to destroy the regard in which
I am held generally, to expunge my undeserved fame, which is baseless and causes
hypocrisy and destroys sincerity, may God bless them! For to be held in high regard
by people generally and gain a name among them is harmful for people like me.
Those who have dealings with me know that I do not want respect to be shown to me,
indeed, I can't abide it. I have even scolded a valuable friend of mine perhaps fifty
times for show

85

ing me excessive respect. If their intention in slandering me, belittling me in the eyes
of the people, and defaming me is aimed at the truths of belief and the Qur'an of
which I am the interpreter, it is pointless. For a veil cannot be drawn over the stars of
the Qur'an. A person who closes his eyes only himself does not see; he does not make
it night for anyone else.

FOURTH POINT

The answer to a number of suspicious questions:

The First: The worldly say to me: "How do you live? What do you live on
since you do not work? We don't want people in our country who sit around idly and
live off the labour of others."

The Answer:! live through frugality and the resulting plenty. I am not
obliged to anyone other than the One who Provides for me and I have taken the
decision not to become indebted to anyone else. Yes, someone who lives on a
hundred para, or even forty para, does not become indebted to anyone. I do not want
to explain this matter. To do so is most disagreeable to me, as it may make me feel a
sort of pride or egotism. But since the worldly ask about it suspiciously, I reply as
follows: since my childhood, throughout my life, it has been one of my guiding
principles not to accept anything from people, even zakat, and not to accept a salary -
only I was compelled to accept one for one or two years in the Darii'l-Hikmeti'l-
Islamiye on the insistence of my friends - and not to become obliged to people for a
worldly livelihood. The people of my native region and those who have known me in
other places know this. During these five years of exile, many friends have tried
earnestly to make me accept their gifts, but I have accepted none of them. And so, if it
is asked me, "So how do you manage to live?", I reply: "I live through divine
bestowal and blessings." For sure, my soul deserves every sort of insult and contempt,
but the plenty and blessings, a divine bestowal, I receive as sustenance are a wonder
resulting from service of the Qur'an. In accordance with the verse,

But the bounty of your Sustainer rehearse and proclaim, (93:1 1)

I shall cite the bounties Almighty God has bestowed on me, and give a few examples
by way of thanks. To do so is thanks, but I am still frightened that it will induce
hypocrisy and pride, and that blessed plenty will be cut. For to make known a secret
divine gift of plenty causes it to cease. But what can I do? I have to describe them.
The First: This six months one bushel (kile) 3 of wheat, consisting of

3 36.5 lbs. (Tr.)

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thirty-six loaves of bread, has sufficed me. There is still some left, it is not finished.
How much longer 4 it will last, I do not know.

The Second: This blessed month of Ramadan I was given food by only two
houses, and both of them made me ill. I understood that I am prohibited from eating
other people's food. The rest of the time, in the whole of Ramadan, three loaves of
bread and one okka of rice were enough for me, as was witnessed and told by
Abdullah Cavus, the owner of a blessed house and a loyal friend who saw my
economizing. In fact, the rice was finished two weeks after the end of Ramadan.

The Third: For three months on the mountain one kiyye 6 of butter was enough
for me and my guests, eating it every day together with bread. On one occasion even I
had a blessed visitor called Suleyman. Both his bread and my bread were about to be
finished. It was Wednesday. I told him to go and get some more. For two hours'
distance on every side of us there was no one from whom he could have got any. He
said that he wanted to stay with me on the mountain on Thursday night so that we
could pray together. I declared: "Our reliance is on God," and told him to stay. Later,
although it had no connection with this and there was no reason for it, we both began
walking till we reached the top of the mountain. There was a little water in the ewer,
and we had a small piece of sugar and some tea. I told him: "Brother! Make some
tea!" He set about making it and I sat down under a cedar- tree overlooking a deep
ravine. I thought regretfully to myself: we have a bit of mouldy bread which will only
just be enough for us this evening. What shall we do for two days and what shall I say
to this ingenuous man? While thinking this, I suddenly turned my head involuntarily
and I saw a huge loaf of bread on the cedar-tree in among the branches; it was facing
us. I exclaimed: "Suleyman! Good news! Almighty God has sent us food." We took
the bread, and looking at it saw that no bird or wild animal had touched it. And for
twenty or thirty days no one at all had climbed to the top of that mountain. The bread
was sufficient for us for the two days. While we were eating and it was about to be
finished, righteous Suleyman who had been the most loyal of loyal friends for four
years, suddenly appeared from below with more bread.

The Fourth: I bought this sack coat I'm wearing seven years ago second-hand.
In five years I have spent only four and a half liras on clothes, underwear, slippers,
and stockings. Frugality and divine mercy and the resulting plenty have sufficed me.

4 It lasted a year.

5 About 2.8 lbs. or 1,300 grammes.

' About 2.8 lbs.

87

There are many other things like these examples and numerous sorts of divine
blessings. The people of this village know most of them. But do not suppose I am
mentioning them out of pride, I have been forced to, rather. And do not think they
were due to my goodness. These instances of plenty were either bestowal to the
sincere friends who have visited me, or a bestowal on account of service of the
Qur'an, or an abundance and benefit resulting from frugality, or they have been
sustenance for the four cats I have which recite the divine names "O Most
Compassionate One! O Most Compassionate One!", which comes in the form of
plenty and from which I benefit too.

Yes, if you listen carefully to their mournful miaowings, you will understand that
they are saying, "O Most Compassionate One! O Most Compassionate One!" We
have arrived at the subject of cats and it has recalled the hen. I have a hen. This winter
every day almost without exception she brought me an egg from the treasury of
mercy. Then one day she brought me two eggs and I was astonished. I asked my
friends "How can this be?" They replied: "Perhaps it is a divine gift." The hen also
has a young chick she hatched in the summer. It started to lay at the beginning of
Ramadan and continued for forty days. Neither I nor those who assist me have any
doubt that, both its being a pullet, and the season being winter, and Ramadan, this
blessed situation was a divine gift and bestowal. And whenever the mother stopped
laying, it immediately started, never leaving me without eggs.

Second Suspicious Question: The worldly ask: How can we be
sure you won't meddle in our world? If we set you free, you may interfere in it. Also,
how do we know that you aren't being cunning? How do we know that it isn't a
stratagem, pretending to have abandoned the world and taking things from the people
not openly, but secretly?

The Answer: My attitude in the Court Martial and in the period before the
proclamation of the Constitution, which are known by many, and my defence in the
Court Martial at that time called The Testimony of Two Schools of Misfortune , show
decisively that the life I lived was such that I would not resort to the tiniest wiles, let
alone cunning and subterfuge. If I had resorted to trickery this last five years, I would
have made application to you in sycophantic manner. A wily man tries to ingratiate
himself. He does not hold back; he always tries to deceive and hoodwink. Whereas I
have not condescended to respond to the severest attacks and criticisms levelled at
me. Saying, "I place my trust in God," I turned my back on the worldly. Moreover, if
he is sensible, a person who discovers the reality of this world and knows the
hereafter, is not sorry; he does not turn back to

the world and struggle with it again. After the age of fifty, a person who has no
connection with anything and is alone, will not sacrifice eternal life for one or two
years of the chatter and deception of this world. If he does, he is not cunning but
foolish and crazy. What can a crazy lunatic do so that anyone should bother with him?
As for suspecting me of outwardly abandoning the world while inwardly seeking it, in
accordance with the verse,

Nor do I absolve my own self [of blame]; the [human] soul is certainly prone
to evil, (12:53)

I do not exonerate my soul, for it wants everything bad. But in this fleeting world, this
temporary guest-house, during old age, in a brief life, it is not reasonable to destroy
eternal life and everlasting happiness for a little bit of pleasure. Since it is not
profitable for the reasonable and the aware, willy-nilly my soul has had to follow my
reason.

The Third Suspicious Question: The worldly say: Do you like
us? Do you approve of us? If you do like us, why are you stand-offish and have
nothing to do with us? If you don't like us, that means you object to us and we crush
those who object to us.

The Answer: Not you, if I had loved your world, I would not have
withdrawn from it. I don't like either you or your world, but I don't interfere with
them. For I have different goals; my heart is filled with different things, leaving no
room for anything else. Your duty is to look to a person's hand, not to his heart. For
you seek your government and your public order. So long as his hand does not
interfere, what right do you have to interfere in his heart and tell him, "your heart
should love us too," although you are in no way worthy of it? Yes, just as I desire the
spring during this winter and long for it but cannot will it or make it come; so too I
long for the world to be righted and I pray for it and I want the worldly to be
reformed, but I cannot will these things because I do not have the power. I cannot
bring them about, because it is neither my duty, nor do I have the capacity.

Fourth Suspicious Question: The worldly say: we have
experienced so many calamities, we no longer have confidence in anyone. How can
we be certain that given the opportunity you won't interfere like you want to?

The Answer: The previous points should assure you. In addition, I did not
interfere in your world while in my native region among my students and relatives,
with those who heeded me in the midst of volatile events. So for someone who is
alone in exile, with no one, a stranger, weak, powerless, turned with all his strength
towards the hereafter, cut off from all

89

social relations and communication, who has found only a few friends from far afield
who also look to the hereafter, and who is a stranger to everyone else and whom
everyone else regards as a stranger - for such a person to interfere in your fruitless,
dangerous world would surely be compounded lunacy.

FIFTH POINT

This concerns five small matters.

The First: The worldly ask me: Why don't you practise the principles of
our civilization, our style of life, and our manner of dressing? Does this mean you
oppose us?

My reply: Sirs! What right do you have to propose to me the principles of
your civilization? For as though casting me outside the laws of civilization, you have
wrongfully forced me to reside in a village for five years and prohibited me from
having any social relations or communication. You left all the exiles in the town with
their friends and relatives, then gave them the papers granting them an amnesty, but
without reason you isolated me and did not allow me to meet with anyone from my
native region, except for one or two. That means you do not count me as a member of
this nation or a citizen. How can you propose that I apply your civil code to myself?
You have turned the world into a prison for me. Such things cannot be proposed to
someone in prison. You closed the door of the world on me, so I knocked on the door
of the hereafter and divine mercy opened it to me. How can the confused customs and
principles of the world be dictated to someone at the door of the hereafter? Whenever
you set me free and return me to my native region and restore my rights, then you can
require me to conform to your principles.

Second Matter : The worldly say: "We have an official department for
instructing in the precepts of religion and truths of Islam. On what authority do you
publish religious works? Since you are a convicted exile, you have no right to meddle
in these matters."

The Answer: Truth and reality cannot be restricted. How can belief and the
Qur'an be restricted? You can restrict the principles and laws of your world, but the
truths of belief and Qur'anic principles cannot be forced into the form of worldly
dealings or be given an official guise in return for a wage. Those mysteries, which are
divine gifts, those blessings, come rather through a sincere intention and giving up the
world and carnal pleasures. Moreover, that official department of yours accepted me
and appointed me as a preacher while I was in my home region. I accepted the
position, but rejected the salary. I have the document in my possession. With it I can
act

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as an imam and preacher everywhere, because my being exiled was unjust. Also,
since the exiles have been returned, my old documents are still valid.

Secondly: I addressed the truths of belief I have written directly at my own soul.
I do not invite everyone. Rather, those whose spirits are needy and hearts wounded
search out and find those Qur'anic remedies. Only, to secure my livelihood I had
printed a treatise of mine about the resurrection of the dead before the new script was
introduced. And the former governor, who was unfair to me, studied the treatise, but
did nothing against it since he could find nothing in it to criticize.

Third Matter: Some of my friends remain apparently aloof from me
because the worldly look on me with suspicion and in order to curry favour with the
worldly, indeed, they criticize me. But the cunning worldly attribute their aloofness
and avoiding me not to their loyalty to the worldly but to a sort of hypocrisy and lack
of conscience, and they look on those friends of mine coldly.

So I say this: O my friends of the hereafter! Don't hold back from me as a servant
of the Qur'an and run away. God willing, no harm will come to you from me.
Suppose some calamity is visited on you or I am oppressed, you still cannot be saved
by avoiding me. By doing that you will make yourselves more deserving of being
visited by a calamity and receiving a blow. And what is there, that you should have
these groundless fears?

Fourth Matter: I see during this time of exile that certain boastful people
who have fallen into the swamp of politics regard me in a partisan manner, with
rivalry, as though I were connected with the worldly movements like they are.

Sirs ! I am in the current of belief. Before me is the current of unbelief. I have no
connection with other currents or movements. Perhaps some of those who work for a
wage consider themselves excused to a degree. But to assume a stance opposing me in
rivalry in the name of patriotism for no wage, and to harass me and oppress me, is
truly a grievous error. For as was proved above, I have no connection at all with
world politics. I have dedicated all my time and my life to the truths of belief and the
Qur'an. Since it is thus, the person who torments and harasses me in rivalry should
realize that to do so is like harming belief in the name of atheism and unbelief.

Fifth Matter: Since this world is transitory, and life is short, and one's
essential duties are many, and eternal life is gained here; and since this guest-house of
the world is not without an owner, indeed, has a most wise and generous director, and
neither good nor bad will remain without recompense; and since according to the
verse,

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On no soul does God place a burden greater than it can bear(2:2S6)

there is no obligation that is insupportable, and a safe way is preferable to a harmful
one, and since friends and ranks last only till the door of the grave; then surely the
most fortunate person is he who does not forget the hereafter for this world, nor
sacrifice the hereafter for this world, nor destroy the life of the hereafter for worldly
life, nor waste his life on trivial things, but considers himself to be a guest and acts in
accordance with the commands of the guest-house's Owner, then opens the door of
the grave in confidence and enters upon eternal happiness. 7

7 The reason for these 'sinces' is this: I take no notice of the wrongs and tyranny perpetrated against
my person and give them no importance. I say, "They are not worth worrying about," and I do not
interfere in the world.

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An Addendum
to the Sixteenth Letter

In His Name!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise. {17:44)

Without reason the worldly became suspicious of a powerless stranger like
myself, and imagining me to have the power of thousands, put me under numerous
restrictions. They did not give permission for me to stay a night or two in Bedre, a
district of Barla, or on one of the mountains of Barla. I heard that they say: "Said
possesses the power of fifty thousand soldiers, so we can't set him free."

So I say: You unhappy people whose view is restricted to this world! How is it
that you do not know the matters of the world, despite working for it with all your
strength, and govern it like lunatics? If it is my person you fear, one soldier even
could do more than me, let alone fifty thousand. That is, he could be posted at the
door of my room and tell me: "You can't go out!"

But if it is my profession and my being herald of the Qur'an and the moral
strength of belief that you fear, then you are wrong; you should be aware that in that
respect, I have the strength of fifty million soldiers, not fifty thousand! For through
the strength of the All- Wise Qur' an, I challenge all Europe including your irreligious
people. Through the lights of belief I have published I have razed the sturdy bastions
they call the physical sciences and nature. I have cast down lower than animals their
greatest irreligious philosophers. If all Europe were to gather, of which your
irreligious people are a part, through God's assistance, they could not make me recant
a single matter of that way of mine. God willing, they could not defeat me!

Since the matter is thus, I do not interfere in your world, so don't you interfere in
my hereafter! If you do, if it will be of no avail.

What is determined by God cannot be turned by force;
Aflame that if lit by God, cannot be extinguished by puffing.

The worldly are exceptionally and excessively suspicious of me; quite simply,
they are frightened of me. Imagining about me non-existent things that even if they
did exist would not constitute a political crime and could

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not be the cause of accusation, like being a shaikh, or having high rank or belonging
to a powerful family, or being a tribal leader and influential and having numerous
followers, or meeting with people from my native region, or being involved in the
affairs of the world, or even entering politics or the opposition; imagining such things
about me, they have been carried away by groundless fears. At a time they are
discussing pardoning those in prison and outside, that is, those that according to them
cannot be pardoned, they have quite simply barred me from everything. A bad and
ephemeral person wrote the following good and enduring words:

If tyranny has cannon, shot, and forts,

Right has an untwistable arm, a constant face.

And I say:

If the worldly have rule, power, and strength,
Through the Qur'an's effulgence, its servant
Has unfaltering knowledge, an unsilenceable voice;
He has an unerring heart, an unquenchable light.

Many friends, as well as a military commander under whose surveillance I was,
repeatedly asked: "Why don't you apply for the release papers and present a
petition?"

The Answer: I do not apply and I cannot apply for five or six reasons:

The First: I did not interfere in the worldly' s world that I should have been
convicted and so apply to them. I was convicted by divine determining; my faults are
before it, and I apply to it.

The Second: I believe and have certain knowledge that this world is a swiftly
changing guesthouse. It is not the true homeland and everywhere is the same. Since I
will not remain permanently in my home region, it is pointless to struggle for it; it is
not worth going there. Since everywhere is a guesthouse, if the mercy of the
guesthouse's Owner befriends one, everyone is a friend and everywhere is familiar.
Whereas if it does not befriend one, everywhere is a load on the heart and everyone is
hostile.

The Third: Application should be within the framework of the law, but the way I
have been treated these six years has been arbitrary and outside the law. The Exiles'
Law was not applied to me. They looked on me as being stripped of all the rights of
civilization and even of all worldly rights. It is meaningless to apply in the name of
the law to those whose treatment of me has been thus outside the law.

The Fourth: This year, the local official applied in my name for me to stay for a
few days in the village of Bedre, which is a sort of district of

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Barla, for a change of air. How can those who reject such an unimportant request be
applied to? To apply to them would be a futile, degrading abasement.

The Fifth: To claim a right before those who claim a wrong to be right, and to
apply to them, is a wrong. It is disrespectful towards right. I do not want to perpetrate
such a wrong and show disrespect for right. And that's that!

The Sixth: The distress and difficulty the worldly have caused me has not been
due to politics, because they know I do not meddle in politics but flee from them.
Rather, knowingly or unknowingly, they torment me on account of aggressive
atheism because I adhere to religion. In which case, to apply to them infers regretting
religion and flattering the cause of aggressive atheism.

Moreover, divine determining, which is just, would punish me through their
tyrannical hand if I applied to them and had recourse to them, for they oppress me
because I am religious. As for divine determining, from time to time it represses me
due to my hypocrisy before the worldly, because I am deficient in religion and in
sincerity. Since this is so, for the time being I cannot be saved from this distress. If I
apply to the worldly, divine determining would say: "Hypocrite! Pay the penalty for
applying!" And if I do not apply, the worldly say: "You don't recognize us, go on
suffering difficulties !"

The Seventh Reason: It is well-known that the official's duty is to allow harmful
individuals no opportunity to cause harm and to assist those who are beneficial.
Whereas the official who took me into custody approached me, an elderly guest at the
door of the grave, when I was expounding a subtle aspect of belief contained in the
phrase "There is no god but God," as though I were perpetrating some misdemeanour,
although he had not been to me for a long time previously. He caused the sincere
unfortunate who was listening to be deprived of the instruction, and made me angry.
But there were other people there, and he gave them no importance. Then when they
acted discourteously in a way that would poison the life of the village, he started to be
gracious and appreciative towards them.

Furthermore, it is well-known that someone in prison who has committed a
hundred crimes can meet with the official supervising him whether he be of high rank
or low. But during this last year, although two people important in the eyes of the
national government who were charged with supervising me have passed by my
house several times, they have absolutely neither met with me nor asked after me. At
first I supposed that they avoided me out of enmity, then it transpired that it was due
to their

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fearful suspicions; they were fleeing from me as though as I were going to gobble
them up. So to recognize a government whose members and officials are like them
and have recourse to it and apply to it, is not sensible but a futile abasement. If it had
been the Old Said, he would have said like 'Antara:

The very water of life becomes Hell through abasement,

o

Whereas Hell with dignity becomes a place of pride.

The Old Said no longer exists and the New Said considers it meaningless to talk
with the worldly. Let their world be the end of them! They can do what they like. He
is silent, saying, we shall be judged together with them at the Last Judgement.

The Eighth Reason for my not applying: According to the rule, "The result of
illicit love is merciless torment," divine determining, which is just, torments me
through the tyrannous hand of the worldly, because I incline towards them and they
are not worthy of it. So saying, "I deserve this torment," I remain silent. For in the
Great War I fought as the commander of a volunteer regiment. Applauded by the
Commander-in-Chief of the army and Enver Pafla, I sacrificed my valuable students
and friends. I was wounded and taken prisoner. Returning from captivity, I cast
myself into danger through such works as The Seven Steps, aiming them at the heads
of the British, who had occupied Istanbul. I assisted those who now hold me without
reason in this torturous captivity. As for them, they punish me in this way for that
help. Those friends here cause me in three months the hardship and distress I suffered
in three years as a prisoner-of-war in Russia. Nor did the Russians prevent me from
giving religious instruction, although they regarded me as a Kurdish militia
commander, a cruel man who had slaughtered Cossacks and prisoners. I used to
instruct the great majority of my ninety fellow-officer prisoners. One time, the
Russian commander came and listened. Because he did not know Turkish, he thought
it was political instruction and put a stop to it. Then later he gave permission. Also, in
the same barracks we made a room into a mosque and I used to lead the prayers. They
did not interfere at all. They did not prevent me from mixing, or from communicating,
with the others. Whereas my friends here, my fellow citizens and co-religionists and
those for whose benefits in the form of religious belief I have struggled, have held me
in distressing captivity not for three years but for six, for absolutely no reason and
although they know I have severed all my relations with the world. They

' Majid Tarrad (ed.), Diwan 'Antara (n.p., n.d.), 135.

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have prevented me mixing with others. They have prevented me from giving religious
instruction despite my having a certificate, and even from giving private instruction in
my room. They have prevented me from communicating with others. They have even
barred me from the mosque which I repaired and where I acted as prayer-leader for
four years, although I had the necessary certificate. And now, to deprive me of the
merit of performing the prayers in congregation, they do not accept me as prayer-
leader even for three private individuals, my permanent congregation and brothers of
the hereafter.

Furthermore, if, although I do not want it, someone is to call me good, the official
who holds me in surveillance is jealous and angry. Thinking he will destroy my
influence, he entirely unscrupulously takes precautions and pesters me in order to
curry favour with his superiors.

Who can someone in such a position have recourse to anyone other than God
Almighty? If the judge is also the claimant, of course he cannot complain to him.
Come on, you say, what can we say to this? You say what you like, I say this: there
are many dissemblers among these friends of mine. A dissembler is worse than an
unbeliever. That is the reason they make me suffer what the infidel Russian did not
make me suffer.

You unfortunates! What have I done to you and what I am doing? I am trying to
save your belief and am serving your eternal happiness! It means that my service is
not sincere and purely for God's sake so that it has the reverse effect. In return, you
torment me at every opportunity. For sure, we shall meet at the Last Judgement. I say:

God is enough for us and the best of protectors. (3:173) * The best of lords
and the best of helpers. (8:40; 22:78)

The Eternal One, He is the Eternal One!

Said N u r s i

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The Seventeenth Letter

[The Addendum to the Twenty-Fifth Flash]

A Letter of Condolence
On the Death of a Child

And in His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise. (17:44)

My Dear Brother of the hereafter, Hafiz Halid Efendi!

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

And give good news to the patient, * Those who when afflicted with calamity

say: To God do we belong and to Him is our return. (2:155-6)

My brother, your child's death saddened me, but, "the command is
God's,"(40:\2) being resigned to the divine decree and submitting to divine
determining are marks of Islam. May Almighty God grant you all patience, and may
He make the deceased a helper and intercessor for you in the hereafter. I shall explain
five points which are truly good news and offer real consolation for you, and for pious
believers like you:

First Point: The meaning of the phrase, "immortal youths" {56:\1; 76:19)
in the All- Wise Qur'an is this: with this phrase, the verse indicates and gives the good
news that the children of believers who die before reaching maturity will remain
perpetually as eternal, lovable children in a form worthy of Paradise; that they will be
an everlasting source of happiness in the embrace of their fathers and mothers who go
to Paradise; and will ensure that their parents receive the sweetest of pleasures, the
loving and carressing of children; and that all pleasurable things will be found in
Paradise; that those who say that since Paradise is not the place for reproduction there
will be no loving and carressing of children, are not correct;

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and that gaining millions of years of pure, painfree loving and caressing of eternal
children instead of a brief ten years or so of loving them mixed with the sorrows of
this world, is a source of great happiness for believers.

Second Point: One time when a man was in prison they sent one of his
lovable children to him. The unhappy prisoner suffered both his own sorrows, and
since he could not make the child happy, he also suffered at his pain. Then the
compassionate judge sent someone to him with a message which said: "For sure the
child is yours, but he is my subject and one of my people. I shall take him to a fine
palace and look after him there." The man wept in anguish. He said: "I won't give
you my child, he is my one comfort!" His friends said to him: "Your grief is
meaningless. If it is the child you pity, he will go to a spacious, happy palace in place
of this dirty, distressing dungeon. If you are sorry for yourself and seeking your own
interests, you will suffer much distress and pain at the child's difficulties if he remains
here, in addition to the single dubious, temporary benefit you receive. If he goes there,
it will be of manifold advantage for you, for he will attract the king's mercy and will
be an intercessor for you. The king will want you to see him, and he is sure not to
send him to the prison, so he will release you, summon you to the palace, and allow
you to meet with the child there. But on condition you have confidence in the king
and you obey him !"

My dear brother, like this comparison, you must think as follows, as should other
believers if their children die: the child was innocent and his Creator is All-
Compassionate and All-Generous. He has taken him to His perfect grace and mercy in
place of my deficient upbringing and compassion. He has released him from the
grievous, calamitous, difficult prison of this world and sent him to the gardens of
Paradise. How happy for the child! If he had stayed in this world, who knows how he
would have grown up. Therefore, I do not pity him, I know him to be fortunate. There
remains my own benefits, and I don't pity myself in connection with them, and I am
not sad and sorry. For if he had remained in the world, he would have had ten years of
a child's temporary love mixed with pains. Then if he had been righteous and if he
had been capable in worldly matters, perhaps he would have helped me. But by dying,
he has become a sort of intercessor who will win me ten million years of a child's
love in eternal Paradise and everlasting happiness. Certainly, a person who loses a
doubtful, immediate benefit and gains a thousand certain, postponed benefits does not
weep and lament, nor cry out in despair.

Third Point: The child who died was the creature, possession, servant, and
with all his members the artefact of the Most Compassionate

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Creator; he belonged to Him and was a friend of his parents, put temporarily under
their supervision. The Creator made the parents the child's servants. In return for their
services, He gave them pleasurable compassion as an immediate wage. Now, if as the
requirement of mercy and wisdom, the Compassionate Creator, who owns nine
hundred and ninety-nine shares of the child out of a thousand, takes the child from
you and puts an end to your service, to cry out in grief and despair due to that
apparent single share in the face of the true owner of the thousand shares in a way that
infers complaint, does not befit a believer; it befits rather the people of neglect and
misguidance.

Fo u r t h P o i n t : If the world had been eternal, and man was to have
remained in it eternally, and separation had been unending; grievous sorrow and
despairing woe would have had some meaning. But since this world is a guesthouse,
wherever the dead child has gone, you, and we too, shall go there. Moreover, he is not
the only one to die; it is a general highway. And, since separation is not for ever, you
will meet with him in the future, both in the Intermediate Realm and in the hereafter.
One should say: "The command is God's. He gave him and He took him away;" and:
"All praise be to God for all circumstances," and offer thanks in patience.

Fifth Point: Compassion, one of the most subtle, beautiful, agreeable, and
sweet manifestations of divine mercy, is a luminous elixir. It is much more direct than
passionate love; it is a swift means of union with Almighty God. Temporary love and
worldly love are transformed into true love and find Almighty God only with the
greatest difficulty, but compassion binds the heart to Him in purer, more direct
fashion - and without difficulty. Both father and mother love their child more than all
the world. If they are fortunate and are true believers, when he is taken from them it
turns their faces from this world and they find the True Bestower of Bounties. They
say: "The world is transitory and not worth binding one's heart to." They become
attached to where the child has gone, and this gains high spiritual rank for them.

The people of neglect and misguidance are deprived of the happiness and good
news of these five points. You can see from the following how grievous their situation
is: they see their only child in the throes of death, and because they imagine the world
is eternal and as a result of their heedlessness and misguidance, they suppose death is
non-existence and eternal separation. They think of him in the earth of his grave in
place of his soft bed, and due to their heedlessness or misguidance, the merciful
Paradise and bounteous heaven of the Most Compassionate of the Compassionate
does not occur to them. You can see by comparison the despairing sorrow

100

and grief they suffer. Whereas belief and Islam say to the believer: the Most
Compassionate Creator will take this child of yours who is in the throes of death from
this lowly world to Paradise. He will make him both an intercessor for you, and an
eternal child. Don't worry, separation is temporary! Say: "The command is
God's.(A0: 12) * To God do we belong and to Him shall we return ,"(2:156) and bear it
patiently.

The Eternal One, He is the Eternal One!

Said Nu r s i

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The Eighteenth Letter

In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise. (17 ':44)

[This letter consists of three important matters.]

FIRST IMPORTANT MATTER

Famous saints like Muhyi'1-Din al-'Arabi (May his mystery be sanctified), the
author of al-Futuhat al-Makkiya, and Sayyid 'Abd al-Karim (May his mystery be
sanctified), the author of a well-known book entitled al-Insan al-Kamil, 1 speak of the
seven levels of the globe of the earth and the white earth beyond the Kaf mountain,
and strange things which in Futuhat are called "mashmashiya." Are these true? But
these places do not exist on the earth. Furthermore, the things that they say are not
accepted by geography and science. And if they are not true, how can they be saints?
How can people who say things contrary to reality and the truth in this way be people
of reality?

The Answer: They were the people of truth and reality. They were also
saints and experienced direct vision of the realities. They saw correctly what they
saw, but since they were not correct in declarations they made while in the state of
illumination and witnessing, which is without comprehension, and in their
interpretations of their visions, which were like dreams, they were partially incorrect.
People of unveiling and direct vision of that sort cannot interpret their own visions
while in such a state, just as a person cannot interpret his own dream while dreaming
it. Those who can interpret them are the exact scholars of the legacy of prophethood,
called "the purified ones." For sure, when they rise to the rank of the purified

1 'Abd al-Karim al-Jili 767/1365-6-832/1428, al-Insan al-Kamil fi Ma 'rifat al-Awakhir wa 'l-Awa 'il.

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ones, the people of direct vision belonging to that group understand their errors
through the guidance of the Qur'an and the Prophet's (UWBP) practices, and they
correct them; and they did correct them.

Listen to this story which is the form of a comparison and will illustrate this truth.
It is like this:

One time, there were two shepherds who were from among those who approach
reality with their hearts. They milked their sheep into a wooden pail and put the pail
beside them. They laid their shepherd's pipe on the pail, then one of them stretched
out, overcome by sleep. He slept for a while. The other shepherd was watching him
carefully when he saw something like a fly emerge from the sleeping man's nose,
look at the pail of milk, enter the pipe at one end, emerge from the other, then
disappear into a hole under a bush. Some while later the thing emerged again, passed
down the shepherd's pipe, entered the sleeping man's nose, whereupon he awoke. He
exclaimed: "I had an extraordinary dream!" His friend replied: "May God make good
come of it. What was it?" The other man said: "I saw a sea of milk stretching over
which was a strange bridge. The upper part of the bridge was closed and contained
windows. I passed through the bridge. I saw a grove of oaks, the tops of which were
all pointed. Beneath them was a cave; I entered it, and I saw some treasure full of
gold. How can this be interpreted, I wonder?"

His alert friend said to him: "The sea of milk you saw was this wooden pail, and
the bridge, our shepherd's pipe. The pointed oak trees were this bush, while the cave
was this small hole. Get the pickaxe and I'll show you the treasure." He brought the
pick and they dug under the bush, and there they found gold enough to make them
both prosperous in this world.

Thus, what the sleeping man dreamt was right, and what he saw, correct, but
because he had no comprehension while dreaming and no right to interpret the dream,
he could not distinguish between the physical world and the non-material world and
his assertions were partially wrong; he said: "I saw an actual physical sea." But since
the man who was awake could distinguish between the physical world and the World
of Similitudes, he had the right to interpret the dream; he said: "What you saw in the
dream was right, but it wasn't an actual sea; our milk pail appeared to your
imagination as a sea, and our pipe as a bridge, and so on." This means the physical
and spiritual worlds have to be distinguished from one another. If they are combined,
assertions about them appear wrong.

For example, you have a small room the four walls of which have been covered
with four large mirrors. When you enter it, you see the small room to be as broad as a
large arena. If you say, "My room appears to be as large

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as a broad arena," what you say is correct. But if you assert, "My room is as large as a
broad arena," you would be wrong, for you are confusing the World of Similitudes
with the actual world.

Thus, having failed to weigh them on the balances of the Book and Sunna, the
descriptions of the seven levels of the globe made by certain people of unveiling do
not refer only to its physical state from the point of view of geography. For instance,
they said that one of the earth's levels is that inhabited by the jinns and demons, and
that it has a breadth of thousands of years. But those strange levels are not found on
our globe, which makes its circuit every one or two years. However, if we suppose the
globe to be like a pine-seed in the World of Meaning, the World of Similitudes, the
Intermediate Realm, and the World of Spirits, the similitude of the tree formed from it
would be like a huge pine-tree in relation to the seed. Thus, in the course of their
spiritual journeyings, some of the people of direct vision have observed that some of
the earth's levels in the World of Similitudes are extremely extensive and that they
stretch over a distance of thousands of years. What they saw was right, but because
superficially the World of Similitudes resembles the physical world, they saw the two
worlds blended together, and interpreted them thus. When they returned to the world
of sobriety, since they lacked balance, and since they wrote exactly what they
witnessed, it has been thought to be contrary to reality.

Like the similitudes of a large palace and large garden may be found in a small
mirror, so similitudes and non-material realities as extensive as thousands of years
may be situated in a single year's distance in the physical world.

Conclusion: It is understood from this matter that the degree of direct vision is
far inferior to that of belief in the Unseen. That is to say, the uncomprehending
disclosures of some of the saints relying only on direct vision do not attain to the
statements about the truths of faith made by the purified and exact scholars, who are
the people of the legacy of prophethood and who rely on the Qur'an and Revelation,
not on direct vision - their statements that are about the Unseen but are lucid,
comprehensive, and right. That is to say, the balance of all illuminations, mental
states, visions, and unveilings are the Book and Sunna, and their touchstone are the
sacred principles of the Book and Sunna, and the conjectural laws of the purified and
exacting scholars.

SECOND IMPORTANT MATTER

Question: The Unity of Existence is considered by many people to be the
most elevated station, but there was no explicit sign of it among the Companions and
foremost the four Rightly- Guided Caliphs, who were at

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the level of the greatest sainthood, or among the Imams of the Prophet's Family and
foremost the five People of the Cloak, or the great interpreters of the law and the
generation following the Companions and foremost the founders of the four schools
of law. So did those who lived later advance further than them? Did they find a better
highway on which to proceed?

The Answer: God forbid! Nobody at all has the ability to advance further
than those purified ones who were the stars and heirs closest to the Sun of
Prophethood; the highway is indeed theirs.

As for the Unity of Existence, it is a way and a state, but it is deficient. However,
because it is illuminating and pleasurable, most of those who have reached that degree
on their spiritual journeyings have not wanted to leave it; they have remained there
and supposed it to be the ultimate degree.

If the spirit of the person who takes this way is divested of materiality and
intermediaries and he has rent the veil of causes, and is immersed in a state of
witnessing, then an experiential - not pertaining to knowledge - unity of existence
that arises not from the Unity of Existence but from the Unity of Witnessing, may
obtain for him a certain attainment, a spiritual station. He may even reach the degree
of denying the universe for God's sake. But if he is submerged in causes and
preoccupied with materiality, for him, the Unity of Existence may mean going so far
as denying God on account of the universe.

Yes, the great highway is the highway of the Companions, and those that
followed them, and the Purified Ones. Their universal rule was, "the reality of things
is constant." 2 In accordance with the sense of "There is nothing that resembles
Him "(42:\ 1) Almighty God has absolutely nothing that resembles Him. He is utterly
beyond being comprehended in place or class and being divided into parts. His
relation with beings is creativity. Beings are not imaginings or fancies as those who
followed the way of the Unity of Existence said. Visible things too are Almighty
God's works. Everything is not "Him," everything is "from Him." For events cannot
be pre-eternal. We shall make this matter easier to understand with two comparisons:

The First: For example, there is a king. Through his name of Just Judge he
has a Ministry of Justice which shows the manifestation of that name. Another of his
names is Khalifa, and the Shaikh al-Islam's Office and learned institution are the
manifestations of that name. He has also the name of Commander-in-Chief, through
which all the offices of the army perform their actions; the army is the manifestation
of that name. Now, if

2 'Umar al-Nasafi, al-Aqa'id, 1.

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someone were to appear and say: "The king is only the Just Judge, he has no office or
ministry other than that of justice," then the attributes and states of the religious
scholars in the Shaykh al-Islam's Office would have to be applied - not actually but
theoretically - to the officials of the Ministry of Justice; a secondary and shadowy
Shaykh al-Islam's Office would have an imaginary existence within the actual
Ministry of Justice. Again in hypothetical fashion, the dealings and states of the Army
Office would be ascribed to the officials of the Judiciary, an unreal Army Office
would be imagined there, and so on. In this situation, the king' s true name is the name
of Just Judge and his true sovereignty is his sovereignty in the Ministry of Justice. His
names like Khalifa, Commander-in-Chief, and Sultan are not actual but hypothetical.
However, the nature of kingship and reality of sovereignty demand all the names in
actuality. And actual names require and necessitate actual offices.

Thus, the sovereignty of divinity necessitates in actuality numerous sacred names
like All-Merciful, Provider, Bestower, Creator, Doer, Munificent, and Compassionate.
And those true and actual names require actual mirrors. Now, since the followers of
the Unity of Existence say: "There is no existent but He," they downgrade the reality
of beings to the level of imagination. Almighty God's names of Necessary Existent,
Existent, One, and Single have true manifestations and spheres of application. For
sure, if their mirrors and spheres of application were not real and were imaginary and
non-existent, it would not harm them. And perhaps if there were no colour of
existence in the mirror of true existence, they would be purer and more brilliant, but
the manifestations of such names as Merciful, Provider, Subduer, Compeller, and
Creator would not be real, they would be hypothetical. However, those names are
realities like the name of Existent, they cannot be shadows; they are essential, not
secondary.

Thus, the Companions and great interpreters of the law and Imams of the Family
of the Prophet said: "The reality of things is constant;" Almighty God has a
manifestation through all His names in actuality. Through His creativity, all things
have an accidental existence. For sure, in relation to the Necessarily Existent' s
existence their existence is an extremely weak and unstable shadow, but it is not
imagination, it is not fancy. Almighty God gives existence through His name of
Creator and He continues that existence.

Second Comparison: For example, on the four walls of this house are
four full-length mirrors. However much the house is depicted together with the other
three mirrors in all the mirrors, each holds the things in itself in accordance with its
own make-up and colour; it reflects a

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similitude of the house that is particular to itself. Now, two men enter the house. One
of them looks at one of the mirrors and says: "Everything is within it." When he hears
of the other mirrors and the images in them, he applies what he hears to a tiny corner
of the one mirror whose contents are shadows twice over, and whose reality has
shrunk and has changed. He also says: "I see it thus, in which case reality is thus."
The other man says to him, "Yes, you see it like that and what you see is true. But in
actuality and reality the true form of reality is not like that. There are other mirrors
besides the one you looked at; they are not the shadow of shadows and as tiny as you
saw."

Thus, each of the divine names requires a different mirror. And, since Merciful
and Provider, for example, are real and fundamental, they require beings worthy of
them who are needy for sustenance and compassion. Just as All-Merciful requires real
beings with spirits needy for sustenance in a real world, so too, All-Compassionate
requires a paradise which is thus real. To maintain that only the names of Existent,
Necessarily Existent, and Single One of Unity are real and that the other names are
mere shadows within them, is a sort of injustice towards those other names.

It is due to this mystery that the great highway is surely the highway of the
Companions, the Purified Ones, the Imams of the Prophet's Family, and the great
interpreters of the law and founders of the four schools of law, who possessed greater
sainthood and were directly the first class of the Qur'an's students.

Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught

us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise. (2:32)

O our Sustainer! Do not cause our hearts to swerve now that You have

guided us, and bestow mercy on us from You; for You are the Bestower of

Gifts.(3:S)

O God! Grant blessings to the one whom You sent as a Mercy to all the

worlds, and to all his Family and Companions.

An Addendum to the Second Matter

Question: Muhyi'1-Din al-'Arabi considered the Unity of Existence to be of
the highest level. Likewise, some of the great saints who took the path of love
followed him. However, you say that this matter is not of the highest level, and is not
real; that it is rather the way, to a degree, of those who become intoxicated and
immersed in the divine, and of the people of love and ecstasy. So what, briefly, is the
high level of the affir

107

mation of divine unity pointed out by the clear verses of the Qur'an, through the
mystery of the legacy of prophethood? Can you explain it?

The Answer: It is a hundred times beyond the ability of an utterly
powerless unfortunate like myself to judge those elevated stations with his limited
thought. I shall just explain one or two extremely brief points proceeding from the
effulgence of the Wise Qur'an. Perhaps they will be useful in understanding the
matter.

First Point

There are many reasons for becoming embroiled in the way of the Unity of
Existence. One or two of them may be explained as follows:

The First Reason: Because they could not squeeze into their brains the
maximum degree of the creativity of divine dominicality, nor entirely establish in
their hearts the idea that everything, through the mystery of divine oneness (ehadiyet),
is held directly in the grasp of dominicality and that all things have existence through
divine power, choice, and will, those who took that way were obliged to say that
everything is either Him, or does not have existence, or is imaginary, or is His
manifestation or emanation.

The Second Reason: The mark of passionate love is to want never to be
separated from the beloved and to flee desperately from such separation; to tremble at
the thought of parting, to fear distance from the beloved as though fearing Hell, and to
abominate transience; to love union with the love of one's own spirit and life, and to
yearn for nearness to the beloved as though longing for Paradise. Thus, through
adhering to a manifestation of divine immediacy in all things, those who took the way
of the Unity of Existence disregarded separation and distance; supposing union and
meeting to be permanent, they said: "There is no existent but He;" through the
intoxication of love and as demanded by the ecstasy of permanence, meeting, and
union, they imagined that in the Unity of Existence was a most pleasurable way of
illumination whereby they could be saved from the dreadfulness of separation.

That is to say, the first reason sprang from the fact that the hand of their intellects
was unable to reach up to some of the truths of belief, which were extremely broad
and elevated; they were unable to comprehend them and had not developed
completely in regard to faith. And the source of the second reason was the
extraordinary unfolding of their hearts in respect of love, and their wondrous
expansion and breadth.

However, the supreme level of divine unity that the Purified Ones - who were
the people of sobriety and great saints of the legacy of prophet

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hood - saw through the clear expositions of the Qur' an is both extremely elevated,
and shows both the maximum level of dominicality and creativity, and that all the
divine names are real. It preserves the Qur' an' s principles and does not spoil the
balance of the decrees of dominicality. For they say that together with the oneness of
His essence and His being free of space, with His knowledge Almighty God
encompasses and determines directly all things together with all their attributes, and
through His will He chooses and specifies them, and through His power He creates
them. He creates and directs the whole universe as though it were a single being.

He creates the huge spring with the same ease as creating a flower. Nothing
obstructs anything else. There is no fragmentation in His regarding things. He is
present everywhere at the same instant through the disposal of His knowledge and
power. There is no division or distribution in His disposal. This mystery has been
expounded and proved completely in the Sixteenth Word and in the Second Stopping-
Place of the Thirty-Second Word. Since, according to the rule, "Comparisons are
incontestible," no attention should be paid to defects in comparisons and allegories, I
shall set forth a very faulty comparison so that the difference between the two ways
may be understood to a degree.

For example, let us imagine a huge, matchless, and wondrously adorned peacock
which can fly from east to west in an instant, and opens and closes its wings, which
stretch from north to south, are adorned with hundreds of thousands of fine patterns,
and in every single feather of which are included brilliant arts. Now, there are two
men observing it; they want to fly up with the wings of the intellect and heart to the
elevated qualities of this bird, to its wondrous decorations. One looks at the peacock's
appearance and form and the marvellous inscriptions of power on all its feathers; he
loves it with extreme passion and ardour; he in part abandons his attentive reflective
thought and clings on to love. But then he sees that every day those lovable
decorations change and are transformed. Those objects of his love, which he
worships, disappear and are lost.

While he should have said that through true divine unity, which he could not
encompass with his mind, and absolute dominicality and the oneness of the divine
essence, they were the artistic decorations of an Inscriber possessing universal
creativity, he said instead - in order to console himself - that the spirit of the peacock
was so sublime that its maker was within it, or that the peacock had become Him, and
that since its spirit had become one with its being and its being had combined with its
outward appearance, its spirit's perfection and being's exaltedness displayed those
manifestations, displaying every moment a different inscription and beauty;

109

it was not a true creation through its will, but a manifestation, an emanation.

As for the other man, he said that those harmonious, orderly decorations so full of
art definitely required will, choice, intention, and purpose. It was impossible for there
to be a manifestation without will, an emanation without choice.

Yes, the peacock had a beautiful and elevated nature, but it could not be the doer;
it was passive. It could not become one with the active agent. Its spirit was fine and
exalted, but it could not be the creator and disposer, only receptive and a means. For
observedly in each of its feathers was an art performed with infinite wisdom and an
inscription and decoration made through an infinite power. And these could not occur
without will and choice. The arts indicating perfect wisdom within perfect power, and
perfect dominicality and mercy within perfect wisdom were not the work of some sort
of manifestation. The scribe who had written that gilded notebook could not be inside
it and be united with it. The notebook rather only had contact with the nib of the
scribe's pen. In which case, the wondrous decorations of the similitude of the peacock
known as the universe were a gilded missive of the peacock' s Creator.

Now, look at the peacock and read the missive. Say to its Scribe: "What wonders
God has willed! Blessed be God! Glory be to God!" The person who supposes the
missive to be the scribe, or the scribe to be inside the letter, or fancies the missive to
be imagination, has surely hidden his reason in the veils of love and is unable to see
the true form of reality.

Among the varieties of passionate love, the one most conducive to the way of the
Unity of Existence, is love of this world. When it turns into true love, love of this
world, which is temporary (mecazi), is transformed into the Unity of Existence. A
person loves his personal beloved with worldly (mecazi) love. Then, unable to accept
in his heart his beloved's transience and ephemerality, he consoles himself by saying
that his beloved is a mirror reflecting the beauty of the True Object of Love and
Worship, and attaches himself to a reality, so acquiring permanence for him through
true love.

In the same way, when, due to the constant blows of death and separation, the
strange love of the person who takes the huge world and the universe in its totality as
his beloved is transformed into true love, he seeks refuge in the way of the Unity of
Existence, in order to save that great beloved of his from death and separation. If he
has extremely powerful and elevated faith, it becomes a pleasurable, luminous,
acceptable level, as with those resembling Muhyi'1-Din al-'Arabi. However, there is
the possibility

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of falling into various abysses, embracing materiality, and becoming submerged in
causes. As for the Unity of Witnessing, it is harmless; it is an exalted way of the
people of sobriety.

O God, show us what is indeed the truth, and make us follow it!

Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught

us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise .(2:32)

THIRD MATTER

An important matter that has not been solved by philosophy and reason.

Every day in [new] splendour does He [shine]! (55:29) * Indeed, your
Sustainer is Doer of what He will.(l 1:107; 85:16)

Question: What is the reason for the astonishing unceasing activity in the
universe? What is the wisdom in it? Why do these fleeting beings not stop, but are
continuously changed and renewed?

The Answer: To explain the wisdom in this would require a thousand
pages. So we shall leave aside a full explanation and condense in two pages an
extremely brief summary of it.

If a person performs a natural function or social duty enthusiastically, anyone
who observes him carefully will certainly understand that there are two things that
make him act in this way:

The First are the benefits, fruits, and advantages resulting from the duty, which
are called the ultimate cause.

The Second: Such things as love, desire, and pleasure cause him to perform the
duty enthusiastically, and these are called the necessitating cause and reason.

For example, eating food; the pleasurable longing arising from appetite drive a
person to eat, and afterwards, the result of eating is nourishing the body and
perpetuating life. In the same way, "And God's is the highest similitude,"(16:60)
based on two sorts of divine names, the awesome and astonishing endless activity in
the universe occurs for two vast instances of wisdom, each of which is also infinite:

The First: Almighty God's Most Beautiful Names have incalculable sorts of
manifestations. The variety in creatures arises from the variety of the manifestations.
The names require to be manifested in a permanent fashion; that is, they want to
display their embroideries; that is, they want to see and display the manifestations of
their beauties in the mirrors of their embroideries; that is, they want every instant to
renew the book of the universe and missives of beings; that is, they necessitate the
continuous mean

Ill

ingful writing, and to display each missive to the attentive gaze of the Most Pure and
Holy Essence, the One signified, as well as to all conscious beings; they require to
make each of the missives read.

The Second Reason and Instance of Wisdom: Just as the activity of creatures
arises from appetite, desire, and pleasure, and there is a definite pleasure in all
activity; indeed, all activity is a sort of pleasure; so too, in a suitable way and form
appropriate to His essential self-sufficiency and absolute riches and in a manner
fitting for His absolute perfection, the Necessarily Existent One has boundless sacred
compassion and infinite holy love. And He feels a boundless sacred ardour arising
from that sacred compassion and holy love, and an endless holy joy arising from that
sacred ardour, and, if one may say so, an infinite sacred pleasure arising from the
sacred joy. And pertaining to that Merciful and Compassionate One, is, if the term is
permissible, a boundless sacred gratification and infinite holy pride arising from the
boundless feeling of compassion that springs from the sacred pleasure, sacred
gratification and pride which arise from the gratitude and perfections of creatures
which result from their abilities emerging from the potential to the actual and their
developing within the activity of power. It is these which necessitate in boundless
fashion, an endless activity.

Because philosophy, science, and natural philosophy do not know this subtle
instance of wisdom, they have confused unconscious nature, blind chance, and lifeless
causes in this utterly knowing, wise, percipient activity, and falling into the darkness
of misguidance, have been unable to find the light of reality.

Say, "God [sent it down]; " then leave them to plunge in vain discourse and

trifling. (6:91)

O our Sustainer! Do not cause our hearts to swerve now that You have

guided us, and bestow mercy upon us from Yourself; indeed, You are the

Bestower of Gifts. (3 : 8)

O God! Grant blessings and peace to the Solver of the talisman of Your

universe to the number of atoms of beings, and to his Family and

Companions, so long as the earth and the heavens persist.

The Eternal One, He is the Eternal One!
Said N u r s i

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The Nineteenth Letter

This treatise describes more than three hundred miracles. And as it describes the
messengership of Muhammad (UWBP), itself a miracle, so is it itself a wonder in
three or four respects, proceeding from the miracle of his messengership.

The First : Although it is more than a hundred pages in length and is based on
traditions and narrations, it was written in an unusual fashion — in the mountains and
countryside, completely from memory, and without referring to any book. It was
completed, moreover, in a few days by working two to three hours every day, for a
total of twelve hours.

The Second : Despite its length, this work did not cause tedium to its writer, nor
does it lack pleasantness for its reader. In fact, it aroused such ardour and enthusiasm
in even my lazy scribes that in these hard and distressing times, as many as seventy
copies were handwritten in this neighbourhood within a single year. Those aware of
this property of the treatise concluded that this must be a wonder proceeding from the
miracle of his messengership (Blessings and peace be upon him.)

The Third : In the copies handwritten by nine different scribes who did not
communicate with one another, including one very inexperienced and unaware of
'coincidence' ' - it was also before we were aware of the phenomenon - the words
referring to the Noble Messenger coincided to such a degree throughout the whole of
the treatise, and in the fifth part for the words referring to the Qur'an, that anyone
who is fair to the slightest degree would not consider it to be the result of chance. In
fact, whoever observed it concluded that it was a mystery of the Unseen and a marvel
proceeding from the miraculousness of Muhammad (Upon whom be blessings and
peace).

1 'Coincidence' (T. tevafiik; Ar. Tawafuq) refers to the unintentional correspondence of letters or
words in lines or patterns on one or several pages. (Tr.)

113

The principles explained at the beginning of this treatise have extreme
importance. As for the prophetic Hadiths related, they are accepted as authentic by the
authorities on Hadith, and they report the most established phenomena concerning the
messengership of Muhammad (Upon whom be blessings and peace). Now, to
enumerate the merits of this treatise, another treatise of the same length would be
needed; we therefore invite those who wish to read it, if only once.

Said N u r s i

A REMINDER: In this work, I have related many Hadiths, despite having no books to refer
to. Should there be any errors in their wording, I request that they either be corrected, or be
considered as paraphrases. For, according to the prevailing opinion, "To relate the meanings
of Hadiths is permissible," in which case the narrator puts the meaning of the Hadith into his
own words. This being the case, Hadiths with possible errors of wording should be regarded
as paraphrases.

* NOTE: The present translation of the Nineteenth Letter is based on a translation prepared
by members of the Risale-i Nur Institute of America in 1976. (Tr.)

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The Miracles of Muhammad (uwbp)

In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise. (11:44)

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

He it is Who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth
to make it supreme over all religion: and sufficient is God as a Witness. *
Muhammad is the Messenger of God; and those who are with him are strong
against unbelievers, [but] compassionate among each other. You will see
them bow and prostrate themselves [in prayer], seeking grace from God and
[His[ good pleasure. On their faces are their marks, [being [ the traces of
their prostration. This is their similitude in the Torah; and their similitude in
the Gospel is like a seed which send forth its blade, then makes it strong; it
then becomes thick, and it stands on its own stem, [filling] the sowers with
wonder and delight. As a result, it fills the unbelievers with rage at them.
God has promised those among them who believe and do righteous deeds
forgiveness, and a great reward. (48:28-9)

[Since the Nineteenth and Thirty-First Words concerning the
messengership of Muhammad (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
prove it with decisive evidence, we assign the verification of that side
of the subject to those Words. As a supplement to them we will merely
show here, in nineteen 'Signs,' some of the flashes of that great truth.]

FIRST SIGN

The Possessor and Master of the universe surely does everything with
knowledge, disposes every affair with wisdom, directs everything all-seeingly, treats
everything ail-knowingly, and arranges everything willing the instances of wisdom,
purposes, and benefits that are apparent in them. Since, then, the One who creates
knows, surely the One who knows will speak. Since He will speak, surely He will
speak to those who possess consciousness and thought, and those who will understand
His speech. Since He will speak to those who possess thought, surely he will speak to
mankind, whose nature and awareness are the most comprehensive of all con

115

scious beings. Since He will speak to mankind, surely He will speak to the most
perfect of mankind and those most worthy of address. Since He will speak to those
who are most perfect, most worthy of address, highest in morality, and who will guide
humanity; He will certainly speak to Muhammad, who, as friend and foe alike testify,
is of the highest disposition and morality, who is obeyed by one fifth of humanity, to
whose spiritual rule half of the globe has submitted, with the radiance of whose light
the future of mankind has been illumined for thirteen centuries, to whom the
believers, the luminous segment of humanity, renew five times daily the oath of
allegiance, for whose happiness they pray, for whom they call down God's blessings
and bear admiration and love in their hearts. Certainly, He will speak to Muhammad
(Upon whom be blessings and peace) and indeed He has done; He will make him the
Prophet, and indeed He has done; He will make him the guide for the rest of
humanity, and indeed He has done.

SECOND SIGN

God's Most Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) declared his
prophethood, and presented to humanity such a decree as the Qur'an of Mighty
Stature and such manifest miracles as number, according to the scholars, one
thousand. 2 The occurrence of those miracles in their entirety is as certain as the fact
that he declared himself prophet. In fact, as is shown by the words of the most
obstinate unbelievers quoted in various places of the Wise Qur'an, even they could
not deny his miracles so called them - God forbid! - sorcery, in order to satisfy
themselves or to deceive their followers.

The miracles of Muhammad (UWBP) have the certainty of confirmation by
consensus to the hundredth degree. The miracle is the confirmation by the Creator of
the cosmos of his declaration of prophethood; it has the effect of the words, "You
have spoken truly!" Suppose that you said in the assembly of a ruler, while being
observed by him, "The ruler has appointed me to such-and-such a position." Should
you be asked for a proof of your claim, the word "Yes" uttered by the ruler would be
sufficient to support you. Or, if the ruler changed his usual practice and attitude at
your request, this would confirm your claim even more soundly and more definitely
than would the word "Yes."

In the same way, the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
claimed: "I am the envoy of the Creator of the universe. My proof is that He will
change His unbroken order at my request and my prayer. Now

2 al-'Asqalani, Fath al-Bari, vi, 454; Nawawi, Shark Sahih Muslim,

116

look at my fingers: He causes them to run like a fountain with five spigots. Look at
the moon: by a gesture of my finger, He splits it in two. Look at that tree: to affirm me
and to bear witness to me, it moves and comes near to me. Look at this food: although
it is barely enough for two or three men, it satisfies two or three hundred." He
demonstrated too hundreds of similar miracles.

However, the evidences of this person's veracity and the proofs of his
prophethood are not restricted to his miracles. All his deeds and acts, his words and
behaviour, his moral conduct and manners, his character and appearance prove to the
attentive his truthfulness and seriousness. Indeed, many people such as 'Abdullah b.
Salam, the famous scholar of the Children of Israel, came to believe merely by seeing
him, and said: "No lie can hide in this face, nor fraud be found in it!" 3

Although many scholars who have researched the matter have concluded that the
proofs of Muhammad's (UWBP) prophethood and his miracles number about one
thousand, there are thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of proofs of his
prophethood. And hundreds of thousands of men with varying opinions have affirmed
it in an equal number of ways. The Wise Qur'an alone demonstrates a thousand of the
proofs of his prophethood, in addition to its own forty aspects of miraculousness.

Since prophethood is a phenomenon of humanity, and hundreds of thousands of
persons who claimed prophethood and performed miracles have lived and passed
away, 4 of a certainty Muhammad's (UWBP) prophethood is superior to all the others.
For whatever evidences, qualities, and attributes made prophets such as Jesus and
Moses (Upon whom be peace) be known as prophets and were the means of their
messengership, they were all possessed in a more perfect and comprehensive fashion
by Muhammad (Upon whom be blessings and peace). And since the causes and
means of prophetic authority were more perfectly present in the person of Muhammad
(UWBP), this authority was to be found in him with more certainty than in all the
others.

THIRD SIGN

The miracles of the Most Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
were extremely varied. Since his messengership was universal,

3 Tirmidhi, Qiyama, 42; Ibn Maja, Iqama, 174; Atima, 1; Darimi, Salat, 156; Isti'dhan, 4; Musnad, v,
451.

4 Musnad, v, 266; Waliyyuddin Tabrizi, Mishkat al-Masabih, iii, 122; Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawzi, Zad al-
Ma'ad (Tahqiq: al-Arnavud), i, 43-44.

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he was distinguished by miracles that related to almost all species of creation. Just as
the supreme lieutenant of a renowned ruler, arriving with many gifts in a city where
various peoples live, will be welcomed by a representative of each people who
acclaims him and bids him welcome in his own language; so too, when the supreme
Lieutenant of the Monarch of Pre-Eternity and Post-Eternity honoured the universe by
coming as an envoy to the inhabitants of the earth, and brought with him the light of
truth and spiritual gifts sent by the Creator of the universe, which were connected to
the truths of the whole universe, each species of creation - from water, rocks, trees,
animals and human beings to the moon, the sun and the stars - each welcomed him
and acclaimed his prophethood, each in its own language and each bearing one of his
miracles.

Now it would require a voluminous work to mention all his miracles. As
punctilious, investigating scholars have written many volumes concerning the proofs
of his prophethood, here we will briefly point out only the general categories into
which fall miracles about which there are unanimous reports, both definite and in
meaning (kat'i ve manevi miitevatir).

The evidences of Muhammad's (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
prophethood fall into two main categories:

The First is called irhasat and includes the paranormal events that happened
at the time of his birth or before his prophetic mission.

The Second group pertains to all the remaining evidences of his
prophethood, and contains two subdivisions:

The first are those wonders that were manifested after his departure from this
world in order to confirm his prophethood, and the second, those that he exhibited
during the era of his prophethood. The latter has also two parts:

The first, the evidences of his prophethood that became manifest in his own
personality, his inner and outer being, his moral conduct and perfections, and the
second, the miracles manifested in the outer world. The last part again has two
branches:

One, those concerning the Qur'an and spirituality, and the other, those relating
to materiality and the universe. This last branch is again divided into two categories:

The first involves the paranormal happenings that occurred during his mission
either to break the stubbornness of the unbelievers, or to augment the faith of the
believers. This category has twenty different sorts, such as

5 For consensus in this sense (T. tevatiir; Ar. tawatur), see, fh. 8 below. (Tr.)

118

the splitting of the moon, the flowing of water from his fingers, the satisfying of large
numbers with a little food, and the speaking of trees, rocks and animals. Each of these
sorts also has many instances, and thus has, in meaning, the strength of confirmation
by consensus (manevi tevatiir). As for the second category, this includes events lying
in the future that occurred as he had predicted, on God's instructions. Now, starting
from the last category, we will summarize a list of them. 6

FOURTH SIGN

There is no limit to the reports God's Most Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) gave concerning the Unseen through the instruction of the One
All- Knowing of the Unseen. As we have mentioned the types of these reports in the
Twenty- Fifth Word, which is about the miraculousness of the Qur'an, and to a degree
explained and proved them, we now refer to that Word the explanation of the
information he gave concerning the Unseen about past times and prophets, as well as
truths concerning the Godhead, the universe, and the hereafter, and will point out a
few of his many correct predictions about his Companions, his Family and his
community. But first, for a complete understanding of the subject, we will state six
principles by way of an introduction.

First Principle

All the states and acts of the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and
peace) testified to his veracity and prophethood, but not all of them had to be
miraculous. For God Almighty sent him in the form of a human being so that he
might be a guide and leader to human beings in their social affairs, and in the acts and
deeds by means of which they attain happiness in this world and the next; and so that
he might disclose to human beings the wonders of His art and His disposive power
that underlie all occurrences and are in appearance customary, but in reality are
miracles of divine power. If, then, he had abandoned the human state in his acts and
become extra-ordinary in all aspects, he could not have been a leader, or have
instructed human beings with his acts, states, and conduct. He was, indeed, honoured
with paranormal phenomena in order to prove his prophethood to obstinate
unbelievers, and from time to time performed miracles as the need arose. But as
required by the examinations and trials that man is set, his miracles never occurred so
obviously as to compel everyone to believe, whether willingly or unwillingly. For the
wisdom in man' s trial

Unfortunately, I could not write as I had intended. Without choice, I wrote as my heart dictated, and I
could not completely conform to the order of this classification.

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and accountability necessitates that the way be shown to him without depriving him
of his will; the door has to be opened to his intelligence without snatching its freedom
from its hand. If the Messenger's (UWBP) miracles had occurred in so apparent a
way, intelligence would have had no choice; Abu Jahl would have believed as did
Abu Bakr; coal would have had the value of diamonds, and no purpose would have
remained for testing and accountability.

It is a source of amazement that while thousands of men of different character
came to believe through observing a single of his miracles, a single proof of his
prophethood, or a word of his, or through merely seeing his face, some wretches are
nowadays going astray as if those thousands of proofs of his prophethood were not
sufficient evidence, although they have come down to us through authentic
transmission and with certain proofs, and have caused many thousands of exacting
scholars and thinkers and different men to accept faith.

Second Principle

God's Most Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) was a human
being; hence he acted like a human being. He was also a messenger and prophet, and
with regard to his messengership, he was an interpreter and an envoy of Almighty
God. His messengership was based upon revelation (vahy), which is of two kinds:

The First is explicit revelation. In this case, the Noble Messenger (Upon whom
be blessings and peace) is merely an interpreter and announcer, with no share in the
content. The Qur'an and some sacred Hadith (Hadith Qudsi) are included in this kind
of revelation.

The Second is implicit revelation. The essence and gist of this is also based on
revelation or inspiration, but its explanation and description were left to the
Messenger (UWBP). When he explained and described such revelation, sometimes he
again relied on revelation, or on inspiration, or sometimes he spoke in terms of his
own insight. When he resorted to his own interpretation, he either relied on the
perceptive power given him on account of his prophetic mission, or he spoke as a
human being and conformably to usage, custom and the level of common
comprehension.

Thus, all the details of every Hadith were not necessarily derived from pure
revelation, nor should the lofty marks of messengership be sought in such thoughts
and transactions of his as were required by his participation in the human state. Since
some truths were revealed to him in a brief and abstract form, and he himself
described them in the light of his insight and according to common comprehension,
the metaphors and allusions in his

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descriptions sometimes may need explanation, or even interpretation. There are,
indeed, some truths that the human mind can grasp only by way of comparison. For
example, once in the presence of the Prophet (UWBP), a loud noise was heard. He
said, "This is the noise of a rock that has been rolling down for seventy years and has
now reached the lowest depths of Hell." 7 An hour later the news came that a famous
dissembler who had recently turned seventy years old had died and gone to Hell, thus
explaining the event Muhammad (Upon whom be blessings and peace) had described
by means of an eloquent comparison.

Third Principle

If there is a consensus of opinion concerning any related tradition (Turk, tevatiir;
Ar. tawatur), & it is indisputable. There are two kinds of this sort of report: one is those
reports about which there is 'a clear, unambiguous consensus (sarih tevatiir),'' the
other is 'consensus in meaning (manevi tevatiir)' The latter is also of two kinds: the
first includes those concerning which the consensus is implied by silence. For
example, if a man in a community relates an incident in front of his people and those
listening do not contradict him, that is, they respond to him by keeping silent, this
implies their acceptance of the report. In particular, if that community is such as will
not accept any error, will consider any lie reprehensible, is ready to criticize and, in
addition, shows an interest in the reported incident, its silence testifies strongly to the
incident having occurred.

The second kind of 'consensus in meaning' is that which occurs when different
people relate a particular incident, for example, one okka 9 of food fed two hundred
people, in different versions: one person describes in one way, another in another
way, and another in yet another way, but all are unanimously agreed on the
occurrence of the incident. Thus, its certain occurrence is supported by 'consensus in
meaning' and is definite; its actual occurrence is not harmed by differences in detail.
Apart from this, there are times when a report supplied by a single person expresses
the certainty of 'consensus,' under certain conditions. It also sometimes happens that
single report expresses certainity when supported by other, outside evidences.

Most of the reports concerning the miracles and evidences of the Noble

7 Muslim, Janna, 31; Musnad, iii, 341, 346.

8 Tawatur is the kind of report that is transmitted by numerous authorities and about which there is no
room for doubt, that is, a report concerning which there is a consensus of opinion. (Tr.)

9 One okka was the equivalent of 2.8 lbs. or 1,3000 gr. (Tr.)

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Messenger' s (Upon whom be blessings and peace) prophethood that have come down
to us are either of the category of 'clear consensus,' or 'consensus in meaning,' or
'consensus implied by silence.' As for the others, although they are the report of a
single person, they also have the certainty of 'consensus' since they have received the
acceptance of the meticulous authorities on Hadith. Of such meticulous authorities
were those geniuses who were called al-Hafiz, who had committed to memory at least
100,000 Hadiths, who offered for fifty years their morning prayer with the ablution of
the night prayer, and who produced the six accurate books of Hadith headed by those
of Bukhari and Muslim. Without doubt, any report scrutinized and accepted by them
cannot fall short of the certainty of 'consensus.' For they acquired such intimacy with
the Noble Messenger' s (Upon whom be blessings and peace) Hadiths and became so
familiar with his exalted style and manner that they could spot at first sight a single
false Hadith among a hundred reports, and would reject it, saying, "This cannot be a
prophetic tradition; it does not have his wording." Since they were able to recognize
the precious quality of the Hadith, like an expert jeweller, there was no possibility of
their confusing any other word with that of the Messenger (UWBP). Some
researchers, however, such as Ibn al-Jawzi, went to such excesses in their criticism
that they regarded many accurate traditions as false. Nevertheless, this does not mean
that every false wording is wrong in meaning, but that the wording itself is not that of
the Messenger (UWBP).

Question: What is the use of citing the chain of transmission of a tradition
so that even if it is not called for in the case of a well-known incident they say: "So-
and-so informed so-and-so, etc."?

A n s w e r : Its uses and benefits are many; one is that the citing of the chain
shows the concurrence of the truthful, reliable and exacting scholars of Hadith and the
unanimity of the discerning authorities whose names are included; each of the
scholars and authorities endorses the accuracy of the tradition, and places his seal and
signature on it.

Question: Why were the miraculous events not transmitted through
numerous chains concerning which there was a consensus of opinion and with as
great emphasis as the basic injunctions of the Sacred Law, the Shari'a?

Answer: Because the majority of the injunctions of the Shari'a are needed by
most people at most times, for they all are applicable to each person, like an
obligation incumbent on all. But not everyone needs to know of every miracle; even if
he does, it suffices him to hear it only once. It is, in fact, like the kind of obligation
the observance of which by some

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will absolve the rest; it is quite enough for miracles to be known only to some. For
this reason, even if the occurrence and reality of a miracle ten times more certain than
that of an injunction of the Shari'a, it will still come to us through one or two
narrators, whereas the injunction is narrated by ten or twenty persons.

Fourth Principle

The future events that the Most Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and
peace) predicted were not isolated incidents; he rather predicted general and recurring
events in a particular way. Those events, however, had many sides to them and each
time he mentioned them, he explained a different side. Then the narrator of the
Hadiths combined all of those sides and they sometimes appear contrary to reality.
There are, for example, varying narrations concerning the Mahdi, each with different
details and descriptions. However, as was explained in a section of the Twenty-Fourth
Word, the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) gave the tidings,
relying on revelation, of a Mahdi who would come in every century to preserve the
morale of the believers, help them not to fall into despair in the face of disasters, and
link the hearts of the believers with the people of the Prophet's (UWBP) Family, who
constitute a luminous line in the world of Islam. Every century has seen a Mahdi from
the Prophet' s (UWBP) Family, or several, similar to the Great Mahdi who is promised
to come at the end of time. One of the 'Abbasid Caliphs even, who were said to be
descendants of the Prophet's (UWBP) Family, was a Mahdi who possessed many of
the Great Mahdi' s characteristics. In this way the attributes of the Mahdi' s deputies
and of the spiritual poles who were Mahdis who were to precede the Great Mahdi and
were samples and forerunners of him, were confused with the attributes of the Great
Mahdi himself, and the narrations concerning him were seen to conflict with one
another.

Fifth Principle

Since "None knows the Unseen save God," 10 the Noble Messenger (Upon whom
be blessings and peace) could not know it himself. God Almighty communicated to
him the tidings of the Unseen, and he made them known. And since God Almighty is
All- Wise and Compassionate, His wisdom and mercy require that most of the matters
of the Unseen be veiled or obscure. For in this world, events disagreeable to human
beings are numerous; prior knowledge of their happening would be painful. It is

10 Qur'an, 27:65. See also, Tirmidhi, Thawab al-Qur'an, 7; Darimi, Fada'il al-Qur'an, 21.

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for this reason that death and the appointed hour of death are left obscure, and the
calamities that are to befall human beings remain behind the veil of the Unseen.

Again, as a result of His wisdom and mercy, God Almighty did not entirely or in
detail inform His Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) about the dreadful
events that would befall his Family and Companions after his demise, in order not to
hurt his extremely tender compassion for his community and his firm affection for his
Family. 11 For certain divine purposes, He made some of these significant events
known to him, but not in all their awesomeness. As for pleasant events, He
communicated them to the Messenger (UWBP) sometimes in outline and sometimes
in detail, and the Messenger (UWBP) in turn made them known to his Companions.
Thus those tidings were accurately transmitted to us by the scholars of Hadith, who
were at the height of piety, justice, and truthfulness, and who feared very much the
warning of the Hadith, "Whoever knowingly tells a lie concerning me should prepare
for a seat in Hell," 12 and that of the Qur'anic verse, "Who, then does more wrong than
the one who utters lie concerning God?"(39:32)

Sixth Principle

Although some qualities and aspects of the Most Noble Messenger (UWBP) have
been described in books of history and biography, most of those qualities relate to his
humanness. But in reality, the spiritual personality and the sacred nature of that
blessed person were so exalted and luminous that the qualities described in books fall
short of his high stature. For according to the rule, "The cause is like the doer,"
everyday, even at this moment, the amount of the worship performed by all his
community is being added to the record of his perfections. He is also everyday the
object of the countless supplications of his vast community, in addition to being the
object of infinite divine mercy in an infinite fashion and with an infinite capacity to
receive. He was, indeed, the result and the most perfect fruit of

For example, he was not made to know about 'A'isha's taking part in the Battle of the Camel so that
his deep love and affection toward her (May God be pleased with her) would not be hurt. He said, in
fact, to his wives: "I wish I knew which one of you will be involved in that incident." Later he was
apparently made aware of it to a slightly greater extent, as he once said to 'Ali (May God be pleased
with him): "Some event will take place between you and 'A'isha."*

* Musnad, vi, 393; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, vi, 410; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, vii, 234.
12 Bukhari, 'Ilm, 38; Jana'iz, 33; Anbiya', 50; Adab 109; Muslim, Zuhd, 72; Abu Da'ud, 'Ilm, 4;
Tirmidhi, Fitan, 70; 'Ilm, 8, 13; Tafsir, 1; Manaqib, 19; IbnMaja, Muqaddima, 4; Darimi, Muqaddima,
25, 46; Musnad, i, 70, 78; ii, 159, 171; iii, 13, 44; iv, 47, 100; v, 292.

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the universe, the interpreter and the beloved of the Creator of the cosmos. Hence his
true nature in its entirety, and the truth of all his perfections, cannot be contained in
the human qualities recorded in books of history and biography. Certainly, the stature
of a blessed person with the Archangels Gabriel and Michael as two aides-de-camp at
his side in the Battle of Badr, 13 is not to be found in the form of a person bargaining
with a beduin in the marketplace over the price of a horse, bringing forth Khuzayma
as his sole witness. 14

In order not to proceed in error, one should raise his head beyond the ordinary
qualities of the Prophet (UWBP) that pertain to his participation in the human state,
and behold instead his true nature and luminous stature that pertain to the rank of
messengership. Otherwise, one will either show him irreverence, or instil doubts in
oneself. Listen to the following comparison for an understanding of this mystery.

Suppose that a date seed was planted in the earth, has sprouted and become a
large, fruit-bearing tree, and is still continuing to grow taller and broader. Or that a
peahen's egg was incubated, a chick was hatched from it and became a beautifully
adorned peacock gilded all over with the imprint of power, and is still growing bigger
and more beautiful. Now, there exist qualities, properties and precisely balanced
elements that belong to the seed and the egg, but are not as great and significant as
those of the tree and the bird that emerge from them. So, while describing the
qualities of the tree and the bird together with those of the seed and the egg, one
should turn one's attention from the seed to the tree, and from the egg to the bird, so
that one's reason may find the description acceptable. Otherwise, if you claim: "I
have obtained thousands of dates from a seed," or, "This egg is the king of all birds,"
you will invite others to contradict and deny your words.

The humanness of God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) may
be likened to the seed or egg, and his essential nature, illumined with the function of
messengership, to the Tuba-tree of Paradise, or to the birds of Paradise. His essential
nature is, moreover, continually moving to greater perfection. That is why, when you
think of the man who disputed in the market with a beduin, you should also turn the
eye of imagination to that luminous being who, riding the Rafraf, leaving Gabriel
behind, reached the "distance of two bowstrings. "(53:9) Otherwise you will either be
disrespectful toward him, or fail to convince the evil-commanding soul.

13 Bukhari, ,11; Ahmad al-Banna al-Sa'ati, al-Fath al-Rabbani, xxi, 26.

14 Abu Da'ud, 'Aqdiyya, 20; Musnad, v, 215.

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FIFTH SIGN

We will cite in this Sign a few examples of Hadiths concerning the matters of the
Unseen.

It has come down to us through a chain of transmission the authenticity of which
is agreed upon (tevatur) that the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and
peace) declared from the pulpit in the presence of his Companions: "This my
grandson Hasan is a master of men by means of whom God will reconcile two great
groups." 15 Forty years later, when the two largest armies of Islam met each other,
Hasan made peace with Mu'awiya, and thus fulfilled the prophecy of his noble
grandfather (UWBP).

According to another authentic narration, the Messenger (UWBP) said to 'Ali:
"You will fight the perfidious, the just, and the deviator," 16 thus predicting the battles
of the Camel and Siffin, and that fought against the Kharijites.

He again said to 'Ali, when he was displaying love for Zubayr: "He will fight
against you, but will be in the wrong." 17

He also said to his wives: "One among you will take charge of a rebellion; many
around her will be killed;" 18 "and the dogs will bark all around her." 19

All these certain and authentic traditions are the proven predictions of the
struggles of 'Ali against 'A'isha, Zubayr and Talha during the Battle of the Camel,
against Mu'awiya at Siffin, and against the Kharijites at Harawra' and Nahrawan.

The Messenger (UWBP) also informed 'Ali about a man who would stain 'Ali's
beard with the blood of his own head. 20 'Ali knew the man; it was 'Abd al-Rahman b.
Muljam the Kharijite.

He also mentioned a man marked with a peculiar sign, Dhu'l-Thudia. When the
man was found among the dead of the Kharijites, 'Ali showed him as a proof of the
rightness of his cause, announcing at the same time the miracle of the Prophet
(UWBP). 21

15 Bukhari, Fitan, 20; Sulh, 9; Fada'il Ashab al-Nabi, 22; Manaqib, 25; Darimi, Sunna, 12; Tirmidhi,
Manaqib, 25; Nasa'i, Jum'a, 27; Musnad, v, 38, 44, 49, 51.

16 al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iii, 139, 140; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, vii, 138; Bayhaqi, Dala'il
al-Nubuwwa, vi, 414.

17 Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, vi, 213; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iii, 366, 367; 'Ali al-Qari,
Sharh al-Shifa ', i, 686, 687.

18 al-'Asqalani, Fath al-Bari, xiii, 45.

19 Musnad vi, 52, 97; Ibn Hibban, Sahih, viii, 258 no: 6697; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iii, 120.

20 al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iii, 113; Musnad, i, 102, 103, 148, 156.

21 Bukhari, Manaqib, 25; Adab, 95; Istitaba, 7; Muslim, Zakat, 148, 156, 157; Abu Da'ud, Sunna, 28;
Musnad, iii, 56, 65.

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According to another authentic tradition related by Umm Salama and others, the
Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) also predicted that Husain
would be killed at Taff (Karbala). 22 Fifty years later the painful event took place as
predicted.

He also repeatedly predicted that after his demise, his Family would face death,
calamities, and exile, and gave some details. 23 What he had predicted later came true
exactly.

In this connection, a question may be asked: although 'Ali, with his extraordinary
bravery and profound knowledge in addition to his kinship to God's Messenger
(UWBP), greatly deserved to be Caliph, why did he not precede the others in holding
the caliphate, and why did Islam experience such disorder during his caliphate?

A n s w e r : A supreme spiritual pole from the Prophet's (UWBP) Family is
reported as having said: "The Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
had desired that 'Ali be Caliph, but it was made known to him from the Unseen that
the will of God Almighty was different. He then abandoned his desire, submitting
himself to God's will." 24

One of the reasons God's will was different could have been that after the
Prophet's (UWBP) demise when the Companions were more than ever in need of
alliance and unity, if 'Ali had taken the leadership it would most probably have
aroused in many persons and tribes a tendency to compete, because of his
uncompromising nature, and fearless, ascetic, heroic, and independent character, and
widely known courage - as was the case during his caliphate - and divisions among
the believers would have resulted.

Another reason for the delay of 'Ali's caliphate was the following: at the time of
his caliphate, the Muslim community, which had expanded rapidly through the
intermingling of many tribes and peoples, possessed such traits as reflected the
opinions of the seventy-three sects that the Noble Messenger (UWBP) had predicted
would evolve in due time. 25 Therefore, in the face of such disturbances, someone was
needed with the wondrous strength, courage, respectability and sagacity of 'Ali, who
had behind him the force of the respected Hashimites and the Prophet's (UWBP)
Family, so that he could resist the sedition. And indeed he did so, in a fashion
conformable to the prediction of the Prophet, who had said to him: "I have

22 al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, ix, 188; Musnad, vi, 294.

23 Ibn Maja, Fitan, 34.

24 Daylami, Musnad al-Firdaws, v, 316; Suyuti, Tarikhal-Khulafa' , 64.

25 Tirmidhi, Iman, 18; Abu Da'ud, Sunna, 1; Ibn Maja, Fitan, 17; Darimi, 75.

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fought for the revelation of the Qur'an; you will fight for its interpretation." 26

A further reason for this delay was that without 'Ali, worldly rule would most
probably have caused the Umayyad kings to go completely astray. However, being
confronted with 'Ali and the Prophet's Family, and having to appear equal to them
and to preserve their prestige before the Muslims, all the leaders of the Umayyad
dynasty, even if not they themselves, in any event due to their encouragement and
recommendations, their followers and supporters, worked with all their strength to
preserve and disseminate the truths of Islam and belief and the Qur'anic decrees.
Thus, they produced thousands of punctilious interpreters of the Law, and authorities
on Hadith, and saints and purified scholars. Had they not been faced by the strong
religiosity, sainthood, and virtuousness of 'Ali and of the Prophet's (UWBP) Family,
it is possible that the Umayyads would have gone completely astray as happened at
the end of their rule, and as did the 'Abbasids.

It might also be asked: "Why did the Islamic caliphate not remain in
the Prophet's (UWBP) Family, since they were the most deserving and fitted for it?"

The Answer: Worldly rule is deceptive, and the Prophet' s (UWBP) Family
had been appointed to preserve the decrees of the Qur' an and the truths of Islam. Not
to be deceived by power, the one who was to hold it and the caliphate had to be as
sinless as a prophet, or as purehearted and unworldly as the Four-Rightly Guided
Caliphs, 'Umar b. 'Abd al-'Aziz or the Mahdi of the 'Abbasids. In fact, the caliphate
of the Fatimid dynasty, which was founded in the name of the Prophet's (UWBP)
Family in Egypt, and the rule of the Almohads in Africa, and the Safavid dynasty in
Iran showed that worldly rule was not suitable for the Prophet' s (UWBP) Family, for
it caused them to neglect their primary duty, the protection of religion and the service
of Islam. When, on the other hand, they gave up worldly rule, they served Islam and
the Qur' an brilliantly and successfully.

Now see: of the poles of sainthood descended from Hasan, especially the Four
Poles 27 and above all 'Abd al-Qadir Gilani, and the Imams of Husain's line, especially
Zayn al-'Abidin and Ja'far al-Sadiq, each became like a spiritual Mahdi, dispelled
wrongdoing and spiritual darkness, and

26 -Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, vi, 244; Musnad, iii, 31, 33, 82; Ibn Hibban, Sahih, ix, 46 no: 6898..

27 The "four poles of sainthood," namely, 'Abd al-Qadir Gilani, Ahmad Rufa'i, Ahmad Badawi, and
Ibrahim Dasuqi. (Tr.)

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spread the light of the Qur' an and the truths of belief. In so doing each showed that he
was a true heir of his noble forefather.

It may then be asked: "What was the wisdom in the awesome and
bloody dissension that was visited on blessed Islam and the luminous Age of Bliss,
and what aspect of mercy was there in it, for they did not deserve such distress?

The Answer: Just as a heavy spring rainstorm stirs into action the
potentialities of all the varieties of plants, seeds, and trees, and causes them to
develop, so each blossoms in its particular way and performs the duties inherent in its
nature; so too, the dissension visited on the Companions and their successors stirred
their potentialities into action, which were all different and like seeds; it spurred them
on. Exclaiming, "Islam is in danger! Fire! Fire!", it put fear into all the groups and
made them hasten to protect Islam. According to its abilities, each of the groups
shouldered one of the numerous different duties of the Islamic community and strove
in utmost earnestness. Some working for the preservation of the prophetic Hadiths,
some for the preservation of the Shari'a, some for the preservation of the truths of
belief, some for the preservation of the Qur' an, and so on; each group undertook a
particular duty. They strove to perform the duties of Islam. Numerous multicoloured
flowers opened. Through the storm, seeds were cast to all the corners of the extensive
world of Islam; half the earth was transformed into a rose-garden. But sadly, together
with the roses, the thorns of the deviant sects appeared in the garden.

It was as if the Hand of Power had shaken that era in wrath, rotated it with
intense vigour, and electrified the men of zeal. Through the centrifugal force of that
movement, a great many enlightened interpreters of the Law, luminous scholars of
Hadith, holy memorizers of the Qur' an, gifted scholars, men of purity, and poles of
sainthood were flung off and caused to emigrate to the remote corners of the world of
Islam. It fired with enthusiasm all the people of Islam from East to West and
awakened them to the treasures of the Qur' an. Now we return to our subject.

There are thousands of events that God's Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) predicted and that happened as he foretold. Here we shall
mention a few of them. The majority of those we will cite are agreed upon by the six
well-known, most authentic books of Hadith, particularly Bukhari and Muslim. There
is a 'consensus in meaning' concerning the reports, while others, on account of being
verified by meticulous researchers, may also be considered to have this certainty.

According to an authentic and certain narration, the Noble Messenger (Upon
whom be blessings and peace) said to his Companions: "You will be

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victorious over all your enemies, will succeed in the conquest of Mecca, 28 Khaybar, 29
Damascus and Iraq, Persia, and Jerusalem, and will share among yourselves the
treasures of the rulers of the greatest empires, the Byzantines and the Persians." 32 He
did not say this as a matter of conjecture or personal opinion; he said it as if he had
seen it, and what he said came true as predicted. This was despite the fact that at the
time he foretold it he had to migrate to Medina with a handful of followers, with the
rest of the world, including the environs of Medina, hostile to him!

He also repeatedly declared, according to authentic and certain narrations, that
Abu Bakr and 'Umar would outlive him and be his Caliphs, that they would act for
God's sake and within the bounds of God's pleasure and that of the Prophet (UWBP),
that Abu Bakr's rule would be short, and that 'Umar would remain a long time to
succeed in many conquests. Thus he said: "Incumbent upon you is following the path
of those who come after me, Abu Bakr and 'Umar." 33

He also declared: "The earth was laid out before me, and its eastern and western
extremities were displayed to me; the realm of my community shall extend over
whatever was laid out before me." 34 And his words proved to be true.

According to an authentic and certain narration, before the Battle of Badr, he
pointed out one by one the places where the leaders of the Quraysh would be killed,
saying: "Abu Jahl will be killed here, 'Utba here, Umayya here, etc.," 35 and added, "I
shall kill 'Ubayy b. Khalaf with my own hands." 36 His predictions all proved to be
true.

Again, according to an authentic and certain narration, he informed his
Companions about what was happening in the celebrated Battle of Mu'ta, near
Damascus - at a distance of one month's journey from where he was - as if he were
seeing his Companions fighting in the battle, and said: "Zayd has taken the banner
and been struck; now Ibn Rawaha has taken the banner and been struck; now Ja'far
has taken the banner and been struck; now

28 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh> al-Bukhari, i, 678, 679.

29 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 679.

30 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 678.

31 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 678, 679.

32 Bulchari, Jihad 157; Manaqib, 25; Iman, 3; Muslim, Fitan, 75, 76; Tirmidhi, Fitan, 41.

33 Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 16, 37; Ibn Maja, Muqaddima, 11; Musnad, v, 382, 385, 399, 402.
^Muslim, Fitan, 19, 20; Abu Da'ud, Fitan, 1; Tirmidhi, Fitan, 14; Ibn Maja, Fitan, 9; Musnad, iv, 123,
278, 284.

35 Muslim, Jihad, 83; Janna, 76; Abu Da'ud, Jihad, 115; Nasa'i, Jana'iz, 117; Musnad, i, 26; iii, 219,
258.

36 al-Hakim, al-Mustadralc, ii, 327.

130

one of God's swords [i.e. Khalid] has taken it." 37 Two to three weeks later Ya'la b.
Munabbih returned from the battlefront. In his presence, the Noble Prophet described
the details of the battle, and Ya'la swore by God that what had taken place at the

TO

battle was exactly the same as the Bringer of Sure News (UWBP) had described.

According to an authentic and certain narration, the Noble Messenger (Upon
whom be blessings and peace) said: "After me, the caliphate will last thirty years;
then it will be rapacious monarchy." 39 "The beginning of this affair is prophethood
and mercy; then it will be mercy and caliphate; then it will be rapacious monarchy;
then it will be arrogance and tyranny." 40 He thus predicted the six-month-long
caliphate of Hasan and the period of the Four Rightly- Guided Caliphs, and, following
that, the transition from caliphate to monarchy and monarchy's being plagued by
intrigues and tyranny. This is exactly what later occurred.

Again, according to an authentic narration, he declared: "'Uthman will be killed
while reading the Qur'an." 41 "And it may be that God will cause him to be dressed in
a shirt at that time. His deposal may also be sought." These events, too, all took
place exactly as predicted.

Also according to an authentic narration, while cupping the Prophet (UWBP),
'Abdullah b. Zubayr tasted his blessed blood. Then the Prophet (UWBP) said: "Woe
unto the people for what shall befall them at your hands, and woe unto you for what
shall befall you at their hands," 43 predicting that 'Abdullah would lead the Muslims
with extraordinary bravery, would face terrible attacks, and that because of him
fearsome events would befall people. What he foretold came about exactly: during
Umayyad rule, 'Abdullah b. Zubayr declared his caliphate in Mecca, heroically
fought in many battles, until finally Hajjaj the Tyrant attacked him with a large force,
and following a fierce battle the illustrious hero was martyred.

Again, according to an authentic narration, he foretold the emergence of the
Umayyad dynasty 44 and the tyrannical rule of many of its monarchs,

37 al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iii, 298; Bukhari, Maghazi, 44.

38 al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 210; Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawzi, Zad al-Ma'ad (Tahqiq: Arnavud), iii,
385.

39

40 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 340; Musnad, iv, 273.

41 al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iii, 103.

42 See, al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iii, 100.

43 al-'Asqalani, al-Matalib al- 'Aliya, iv, 21; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, no: 2708; al-Hakim, al-
Mustadrak, iii, 554.

44 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 338; 'AH al-Qari, i, 683; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 179.

131

including Yazid 45 and Walid, and Mu'awiya's assuming leadership of the Muslims.
He advised justice and gentleness, and said: "When ruling, act with forebearance." 46
He predicted that the 'Abbasid dynasty would emerge after the Umayyads to remain
in power for a long time, and said: "The 'Abbasids will come forth with black banners
and rule for much longer than they [the Umayyads] rule." 47 All these predictions
proved to be true.

According to an authentic narration, the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) also said: "Woe to the Arabs for the evil that has drawn near," 48
suggesting the dreadful disorders to be caused by Jenghiz and Hulagu, and their
destruction of the 'Abbasid state. All this proved to be true.

According to an authentic narration, when Sa'd b. Abi Waqqas was gravely ill,
the Prophet (UWBP) said to him: "It may be that you will be spared so that some may
benefit by you, and others harmed by you," 49 thus predicting that he would be a great
commander winning many victories, and many peoples would benefit from him
entering the fold of Islam, while others would be destroyed by him. His words proved
to be true; Sa'd led the Muslim armies, wiped out the Persian Empire, and caused
many peoples to reach guidance, the path of Islam.

Also according to an authentic narration, when the Negus, the Abyssinian ruler,
who had accepted faith earlier, died in the seventh year of the Hijra, God's Prophet
(Upon whom be blessings and peace) informed his Companions about it; he even
performed funeral prayers for him. 50 One week later came the news confirming the
death of the Negus on the very same day as the Prophet (UWBP) had said.

According to an authentic narration, when the Noble Prophet (UWBP) was with
his closest four Companions on the top of Mount Uhud (or Hira), the mountain began
to tremble. He said, "Steady! For on you are a prophet, a veracious one [siddiq], and a
martyr," 51 and foretold the martyrdom of 'Umar, 'Uthman, and 'Ali. It too proved
true.

See, al-Albani, Sahih al-Jami' al-Saghir, no: 2579; al-Albani, Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Sahiha, no:
1749; al-'Asqalan, al-Matalib al-'Aliya, no: 4528.

46 al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, v, 186; Ibn Hajar, al-Matalib al-'Aliya (Tahqiq: 'Abd al -Rahman
al-A'zami), no: 4085.

47 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' i, 338; Musnad, iii, 216-218; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iii, 326.

48 . Bukhari, Fitan, 4, 28; Muslim, Fitan, I; Abu Da'ud, Fitan, 1; Tirmidhi, Fitan, 23; Ibn Maja, Fitan, 9;
Musnad, ii, 390, 399; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, i, 108; iv, 439, 483.

49 Bukhari, Jana'iz, 36; Manaqib al-Ansar, 49; Fara'id, 6; al-Khafaji, Shark al-Shifa', iii, 209; 'Ali al-
Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 699; Abu Nu'aym, Hilyat al-Awliya, i, 94.

50 Bukhari, Jana'iz, 57; Manaqib al-Ansar, 38; Muslim, Fara'id, 14; Abu Da'ud, Jihad, 133; Buyu', 9;
Tirmidhi, Jana'iz, 69; Nasa'i, Jana'iz, 66, 67; Ibn Maja, Sadaqat, 9, 13.

51 Bukhari, Fada'il al-Sahaba, 5, 7; Abu Da'ud, Sunna, 8; Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 17, 18; Musnad, iii, 112;
v, 331; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iii, 450, 451 (two martyrs are mentioned here).

132

Now, O unfortunate, wretched man without heart who says that Muhammad
(UWBP) was only a clever person and then closes his eyes to that Sun of Truth! Of all
his fifteen different kinds of miracle, you have thus far heard only a hundredth part of
one kind, that relating to his predictions which have the certainty of 'consensus in
meaning.' To discover future events through one's own perspicacity and thus succeed
in even one hundredth part of the Prophet's (UWBP) predictions, one would have to
be of the highest genius. Even if we merely called him a genius as you call him, could
such a man have ever seen anything wrongly? Or could he have ever stooped to
reporting it wrongly? Not to heed the word of such a hundredfold genius concerning
happiness in this world and the next is therefore the sign of a hundredfold madness!

SIXTH SIGN

According to an authentic narration, the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) said to Fatima: "You will be the first of my Family to join me
[after my death]." 52 Six months later, what he said took place.

He also told Abu Dharr: "You will be expelled from here [Medina], will live
alone, and will die alone." 53 All this came true twenty years later.

Once, as he awakened in the house of Anas b. Malik's aunt, Umm Haram, he
smilingly said: "I saw my community waging war on the seas like kings sitting on
thrones." 54 Umm Haram requested: "Pray that I too will be with them." He said: "You
shall be." Forty years later she accompanied her husband, 'Ubada b. Samit, on the
conquest of Cyprus. She died there, and her grave has ever since been visited by the
believers. Thus, what the Messenger (UWBP) foretold proved to be true.

Also according to an authentic narration, he declared: "From the tribe of Thaqif, a
liar will claim prophethood, and a bloodthirsty tyrant will appear." 55 With this, he
gave tidings of the infamous Mukhtar, who claimed prophethood, and of the
barbarous Hajjaj, who killed a hundred thousand people.

52 Bukhari, Manaqib, 25; Muslim, Fada'il al-Sahaba,101; IbnMaja, Jana'iz, 64; Musnad, vi, 240, 282,
283; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 340.

53 al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iii, 345; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 343; 'AH al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 700; al-
'Asqalani, al-Matalib al-'Aliya, iv, 116 no: 4109; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, v, 8-9; al-
'Asqalani, al-Isaba, iv, 64.

54 Bukhari, Ta'bir, 12; Jihad, 3, 8, 63, 75; Isti'dhan, 41; Muslim, 'Imara, 160, 160; Abu Da'ud, Jihad, 9;
Tirmidhi, Fada'il al-Jihad, 15; Nasa'i, Jihad, 40; Ibn Maja, Jihad, 10; Darimi, Jihad, 28; Muwatta',
Jihad, 39; Musnad, iii, 240, 264; al-Albani, Sahih al-Jami' al-Saghir, vi, 24, no: 6620; al-Hakim, al-
Mustadrak, iv, 556.

55 Muslim, Fada'il al-Sahaba, 229; Tirmidhi, Fitan, 44; Manaqib, 73; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iii, 450;
iv, 254.

133

According to an authentic narration, he said: "Istanbul will be conquered, and
blessed are the ruler and the toops that will conquer it." 56 He thus gave tidings that
Istanbul would be conquered by Muslim hands, and that Mehmed the Conqueror
would attain a high spiritual rank. His prediction again proved to be true.

He also said, according to an authentic narration: "Were religion to be hung on
the Pleiades, men from Persia would reach up and lay hold of it," 57 indicating that
matchless scholars and saints like Abu Hanifa would emerge from Iran. In addition,
he foretold Imam Shafi'i, saying: "A scholar from Quraysh who will fill all regions of
the earth with learning." 58

According to an authentic narration, he said: "My community will be divided into
seventy-three sects, and only one among them will attain salvation." He was asked:
"Who are they?" He replied: "Those who follow me and my Companions," 59 meaning
the Sunnis or Ahl al-Sunna wa'1-Jama'a.

He also declared: "The Qadariyya are the Magians of this community," 60
foretelling the emergence of the Predestinationist (Qadariyya) sect, which would be
divided into different branches and reject divine determining or destiny. He also
foretold the Defectors (Rafida), who would produce various offshoots.

Again according to an authentic narration, he said to 'Ali: "As was true of Jesus,
two groups of people will perish on your account: one because of excessive love, the
other because of excessive enmity. Christians, on account of their deep love for Jesus,
transgressed the limits and called him - God forbid! - 'the son of God,' 61 while the
Jews, because of their hostility, went to the other extreme by denying his message and
virtue. Similarly, some will incur loss due to their exaggerated affection toward you.
For them is the insulting name of Rafida? 2 And certain others will be excessively
hostile to you. They are the Kharijites, and the extremist partisans of the Umayyads,
who will be called Nasiba."

It may be asked here: Love for the Prophet' s (UWBP) Family is a
com

56 al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iv, 422; Bukhari, Ta'rikh al-Saghir, no: 139; Musnad, iv, 335; al-
Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, vi, 218.

57 Bukhari, al-Tafsir, 62; Tirmidhi, 47; Tafsir Sura, 3.

58 al-'Ajluni Kashf al-Khafa' ', ii, 53, 54.

59 Abu Da'ud, Sunna, 1; IbnMaja, Fitan, 17; Tirmidhi, Iman, 18; Musnad, ii, 232; iii, 120, 148; 'Ali al-
Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 679.

60 al-Albani, Sahih Jami' al-Saghir, iv, 150; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, i, 85; Abu Da'ud, Sunna, 5;
Suyuti, al-Fath al-Kabir, iii, 23; Musnad, ii, 86, 125; v, 406.

61 Musnad, i, 160; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, ix, 133; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iii, 123.
Musnad, i, 103.

134

mand of the Qur'an and was greatly encouraged by him. The affection of the Shi'a
may therefore serve as an excuse for them, since deep affection may be likened to
intoxication. Why, then, can the Shi'a, especially the Rafida, not benefit from their
love, and why is their love described by the Prophet (UWBP) as transgression?

The Answer: Love is of two kinds:

The First is to love something or someone for the meaning it or he signifies. This
means to love 'Ali, Hasan, Husain, and the Prophet's Family in the name of God and
of His Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace). This kind of love augments
love of the Messenger (UWBP) and becomes a means to love God Almighty. Thus, it
is permissible, and its excess is not harmful or aggressive, nor does it call for reproach
and hostility towards others.

The Second Kind of love takes the means as the object, it is to love something or
someone for itself or himself. In it, one does not think of the Messenger (UWBP), but
devotes one's love to 'Ali on account of his bravery, and to Hasan and Husain on
account of their greatness and lofty qualities, no matter if one knows the Messenger
(UWBP) or recognizes God. This love does not lead to love for God and His
Messenger (UWBP); besides, when excessive, it results in censure of others and
enmity towards them. It was on account of this kind of love that such people held
aloof from Abu Bakr and 'Umar, and fell into loss. Their negative love, indeed, is the
source of misfortune.

According to an authentic narration, God's Most Noble Messenger (Upon whom
be blessings and peace) declared: "When Persian and Roman girls serve you, then
calamity and misfortune will be with you, and your struggles will be between
yourselves, with the wicked preying on the virtuous." 63 After thirty years, his
predictions came true.

Again, according to an authentic narration, he declared: "The fortress of Khaybar
will be conquered at 'Ali's hand." 64 As a miracle of his prophethood and beyond all
expectation, the following day 'Ali ripped off the gate of the fortress of Khaybar, used
it as a shield, and seized the fortress. When he threw it aside after the conquest, eight
strong men - or according to another version, forty - tried to lift it, but could not do

o~ 65

so.

63 Tirmidhi (Tahqiq: Ahmad Shakir), no: 2262; al-Albani, Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Sahiha, 954; al-

Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, x, 232, 237.

64 Bukhari, Jihad, 102, 143; al-Maghazi, 38;
333; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, iv, 205.

65 Suyuti, al-Durar al-Muntathira (Mustafa a
Nihaya, iv, 189-190; al-'Ajluni, Kashf al-Khafa' ', i, 365.

64 Bukhari, Jihad, 102, 143; al-Maghazi, 38; Muslim, Fada'il al-Sahaba, 34, 35; Musnad, ii, 484; v,
3

65 Suyuti, al-Durar al-Muntathira (Mustafa al-Babi al-Halabi, 1960), 118; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa 7-

135

The Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) also predicted the
Battle of Siffin between 'Ali and Mu'awiya, saying: "The hour shall not come until
two parties with a single claim fight each other." 66

He also declared that a group of rebels would kill ' Ammar. 67 When ' Ammar was
killed at the Battle of Siffin, 'Ali cited this as a proof that Mu'awiya' s followers were
rebellious; but Mu'awiya interpreted it differently, and also 'Amr b. al-'As said: "The
rebels are murderers, not all of us."

The Noble Messenger (UWBP) also said: "As long as 'Umar is alive, no sedition
will erupt among you." 68 And so it happened.

Before accepting faith, Sahl b. 'Amr was once captured in a battle. 'Umar said to
the God's Messenger (UWBP): "Allow me to pull out his teeth, for he, with his
eloquent speech, incited the idolatrous Quraysh to wage war against us." God's
Messenger (UWBP) replied: "It may be that he will assume a stance pleasing to you,
O 'Umar." 69 In fact, at the time of the Prophet's demise, which caused panic and
agitation, Sahl, with his well-known eloquence, calmed and comforted the
Companions in Mecca with an address; while in Medina Abu Bakr, with his great
firmness, was also giving a very important address to comfort the Companions.
Surprisingly, the two addresses resemble each other in regard to their wording.

To Suraqa, the Prophet (UWBP) once said: "You will wear the two bracelets of
Chosroes." Chosroes was wiped out during the caliphate of 'Umar. When Chosroes'
jewelry arrived, 'Umar put the bracelets on Suraqa, saying, "Praise be to God Who
took these off Chosroes and put them on Suraqa." 71 This confirmed the report of the
Prophet (UWBP).

The Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) also declared: "Once
Chosroes the Persian has gone, there will be no other." 72 So it turned out.

66 Muslim, Fitan, 4; Ibn Hibban, Sahih, viii, 259; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 704; al-Albani, Sahih

Jami' al-Saghir, vi, 174, no: 7294.

67 Bukhari, Salat, 63; Muslim, Fitan, 70, 72, 73; Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 34; Musnad, ii, 161, 164, 206; iii,

5, 22, 28, 91; iv, 197, 199; v, 215, 306, 307; vi, 289, 300, 311, 315; Kattani, Nairn al-Mutanathir, 126;

Ibn Hibban, Sahih, viii, 260; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, ii, 155; iii, 191, 397; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 339;

al-Sa'ati, al-Fath al-Rabbani, xxiii, 142.

68 , Mawaqit, 4; Fitan, 22; Muslim, Iman, 231; Fitan, 27; Ibn Maja, Fitan, 9; Musnad, v, 401, 405.

69 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa ', i, 704; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa ', iii, 218; al-'Asqalani, al-Isaba, ii,
93-94; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iv, 282.

70 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 703; al-'Asqalani, al-Isaba, no: 3115.

71 Ibid.; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 344.

72 Bukhari, Iman, 31; Muslim, Fitan, 76; Tirmidhi, Fitan, 41; Musnad, ii, 233, 240; v, 92, 99; Qadi Iyad,
al-Shifa', i, 337; al-Mubarakfuri, Tuhfat al-Ahwazi (Tahqiq: 'Abd al-Wahhab), iv, 462, 663.

136

He once said to Chosroes' envoy: "Chosroes has now been killed by his son
Shirviya Parviz." 73 Upon investigating and finding out that he had indeed been
murdered at that very time, the envoy accepted Islam. The name of the envoy occurs
in some narrations as Firuz.

According to an authentic narration, the Noble Messenger (UWBP) once
mentioned a secret letter that Khatib b. Balta'a had sent to the Quraysh. He sent 'Ali
and Miqdad to fetch it, saying, "There is a person at such-and-such a location bearing
such-and-such a letter. Take it and bring it here." They went and brought exactly the
letter he had described from exactly the place. The Prophet (UWBP) summoned
Khatib and asked him why he had done it. Khatib apologized, and the Prophet
(UWBP) pardoned him. 74

Again, according to an authentic narration concerning 'Utba b. Abi Lahab, God's
Messenger (UWBP) prayed: "May he be eaten by one of the dogs of God!", 75
predicting the terrible fate of 'Utba. For while on his way to the Yemen, 'Utba was
devoured by a lion. Both the malediction and the prediction of the Prophet were thus
confirmed.

At the conquest of Mecca, as is also related in an authentic narration, Bilal al-
Habashi went up onto the roof of the Ka'ba and made the call to prayer, while Abu
Sufyan, 'Attab b. Asid, and Harithb. Hisham, from among the leaders of the Quraysh,
were sitting together nearby. 'Attab said: "My father was fortunate enough not to
witness this moment." Harith said contemptuously about Bilal: "Could Muhammad
have not found someone other than this black crow to make the mu'ezzin?" Abu
Sufyan said: "I am afraid to say anything, for he will come to know of whatever I say.
Even if nothing else informs him, the rocks of this Batha [Mecca] will do so." Indeed,
a little later the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) encountered
them and repeated to them their conversation word for word. That very moment
'Attab and Harith became Muslims. 76

See, wretched denier who does not recognize the Messenger (UWBP)! Two
stubborn leaders of the Quraysh came to believe on hearing this single report of his
from the Unseen. How corrupted your heart must be, for you hear about thousands of
miracles having the certainty of 'consensus in

73 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 343; al-Khafaji, Shark al-Shifa', iii, 211; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 700;
al-Albani, Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Sahiha, 1427.

74 Bukhari, Jihad, 141; Tafsir, 60:1; Maghazi 46; Muslim, Fada'il al-Sahaba, 161; Abu Da'ud, Jihad,
98; Tirmidhi, 60:1; Musnad, i, 79; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iii, 301; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 342.

75 al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 139; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 664.

76 al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 219, 220; al-'Asqalani, al-Matalib al-'Aliya, no: 4366; Ibn al-Qayyim
al-Jawzi, Zad al-Ma'ad (Tahqiq: al-Arnavud), iii, 409-410; Ibn Hisham, Sirat al-Nabi, ii, 413.

137

meaning' like this one, and still you are not completely satisfied ! However, to return
to our subject.

According to an authentic narration, 'Abbas was captured by the Companions in
the Battle of Badr. When he was asked for ransom, he said he did not have money.
God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) said to him: "You and your
wife Umm Fadl hid that much money [he gave the exact amount] in such-and-such a
place." 77 'Abbas confirmed this, saying: "This was a secret known by only the two of
us," and became a Muslim.

Also according to an authentic narration, a dangerous Jewish sorcerer named
Labid once concocted a strong and effective spell to harass God's Messenger
(UWBP). He wrapped hair and thread around a comb, bewitched it, and threw it into a
well. The Noble Messenger (UWBP) told his Companions including 'Ali to go and
bring the spell in the well, which they did, finding it exactly as described. As they
unwrapped the hair, the Messenger's (UWBP) discomfort lessened. 78

Again, according to an authentic narration, the Noble Messenger (UWBP) once
gave the news of the awesome fate of an apostate to a group that included such
important persons as Abu Hurayra and Hudhayfa, saying: "One of you will enter the
Fire with a tooth bigger than Mount Uhud." 79 Abu Hurayra related: "I was afraid, as
later only two remained from that group, one of which was me. Finally, the other man

on

was killed in the Battle of Yamama as one of the followers of Musaylima." The
truth of the Prophet's (UWBP) prediction was thus confirmed.

It is related through an authentic chain of reports that 'Umayr and Safwan, before
they became Muslims, once decided to kill the Most Noble Messenger (Upon whom
be blessings and peace) for a handsome reward that had been offered them. When
'Umayr arrived in Medina with this intention, the Messenger (UWBP) summoned
him, and, putting his hand on 'Umayr' s chest, told him about what he had planned
with Safwan. 'Umayr affirmed it and became a Muslim. 81

77 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 343; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 699; al-Khafaji, Shark al-Shifa', iii, 206,
207; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, vi, 85.

78 Bukhari, Tibb, 47, 49, 50; Adab, 56; Da'wat, 57; Bad' al-Khalq, 11; Muslim, Salam, 43; Ibn Maja,
Tibb, 45; Musnad, vi, 57, 63, 96; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 706; Tabrizi, Mishkat al-Masabih
(Tahqiq: al-Albani), iii, 174, no: 5893.

79 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', iv, 342; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 203; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id,
viii, 289-290; Tabrizi, Mishkat al-Masabih, iii, 103.

80 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 342; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 298.

81 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 342, 343; original: al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, viii, 286-7; viii, 284-6;
Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, iii, 313.

138

Like those mentioned above, many predictions which the Noble Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace) gave concerning the Unseen have been recorded
in the six best-known, authentic books of Hadith, together with the chains of the
narrators. As for the occurrences related in this work, they are definite to the degree of
'consensus in meaning,' being related in Bukhari and Muslim, which are accepted by
the scholars as the most authentic sources after the Qur'an, and in the other
collections like Tirmidhi, Nasa'i, Abu Da'ud, Mustadrak al-Hakim, Musnad al-
Ahmad b. Hanbal, and Dala'il al-Bayhaqi.

Now, unthinking denier! Do not shrug these off, saying, "Muhammad the
Arabian was clever!" Because the accurate predictions of Muhammad (UWBP)
concerning the Unseen cannot be explained except in either of the following two
ways: you will either suppose that this blessed person had such piercing vision and
expansive genius that he saw and knew the past and the future and all the world;
beheld the East, the West, and the whole universe; and discovered what happened in
the past and what will happen in the future. Such a quality is not to be found in a
human being, but if it was to be, it would certainly be a wonder, a gift, bestowed on
him by the Creator of the world, which would itself be the greatest of miracles. Or
you will believe this blessed person to be an official and a student of One under
whose disposal and observation everything stands, under whose command are all ages
and all the species and realms of beings in the cosmos, in whose great ledger is
recorded everything, so that He may show and communicate them to his student
whenever He wishes. Thus, Muhammad the Arabian (Upon whom be blessings and
peace) instructs others as he himself is instructed by the Lord of Pre-Eternity.

It is related in an authentic narration that when the Prophet (UWBP) appointed
Khalid b. al-Walid to fight against Ukaydir, the head of the Dumat al-Jandal, he
informed Khalid that he would find Ukaydir on a wild ox hunt, and that he would be
captured without resistance. Khalid captured Ukaydir in exactly this way.

According to an authentic narration, when the Quraysh hung up on the wall of the
Ka'ba a leaf on which were written words against the Bani Hashim, the Prophet
(UWBP) said to them: "Worms have eaten the leaf, except the parts bearing the
names of God." They examined the leaf to find it in the same condition as had been
described.

82 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 344; al-Khafaji, Shark al-Shifa', iii, 218; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 704;
Ibn al-Qayyim, Zad al-Ma'ad, v, 538-9; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iv, 519; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-
Nihaya, iv, 30.

83 .Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 345; al-Khafaji, Shark al-Shifa', iii, 720; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 706;
Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, iii, 96-7; Ibn Hisham, Sirat al-Nabi, i, 371.

139

According to an authentic narration, the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blesssings and peace) said: "There will be a big epidemic during the conquest of
Jerusalem." 84 When Jerusalem was conquered during the caliphate of 'Umar, a
widespread epidemic caused in three days the death of about seventy thousand people.

Again, according to an authentic narration, the Prophet (Upon whom be
blesssings and peace) predicted that Basra and Baghdad would come into existence,
which at that time had not been founded, that the treasure of the world would enter
Baghdad, 86 and that the Turks and the people living on the shores of the Caspian Sea
would do battle with the Arabs and that the majority of them would later enter the
fold of Islam, 87 and that among the Arabs they would come to dominate them. He
said: "The Persians [non-Arabs] will almost predominate among you, consuming your
booty and smiting you." 88

He also said: "The ruin of my community will be at the hands of the wicked ones
from Quraysh," 89 suggesting the disorder caused by the wicked leaders of the
Umayyads, such as Walid and Yazid.

He furthermore predicted that apostasy would take place in such areas as
Yamama. 90

During the famous Battle of Khandaq, he declared: "From now on, I will make
assaults on the Quraysh and their confederates, not they on me." 91 This was also
verified.

According to an authentic narration, he said a few months prior to his death:
"One of God's bondsmen has been given a choice, and he chose that which is with
God." 92

84 Bukhari, Tibb, 30; Khiyal, 13; Muslim, Salam, 98, 100; Muwatta', Madina, 22, 24; Musnad, iv, 195-
6; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, vi, 383; Suyuti, al-Khasa'is al-Kubra, ii, 477-8.

85 al-Albani, Sahih al-Jami' al-Saghir, vi, 268, no: 7736; Tabrizi, Mishkat al-Masabih, no: 5433.

86 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 344; 'AH al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 703; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya,
x, 102; Tabrizi, Mishkat al-Masabih, no: 5433.

87 Bukhari, Jihad, 95; Muslim, Fitan, 64-66; Tirmidhi, Fitan, 37; Ibn Maja, Fitan, 36.

88 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 341; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 194; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 692;
al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, vii, 310; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iv, 519; Musnad, ii, 288, 296, 304,
324, 377, 520; iv, 66; v, 38.

89 Bukhari, Manaqib, 25; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iv, 479, 527, 572; Musnad, ii, 288, 296, 301, 304,
324, 377, 520, 536; iv, 66; (with different wording) v, 38; Ibn Hibban, Sahih, viii, 215, 252.

90 Bukhari, Manaqib, 25; Maghazi, 70; Ta'bir, 40; Muslim, Ru'ya, 21, 22; Tirmidhi, Ru'ya, 10;
Musnad, ii, 319, Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, v, 334-6; vi, 358, 360, 524.

91 Bukhari, Maghazi, 29; Musnad, iv, 262; vi, 394; Ibn Hibban, Sahih, vi, 272.

92 Bukhari, Manaqib al-Ansar, 45; Salat, 80; Fada'il al-Sahaba, 3; Muslim, Fada'il al-Sahaba, 2;
Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 15; Abu Da'ud, Muqaddima, 14; Musnad, iii, 18, 478; iv, 211; v, 139; Ibn Hibban,
Sahih, viii, 200; ix, 58.

140

About Zayd b. Suwahan, he said: "One of his limbs will precede him to
Paradise." In the Battle of Nihawand, one of his hands was martyred and in effect
reached heaven first.

The incidents we have so far mentioned concerning predictions relating to the
Unseen comprise only one out of his ten different kinds of miracle. Yet of this kind
alone, we have not even mentioned one tenth. In addition to what is mentioned here,
four general kinds of miracle concerning predictions of the Unseen have been
described briefly in the Twenty- Fifth Word, which is about the miraculousness of the
Qur' an. Now consider the kinds mentioned here together with the four extensive sorts
communicated from the Unseen by the tongue of the Qur' an, you will see what
conclusive, indisputable, sound, brilliant, and firm proof of his messengership they
form. Indeed, anyone whose heart and mind are not corrupted will of a surety believe
that Muhammad (Upon whom be blessings and peace) was the Messenger of a
Glorious One who is the Creator of all things, the One All-Knowing of the Unseen,
and received knowledge from Him.

SEVENTH SIGN

We will give in this Sign a few examples from among the Prophet's (UWBP)
miracles that relate to his effecting increase in food and that are definite to the degree
of 'consensus in meaning.' But before going into the subject, some introductory
comments will be appropriate.

Introduction: Each of the following examples of miracles is narrated, as
authentic, through various - sometimes as many as sixteen - chains of transmission.
Most of them occurred in the presence of large assemblies, and were narrated by
many truthful persons of good repute from among those present. For example, from
among seventy men who partook of four handfuls of food and were filled, 94 one
relates the incident and the others do not contradict him. Their silence thus indicates
their confirmation. For if in that era of truth and truthfulness the Companions, who
were lovers of the truth and earnest and honest, had witnessed even the tiniest lie, they
would have rejected and denied it. But the incidents we will be citing were narrated
by many, and the others who witnessed them remained silent. Thus, each of these
incidents has the certainty of 'consensus in meaning.'

93 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 343; 'AH al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 702; al-Khafaji, Shark al-Shifa', iii, 214;
al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, ix, 398; al-'Asqalani, al-Matalib al-'Aliya, iv, 91, no: 4047.

94 Bukhari, Manaqib, 25; Muslim, Ashriba, 142; Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 6; Ibn Maja, At'ima, 47;
Muwatta', Sifat al-Nabi, 19.

141

Furthermore, books of both history and the Prophet's (UWBP) biography testify
that, next to the preservation of the Qur'an and its verses, the Companions worked
with all their strength to preserve the deeds and words of God's Most Noble
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace), and especially those relating to the
injunctions of the Shari'a and to miracles, paying extreme attention to their accuracy.
They never neglected even the tiniest aspect of his conduct, actions, and states. This
and the fact that they recorded them is testified to by books of Hadith.

In addition, in the Era of Bliss, they wrote down and recorded very many of the
Hadiths concerning the injunctions of the Law and his miracles. The Seven
'Abdullah's 95 in particular recorded them in writing. Especially 'Abdullah b. al-
'Abbas, known as the Interpreter of the Qur'an, and 'Abdullah b. 'Amr b. al-'As some
thirty to forty years later, and the thousands of exacting scholars of the generation that
followed the Companions recorded the Hadiths and miracles in writing. Still later,
chiefly the four great interpreters of the Law and thousands of exacting scholars of
Hadith related them and preserved them in writing. Then two hundred years after the
Hijra, foremost Bukhari and Muslim and the six accepted books of tradition,
undertook the duty of their preservation. Many severe critics such as Ibn al-Jawzi
emerged who identified false reports which had been produced by deniers, the
unthinking, the ignorant, or those who had recalled them wrongly. Later, learned and
exacting scholars like Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti, who seventy times was honoured in a
waking state by the presence and conversation of God's Noble Messenger (UWBP),
differentiated the diamonds of authentic traditions from other sayings and
fabrications.

Thus, the incidents and miracles we shall speak of, have come down to us
through numerous, perhaps uncountable, strong and trustworthy hands, and have
reached us in sound condition. "All praise be to God, this is from the bounty of my
Lord." It is for this reason that one's mind should be freed from the notion that these
incidents have been distorted or confused in any way in being passed down all the
way from that time to the present.

The First Example of definite miracles concerning the Prophet's
(UWBP) increase of food through his blessing. The six accurate books of tradition,
Bukhari and Muslim included, unanimously relate that during the feast on the
occasion of the Noble Messenger's (UWBP) marriage to Zaynab, Anas' s mother,
Umm Sulaym,

95 The seven 'Abdullah's (al-'Abadila al-Sab'a): 'Abdullah b. 'Abbas, 'Abdullah b. 'Umar, 'Abdullah
b. Mas'ud, 'Abdullah b. Raw\ha, 'Abdullah b. Salam, 'Abdullah b. 'Amr b. al-'As, 'Abdullah b. Abi
Awfa (R. A.).

142

prepared a dish by frying two handfuls of dates in oil and sent it with Anas to the
Messenger (UWBP). The Messenger (UWBP) told him: "Go and invite so-and-so
(naming some persons), and also invite whomever you encounter on your way." Anas
invited those named and those he met. About three hundred Companions came and
filled the Messenger's (UWBP) room and anteroom. He said: "Make circles often."
He placed his blessed hand on that little amount of food, uttered supplications, and
told them to help themselves. All of them ate and were fully satisfied. Afterwards the
Messenger (UWBP) asked Anas to remove the food. Anas later related: "I could not
tell if there was more of it when I set it down, or when I removed it." 96

Second Example: Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, the Prophet's (UWBP) host,
relates that when the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
honoured his house, he had prepared a meal for two, which would suffice the
Messenger (UWBP) and Abu Bakr. But the Messenger (UWBP) told him: "Invite
thirty men from among the distinguished Ansar!" 97 Abu Ayyub said: "Thirty men
came and ate. He then said: 'Invite sixty men,' which I did, and they also came and
ate. The Prophet (UWBP) said again: 'Invite seventy more.' I invited them; they
came, and when they finished eating, there was still food left in the bowls. All who
came embraced Islam and took the oath of allegiance after witnessing this miracle.
One hundred and eighty men ate the food of two men." 98

Third E x a m p I e : It is reported through many chains of transmission from
'Umar b. al-Khattab, Abu Hurayra, Salama b. Akwa', Abu 'Amrat al-Ansari and
others that on one expedition, the army went hungry. They referred themselves to the
Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace), and he told them: "Gather
whatever food is left in your saddle-bags." Everyone brought a few pieces of dates
and put them on a mat. The most they could put together was four handfuls. Salama
related: "I estimated it amounted to the size of a sitting goat." Then the Noble
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) announced: "Everyone bring his
dish!" They pressed forward, and no one in the whole army remained with an empty
dish, all the dishes were filled. There was even some left over. One of the
Companions later said: "I realized from the way that

96 Bukhari, Nikah, 64; Muslim, Nikah, 94, 95; Tirmidhi, 33:21; Nasa'i, Nikah, 84; Abu Da'ud, Adab,

95; Musnad, iii, 29; v, 462; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 294.

97 Ansar-Rs\\
houses. (Tr.)

98 Qadi Iyad, ,
Shifa', iii, 33; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 604.

97 Ansar-Helpers: those of the Medinan Companions who had the migrants from Mecca to stay in their
o

98 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 292; al-Haythami, al-Majma' al Zawa'id, vii, 303; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-

143

increase was obtained that if the whole world had come, the food still would have
been sufficient." 99

Fourth Example: As recorded in all of the six books including Bukhari
and Muslim, 'Abd al-Rahman b. Abu Bakr al-Siddiq relates: "We, one hundred and
thirty Companions, were with the Noble Messenger (UWBP) on an expedition. About
four handfuls of dough were prepared and a goat was slaughtered and cooked, and its
liver and kidneys roasted. I swear by God that from that roasted meat (the liver and
kidneys) God's Messenger (UWBP) gave a small piece to each and put the cooked
meat into two large bowls. After we had all eaten until we were filled there was still
some left over, which I loaded onto a camel." 100

Fifth E x a m p I e : As is recorded in the six books, Jabir al-Ansari related
under oath: "During the Ahzab expedition on the celebrated day of Khandaq, about a
thousand people ate from four handfuls of rye bread and a young cooked goat; yet
food was still left over. That day the food had been cooked in my house, and after the
one thousand people had left, the pot was still boiling with meat in it, and bread was
being made from the dough; for the Noble Messenger (UWBP) had wetted the dough
and the pot with his blessed mouth, beseeching God for plenty." 101

Sixth Example: According to an authentic narration from Abu Talha, the
uncle of Anas who served God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace),
the Messenger (UWBP) fed seventy to eighty men with a small amount of rye bread
that Anas had brought under his arm. The Messenger (UWBP) ordered: "Break the
bread into small pieces!", and prayed for increase. Because the house was small, they
came ten at a time, and left having filled themselves. 102

Seventh E x a mp I e : It is related as authentic in accurate books such as al-
Shifa' al-Sharif and Muslim that Jabir al-Ansari narrated: "Once a man asked the
Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) for food for his household.
The Messenger (UWBP) gave him a half load of barley. For a long time he ate of the
barley together with his family and guests. From time to time they would take a look
at it, but it never finished. Then they measured it to see how much it had decreased.
After that the

Bukhari, Sharika, 1; Jihad, 123; Muslim, Iman, 44, 45; Musnad, iii, 11,418.
Bukhari, Hiba,
Rabbani, xx, 55.

101 Bukhari, Magi
al-Shifa', i, 290; Suyuti, Kanzal-'Ummal, xii, 409, 424.

102 Bukhari, At'ima, 6, 48; Muslim, Ashrib
291, 297; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iii, 31.

100 Bukhari, Hiba, 28; At'ima, 6; Muslim, Ashriba, 175; Musnad, i, 197, 198; al-Sa'ati, al-Fath al-

101 Bukhari, Maghazi, 29; Muslim, Ashriba, 141; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iii, 31; 'AH al-Qari, Sharh

102 Bukhari, At'ima, 6, 48; Muslim, Ashriba, 142, 143; Musnad, iii, 218; 'AH al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa',

144

blessing of abundance disappeared and the barley began to dwindle rapidly. The man
went to the Messenger (UWBP) and told him what had happened. God's Messenger
(UWBP) replied: "If you had not put it to the test by measuring it, it would have
lasted you a life-time."

Eighth Example: According to accurate books such as Tirmidhi, Nasa'i,
Bayhaqi, and al-Shifa' al-Sharif, Samura b. Jundub related that a bowl of meat was
brought to the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace). From morning
to evening, many groups of men came and ate from it. 104

As we explained in the introduction to this section, this is not the narration of
Samura alone, since he narrated this incident on behalf of all those present, and with
their approval.

Ninth Ex ample : It is also narrated by reliable and trusted scholars such as
the well-known author of al-Shifa' al-Sharif, Ibn Abi Shayba, and Tabarani, that Abu
Hurayra related: "The Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
commanded me, 'Invite the poor Meccan migrants who have made the bench
(suffa) 105 of the mosque their home and who number more than a hundred.' So I went
and searched for them and gathered them together. A tray of food was set before us,
and we ate as much as we wanted, then we arose. The dish was as full as it had been
when first set down, only, there were fingermarks on the food. 106

Thus, this incident was related by Abu Hurayra in the name of all the People of
the Bench, supported by their confirmation. Hence, the incident is as definite as if all
the People of the Bench had related it. Is it at all possible that if it had not been true
those men of truth and perfection would have remained silent and not denied it?

Tenth Example: According to an authentic narration from 'Ali, the Noble
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) once gathered the Bani 'Abd al-
Muttalib. They were about forty, including some who would eat a young camel and
drink a gallon of milk at one meal. Yet for them he had prepared only a handful of
food. All ate and were satisfied, and the food remained just as it had been before.
Later he brought milk in a

103 Muslim, Fada'il, 3, No: 2281; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, vi, 114.

104 Tirmidhi (Tahqiq: Ahmad Shakir), no: 2629; Abu Da'ud, Muqaddima, 9; Musnad, v, 12, 18; al-
Hakim, al-Mustadrak, ii, 618.

105 The People of the Bench: those among the Meccan migrants (Muhafirun) who lived in the outer part
of the mosque, who devoted their lives to the preservation and dissemination of the Qur'an, Sunna, and
Hadith, and whose livelihood was provided by the Prophet (UWBP). (Tr.)

106 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' , i, 293; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 606; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id,
viii, 308; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, vi, 101.

145

wooden bowl that would have been sufficent for only three or four persons. They all
drank their fill. 107

A miracle of plenty as definite as 'Ali's courage and loyalty!

Eleventh Example: According to an authentic narration, on the
occasion of 'Ali's marriage to Fatima al-Zahra, The Noble Messenger (Upon whom
be blessings and peace) ordered Bilal al-Habashi: "Have bread made from a few
handfuls of flour; also slaughter a young camel!" Bilal relates: "I brought the food
and he put his hand on it to bless it. Later, the Companions arrived in groups, ate, and
left. From the remaining food, he sent a full bowl to each of his wives, saying that
they should eat and feed anyone who visited them." 108

Such blessed plenty was indeed necessary for such a blessed marriage !

Twelfth Example: Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq related from his father
Muhammad al-Baqir, and he from his father, Zayn al-'Abidin, and he from 'Ali, that
Fatima al-Zahra had prepared enough food for herself and 'Ali. She then sent 'Ali to
invite the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) to come and eat
with them. God's Messenger (UWBP) came and told them to send a dish of food to
each of his wives. Fatima said that after a dish of food had been set aside for himself,
'Ali, Fatima, and their children, they lifted up the saucepan and it was full to
overflowing. Through God's will, they ate of the food for a long time afterwards. 109

Why do you not believe this miracle of increase just as if you had witnessed it
with your own eyes, since it comes from this luminous, elevated chain of
transmission? Satan himself could find no excuse in the face of this one!

Thirteenth Example: Veracious authorities such as Abu Da'ud,
Ahmad b. Hanbal, and Bayhaqi, narrate from Dukayn al-Ahmasi b. Sa'id al-Muzayn,
and from Nu'man b. Muqarrin al-Ahmasi al-Muzayn, who with his six brothers was
honoured with the Prophet's (UWBP) conversation and was a Companion, and by
way of Jarir through numerous chains of transmission from 'Umar b. al-Khattab, that
God's Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) ordered 'Umar b. al-
Khattab: "Equip four hundred horsemen from the Ahmasi tribe with provisions for a

107 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 293; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 607; al-Khafaji, Shark al-Shifa', iii, 36;
al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa 'id, viii, 302-3; Ahmad b. Hanbal, Fada'il al-Sahaba (Tahqiq:
Wasiyyullah), 1220; Musnad, i, 159.

108 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 297; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 613; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, iii,
160.

109 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 294; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 608; Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, al-Matalib
al-'Aliya, iv, 73, no: 4001.

146

journey!" 'Umar replied: "0 Messenger of God! What we have in hand is the
equivalent of a seated young camel." The Messenger (UWBP) said: "Go and give it to
them!" So he went and out of that half load of dates, gave the four hundred horsemen
sufficient provisions. And he stated that it remained as before, without diminishing. 110

Thus, this miracle of plenty occurred in connection with four hundred men and
'Umar in particular. They are behind the narrations, supporting them, and their silence
confirms them. Do not ignore these narrations because they are related by a few
individuals only, for if the incident had only been reported by a single individual, it
still would have the certainty of 'consensus in meaning.'

Fourteenth Example: All the accurate books of tradition, and
foremost Bukhari and Muslim, narrate that when Jabir's father died, he was heavily in
debt. His creditors were Jews. Jabir offered the creditors all his father's possessions
but they did not accept them. The fruit produced by his orchard over many years
would have been insufficient to defray the debt. The Noble Messenger (Upon whom
be blessings and peace) said: "Pick and gather in all the fruit in the orchard!" They
did so, then the Noble Messenger (UWBP) walked around the crop and prayed. Then
Jabir gave from the amount corresponding to his father's debt. What was left was as
much as the annual produce of the orchard. And according to another narration, it was
equal to the amount he gave the creditors. The Jews were amazed and astounded at
this. 111

See, this clear miracle of plenty was not only reported by a few narrators like
Jabir; many people connected with it described and narrated it, thus giving it the
degree of 'consensus in meaning.'

F ift e e nth Example: Exact scholars, and foremost Tirmidhi and Imam
Bayhaqi, related through a sound chain of authorities from Abu Hurayra that Abu
Hurayra said: "During one expedition - that of Tabuk according to another narration -
the army went hungry. God's Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
asked: 'Is there nothing?' I said: T have one or two dates in my saddle-bag.' -
According to another narration, it was fifteen. - He said: 'Bring them here!' I took
them to him, and he plunged his hand into them and took a handful. He put them into
a

110 al-Sa'ati, al-Fath al-Rabbani, xxii, 85; Musnad, v, 445; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 294; 'Ali al-Qari,
Shark al-Shifa', i, 609; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, v, 365.

111 Bukhari, Wasaya, 36; Buyu', 51; Sulh, 13; Istiqrad, 18; Nasa'i, Wasaya, 3, 4; Musnad, iii, 313, 365,
373, 391, 395, 398; Ibn Hibban, Sahih, viii, 167; al-Sa'ati, al-Fath al-Rabbani, xxii, 60; Qadi Iyad, al-
Shifa', i, 295.

147

dish, and offered a supplication for their increase. Then he called the men in groups of
ten and they all ate of them. Then he said: 'Take what you brought, hold it, and do not
turn it upside down.' 112 I put my hand in the bag; there were in my hands as many
dates as I had brought. Later, during the lifetime of the Prophet (UWBP), and those of
Abu Bakr, 'Umar, and 'Uthman, I ate of those dates." - It is narrated through another
chain of transmission: "I gave several loads of those dates to be used in God's way.
Later the bag containing the dates was plundered when 'Uthman was assassinated."

Abu Hurayra was a constant and important student and disciple among the People
of the Bench, the sacred school and tekke of the Teacher of the Universe, the Pride of
the World (UWBP). In addition, that Teacher (UWBP) had prayed for his strength of
memory. The miracle of plenty he reported which occurred in a large gathering like
the expedition of Tabuk, should therefore be as sound and certain as the word of a
whole army.

Sixteenth Example: Foremost Bukhari, and the accurate books relate
through an authentic line of transmission that once Abu Hurayra was hungry, so he
followed the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) into his house.
There they saw that a cup of milk had been brought as a gift. God's Messenger
(UWBP) said to him: "Call all the People of the Bench!" Abu Hurayra relates: "I said
to myself, I could drink all the milk myself, as I was most in need of it. But since it
was God's Messenger's (UWBP) order, I fetched the People of the Bench, who
numbered more than a hundred. God's Messenger (UWBP) told me to offer them the
milk. I gave the cup to each in turn, and they all drank until satisfied. At the end, the
Messenger (UWBP) told me, 'The rest is for me and you.' 113 As I drank, God's
Messenger (UWBP) kept telling me to drink more, until I said, T swear by the
Glorious One who sent you with the truth that I am too full to drink any more.' Then
God's Messenger (UWBP) drank the rest, invoking the name of God and offering
Him thanks." May it be a blessing for him a hundred thousand times!

This indubitable, manifest miracle, as pure and sweet as milk itself, is related by
all six books with their sound narrations, and foremost Bukhari, who committed to
memory five hundred thousand Hadiths. Moreover, it is

112 Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 47, no: 3839; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, vi, 110 (through various lines of
transmission); Musnad, ii, 352; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 295; al-Sa'ati, al-Fath al-Rabbani, xxii, 56;
Tabrizi, Mishkat al-Masabih, iii, 191, no: 5933.

113 Bukhari, Riqaq, 17; Tirmidhi, Sifat al-Qiyama, 36, no: 2477; Musnad, ii, 515; Tirmidhi (Tahqiq:
Ahmad Shakir), no: 2479; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iii, 15; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 296.

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narrated by a celebrated, loyal, and brilliant student of the Prophet' s (UWBP) blessed
school of the Bench, Abu Hurayra, who also cited as witness - rather, represented -
all the other students of the Bench. Therefore, not to regard such a report as having
the certainty of 'consensus,' either one's heart must be corrupted, or one's brain,
destroyed ! Is it at all possible that so truthful a person as Abu Hurayra, who devoted
all his life to the Prophet's (UWBP) Hadiths and to religion, and who heard and
himself transmitted the Hadith, "Whoever knowingly tells a lie concerning me should
prepare for a seat in Hell-fire," 114 should have related an unfounded incident or saying
that would have made him the target of the People of the Bench's rebuttal, and that
would have caused doubt concerning the value and soundness of all the other Hadiths
he had memorized? God forbid!

O our Sustainer! For the sake of the blessings You bestowed on Your Most Noble
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace), bestow the blessings of abundance
on the favours with which You have provided us!

An Important Point: It is well-known that when assembled to-gether, weak
things become strong. Fine threads are twisted and they become a strong rope; strong
ropes are wound together and no one can break them. In this Sign, we have shown
from among fifteen different kinds of miracles only one, that related to the blessings
of increase and plenty, and the sixteen examples we have given constitute barely a
fifteenth of this one kind. However, each of the examples mentioned is a proof on its
own, with enough strength to prove prophethood. Even if some of them - supposing
the impossible - were to be regarded as weak, they could still not properly be called
such, since whatever is united with the strong also becomes strong.

When considered together, the sixteen examples given above constitute a great
and powerful miracle through the strength of definite, indisputable 'consensus in
meaning.' And when this miracle is joined by fourteen other miracles of plenty that
have not been mentioned, it manifests a supreme miracle that is as indestructable as a
bunch of strong ropes. Now add this supreme miracle to the fourteen other kinds of
miracle, and see what a definite, decisive and irrefutable proof they provide for the
prophethood of Muhammad (UWBP)! Thus, the pillar of Muhammad's (UWBP)
prophet

114 Bukhari, 'Ilm, 39; Jana'iz, 33; Anbiya', 50; Adab, 109; Muslim, Zuhd, 72; Abu Da'ud, 'Urn, 4;
Tirmidhi, Fitan, 70; 'Ilm, 8, 13; Tafsir, 1; Manaqib, 19; IbnMaja, Muqaddima, 4; Darimi, Muqaddima,
25, 46; Musnad, i, 70, 78.

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hood, formed by such a collection, has the strength of a mountain. Now you have
understood how unreasonable it is to regard as unstable and liable to fall that lofty,
firm heaven, due to doubts arising from lack of understanding in particular matters
and examples. Certainly those miracles concerning increase and plenty show that
Muhammad the Arabian (Upon whom be blessings and peace) was the beloved
official and honoured servant of One All-Compassionate and Munificent who creates
all sustenance and provides all beings with it, for contrary to His practice, He sent him
banquets of different varieties of food out of nothing, from the pure Unseen.

It is well-known that the Arabian Peninsula is a place where water and agriculture
are scarce. For this reason, its people, and particularly the Companions in the early
days of Islam, suffered want and scarcity. They were also frequently afflicted with
thirst. Because of this, many important, evident miracles of Muhammad (Upon whom
be blessings and peace) were related to food and water. Rather than being miracles
proving his claim to prophethood, these wonders were on account of need and like
divine gifts, dominical bounty, and banquets of the Most Merciful One for His Most
Noble Messenger (UWBP). For those who saw the miracles had already assented to
his prophethood. However, as the miracles took place, their belief increased and
became more luminous.

EIGHTH SIGN

This section describes miracles which were manifested in connection with water.

Introduction: It is known that when events that take place among groups of
people are related individually and not contradicted by others, it indicates the veracity
of the reports. For by virtue of his very nature, man is inclined to call a lie a lie. In
particular since the people in question were the Companions, who were more
intolerant of lies than anyone else; if the incidents concerned God's Noble Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace), and if the narrator was a renowned Companion,
then certainly the narrator gives his report on behalf of all who witnessed the incident.
However, all the miracles involving water that we will cite below were transmitted
through many channels, entrusted by many Companions to thousands of precise
scholars of the following generation, who in turn passed them down correctly to the
great interpreters of the Law of the second century. They received them with
complete seriousness and reverence, accepted them, then handed them down to the
exacting scholars of succeeding centuries. Hence, the traditions have reached our
times, passing through thou

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sands of strong, reliable hands. Moreover, the texts of Hadiths written down in the Era
of Bliss, the era of the Prophet, were handed down in accurate form till they reached
the brilliant scholars of the science of Hadith like Bukhari and Muslim. And they,
through punctilious examination and classification, collected together those that were
undoubtedly authentic, and presented and taught them to us. May God reward them
abundantly!

Thus, the flowing of water from the fingers of God's Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) and many men drinking from it has the certainty of 'consensus.'
It is impossible that the gathering who narrated it would have agreed upon a lie. The
miracle is most definite. Moreover, it was repeated three times in the presence of
three vast assemblies. A great many accurate scholars, primarily, Bukhari, Muslim,
Imam Malik, Imam Shu'ayb, and Imam Qatada, recorded from definitely
authenticated narrations from a great many of the well-known Companions, primarily,
the Prophet's (UWBP) servants, Anas, Jabir, and Ibn Mas'ud how abundant water
flowed from his fingers and the army drank from it. We will cite here only nine
examples from numerous narrations about this kind of miracle.

First Example: Accurate books of tradition, in particular Bukhari and
Muslim, report from an authentic narration from Anas: "About three hundred of us
were together with God's Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) in
the place named Zawra'. He ordered us to perform the ablution for the afternoon
prayer, but we could find no water. So he told us to bring a little water, which we did,
and he dipped his auspicious hands into it. I saw water flow from his fingers like a
fountain. His three hundred men performed the ablution with the water and drank
from it." 115

Anas relates this incident in the name of three hundred men. Is it possible that
those three hundred people did not in effect assent to it, or in the event of their not
assenting to it, not deny it?

Second Example: As narrated in accurate books, and foremost Bukhari
and Muslim, Jabir b. 'Abdullah al-Ansari said: "We were one thousand five hundred
men on the Hudaybiyya expedition, and we were thirsty. The Noble Messenger (Upon
whom be blessings and peace) performed the ablutions from a leather water-bag
called a qirba, then he dipped his hand into it. I saw that water was flowing from his
fingers like a spring. The one thousand five hundred men drank from it and filled their

115 Bukhari, Wudu, 32, 46; Manaqib, 25; Muslim, Fada'il, 45, 46; Tahara, 60; Abu Da'ud, Muqaddima,
5; Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 6; Muwatta', Tahara, 32; Musnad, iii, 132, 147, 170, 215, 289; Ibn Hibban,
Sahih, viii, 171; Tirmidhi (Ahmad Shakir), no: 3635.

151

water-bags." Once, Salim b. Abi'1-Ja'd asked Jabir: "How many of you were there?"
He replied: "The water would have been enough even if there had been a hundred
thousand people, but we were fifteen hundred." 116

Thus, the narrators of this clear miracle in effect number one thousand five
hundred, for it is in man's nature to reject lies. As for the Companions, who sacrificed
their tribes and peoples, their fathers and mothers, their lives and all they possessed
for the sake of truth and veracity, and could not have remained silent in the face of a
lie, especially in the light of the warning given by the tradition, "Whoever knowingly
tells a lie concerning me should prepare for a seat in Hell-fire." Since they remained
silent concerning this report, they accepted it, in effect joined Jabir, and confirmed
him.

Third Example: Again as related in the accurate books of Hadith and
foremost Bukhari and Muslim, Jabir reported: "During the Buwat expedition, the
Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) commanded: 'Call for the
ablutions!' They said there was no water. He said, 'Find a small amount!' We brought
a very small amount. He held his hand over the water while reciting something I
could not hear, and then commanded: 'Bring the caravan's big trough!' They brought
it to me and I placed it before God's Messenger (UWBP). He put his hands in the
trough and spread his fingers. I poured that very small amount of water onto his
blessed hands, and I saw that abundant water was flowing from his blessed fingers
and filling the trough. Then I summoned those who needed water. When they had all
performed the ablutions with the water and drunk from it, I told the Noble Messenger
(UWBP) that there was no one else. He lifted his hands, leaving the trough full to the
brim." 117

This clear miracle of Muhammad (UWBP) has the certainty of 'consensus in
meaning,' for since Jabir was prominent in the matter, he had the right to recount it
and proclaim it in everyone else's name. Ibn Mas'ud relates exactly the same thing in
his narration: "I saw water flowing from the fingers of God's Messenger (Upon whom
be blessings and peace) as from a spring." 118 If a truthful, well-known group of
Companions composed of Anas, Jabir, and Ibn Mas'ud said: "We have seen it," is it
possible that they should not have seen it? Now combine these three examples and see
how powerful and manifest a miracle it was, and how, if the three

116 Bukhari, Manaqib, 25; Maghazi, 35; Tafsir Sura al-Fath, 5; Ashriba, 31; Muslim, 'Imara, 72, 73;
Musnad, iii, 329; Ibn Hibban, Sahih, viii, 110.

117 Muslim, Zuhd, 74, no: 3013; Ibn Hibban, Sahih, viii, 159.

118 Bukhari, Manaqib, 25; Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 6; Tirmidhi (Tahqiq: Ahmad Shakir), no: 3637; Darimi,
Muqaddima, 5.

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chains of transmission are combined, it proves the flowing of water from his fingers
like 'true consensus.' Indeed, even Moses' making water flow from twelve different
places in a rock cannot be equated with the water flowing from Muhammad's ten
fingers, for water may gush out of rock - examples are commonplace - but there is no
equivalent of, no parallel for, water flowing in abundance, like from the Spring of
Kawthar, from flesh and bone.

Fourth Example: Foremost Imam Malik in his esteemed book,
Muwatta', relates from the renowned Companion Mu'adh b. Jabal: "During the Tabuk
expedition we came across a spring flowing as meagrely as a piece of fine string. The
Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) ordered: 'Collect a little of
the water!' They collected some in the palms of their hands. God's Messenger
(UWBP) washed his hands and face in it, and we returned it to the spring. Suddenly
the outlet of the spring opened up and water gushed forth; it was sufficient for the
whole army."

Another narrator, even, Imam Ibn Ishaq, stated: "The water gushed forth from the
spring under the earth making a roar like thunder. God's Noble Messenger told
Mu'adh: 'If you live long enough, you will see that this miraculous water will
transform this place into gardens.' 119 And so it did."

Fifth Example: Foremost Bukhari relates from al-Bara', and Muslim
from Salama b. Akwa', and other authentic books of Hadith from other narrators,
unanimously relate: "During the Hudaybiyya expedition we came across a well. We
numbered four hundred while the water in the well was barely sufficient for fifty. We
drew the water and left nothing. Then God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings
and peace) came and sat at the head of the well. He asked for a bucket of water and
we fetched one. He put some of his blessed spittle into the bucket and prayed, then
poured the water into the well. Suddenly the well gushed and frothed with water,
filling to the top. The whole army drank their fill and watered their animals. They also
replenished their water-bags." 120

Sixth Example: Again, foremost brilliant authorities of the science of
Hadith like Muslim and Ibn Jarir al-Tabari, and the authentic books of Hadith, relate
from a sound narration from the famous Abu Qatada: "During the celebrated Battle of
Mu'ta we were going for help when the leaders were martyred. I had a water-bag with
me. The Noble Messenger

119 Muwatta', Safar, 2; Musnad, ii, 308, 323; v, 228, 237; Ibn Hibban, Sahih, viii, 167; Bayhaqi, Dala'il
al-Nubuwwa, ii, 64; v, 236.

120 Bukhari, Manaqib, 25; Maghazi, 35; Musnad, iv, 290, 301; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, iv, 110.

153

(UWBP) commanded: 'Keep your water-bag carefully; there will be great need for it.'
Soon after, we began to suffer from thirst. We were seventy-two men. (According to
Tabari, three hundred.) The Messenger (UWBP) said: 'Bring me your water-bag!' I
did so. He took the bag and placed his lips on its mouth. I do not know whether or not
he blew into it. Then seventy-two men came and drank from the bag and filled their
bags. When I took it back, it was just as I had given it." 121

See this decisive miracle of Muhammad (UWBP) and say: "O God! Grant him
blessings and peace to the number of drops of water, and to his Family!"

Seventh Example: The authentic books and foremost Bukhari and
Muslim narrate from Tmran b. Husain: "On one journey we and God's Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace) were without water. He said to me and 'Ali:
'There is a woman in such-and-such a place together with her beast, which is laden
with two full water-bags. Go and fetch her!' 'Ali and I went and found the woman
and the water in exactly the place described, and brought her to God's Messenger
(UWBP). He ordered: 'Pour a little of the water into a vessel.' We did so and he
prayed for the blessing of increase. He then commanded everyone to come to fill his
water-bag. All the men came, drank, and filled their water-bags. Afterwards he gave
an order to collect something for the woman, and they filled her skirt." Tmran said: "I
imagined the two water-bags were constantly filling. The Noble Messenger (Upon
whom be blessings and peace) told the woman: 'You can go now. We did not take
water from you; rather God gave us water from His treasury'" 122

Eighth Example: Scholars of Hadith, primarily Ibn Khuzayma in his
Sahih, narrate from 'Umar: "We ran out of water during the Tabuk expedition. Some
people even slaughtered their camels, wrung out the innards and drank the liquid. Abu
Bakr the Veracious requested the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and
peace) to pray. The Messenger (UWBP) raised his hands, and before he had lowered
them clouds gathered, and such rain fell that we filled our containers. Then the rain
stopped, and it had not fallen beyond the limits of the army." 123 That is to say, no
chance was involved in the incident; it was purely a miracle of Muhammad (Upon
whom be blessings and peace).

121 Muslim, Masajid, 311.

122 Bukhari, Tayammum, 6; Manaqib, 25; Muslim, Masajid, 312; Musnad, iv, 434-5; Bayhaqi, Dala'il
al-Nubuwwa, iv, 216; vi, 130.

123 al-Haythami, Mqjma' al-Zawa'id, vi, 194; al-Hindi, Kanzal-'Ummal, xii, 353; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa',
i, 190; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 600; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, ii, 63; Suyuti, al-Khasa'is
al-Kubra, ii, 105.

154

Ninth Example: Relating from 'Amr b. Shu'ayb, the grandson of
'Abdullah b. 'Amr b. al-'As, on whom they relied for explanations of Hadiths, the
Four Imams narrated - from a sound narration: "Before his prophetic mission, the
Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) once came by camel with his
uncle Abu Talib to the place called Dhu'l-Hijaz near 'Arafat. Abu Talib said he was
thirsty. The Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) dismounted from the
camel and struck the ground with his foot. Water gushed out and Abu Talib drank
from it." 124

One of the researchers, however, stated that this incident should be included in
the category of irhasat, 125 for it occurred before his prophethood. But since ever
afterwards the spring of 'Arafat flowed from the spot, it may be considered a wonder
of Muhammad (UWBP).

Similar to these nine examples, ninety different narrations - if not ninety
instances - have reported miracles concerning water. The first seven examples are as
sound and definite as 'consensus in meaning.' For sure the last two are not supported
by the narrations of numerous narrators or a strong chain of transmitters, but
supporting and confirming the incident mentioned in the eighth example as narrated
by 'Umar, is another miracle reported by the authentic books of Hadith, including
Bayhaqi and al-Hakim; it is as follows:

'"Umar requested of God's Noble Messenger (UWBP) that he should pray for
rain, because the army was in need of water. The Messenger (UWBP) raised his
hands, and at once clouds gathered and rain fell, enough for the army's needs, then
they dispersed." 126 It was quite simply as though they were officials charged with
watering the army; they came, poured down sufficient for its needs, then went.

This narration corroborates the eighth example and proves it decisively. So too,
the famous learned scholar, Ibn al-Jawzi, who was extremely fastidious in verifying
Hadiths even rejecting as spurious many authentic ones, said that this event took
place, but at the famous Battle of Badr. 127 He said that it is referred to by the verse,
"And He caused rain to descend on you from heaven to clean you therewith."(8:ll)
Since that is the case, no doubt can remain concerning its certainty. Furthermore, rain
fell on many occa

124 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' ', i, 290; al-Khafaji, Shark al-Shifa', iii, 29; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, ii,
15-20. See also, Bukhari, Istisqa, 3; Musnad, ii, 93.

125 For irhasat, see definition on page (Tr.)

126 al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 128; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 601; Suyuti, al-Durar al-
Manthur, iii, 170.

127 Ibn al-Jawzi, Zad al-Masir, iii, 328.

155

sions when the Prophet (UWBP) prayed for it, suddenly, swiftly, before he lowered
his hands; it was on its own a miracle about which the reports are unanimous. It is
also narrated unanimously that several times he raised his hands while in the pulpit
and that rain fell before he lowered them.

NINTH SIGN

One of the various kinds of miracles of God's Most Noble Messenger (Upon
whom be blessings and peace) is that like human beings, trees obeyed his orders, and
moving from their places, came to him. There is also 'consensus in meaning'
concerning the reports of these miracles, like those of water flowing from his fingers.
They have been narrated in numerous forms and through numerous channels. Indeed,
the consensus concerning trees leaving their places and coming to him may be
regarded as clear and unambiguous, 129 because the best-known of the Companions
such as 'Ali, Ibn 'Abbas, Ibn Mas'ud, Ibn 'Umar, Ya'la b. Murra, Jabir, Anas b.
Malik, Burayda, Usama b. Zayd, and Ghaylan b. Salama all reported the same miracle
with certainty. Hundreds of scholars of the succeeding generation narrated the miracle
from one of the above-mentioned Companions through a different line of
transmission, as though transmitting it to us in the form of 'multiple consensus.' Thus,
this miracle of the trees has decisively and indisputably the certainty of 'consensus in
meaning.' We will now cite only a few examples of it, although it was repeated many
times.

First Example: Foremost, Imam Maja, and al-Darimi narrate from Anas
b. Malik and 'Ali, and Imam Bayhaqi from 'Umar, that the Noble Messenger (Upon
whom be blessings and peace) was saddened at the denial of the unbelievers. He
prayed: "O my Sustainer! Give me a sign that I shall no longer see anyone who
contradicts me!" 130 According to Anas, Gabriel was also present, upon whose
instruction God's Messenger (UWBP) called to a tree at the side of the valley. It came
near him. He then told the tree to go back; it returned and settled itself in its place.

Second Example : In al-Shifa ' al-Sharif, Qadi Iyad, the leading scholar of
the Maghrib, relates from 'Abdullah b. 'Umar through an exalted and sound chain of
narrators: "On one expedition, a beduin approached the Noble Messenger (Upon
whom be blessings and peace). God's Messenger

128 Bukhari, Istisqa, 3, 6, 10, 12, 13, 21; Muslim, Istisqa, 8-10; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, vi, 139-
46.

Kattani, Nazm al-Mutanathir, 137.
130 Ibn Maja, Fitan, 23, no: 4028; Darimi, Muqaddima, 3; Musnad, i, 223; iii, 113; iv, 177; Qadi Iyad,
al-Shifa', i, 302; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 620; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, ix, 10; al-
Hindi, Kanz al-'Ummal, ii, 354.

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(UWBP) asked him: 'Where are you going?' He replied: 'To my family.' God's
Messenger asked him: 'Don't you want something better than that?' The beduin
asked: 'What is that?' The Messenger (UWBP) said: 'That you bear witness that there
is no god but God, He is One, He has no partner, and that Muhammad is His servant
and Messenger.' The beduin asked: 'What is witness to this testimony?' God's
Messenger (UWBP) said: 'The tree beside the valley shall bear witness.'" Ibn 'Umar
said: "Shaking, the tree cleft the earth and came to God's Messenger (UWBP). He
asked the tree three times to testify; each time it testified to his truthfulness. When he
ordered, it went back and settled in its place." 131

According to the authentic narration of Ibn Sahib al-Aslami, Burayda reports:
"When we were with the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) on
an expedition, a beduin came and asked for a sign, that is, a miracle. The Messenger
(UWBP) said: 'Tell that tree that God's Messenger summons it!' Then he pointed to a
tree; it swayed to right and left, heaved itself out of the ground with its roots, and
came to the Messenger (UWBP), saying: 'Peace be upon you, O Messenger of God!'
The beduin said: 'Now let it go back to its place!' He commanded, and it went. Then
the beduin said: 'Allow me to prostrate before you.' The Messenger (UWBP) replied:
'No one is permitted to do that.' The beduin said: 'Then I will kiss your hands and
feet,' and he permitted him."l 132

Third Example: Foremost the Sahih of Muslim, and the authentic books
of Hadith relate that Jabir said: "We were together with God's Noble Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace) on an expedition when he searched for a place
to answer the call of nature. There was nowhere secluded. So he went towards two
trees, caught hold of the branches of one of them, and pulled. Obeying him, the tree
went together with him to the second tree. It was like an obedient camel being led by
its reins. Having in this way brought the two trees together, he said: 'Join together
over me, with God's permission!' The two trees joined together and formed a screen.
After relieving himself behind them, he ordered them to go back, and they returned to

1 Q1

their places."

According to another narration, Jabir said: "God's Messenger (UWBP)
commanded me: 'Tell those trees to join together for the relief of God's

131 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' ', i, 298; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 615; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, vi,
14; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, viii, 292; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, vi, 125; al-
'Asqalani, al-Matalib al-'Aliya, iv, 16 no: 3836; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, ii, 620; Ibn Hibban, Sahih,
viii, 150.

132 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 299; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 49.

133 Muslim, Zuhd 74, no: 3012.

157

Messenger!' I told them to do so and they joined together. Then, while I was waiting,
God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) emerged, and indicated to left
and right with his head. The two trees returned to their places." 134

Fourth Example: Usama b. Zayd, one the brave commanders and
servants of the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace), reports in an
authentic narration: "We were together with God's Messenger on an expedition.
There was no secluded, private place in which to answer the call of nature. He asked:
'Can you see any trees or rocks?' I replied: 'Yes, I can.' He ordered: 'Speak to them
and tell them to join together for the relief of God's Messenger; also tell the rocks to
gather together as a wall.' I went and said as he commanded. I swear that the trees
joined together and the rocks formed a wall. God's Messenger (UWBP) after
relieving himself, again commanded: 'Tell them to separate!' I swear by the Glorious
One in the grasp of whose power I am that the trees and rocks separated, and returned
to their places." 135

These two incidents, which were reported by Jabir and Usama, were also reported
by Ya'la b. Murra, Ghaylan b. Salama al-Thaqafi, and Ibn Mas'ud, but as referring to
the Battle of Hunayn. 136

Fifth Example: Reported by Imam b. Fawrak, known for his excellence
in interpretation as the foremost scholar of his time and the second Shafi'i: "While
travelling on horseback one night during the Ta'if expedition, sleep overcame God's
Noble Messenger (UWBP). While in that state a lote-tree loomed up before him. To
make way for him and not to hurt his horse, the tree split in two, and the Noble
Messenger (UWBP) passed between the two parts of the tree on the horse." The tree

1 37

has remained with two trunks, in that honoured position, up to our time.

Sixth Example: Ya'la b. Murra relates in an authentic narration: "During
an expedition, a tree - called either talha or samura - came, passed around God's
Noble Messenger (UWBP) as if circumambulating, and went back to its place. God's
Messenger (UWBP) said: 'The tree requested of God that it should salute me.'" 138

134 Darimi, Muqaddima, 4; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 299; 'AH al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 616; al-Khafaji
Shark al-Shifa', iii, 51.

135 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 300; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 617-9; al-Khafaji, Shark al-Shifa', iii,
51; al-'Asqalani, al-Matalib al-'Aliya, iv, 8-10, no: 3830.

136 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 301

al-Hindi, Kanz al-'Ummal, xii, 403.

'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 619; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 57.
'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 619; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 53;
al-Haythami, Majma' al Zawa'id, ix, 6-7; Musnad, iv, 170, 172; al-Hakim, al-Mustadralc, ii, 617.

137 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 301

138 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 301

158

Seventh Example: Scholars of Hadith relate from Ibn Mas'ud with an
authentic narration: "When, seeking guidance, the jinn of Nusaybin came to the Noble
Messenger (UWBP) in the place called Batn al-Nakhl, a tree informed him of their
coming." Also, Imam Mujahid relates from Ibn Mas'ud in the same Hadith: "The jinn
asked for a proof of his prophethood, so the Noble Messenger (UWBP) commanded
the tree, and it left its place, came to him, then returned to its place." 139 That single
miracle was sufficient for the race of jinns. So if a human being does not come to
believe having heard of a thousand miracles like this one, is he not more of a devil
than those described by the jinn as, "Some foolish ones among us"? 140

Eighth Example: Tirmidhi reports in his Sahih from Ibn 'Abbas through
a sound line of transmission: "God's Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and
peace) asked a beduin: 'Will you testify that I am the Messenger of God if a branch of
that tree comes to me when I call to it?' He replied: 'Yes.' The Messenger (UWBP)
called to the branch. It broke off and jumped over near him, then jumped back when
he told it to do so." 141

There are many other examples similar to these eight that are narrated through
many chains of transmission. Seven or eight strands of rope form a strong cable when
they are put together. Similarly, the miracles related to trees, which were reported on
the authority of the best-known and most veracious Companions in thus numerous
chains of transmission, certainly have the strength of 'consensus in meaning,' indeed,
'true consensus.' In fact, they take on the form of 'consensus' when passed down by
the Companions to the following generation. In particular, the accurate books of
Hadith such as Bukhari, Muslim, Ibn Hibban, and Tirmidhi, ensured that the chains of
authorities leading back to the time of the Companions were so sound, and they kept
them thus, that reading a Hadith, say in Bukhari, is like hearing it directly from the
Companions.

If, as seen in the above examples, trees recognize God's Messenger (Upon whom
be blessings and peace) testify to his prophethood, visit and salute him, and obey his
orders, aren't those lifeless, unreasoning creatures who call themselves human beings
yet do not recognize him or believe in

139 Bukhari, Manaqib al-Ansar, 32 (Bab: Dhikr al-Jinn); Muslim, Salat, 150; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-
Shifa',i, 619.

140 Qur'an, 72:4.

141 Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 6; al-Mubarakfuri, Tuhfat al-Ahwazi, no: 3707; al-Haythami, Majma' al-
Zawa'id, ix, 10.

159

him, more worthless than a dead tree? Do they not resemble pieces of wood, fit for
the fire?

TENTH SIGN

Corroborating the miracles concerning trees and reported in the form of
'consensus,' is the miracle of the moaning of the pole. Yes, the pole's moaning in the
Prophet' s (UWBP) mosque before a vast crowd because of its temporary separation
from him both confirms and corroborates the instances of miracles related to trees.
For the pole also was of wood; their substance was the same. However, although there
is a consensus of opinion concerning the reports of this miracle, the other miracles are
unanimously agreed upon only as a class; there is mostly no clear consensus about
them individually or as separate instances.

When delivering the sermon in the mosque, God's Noble Messenger (UWBP)
used to lean against a pole consisting of a date-palm. But when the pulpit was made,
he began to give the sermon from there. Whereupon the pole moaned and wailed like
a camel; the whole congregation heard it. Only when the God's Messenger (Upon
whom be blessings and peace) came down from the pulpit, and placed his hand on it,

i 49

speaking to it and consoling it, did the pole stop moaning. This miracle of
Muhammad (UWBP) was narrated through numerous chains of transmission, and
there was agreement concerning it.

Indeed, the miracle of the moaning of the pole is very widely known and there is
'true consensus (hakiki mutevatir)' concerning it. 143 Hundreds of authorities on
Hadith of the subsequent generation narrated the miracle through fifteen chains of
transmission 144 from an illustrious group of Companions, and passed it down to
succeeding centuries. From that group, eminent scholars among the Companions and
leading experts on Hadith such as Anas b. Malik 145 and Jabir b. 'Abdullah al-Ansari 146
- both servants of the Prophet (UWBP), 'Abdullah b. 'Umar, 147 'Abdullah b.
'Abbas, 148 Sahl

142 Bukhari, Manaqib, 25; Jum'a, 26; Ibn Maja, Iqama, 199; Nasa'i, Jum'a, 17; Tirmidhi, Jum'a, 10;
Manaqib, 6; Darimi, Muqaddima, 6; Salat, 202; Musnad, i, 249.

143 See, al-Kattani, Nazm al-Mutanathir, 134-5.

144 Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, 125-132.

145 Bukhari, Manaqib, 25; Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 6; Jum'a, 10; Ibn Maja, Iqamat al-Salat, 199; Darimi,
Muqaddima, 6; Salat, 202; Musnad, i, 249, 267, 363; iii, 226.

146 Bukhari, Manaqib, 25; Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 6; Jum'a, 10; Nasa'i, Jum'a, 17; Ibn Maja, Iqamat al-
Salat, 199; Darimi, Muqaddima, 6 (3 different lines from Jabir); Salat, 202; Musnad, iii, 293, 295, 306,
324.

147 Bukhari, Manaqib, 25; Tirmidhi, Jum A a, 10; Tirmidhi (Tahqiq: Ahmad Shakir), no: 505; Manaqib,
6; Darimi, Muqaddima, 6.

148 Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 6; Jum'a, 10; Darimi, Muqaddima, 6; Salat, 202; Musnad, i, 249, 363.

160

b. Sa'd, 149 Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, 150 Ubayy b. Ka'b, 151 Burayda, 152 and Umm Salama,
the Mother of Believers, 153 each at the head of a chain of transmission, reported this
same miracle to the Prophet's (UWBP) community. Foremost Bukhari, Muslim, and
the authentic books of Hadith gave accounts of this great miracle, which were
unanimously accepted, together with its lines of transmission for succeeding
generations.

Jabir, in his chain of transmission, says: "God's Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) used to lean against a wooden pole called the palm trunk while
delivering the sermon in the mosque. The pole could not endure it when the pulpit
was made and the Messenger (UWBP) used that for the sermon, and it began to moan
and wail like a pregnant camel." In his narration, Anas says: "It moaned like a water-
buffalo causing the mosque to tremble." In his narration, Sahl b. Sa'd says: "The
people started weeping and crying when the pole was moaning." In his narration,
Ubayy b. Ka'b says: "It wept so much it split." While in another narration, 154 the
Noble Messenger (UWBP) said: "It is weeping at being separated from the recitation
of God's names and the mentioning of God during the sermon." Still another
narration 155 reports that God's Messenger (UWBP) said: "If I had not embraced and
consoled it, it would have wept until Doomsday at being separated from God's
Messenger." In his narration, Burayda reports: "When the pole began to moan, God's
Messenger (UWBP) put his hand on it and said, 'If you wish, I will return you to the
grove you came from; your roots will grow and you will flourish; you will produce
new fruits. Or if you wish, I will plant you in Paradise, and God's friends, the saints,
will eat of your fruit.' He then listened to the pole. The people behind God's
Messenger (UWBP) could hear it as it spoke, saying: 'Plant me in Paradise, where
there is no decay, so that Almighty God's beloved servants may eat of my fruit.' The
Messenger (UWBP) said: T will,' and added: 'It has preferred the eternal realm to
that of transitoriness.'" Abu Ishaq Isfarani, one of the great authorities on theology,
narrated: "God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) did not go to the
pole, but it came to him, at his com

149 Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 6; Jum'a, 10; Darimi, Muqaddima, 6; Salat, 202; al-Khafaji, Shark al-Shifa', iii,
62.

150 Darimi, Muqaddima, 6.

151 Tirmidhi, Jum'a, 10; Ibn Maja, Iqamat al-Salat, 199; Darimi, Muqaddima, 6; Musnad, 139; al-
Khafaji, Shark al-Shifa, iii, 62; al-Mubarakfuri, Tuhfat al-Ahwazi, iii, 22.

152 Darimi, Muqaddima, 6.

153 Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 6; Jum'a, 10.

154 See, Bukhari, Manaqib, 25.

155 See, Darimi, Muqaddima, 6.

161

mand. Then, at his command, it returned to its place." 156 Ubayy b. Ka'b says: "After
this extraordinary event, God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
ordered that the pole be put under the pulpit. It was put there and remained there until
the mosque was pulled down before being rebuilt. Then Ubayy b. Ka'b took it and
kept it until it decayed. 157

The famous scholar Hasan al-Basri would weep while teaching this miraculous
event to his students, and say to them: "A piece of wood demonstrated love and
longing for God's Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace), so you

1 CO

should feel more love than that." As for us, we say, Yes, and love and longing for
him is shown through following his illustrious Practices (Sunna) and sacred Shari'a.

An Important Point

If it is asked : Why were the miracles that were displayed in connection with
food - to satisfy fully a thousand men with four handfuls of food in the Battle of
Khandaq, and another thousand men with water flowing from the Messenger's
(UWBP) blessed fingers - not narrated through numerous chains of transmission as
the miracle of the moaning of the pole was, although the former two miracles
occurred in the presence of larger crowds?

The Answer: The miracles that were manifested were of two kinds: one were
manifested at the hands of God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) in
order to make people assent to his prophethood. The moaning of the pole was of that
kind. It occurred solely as a proof, an affirmation, of prophethood, to increase the
believers' faith, to urge the dissemblers to sincerity and belief, and to bring to belief
the unbelievers. That is why everyone, the low and the high, saw it, and great
attention was paid to broadcasting it. However, the miracles concerning food and
water were wonders rather than miracles, or divine favours rather than wonders, or,
more than favour, they were banquets bestowed by the All-Merciful One because of
need. For sure, they were proofs of his claim to prophethood and miracles, but their
basic aim was this: the army was hungry so Almighty God provided a feast for a
thousand men out of a handful of food from His treasury in the Unseen, just as He
creates a thousand pounds of dates from a single seed. And for a thirsty army fighting
in His way, He caused water to flow like the water of Kawthar from the fingers of its
Commander-in-Chief, and gave them to drink.

156 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 304

157 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 304; Ibn Maja, Iqamat al-Salat, 199; Darimi, Muqaddima, 6.

158 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 305.

162

It is for this reason that all the examples of the miracles concerning food and
water do not attain the degree of the miracle of the moaning of the pole. However, in
their entirety, the various kinds of those two miracles are as numerous and
unanimously reported as the moaning of the pole. Moreover, not everyone could see
the increase of food and water flowing from his fingers; they could only see the
results. Whereas everyone heard the pole moaning, so it was more widely broadcast.

If it is asked: All the actions and conduct of God's Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) were recorded and transmitted by his Companions with extreme
care. Why then were such great miracles only narrated through ten or twenty chains of
transmission, when they should have been narrated through a hundred? Also, why
were many narrated from Anas, Jabir, and Abu Hurayra, and few related from Abu
Bakr and 'Umar?

The Answer: The answer to the first part of the question has been given in the
Third Principle in the Fourth Sign. Regarding the second part: just as someone in need
of medicine goes to a doctor, mathematicians are consulted on mathematical
problems, and questions to do with the Shari'a are asked of the Mufti, and so on; so
too, some of the scholars among the Companions were charged with the duty of
instructing succeeding centuries in the Hadiths of the Prophet, working with all their
strength for this end. Yes, Abu Hurayra devoted his entire life to memorizing Hadiths,
while 'Umar was occupied with the world of politics and the caliphate. 'Umar
therefore narrated very few traditions, relying on persons like Abu Hurayra, Anas, and
Jabir, to teach the Hadiths to the Muslim community. Furthermore, on a well-known,
truthful, sincere, honest, and trusted Companion reporting an incident through one
chain, it was regarded as sufficient, and no need remained for anyone else to narrate
it. This is why some significant events were narrated through only two or three chains
of transmission.

ELEVENTH SIGN

As the Tenth Sign explained miracles of the Prophet (UWBP) related to trees, the
eleventh Sign will describe how rocks and mountains among lifeless creatures also
demonstrated prophetic miracles. Here we cite a few instances out of many.

First Example: The great scholar of the Maghrib, Qadi Iyad, in his al-
Shifa' al-Sharif, with a celebrated chain of authorities, and great imams like Bukhari
report through an authentic line of transmission, from Ibn Mas'ud, the Prophet's
(UWBP) servant: "While eating together with

163

God's Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace), we used to hear the
food glorifying God." 159

Second Example: Accurate books of Hadith report from Anas and Abu
Dharr through an authentic line of transmission: "Anas, the Prophet's (UWBP)
servant, said: 'We were together with God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings
and peace) when he took up a handful of small stones and they began to praise God in
his blessed palm. Then he put them in Abu Bakr the Veracious' s hand and again they
glorified God.'" 160 In his line of transmission, Abu Dharr al-Ghifari says: "Then he
put them into 'Umar's hand, and again they glorified God. Then he took them and put
them on the ground, and they were silent. Then he again took them, and put them in
'Uthman's hand, where again they began to glorify God." Abu Dharr and Anas relate:
"He put them in our hands and they were silent." 161

Third E x a m p I e :It is established by a sound report from 'Ali, Jabir, and
'A'isha al-Siddiqa: "Rocks and mountains would say to God's Messenger (Upon
whom be blessings and peace), 'Peace be upon you, O Messenger of God!'" In 'Ali's
chain of narration, it says: "Whenever we went around in the environs of Mecca in the
early of days of his prophethood, the trees and rocks we encountered would declare:
'Peace be upon you, O Messenger of God!'" 162 While in his chain of transmission,
Jabir says: "Whenever the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
came across rocks and trees, they would prostrate before him, that is, demonstrating
obedience to him, they would declare: 'Peace be upon you, O Messenger of God!'" 163
In one of Jabir' s narrations, the Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) said:
"I know a rock that salutes me." 164 Some people said that he intended the Black Stone
of the Ka'ba. In her line of transmission, 'A'isha said: "God's Messenger (Upon
whom be blessings and peace) said: 'When Gabriel brought me the message, I would
never pass by a rock or a tree without it saying, 'Peace be upon you, O Messenger of
God!'" 165

159 Bukhari, Manaqib, 25; Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 6 (Tahqiq: Ibrahim A'wad) no: 3633; Musnad, i, 460;
Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa, i, 306; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 627; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, vi,
97-8, 133.

160 Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 306; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 70; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 627.

161 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' , i, 306; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, v, 179; vii, 298-9; Ibn Kathir, al-
Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, vi, 132-3.

162 Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 6; Darimi, Muqaddima, 4; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, viii, 260; al-
Hakim, al-Mustadrak, ii, 607; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 628.

163 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' , i, 307; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 71

164 Muslim, Fada'il, 2; Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 5; Musnad, v, 89, 95, 105; Ibn Hibban, Sahih, viii, 139.

165 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' , i, 307; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 71; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id,
viii, 259.

164

Fourth Example: Reported through an authentic line of narrators from
'Abbas: "God's Messenger (UWBP) covered 'Abbas and his four sons ('Abdullah,
'Ubaydullah, Fadl, and Qusam) with a piece of cloth called mula'at, praying: 'O my
Sustainer! This is my uncle; protect through me these his sons and veil them from the
Fire, as I veil them with this cloth!' 166 The roof, door, and the walls of the house
joined in the prayer at once, saying, Amen! Amen!" 167

Fifth Example: Accurate books, notably Bukhari, Ibn Hibban, Abu
Da'ud, and Tirmidhi, unanimously report from Anas, 168 Abu Hurayra, 169 'Uthman
Dhi'n-Nurayn, 170 and Sa'd b. Zayd, 171 from among the ten promised Paradise: "God's
Noble Messenger (UWBP) climbed Mount Uhud together with Abu Bakr al-Siddiq,
'Umar al-Faruq, and 'Uthman Dhi'n-Nurayn. Either due to their awesomeness, or out
of its own joy and happiness, the mountain began to tremble and stir. God's
Messenger said: 'Steady! For upon you are a prophet, a veracious one (siddiq), and
two martyrs!'

This tradition is giving news from the Unseen that 'Umar and 'Uthman were
going to be martyred. As a supplement to this tradition, it is narrated that when God's
Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) migrated from Mecca pursued
by the unbelievers, they climbed the mountain called Thubir. The mountain said:
"Leave me, O Messenger of God! I am afraid that God will punish me if they strike

1 79

you on me." Then Mount Hira called to him: "Come to me, O Messenger of God!"
For this reason, men of intuition feel fear on Mount Thubir and a sense of safety on
Mount Hira.

As can be understood from this example, these vast mountains are each an
individual servant of God; each glorifies and praises Him; each is charged with duties.
They recognized and loved God's Messenger (UWBP); they are not without purpose
or owner.

Sixth Example: Reported through an authentic line of transmission from
'Abdullah b. 'Umar: "While delivering the sermon from the pulpit, God's Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace) recited the verse: "No just estimate have they
made of God, such as is due to Him: on

166 Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, vi, 71.

167 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa, i, 608; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 628; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, ii, 309; al-
Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, ix, 269-70.

168 See, Bukhari, Fada'il al-Ashab, 5, 6, 7; Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 19, no: 3697; Abu Da'ud, Sunna, 9
(Bab: Fi'1-Khulafa).

169 Muslim, Fada'il al-Sahaba, 6, no: 2417; Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 19.

170 Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 19.

171 Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 19; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iii, 450.

172 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 308; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 75.

165

the Day of Judgement the whole earth will be but His handful, and the heavens will be
rolled up in His right hand,"(39:67) and said: 'God the Compeller is exalting Himself
and saying: I am the Compeller! I am the Compeller! I am the Mighty! I am the Most
High!' As he said this, the pulpit so trembled and shook that we were frightened that
God' s Messenger (UWBP) would fall." m

Seventh Example: It is reported through an authentic line of narrators
from Ibn 'Abbas, 174 known as the Learned One of the Muslim Community and
Interpreter of the Qur'an, and Ibn Mas'ud, 175 the Prophet's (UWBP) servant and one
of the great scholars of the Companions, that they said: "On the conquest of Mecca,
there were three hundred and sixty idols around the Ka'ba, fixed with lead to the
stone. That day, the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) pointed
to each of the idols in turn with a stick he was holding curved like a bow, saying, 'The
Truth has arrived and falsehood has perished; indeed, falsehood is ever bound to
perish. '(17:81) "Whichever one he pointed to, it fell down. 176 If he pointed to the face
of the idol, it fell backwards; otherwise it fell on its face. Thus they all toppled over
and fell to the ground." 177

Eighth Example: This is the famous story of the well-known monk
Bahira. Before the beginning of his prophethood, God's Noble Messenger (Upon
whom be blessings and peace) was travelling towards Damascus to trade together
with his uncle Abu Talib and some of the Quraysh. They rested when they came near
the church of Bahira the monk. Bahira, who was a hermit and did not mix with
people, suddenly came out. He saw Muhammad the Trustworthy (UWBP) among the
caravan, and said: "He is the Lord of the World; he will be a prophet." The Quraysh
asked: "How do you know?" The holy monk replied: "I saw a small cloud over the
caravan as you were coming. When you sat down, the cloud moved toward him and
cast its shadow over him. I also saw trees and rocks prostrate themselves before him,
which they only do before prophets." 178

173 Muslim, Sifat al-Qiyama, 19-26; Musnad, ii, 88; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, ii, 252; Qadi Iyad, al-
Shifa', i, 308; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 75; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 630; Ibn Hibban,
Sahih, ix, 214.

174 Muslim, Jihad, 87, no: 1781.

175 Bukhari, Maghazi, 48; Mazalim, 32; Tafsir al-Qur'an, 12; Tirmidhi, Tafsir al-Qur'an, 18 (Bab: Sura
Bani Isra'il); Ibn Hibban, Sahih, no: 1702.

176 In Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, and other books, this much is recorded. Only in the following is the
Hadith complete.

177 al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id wa'l-Manba' al-Fawa'id, vi, 176 (from Ibn Mas'ud).

178 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' , i, 308; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 631; Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 3 (Bab: Maja'
fi Badi' al-Nubuwwa); al-Mubarakfuri, Tuhfat al-Ahwazi, no: 3699; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, ii, 615;
Ibn Hisham, Sirat al-Nabi, 115.

166

There are at least eighty examples similar to these eight instances. When they are
put together, they form a chain so strong that no doubt can break it or shake it. Taken
as a whole, this sort of miracle, that is, the speaking of inanimate beings in order to
testify to Muhammad's (UWBP) prophethood, expresses the same certainty as
'consensus in meaning.' Each example is strengthened by the whole. Yes, a slender
pole becomes strong when put together with stout poles. If he joins the army and
becomes a soldier, a weak, powerless man gains strength enough to challenge a
thousand men.

TWELFTH SIGN

This consists of three examples that are related to the Eleventh Sign, but are of
the greatest importance.

First Example: "And when you threw, it was not you who threw; it was
rather God that threw. "(8:17) As established by the researches of all Qur'anic
commentators and the reports of the scholars of Hadith, this verse refers to the
following incident that occurred during the Battle of Badr:

God's Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) took up a handful
of earth and small stones and threw them at the army of the unbelievers, saying: "May
your faces be deformed!", and just as these words entered the ears of all of them
despite being a single phrase, so too the handful of earth entered all their eyes. They
all became preoccupied with their eyes, and although on the attack, the army suddenly
turned tail and fled. 179

Also during the Battle of Hunayn 180 the authorities on Hadith and foremost Imam
Muslim report that like at the Battle of Badr, he again threw a handful of earth while
the unbelievers were staging a fierce attack. Saying: "May your faces be deformed!",
the handful of earth struck the faces of each of them, with God's leave, the same as
words of the phrase entered all their ears. Busy with their eyes, they retreated and
fled. Since this extraordinary event at Badr and Hunayn is not within man's power
and ordinary causes, the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition states, "When you threw, it
was not you who threw; it was rather God that threw." That is, the event was outside
human power. It occurred, not through human agency but in an extraordinary manner,
through divine power.

Second Example: The accurate books and foremost Bukhari and Muslim
narrate that during the Khaybar expedition, a Jewess roasted a goat, filling it with a
very strong poison. She then sent it to God's Messen

179 al-Haythami, Majma ' al-Zawa 'id, vi, 84.

180 Muslim, Jihad, 76, 81 (Bab: Shahat al-Vujuh); Musnad, v, 286.

167

ger (Upon whom be blessings and peace). The Companions had begun to eat it, when
the Prophet (Upon whom be blessings and peace) suddenly said: "Withdraw you
hands! It tells me it is poisoned!" Everyone pulled back his hand. But Bishr b. al-
Bara' had eaten a single morsel and died from the effects of the severe poison. The
Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) sent for the Jewess called
Zaynab and asked her why she had done it. The inauspicious woman retorted: "I
considered that if you were a prophet, it would not harm you; and if you were a king,
I would save the people from you." 181 According to some narrations, the Prophet
(UWBP) did not have her put to death, but left her to Bishr' s family to be killed.
Now listen to a few points demonstrating aspects of the miraculousness in this
extraordinary incident:

The First: According to one narration, some of the Companions also heard the
goat speaking.

The Second: According to another, God's Messenger (UWBP) said: "Say,

1 S4

Bismillah, then eat; the poison will not affect you." Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani does not
accept this narration, but others do.

The Third: The treacherous Jews wanted to deal a sudden blow at God's
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) and his close Companions, but being
informed about this from the Unseen, the Prophet's (UWBP) warning proved true,
and their plot was uncovered and brought to naught. And when Muhammad (UWBP),
from whom the Companions never heard an untrue statement, said: "This goat tells
me that..., " everyone believed him with conviction as sure as if they themselves had
heard the goat. 185

Third Example: This consists of three instances of another miracle which
resembles the Shining Hand and Staff of Moses:

The First: Imam Ahmad b. Hanbal, explaining and authenticating a narration
from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, reports: "One dark and stormy night, the

181 From Abu Hurayra: Bukhari, Tibb, 55; Jizya, 7; Maghazi, 41; Abu Da'ud, Diyat, 6, nos: 4509, 4511,
1512; Darimi, Muqaddima, 11; Musnad, ii, 451. From Anas: Muslim, no: 2992; Bukhari, al-Hiba, 28;
Abu Da 'ud, Diyat, 6, no: 4508. From Jabir b. 'Abdullah: Darimi, Muqaddima, 1 1 ; Abu Da 'ud, Diyat, 6,
no: 4510. For the lines of transmission and narrations about this Hadith, see, Abu Da'ud, Diyat, 6

182 al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iii, 219; iv, 109; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, vi, 256, 264; Ibn al-
Qayyim, Zad al-Ma 'ad, iii, 336.

183 al-Tabrizi, Mishkat al-Masabih, no: 5931; Abu Da'ud, Diyat, 6; Darimi, Muqaddima, 11; al-Jizri,
Jami' al-Usul, No: 8888; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, viii, 295-6

184 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 317-9; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 645.

185 Abu Da 'ud, Diyat, 6; Darimi, Muqaddima, 1 1 ; al-Haythami, Majma' nl-Zawa 'id, viii, 295-6;
Bayhaqi, Dala 'il al-Nubuwwa, iv, 262.

168

Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) gave Qatada b. al-Nu'man a
staff, saying: 'This staff will light up ten yards all around you. You will see a dark
shadow when you arrive at your house; it is Satan. Throw him out of the house and
drive him away!' Qatada took the staff and set off. It cast a light like Moses' shining
hand. He came to his house, where he saw the shadowy figure, and he drove it

,,186

away.

The Second: While fighting the idolators during the great Battle of Badr, itself a
source of wonders, 'Ukkasha b. Muhassin al-Asadi had his sword broken. God's
Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) gave him a stout staff in place
of it, saying: "Fight with this!" Suddenly, with God's leave, the staff became a long
white sword, and he fought with it. He carried the sword on his person for the rest of
his life until he fell as a martyr during the Battle of al-Yamama. 187 This incident is
certain, because throughout his life he carried the sword with pride and it became
famous with the name of Succour. Thus, two proofs of this incident are 'Ukkasha' s
pride, and the sword's name, Succour and its widespread fame.

The Third: It is narrated by authorities on Hadith like Ibn 'Abd al-Barr, 188 a
celebrated scholar known as the Scholar of the Age, that at the Battle of Uhud the
sword of 'Abdullah b. Jahsh, a cousin of the God's Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace), was broken. The Messenger (UWBP) gave him a staff and it
turned into a sword in his hand. He fought with it, and after the battle that product of a
miracle remained a sword. 189

In his Siyar, the well-known Ibn Sayyid al-Nas reports that some time later
'Abdullah sold the sword to a man called Bugha' al-Turki for two hundred liras. 190
Thus these two swords were each miracles like the Staff of Moses. But while no
aspect of miraculousness remained in his staff after Moses' death, these swords
remained unchanged.

186 Musnad, iii, 65; al-Sa'ati, al-Fath al-Rabbani, xxii, 66-7; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, ii, 166-
7; al-Hindi, Kanz al-'Ummal, xii, 376; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 3323; 'AH al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i,
671; al-'Asqalani, al-haba, no: 7076.

187 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' ', i, 333; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 671; al-Khafaji, Shark al-Shifa', iii, 156;
Ibn Hisham, Sirat al-Nabi, i, 637; Ibn al-Qayyim, Zad al-Ma'ad (Tahqiq: Arnavudi), iii, 186.

188 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' , i, 333; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 157; Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, 'Uyun al-Athar,
ii, 20; al-'Asqalani, al-haba, no: 4583.

189 'Abd al-Barr, al-Istibab, ii, 274 (gloss on al-haba); Ibn Hajar, al-haba, ii, 287; Ibn Sayyid al-Nas,
'Uyun al-Athar, ii, 32; 'Abd al-Razzaq, al-Musannaf, xi, 279.

190 Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, 'Uyun al-Athar, ii, 32; 'Abd al-Razzaq, al-Musannaf, xi, 279.

169

THIRTEENTH SIGN

Another of the miracles of Muhammad (Upon whom be blessings and peace) of
which there are numerous instances, which are reported unanimously, is the sick and
the wounded being healed through his blessed breath. The reports of this kind of
miracle are, as a whole, unanimous in meaning. Some of the instances of these
miracles also are considered to be unanimous in meaning. And if the others are single
reports, since they have been rendered and confirmed as authentic by the exacting
authorities of the science of Hadith, they afford the certainty of science. We shall
mention a few instances of the miracles out of many.

First Example: The learned scholar of the Maghrib, Qadi Iyad, in his al-
Shifa ' al-Sharif, narrates through an elevated chain of authorities and numerous lines
of transmission that Sa'd b. Abi Waqqas, the Noble Messenger's (UWBP) servant and
commander, and commander-in-chief of the army of Islam in the time of 'Umar, the
conqueror of Iran, and one of the ten promised Paradise, said: "I was at the Noble
Messenger's (UWBP) side during the Battle of Uhud. He shot arrows at the
unbelievers until his bow broke. Then he gave arrows to me, telling me to shoot them.
The arrows he gave me were without flights, that is, without the feathers which help
them fly. He was ordering me to shoot them, which I did, and they flew like flighted
arrows, hitting the unbelievers' bodies and piercing them." 191 At that point, Qatada b.
Nu'man was hit in the eye by an arrow; it was struck out of his head, so that it was
sitting on the side of his face. God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
took the eye in his blessed, healing hand and placed it in its socket; it was healed as
though nothing had happened to it and became the better of his two eyes. This event
became very widely known. A grandson of Qatada, even, once described himself to
'Umar b. 'Abd al-'Aziz as, "I am the grandson of one who, when God's Most Noble
Messenger (UWBP) placed his eye back in its socket after it had been struck out, it
was suddenly healed and became his best eye." 192 He said this in verse, introducing
himself to 'Umar in that way.

It is also related through an authentic narration that during the battle known as the
Yawm Dhi-Qarad, Abu Qatada was hit in the face by an

191 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' ', i, 322; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 651; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id,
vi, 113; Muslim, Fada'il al-Sahaba, 42, no: 2412; Ibn Hibban, Sahih, ix, 65.

192 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 322; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, vi, 113; al-Hindi, Kanzal-'Ummal,
xii, 377; Ibn al-Qayyim, Zad al-Ma'ad (Tahqiq: Arnavudi), iii, 186-7; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iii,
295.

170

arrow. God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) touched his face with
his blessed hand. Abu Qatada said: "I felt no pain at all, nor did the wound fester." 193

Second Example: The authentic books of Hadith, and foremost Bukhari
and Muslim, report that the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
had appointed 'Ali al-Haydari as standard-bearer during the Battle of Khaybar, but his
eyes were aching severly due to illness. The moment the Noble Messenger (UWBP)
applied his healing spittle to his eyes, they were cured, with no trace of the discomfort
remaining. 194 The following morning, 'Ali conquered the citadel of Khaybar by
removing its extremely heavy gate and using it in his hand as a shield. During the
same battle, Salama b. al-Akwa"s leg was struck and split open by a sword; God's
Messenger (UWBP) breathed onto it, and the leg was at once healed. 195

Third Example: Authorities on the Prophet's (UWBP) life, and foremost
Nasa'i, report from 'Uthman b. Hunayf, who said: "A blind man came to God's Noble
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) and said: 'Pray so that my eyes may
be healed and I may see!' The Messenger (UWBP) said: 'Go and take the ablutions,
then pray two rak'ats and say: O God! I beseech you and I turn to you, for the sake of
the Prophet Muhammad, the Prophet of Mercy. O Muhammad! I turn to your
Sustainer, for your sake and through you, asking that He uncover my sight. O God,
make him my intercessor!' He went and did this, and when he returned, we saw that
his eyes had opened and he could see very well." 196

Fourth Example: A great authority, Ibn Wahab, reports: "The hero
Mu'awwidh b. 'Afra', one of the fourteen martyrs of the Battle of Badr, had his hand
cut off by Abu Jahl the Accursed while fighting with him. He took the hand with his
other hand and went to the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace),
the Messenger (UWBP) stuck the hand in its place and spread his spittle over it. It
was at once healed. Mu'awwidh went again to fight and continued to do so until he
was martyred." 197

193 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 322; al-Khafaji, Shark al-Shifa', iii, 113; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 653.
""* Bukhari, Jihad, 102, 144; Maghazi, 38; Fada'il al-Sahaba, 32, 34; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iii, 38.

' Bukhari, Maghazi, 38 (fr(
Sharh al-Musnad, xxii, 259.

196 Tirmidhi, Da'wat, 1 19, ik
166; Ibn Maja, Iqama, 189; Musnad, iv, 138.

197 Qac
i, 261.

195 Bukhari, Maghazi, 38 (from Yazid b. 'Ubayd); Abu Da'ud, Tibb, 19; al-Sa'ati, al-Fath al-Rabbani

196 Tirmidhi, Da'wat, 119, no: 3578; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, i, 526; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, vi,

197 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' , i, 324; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 656; Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, 'Uyun al-Athar,

171

172

Imam Jalil b. Wahab also reports: "During that same battle, Hubayb b. Yasaf was
struck on the shoulder by a sword so that he received a grievous wound with part of it
almost severed. The Noble Messenger (UWBP) joined the arm and shoulder back
together again and breathed on it, and it was healed. 198

Thus, for sure these two incidents are separate, single reports, but if an authority
like Ibn Wahab considered them to be sound, and if they occurred during a battle like
that of Badr, which was a spring of miracles, and if there were many other examples
that resembled these two incidents, for sure it may be said that they definitely
occurred. Indeed, there are perhaps a thousand examples established in authentic
traditions for which the blessed hand of God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings
and peace) was healing.

A Question: You describe many things as being reported unanimously
through many channels, but we are hearing most of them for the first time. Surely
something the various reports of which are numerous and unanimous cannot remain
thus secret?

The Answer: There are numerous things concerning the reports of which
there is a consensus and which are self-evident to the learned scholars of the Shari'a,
but are unknown to those who are not one of them. For the scholars of Hadith there
are many such things, which for poets have not even the status of isolated reports, and
so on. The specialists of all the sciences explain the theories and axioms of their
science, and the ordinary people rely on them and either submit to them, or become
one of them and see for themselves. Now, the events the reports of which we describe
as forming 'true consensus,' 'consensus in meaning,' or which express certainty like
consensus, have been shown to be thus by both the scholars of Hadith, and the
scholars of the Shari'a, and the scholars of the principles of religion, and by most of
the other levels of the 'ulama. If ordinary people in their heedlessness or the ignorant
who close their eyes to the truth do not know this, the fault is theirs.

Fifth Example: Having explained and authenticated it, Imam Baghawi
relates: "At the Battle of Khandaq, 'Ali b. al-Hakam's leg was broken by the blow of
an unbeliever. The Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) rubbed it.
At the moment he did so, it was healed so that 'Ali b. al-Hakam did not even
dismount from his horse." 199

198 , Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, vi, 178; Ibn Hajar, al-Isaba, i, 418; Ibn al-Athir, Usd al-Ghaba, ii, 118.

199 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' ', i, 324; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 656; al-Khafaji, Shark al-Shifa', iii, 118;

al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, iv, 134.

173

Sixth Example: The scholars of Hadith, and foremost Imam Bayhaqi,
relate: '"Ali was very ill. In his distress, he was moaning and praying for himself. The
Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) came and said: 'O God! Grant
him healing,' and touched 'Ali with his foot. He told him to stand, and 'Ali was at
once cured. He stated: T never again suffered from that illness.'" 200

Seventh Example: This is the well-known story of Shurahbil al-Ju'fi. He
had a morbid growth on the palm of his hand so that he could hold neither his sword
nor the reins of his horse. God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
rubbed the growth with his blessed hand and massaged it; not a trace of it
remained. 201

Eighth Example: Six children, each the object of a different miracle of
Muhammad (UWBP):

The First: Ibn Abi Shayba, a meticulous researcher and well-known scholar of
Hadith, relates that a woman brought her child to God's Messenger (UWBP). The
child had an affliction; he could not speak and was an idiot. God's Messenger
(UWBP) rinsed his mouth with water and washed his hands, then gave the water to
the woman, telling her to give it to the child to drink. After the child had drunk it,
nothing remained of his illness and affliction, and he became so intelligent, he
surpassed even the brightest of the rest. 202

The Second: According to an authentic narration, Ibn 'Abbas said: "An insane
child was brought to the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace). He
placed his blessed hand on the child's chest and the child suddenly vomited a small
black object like a cucumber. The child was healed and went home." 203

The Third: Imam Bayhaqi and Nasa'i relate through an authentic chain of
transmission that a child called Muhammad b. al-Hatib had been scalded by a pan of
boiling water and his whole arm burnt. God's Noble Messenger (UWBP) touched the
arm, spreading his spittle over it; the same instant it was healed. 204

200 Tirmidhi, Da'wat, 121; Musnad, i, 83, 107, 128; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 323; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-
Shifa', i, 656; Ibn Hibban, Sahih, ix, 47; al-Mubarakfuri, Tuhfat al-Ahwazi, 3635.

201 al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, viii, 298; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 324; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-
Shifa', i, 657.

202 Ibn Maja, Tibb, 40, no: 3532; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 324; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 654, 657.

203 Darimi, Muqaddima, 4; Musnad, i, 254; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 324; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i,
657; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, ix, 2; Tabrizi, Mishkat al-Masabih, iii, 188.

204 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 324; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 657; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 121;
al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, ix, 415; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, i, 295; al-Hakim, al-
Mustadrak, iv, 62-3.

174

The Fourth: A child who was not young but was mute came to the Noble
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace). He asked the child: "Who am I?"
The child, who had been mute from birth, replied: "You are the Messenger of God,"
and started to speak.

The Fifth: Jalal al-Din Suyuti, who was honoured with conversing with God's
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) on many occasions while awake and
was the leading scholar of his age, explaining and authenticating a narration, reports:
Soon after being born, a famous person called Mubarak al-Yamama was taken to the
Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace). On his turning to the baby, it
started to speak, saying: "I testify that you are the Messenger of God." The Messenger
(UWBP) exclaimed: "May God bless you!" The child never spoke again in his
infancy, and later became famous as Mubarak al-Yamama (the blessed one,
Yamama), since he had been the object of this miracle of the Prophet (UWBP) and his
prayer. 206

The Sixth: One time, an ill-mannered youth interrupted the prayer of the Noble
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace), by passing in front of him while he
was performing it. God's Messenger (UWBP) said: "O God, cut short his paces!"

907

After this the child was unable to walk as a punishment for his bad behaviour.

The Seventh: A shameless woman, who was like a child, asked for a piece of the
food God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) was eating. He gave her
some, but she said: "No, I want a piece from your mouth." So he gave her a piece,
and, after eating the morsel, she became the most modest and bashful woman in
Medina. 208

There are not eighty but perhaps eight hundred further examples similar to the
eight mentioned above, most of which are related in the Hadith books and books of
the Prophet's (UWBP) biography. For sure, since the blessed hand of God's
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) was like a pharmacy of Luqman the
Wise, and his spittle was like a spring of Khidr' s water of life, and his breath soothing
and healing like that of Jesus (Upon whom be peace), certainly many people would
have recourse

205 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 319; al-Khafaji, Shark al-Shifa', iii, 105; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya,
iv, 158-9.

206 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 319; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 105; Suyuti, Kanz al- 'Ummal, iv, 379;

Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, iv, 159.

2ffi

Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 328; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 137; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 663.
Qadi I
viii, 312.

208 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 325; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 657; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id,

175

to him; and the sick, children, and the insane did flock to him in great numbers, and
they were all healed. Abu 'Abd al-Rahman al-Yamani, known as Tavus, even, who
made the Hajj forty times and for forty years performed the morning prayer with the
ablution of the preceeding night prayers, and who met with many of the Companions
and was one of the greatest scholars of the generation following them, stated and
made the certain report that however many lunatics came to God's Messenger (Upon
whom be blessings and peace), he placed his hand on their chests and they were all
healed; not one was not cured. 209

Thus, since a great scholar such as that who had direct connections with the era
of the Prophet (UWBP), made such definite and general statements, for sure, none of
the sick who came to God's Prophet (UWBP) were not healed; they were all healed.
Since this was the case, certainly thousands would have had recourse to him.

FOURTEENTH SIGN

Another numerous sort of the various kinds of miracle of God's Most Noble
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) were the wonders manifested as a
result of his prayers. This kind is definite and there is a 'true consensus' concerning
their many reports. The instances and examples of it are so numerous as to be
incalculable, and many of these have reached the degree of 'consensus,' or have
become famous as such. Others have been related by such authorities that they bear
the same certainty as 'well-known consensus.' As examples, we shall quote only
some of the numerous instances of this kind of miracle that are very well-known and
nearest in degree to 'consensus,' giving some particulars of each instance.

First Example: The fact that prayers of the Noble Messenger (Upon
whom be blessings and peace) for rain were always accepted has been transmitted by
authorities of Hadith, primarily Bukhari and Muslim. There were times when in the
pulpit he raised his hands to pray for rain, and before he had lowered them even, rain
began to fall. As mentioned above, once or twice when the army had run out of
water, the clouds came and poured forth rain. 211 Before his prophetic mission, even,
during his childhood, the Prophet's (UWBP) grandfather 'Abd al-Muttalib would go
to pray for rain with him, and the rain came out of respect for Muhammad (UWBP).
The fact became celebrated through a poem of 'Abd al-

209 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' ', i, 335; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 676.

210 Bukhari, Istisqa, 6-8, 14; Muslim, Istisqa, 8-10.

211 al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, vi, 194-5; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, i, 159; Ibn Hibban, iv, 223.

176

Muttalib. 212 And after the Prophet's (UWBP) death, 'Umar prayed citing 'Abbas,
saying: "0 our Sustainer! This is the uncle of your Beloved. Send us rain for his
sake!" And it rained. 213

Bukhari and Muslim also relate that God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings
and peace) was asked to pray for rain. He did so and so much rain fell that they had to
ask him to pray for it to stop. He did so, and it stopped at once. 214

Second Example:Itis almost as well-known as those incidents about
which there are many unanimous reports that when the number of Companions and
believers had still not reached forty, God's Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) prayed secretly while performing his worship: "O God!
Strengthen Islam by means of either 'Umar b. al-Khattab or 'Umar b. Hisham." A few
days later, 'Umar b. al-Khattab came to believe and proclaimed and upheld Islam, so
that he acquired the title of Faruq (Discerner between truth and falsehood). 215

Third Example: God's Messenger (UWBP) prayed for various
distinguished Companions for different purposes. His prayers were all accepted in so
brilliant a fashion that the wonders of these prayers reached the degree of a miracle.
For instance, foremost Bukhari and Muslim relate that he prayed for Ibn 'Abbas as
follows: "O God! Give him knowledge of religion and teach him interpretation." 216
His supplication was accepted in such a way that Ibn 'Abbas gained the glorious title
of Interpreter of the Qur'an and reached the elevated degree of "erudite scholar of the
Muslim community." 217 When still very young even, 'Umar used to include him in

212 Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqat, i, 90; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, ii, 15-19.

213 Bukhari, Istisqa, 3; Fada'il Ashab al-Nabi, 11.

214 Bukhari, Istisqa, 19; Ibn Maja, Iqama, 154; Muslim, Salat al-Istisqa, 8, no: 897; Ibn Kathir, al-
Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, vi, 91-2; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 327.

215 Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 18, no: 1683; al-Albani, Mishkat al-Masabih, no: 6036; al-Mubarakfuri, Tuhfat
al-Ahwazi, no: 3766; Ibn Asir al-Jizri, Jami' al-Usul, no: 7428; Ibn Hibban, Sahih, ix, 17; al-Hakim,
al-Mustadrak, ii, 465; iii, 83, 502; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 327; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, ii, 215.

216 Bukhari, Vudu', 10; 'Ilm, 17; Fada'il al-Ashab, 24; Muslim, Fada'il al-Sahaba, 138; Ibn Hibban,
Sahih, ix, 98; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 327; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 661; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-
Shifa', iii, 130; Ibn al-Asir, Jami' al-Usul, ix, 63; Musnad, i, 264, 314, 328, 330; al-Hakim, al-
Mustadrak, iv, 534

217 al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iii, 535; Ibn Hajar, al-Isaba, ii, 330-4; Ibn Athir, Usd al-Ghaba, iii, 291;
Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 327.

177

the gatherings of the religious scholars and leading Companions. 218

Also, foremost Bukhari and the writers of books of authentic Hadith relate that
the mother of Anas entreatied God's Noble Messenger (UWBP): "Pray that your
servant Anas will be blessed with abundant wealth and offspring." He prayed, saying:
"O God! Grant increase to his wealth and offspring and bless what you bestow on
him." Towards the end of his life, Anas said swearing by God: "I have buried a
hundred of my progeny with my own hand. No one has been as fortunate as myself in
regard to wealth and possessions. You can see that my wealth is truly abundant. All
these are the result of Prophet's (UWBP) prayer for the blessing of plenty." 219

Also, foremost Imam Bayhaqi, and the scholars of Hadith relate that God's
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) prayed that one of the ten promised
Paradise, ' Abd al-Rahman b. ' Awf, be blessed with abundance of wealth. Through the
blessing of that prayer, he acquired such wealth that on one occasion he donated
seven hundred camels together with their loads to God's cause 220 See the blessings of
plenty resulting from the Prophet's (UWBP) prayer, and say: "How great are God's
blessings!"

Also, narrators of Hadiths, and foremost Bukhari, relate: "God's Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace) prayed that 'Urwa b. Abi al-Ja'da might do
profitably at trade. 'Urwa said: 'Sometimes I would go to the marketplace in Kufa and
come home in the evening having made a forty thousandfold profit.'" Imam Bukhari
says: "If he took earth in his hand, he still would make a profit from it!" 221

999

Also, he prayed that 'Abdullah b. Ja'far would acquire an abundance of wealth,
and he became so rich he was famous for it. He also became as famous for his
generosity as he was for the wealth he obtained through the Prophet' s (UWBP) prayer
for the blessing of plenty. 223

There are numerous instances of this sort of miracle, but we consider the four
described above to be sufficient as examples.

218 Musnad, i, 338; Ahmad b. Hanbal, Fada'il al-Sahaba, no: 1871; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iii, 535;
'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 661.

219 Bukhari, Da'wat, 19, 26, 47; Muslim, Fada'il al-Sahaba, 141, 142, nos: 2480-1; Musnad, iii, 190; vi,
430; Ibn Hibban, Sahih, ix, 155; al-Mubarakfuri, Tuhfat al-Ahwazi, x, 330.

220 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 326; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 659; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 125.

221 Bukhari, Manaqib, 28; Ibn Maja, Sadaqat, 7; Musnad, iv, 375; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 327; al-Sa'ati,

al-Fath al-Rabbani, xxii, 326.

222 al-Haythami, Majn
al-Nubuwwa, vi, 221.

223 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa
v, 286; Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani, al-Matalib al-'Aliya, no: 4077-8.

122 al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, ix, 286; Ibn Hajar, Matalib al-'Aliya, iv, 105; Bayhaqi, Dala'il
223 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' , i, 327; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 661; al-Haythami, Majma A al-Zawa'id,

178

179

178

Also, foremost Imam Tirmidhi relates: "The Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) prayed for Sa'd b. Abi Waqqas: 'O God, answer his prayer!'
After that everyone feared his malediction, and the answering of his prayers also
became famous.

On another occasion, God's Messenger (UWBP) prayed for the famous Abu
Qatada that he might remain young: "May God prosper your face! O God, bless his
hair and his skin!" When he died at the age of seventy, he was like a youth of fifteen.
This is related through a sound chain of narrators. 226

There is also the famous story of the poet Nabigha: he recited one of his poems
before God's Messenger (UWBP), which ran: "Our glory and praise have reached to
the skies; we want to ascend even higher." God's Messenger (UWBP) asked jokingly:
"Where, beyond the skies?" Nabigha replied: "To Paradise." He then recited another
of his meaningful poems, and the Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
prayed: "May God not spoil your mouth!" It was through the blessing of this prayer of
the Prophet (UWBP) that he did not have a single tooth missing when he was one
hundred and twenty years old. Whenever he lost a tooth, another would appear in its
place. 227

Also, it is related through an authentic narration that he prayed for Imam 'Ali: "O
God, protect him from heat and cold!" Through the blessing of this prayer, Imam 'Ali
used to wear summer clothes in winter, and winter clothes in summer. He used to say:
"I never suffer from heat or cold, thanks to that prayer." 228

Also, he prayed for Fatima: "O God, do not let her go hungry!" And Fatima used
to say: "I never suffered from hunger after that prayer." 229

Also, Tufayl b. 'Amr asked God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and
peace) for a miracle to show to his tribe. The Messenger (UWBP)

22A Tirmidki, Manaqib, 27, no: 3751; Ibn Hibban, Sahih, no: 12215; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iii, 499;
Abu Nu'aym, Hilyat al-Awliya, i, 93; Abu Nu'ayim, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, iii, 206; al-Albani, Mishkat
al-Masabih, iii, 251, no: 61 16; al-Mubarakfuri, Tuhfat al-Ahwazi, x, 253-4 no: 3835; Ahmad b. Hanbal,
Fada'il al-Sahaba, ii, 750, no: 1038; Ibn al-Asir, Jami' al-Usul, x, 16, no: 6535.

225 Ibn al-Athir, Usd al-Gkaba, ii, 367; Ibn Hajar, al-Isaba, ii, 33.

226 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' ', i, 327; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 660; al-Khafaji, Shark al-Skifa', iii, 128.

227 'Ali al-Qari, Skark al-Skifa', i, 661; Ibn Hajar, al-Isaba fi Tamyiz al-Sakaba, no: 8639; al-
'Asqalani, al-Matalib al-'Aliya, no: 4060; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nikaya, vi, 168.

128 al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, ix, 122; Ahmad b. Hanbal, Fada'U al-Sakaba, no: 950; Ibn Maja,
Muqaddima 11, No: 117; Musnad, i, 99, 133; Musnad (Takqiq: Ahmad Shakir), ii, 120, no: 1114; al-
Khafaji, Skark al-Skifa', iii, 133.

129 Qadi Iyad, al-Skifa', i, 328; al-Khafaji, Skark al-Skifa', iii, 134; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id,
ix, 203.

179

prayed: "O God, illuminate him!", and a light appeared between his eyes. Later it was
transferred to the end of his staff, and he became famous as Dhi'1-Nur, the Possessor
of Light. 230 These incidents are all from well-known Hadiths that are certain.

Also, Abu Hurayra once complained to the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) that he sometimes suffered from forgetfulness. God's Messenger
(UWBP) told him to spread out a piece of cloth. He then made some movements with
his blessed hand as though taking some invisible objects and putting them on the
cloth. He repeated this two or three times, then told him to gather up the cloth. Abu
Hurayra later swore that through the mystery of this prayer of the Prophet (UWBP),
he never again forgot anything. 231 This event is also among well-known Hadiths.

Fourth Example: We shall describe here a few events regarding
maledictions of God's Messenger (UWBP).

The First: The Persian Shah Parviz tore up the letter sent to him by God's
Messenger (UWBP). When the Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
received news of this, he prayed: "O God, rend him as he rent my letter!" It was as
a result of this malediction that Chosroes Parviz' s son Shirviya cut him to pieces with
a dagger. And Sa'd b. al-Waqqas broke his kingdom apart, so that in no part of the
Sasanid empire did his sovereignty remain. However, the Emperor of Byzantium and
other kings did not perish since they respected the Prophet's (UWBP) letters.

The Second: An event almost as well-known as those reported unanimously,
which some verses of the Qur'an allude to, is this: in the early days of Islam, the
Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) was performing the prayers in
the Masjid al-Haram, when the chiefs of the Quraysh gathered and maltreated him. At
the time, the Messenger (UWBP) called down curses on them. Ibn Mas'ud stated: "I
swear that at the Battle of Badr I saw the corpses of all those who had ill-treated him
and received his curse."

230 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' ', i, 328; al-Khafaji, Shark al-Shifa', iii, 134; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 662.

231 Bukhari, 'Ilm, 42; Manaqib, 28; Buyu', 1; Harth, 21; Muslim, Fada'il al-Sahaba, 159, no: 2492;
Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 46, 47; Musnad, ii, 240, 274, 428; al-Mubarakfuri, Tuhfat al-Ahwazi, x, 334 no:
3923; Ibn al-Asir, Jami' al-Usul (Tahqiq: Arnavud), ix, 95; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, vi, 162;
al-Sa'ati, al-Fath al-Rabbani, xxii, 405, 409-10; Abu Nu'aym, Hilyat al-Awliya, i, 381; al-'Asqalani,
al-Isaba, no: 1190.

232 Bukhari, 'Ilm, 7; Jihad, 101; Maghazi, 82; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 328; al-Sa'ati, al-Fath al-
Rabbani, xxii, 159.

133 Ibn Hisham, al-Sirat al-Nabawiyya, i, 71; Tabari, Tarikh al-Umma wa'l-Muluk, ii, 135; Ibn Kathir,

al-Bidaya wa 'l-Nihaya, x, 369.

234 Bukhari, Salat, 109; Manaqib al-Ansar, 45; Muslim, Jihad, 107 no: 1794; Musnad, i, 417.

180

The Third: On their denying him, God's Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) prayed that a large Arab tribe called the Mudariyya would be
afflicted with drought and famine. All rain ceased and drought and famine occurred.
Then the Quraysh, a branch of the Mudariyya, pleaded with the Noble Messenger
(UWBP), and he prayed. Whereupon the rains came and put an end to the drought. 235
The incident was well-known enough to be reported unanimously.

Fifth Example: The fact that the Messenger's (UWBP) maledictions
against particular persons were accepted and realized in a dreadful way is illustrated
by numerous instances. We shall recount three of these by way of example.

The First: He uttered the following curse against 'Utba b. Abi Lahab: "O God,
beset a dog on him from among your dogs!" Some time later 'Utba went on a journey
during which a lion sought him out from among the caravan, and tore him to
pieces. 236 This incident was famous and is narrated as authentic by the authorities on
Hadith.

The Second: This is Muhallim b. Jaththama: he unjustly killed 'Amir b. Adbat,
whom God's Messenger (UWBP) had sent him as the commander of a force to fight
in God's way. When the news of this reached the Messenger (UWBP), he was angry
and cursed Muhallim, saying: "O God, do not grant forgiveness to Muhallim!"
Muhallim died a week later. They put him in his grave, but the grave cast him out.
They buried him in several different places, but each time the grave rejected him.
Finally they built a strong wall between two rocks, and in this way the corpse was
housed. 237

The Third: Once God's Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
saw a man eating with his left hand. He ordered him to eat with his right hand. The
man replied: "I can't." The Messenger (UWBP) said as a malediction: "Henceforth
you will be unable to raise it." And after that he was unable to use it.

Sixth Example: Here, out of the numerous wonders resulting from
prayers of the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace), and from his
touch, we shall mention several incidents which are certain.

235 Bukhari, Tafsir, 30; 28:3; 44:3-4; Da'wat, 58; Istisqa, 13; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 328; 'Ali al-Qari,
Sharh al-Shifa', i, 663; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, ii, 324.

236 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 329; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 664.

237 Ibn Maja, Fitan, 1, no: 3930; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 329; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 665; al-
Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 142; Ibn Hisham, Sirat al-Nabi, iv, 247; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-
Nihaya, iv, 224-6.

238 Muslim, Ashriba, 107, no: 2021; Ibn Hibban, Sahih, viii, 152; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 328-9; 'Ali al-
Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 666.

181

The First: God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) gave Khalid
b. al-Walid, known as God's Sword, several of his hairs and prayed for his victory in
battle. Khalid put them in his cap. As the result of the hairs and the blessings of the
prayer, there was never a battle in which he then fought but he was victorious. 239

The Second: Salman al-Farsi had formerly been a slave of the Jews. His masters
had asked for a very high ransom, saying: "To gain your freedom, you must plant
three hundred date-palms, and after they bear fruit, give us forty okkas 240 of gold in
addition to the fruit." He went to the Noble Messenger (UWBP) and explained his
situation. God's Messenger (UWBP) then planted the three hundred palms in the
region of Medina; only one of them was planted by someone else. That year, all three
hundred trees bore fruit, with the exception of the one planted by the other person.
The Messenger (UWBP) uprooted it and planted another, and it too bore fruit. He
then rubbed some of his spittle on a piece of gold the size of a hen' s egg, and offered
a prayer. He gave it to Salman, telling him to go and give it to the Jews. Salman al-
Farsi went and gave them forty okkas of gold out of that piece, while it remained in its
original state. This miraculous incident, which was narrated by the most
trustworthy and respected authorities, was the most significant event in Salman's
entire life.

The Third: A woman Companion called Umm Malik used to give the Noble
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) butter from a leathern bag called an
'ukka, as a gift. On one occasion God's Messenger (UWBP) uttered a prayer over it
while returning it to her, and told her not to empty it and squeeze it. Umm Malik took
the 'ukka, and thereafter as a result of the blessing of the Prophet's (UWBP) prayer,
butter was found in it whenever her children asked for it. This continued for a long
time, until they squeezed it, and the blessing disappeared. 242

Seventh Example: There were also many examples of water becoming
sweet and emitting a pleasant smell as a result of the Prophet's (UWBP) prayer and
his touching it; we shall mention several by way of example:

The First: Scholars of Hadith, and foremost Imam Bayhaqi, report that the well
known as Bi'r al-Quba would sometimes dry up. On God's Mes

139 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' ', i, 331; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, ix, 349; al-'Asqalani, al-Matalib al-
'Aliya, iv, 90, no: 4044; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iii, 289.

240 1 okka was the equivalent of 1,282 gr. or 2.8 lbs. (Tr.)

241 Musnad, v, 441-2; Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqat al-Kubra, iv, 53-7; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, ix,
332-6; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', 332; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, ii, 16.

242 Muslim, Fada'il, 8, no: 2280; Musnad, iii, 340, 347; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 332.

182

senger (UWBP) pouring the water with which he had taken ablutions into the well

24. ^

and offering a prayer, its water became abundant and it never again dried up.

The Second: Scholars of Hadith, including Abu Nu'aym in his Dala'il al-
Nubuwwa (Evidences of Prophethood), report that when God's Messenger (UWBP)
spat into the well in Anas' house and prayed, it became the sweetest water in
Medina. 244

The Third: Ibn Maja reports that a bucketful of water from the spring of
Zamzam was brought to the Messenger (UWBP). He took a little of it into his mouth

945

then emptied it into the bucket. The bucket then emitted a sweet scent like musk.

The Fourth: Imam Ahmad b. Hanbal reports that a bucketful of water was drawn
from a well. After God's Messenger (UWBP) had put some of his spittle in the bucket
and poured it into the well, it began to emit a sweet scent like musk. 246

The Fifth: Hammad b. Salama, who was a man of God and was trusted and
accepted by Imam Muslim and the scholars of the Maghrib, reports that the Noble
Messenger (UWBP) filled a leather bag with water, and breathed into it while
praying. He then tied it up and gave it to some of the Companions, saying: "Don't
open it except when you perform the ablutions!" When they opened the bag to take

947

ablutions, they saw pure milk with cream at its opening.

Thus, these five instances have been narrated by well-known and important
authorities. Together with those that are not mentioned here, they prove the
occurrence of this kind of miracle as definitely as those about the various reports
concerning which there is consensus in meaning.

Eighth Example: There were numerous instances of barren and dry goats
producing milk, and abundantly at that, through the touch and prayers of God's Noble
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace). We shall mention only two or three
which are well-known and certain, as examples:

The First: All the reliable books of the Prophet's (UWBP) biography relate that
when God's Messenger (UWBP) and Abu Bakr the Veracious

243 Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, vi, 136; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 331; al-Khafaji, Shark al-Shifa', iii,
149.

244 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 331; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 668.

245 Ibn Maja, Tahara, 136, no: 659; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 332; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 669.

246 al-Sa'ati, al-Fath al-Rabbani, xxii, 667.

247 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' , i, 334; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 160.

183

were migrating to Medina, they came to the house of Umm Ma'bad, called Atika Bint
Khalid al-Khuza'i. There was an extremely thin, barren, and dry goat there. God's
Messenger (UWBP) asked Umm Ma'bad: "Has this no milk?" She replied: "It has no
blood in its body, how should it produce milk?" The Messenger (UWBP) stroked its
loins and teets, and prayed. Then he said: "Bring a vessel, and milk it." They milked
it, and after the Messenger (UWBP) and Abu Bakr had drunk, all the people of the

948

house drank to repletion. The goat grew strong, and remained thus blessed.

The Second: This is the famous story of Shat b. Mas'ud: before becoming a
Muslim, Ibn Mas'ud used to act as a shepherd for a number of people. God's
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) went together with Abu Bakr the
Veracious to the place where Ibn Mas'ud and his goats were. God's Messenger
(UWBP) asked Ibn Mas'ud for some milk. On replying that they were not his but
someone else's, the Messenger (UWBP) told him to bring him a barren, dry goat. So
he brought a nanny-goat that had not been mated for two years. God's Messenger
(UWBP) stroked its teets with his hand and prayed. Then they milked it, and obtained
sweet milk which they drank. Ibn Mas'ud came to believe after witnessing this
miracle. 249

The Third: This is the well-known story of Halima Sa'diya, the foster mother,
that is, wet-nurse, of the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace).
There was drought where the tribe was found, and all the animals were thin and
without milk. They could not find sufficient to eat. But when the Messenger (UWBP)
was sent to his foster mother there, through the blessing he brought, Halima Sa'diya' s
goats would return in the evening with both their stomachs and their teets full,
contrary to everyone else's.

There are further instances in the books of biography similar to these, but these

950

examples are sufficient for our purpose.

Ninth Example: We shall recount here a few out of many instances of
wonders which were manifested after God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings
and peace) had touched the faces and heads of certain people, and prayed.

248 Tabrizi, Mishkat al-Masabih (Tahqiq: al-Albani), no: 5943: al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, vi,
58; viii, 313; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, ii, 109; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, iii, 190-1; Ibn al-
Qayyim, Zad al-Ma'ad, iii, 55, 57; Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqat al-Kubra, i, 230-1.

249 Musnad (Tahqiq: Ahmad Shakir), v, 210 no: 3598; Ibn Hibban, Sahih, viii, 149; Ibn Kathir, al-
Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, vi, 102.

250 al-Sa'ati, al-Fath al-Rabbani, xx, 192-3; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, viii, 220-1; Abu
Nu'aym, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, i, 1 1 1-3; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, ii, 273; Qadi Iyad, al-
Shifa', i, 366; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 750; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 313.

184

The First: He passed his hand over the head of 'Umar b. Sa'd, and prayed. When
the man died at the age of eighty, through the blessing of that prayer, there was not a
single grey hair on his head. 251

The Second: He placed his hand on Qays b. Zayd's head, and prayed. Through
the blessing of the prayer and effect of his touch, when Qays reached a hundred years
of age, his head was white except for where God's Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) had placed his hand; that had remained totally black.

The Third: 'Abd al-Rahman b. Zayd b. al-Khattab was both small and ugly.
God's Messenger (UWBP) touched his head with his hand and prayed. Through the
blessing of his prayer, 'Abdurrahman acquired the loftiest stature and most beautiful
form. 253

The Fourth: 'A'idh b. 'Amr received a wound on the face during the Battle of
Hunayn. God' s Messenger (UWBP) wiped away the blood on his face with his hand.
The part of his face that the Messenger (UWBP) had touched acquired a shining
brilliance, which the scholars of Hadith described as resembling a white blaze on a
chestnut horse.

The Fifth: He passed his hand over Qatada b. Malhan's face and prayed, and
Qatada' s face began to shine like a mirror.

The Sixth: When Zaynab, the daughter of the Mother of Believers Umm Salama
and the stepdaughter of God's Messenger (UWBP) was a child, he sprinkled some of
his ablution water on her face. With the touch of the water, her face acquired an
extraordinary beauty. 256

There are numerous further examples similar to these, most of which have been
narrated by the leading scholars of Hadith. Even if we suppose each of these instances
to be a single report and weak, as a whole they still demonstrate an absolute miracle
of Muhammad (UWBP) that has the certainty of 'consensus in meaning.' For if an
event is narrated in numerous different forms, the occurrence of the basic event
becomes definite. Even if each is weak, it still proves the basic event.

For example, a noise was heard; some people said that a house had col

" Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa',

252 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa',

253 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa',

254 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa',
487.

255 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa',
319.

256 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa',
ix, 259.

334
334
335
334

'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 673.

'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 674.

'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 676-7.

al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, ix, 412; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iii,

334; al-'Asqalani, al-Isaba, iii, 225; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, v,
334; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 163; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id,

185

lapsed. Others said it was a different house, and so on. Each narration may be a single
report, and weak, and untrue, but the basic event was that a house had collapsed; that
was certain and they were unanimous concerning it. However, the six instances we
enumerated above were both authentic, and some of them became famous. Suppose
we consider each of them to be weak, all together they demonstrate the certain
occurrence of an absolute miracle of Muhammad (UWBP), like the absolute collapse
of the house in the comparison.

Thus, God's Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) performed
definite, evident miracles from every category. The instances of them are the forms or
examples of those universal and absolute miracles. Just as the Messenger's (UWBP)
hand, fingers, spittle, breath, and speech, that is, his prayer, were the means of
numerous miracles, so too, his other subtle faculties and emotions and senses were the
means of many wonders. The books of biography and history have described them
and demonstrated that in his conduct, physical being, and senses were many
evidences of his prophethood.

FIFTEENTH SIGN

Just as rocks, trees, the moon and the sun recognized God's Noble Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace) and affirmed his prophethood by each
demonstrating a miracle, so too, animals, the dead, the jinn, and the angels recognized
that blessed person and affirmed his prophethood. For by each of those species of
beings displaying a number of miracles, they demonstrated that they recognized him
and they proclaimed their affirmation of his prophethood. This Fifteenth Sign
contains three branches.

First Branch

The animal realm recognized God's Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings
and peace) and displayed his miracles. There are numerous examples of this Branch.
Here as examples, we shall mention only those which are well-known and definite to
the degree of 'consensus in meaning,' or have been accepted by authoritative
scholars, or have been deemed acceptable by the Muslim community.

The First Incident: This is well-known to the degree of 'consensus in meaning,'
and concerns the two pigeons coming and waiting at the entrance to the cave of Hira,
where God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) and Abu Bakr the
Veracious hid from the pursuing unbelievers, and the spider veiling the entrance with
a thick web, like a curtain holder. Ubayy b. Khalaf, one of the leaders of the Quraysh
whom

186

God's Messenger (UWBP) killed with his own hand at the Battle of Badr, 257 looked at
the cave. When his companions suggested that they enter, he replied: "Why should
we? I see a large spider's web which appears to have been there since before
Muhammad was born. And look, those two pigeons are there. Would they perch there
if there was someone in the cave?" 258

In an instance similar to this, a blessed pigeon cast a shadow over the head of
God's Messenger (UWBP) during the conquest of Mecca, which was related by Imam
Jalil b. Wahab. 259

Also according to a sound narration, 'A'isha al-Siddiqa relates: "We had a bird in
our house called a da\jin, similar to a pigeon. When God's Messenger (Upon whom
be blessings and peace) was present it would stay quiet, but as soon as he left the
house, it would start hopping to and fro without stopping." 260 Thus, the bird was
obedient to the Messenger (UWBP), remaining quiet in his presence.

The Second Incident: This is the extraordinary story of the wolf, which has been
narrated through a number of chains of transmission from some well-known
Companions and about which there is 'consensus in meaning.' In short, Abu Sa'id al-
Khudri, Salama b. al-Akwa', Ibn Abi Wahab, and Abu Hurayra, and Uhban, a
shepherd who was involved in another event, relate through numerous chains of
transmission: "A wolf seized a goat and the shepherd saved it from the wolf. The wolf
exclaimed: 'Don't you fear God? You have deprived me of my sustenance!' The
shepherd muttered to himself: 'How strange! Can wolves speak?' The wolf said to
him: 'You're the strange one, for beyond the hill someone is calling you to Paradise.
He is a Messenger of God, yet you do not recognize him!'" Although all the lines of
transmission agree on the wolf's speech, in his report, which has a strong line, Abu
Hurayra says: "The shepherd said to the wolf: T am going to see him, but who will
look after my goats?' The wolf replied: 'I'll look after them.' So the shepherd handed
over the herd to the wolf and went to see the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace), believed in him, and returned to his herd. The shepherd found
the wolf; not a goat had

251 Musnad, iii, 219-20.

258 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 313; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 368; Musnad, i, 248; San'ani, al-
Musannaf, v, 389; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, iii, 179-81; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id,
vii, 27; Ibn al-Qayyim, Zad al-Ma'ad (Tahqiq: Arnavudi), iii, 52; al-Tabrizi, Mishkat al-Masabih, no:
5934; Maruzi, Musnad Abu Baler al-Siddiq, no: 73; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, vi, 52-3.

259 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' , i, 313; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 637.

260 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' , i, 309; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 632; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 79;
al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, ix, 403.

187

been lost. So he slaughtered one for the wolf, for it had become his teacher." 261

According to one chain of transmission, one of the chiefs of Quraysh, Abu
Sufyan, and Safwan saw a wolf pursuing a gazelle into the enclosure of the Ka'ba. As
it returned, the wolf spoke, telling of the messengership of Muhammad (UWBP).
They were astonished. Abu Sufyan said to Safwan: 'Don't let's tell anyone about this;
I'm frightened everyone will join him and Mecca will be emptied.' 262

In Short: The story of the wolf gives one complete conviction, and is as certain
as those unanimous reports about which there is 'consensus in meaning.'

The Third Incident: This is the narrative of the camel, which was unanimously
related through some five or six chains of transmission by such famous Companions
as Abu Hurayra, Tha'laba b. Malik, Jabir b. 'Abdullah, 'Abdullah b. Ja'far, and
'Abdullah b. Abi Awfa, who are at the start of the chains. A camel approached God's
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace), prostrated itself before him as if
saluting him, and spoke. According to a number of lines of transmission, the camel
had been angered in a garden and become wild, attacking anyone who approached it.
When God's Messenger (UWBP) appeared, it came to him, prostrated as a sign of
respect, and knelt down. He put a bridle on it, and the camel said to him: "They made
me do the heaviest work and now they want to slaughter me. That's why I went wild."
The Messenger (UWBP) asked its owner if this was true. "Yes," he replied. 263

Also, God's Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) had a camel
called 'Adba'. After he died, out of its grief, the camel neither ate nor drank, till it
died. 264 A number of important authorities including Abu Ishaq Isfara'ini related that
it spoke with the Messenger (UWBP) about a certain story. 265 In another instance, in
an authentic narration, Jabir b. 'Abdullah's camel became exhausted on a journey and
could no longer continue. God's Messenger (UWBP) gave it a slight prod. Such joy
and

261 Musnad, iii, 83, 88; Musnad (Tahqiq: Ahmad Shakir), xv, 202-3, nos: 8049, 11864, 11867; Qadi
Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 310; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iv, 467; Ibn Hibban, Sahih, viii, 144; al-Haythami,
Majma' al-Zawa'id, viii, 291-2.

262 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 311; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 84.

263 Darimi, Muqaddima, 4; Musnad, iv, 173; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, ix, 4; al-Sa'ati, al-Fath
al-Rabbani, xxii, 50-1; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 87; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, vi, 135;
al-Albani, Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Sahiha, 485; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, ii, 99, 100, 618.

264 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 313.

265 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 637.

188

nimbleness did the camel receive from that prod of the Prophet (UWBP) that due to
its speed it could not be caught up with, nor could its reins be seized. 266

The Fourth Incident: The authorities on Hadith and foremost Bukhari report
that it was rumoured one night that the enemy was attacking outside Medina. Brave
horsemen went out to investigate. On the way they saw someone coming. They
looked and saw that it was the Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace). He
told them there was nothing. He had mounted Abu Talha's famous horse, as his
sacred courage impelled him to, and had gone before everyone else to investigate,
then returned. He told Abu Talha: "Your horse is extremely swift and unfaltering."
Whereas previously it had been extremely slow. After that night, there was no horse
to compete with it. 267 On another occasion, as related in an authentic narration, while
on a journey at the time for prayer, the Noble Messenger (UWBP) told his horse to
stop. It stopped, and until he had finished praying the horse did not make the slightest

268

movement.

The Fifth Incident: Safina, the servant of the Noble Prophet (Upon whom be
blessings and peace), was commanded by him to go to the Governor of Yemen,
Mu'adh b. Jabal. He set off and on the way encountered a lion. Safina said to it: "I am
the servant of God's Messenger!" Upon which the lion made a sound as if saying
something, and left without molesting him. According to another narration, Safina
lost his way when returning, and met with a lion. Not only did the lion not molest
him, it showed him the way. 269

Also, it is narrated from 'Umar that he said: "A beduin came to the Noble
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace). He was holding a lizard. He said:
'If this reptile testifies to you, I shall believe in you; otherwise I will not.' God's
Messenger (UWBP) asked the lizard, and it testified to his messengership most
eloquently." 270

Also, the Mother of Believers, Umm Salama relates: "A gazelle spoke

266 Muslim, Mithaqat, 109, no: 715; al-Khafaji, Shark al-Shifa', iii, 145.

267 Bukhari, Jihad, 46, 82; Adab, 39; Muslim, Fada'il, 48, no: 2307; Ibn Maja, Jihad, 9; Abu Da'ud,
Adab, 87, no: 4988; Tirmidhi, Fada'il al-Jihad, nos: 1685-7.

268 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 315; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 95.

269 Tabrizi, Mishkat al-Masabih, iii, 199, no: 5949; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iii, 606; al-'Asqalani, al-
Matalib al-'Aliya, iv, 125 no: 4127; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, ix, 366-7; Abu Nu'aym, Hilyat
al-Awliya, i, 368-9; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, vi, 147.

270 al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, viii, 293-4; al-Hindi, Kanz al-'Ummal, xii, 358; Ibn Kathir, al-
Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, vi, 149-60; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 632; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii,
79.

189

with the Noble Messenger (UWBP), and testified to his messengership." 271

Thus, there are numerous examples similar to these. We have described a few
that are famous and certain. To those who do not recognize and obey the Noble
Messenger (UWBP), we say this: O man! Take a lesson from these! The lion and the
wolf recognized and obeyed him; you, then, should try not to fall lower than an
animal!

Second Branch

This concerns corpses, jinns, and angels recognizing God's Noble Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace). There were very many instances of this. We
shall describe a few examples which are famous and have been related by reliable
scholars, firstly about corpses. As for jinns and angels, the many reports concerning
them are unanimous, and examples of them number not one but a thousand. And so,
examples of the dead speaking:

The First is this: Hasan al-Basri, an important and loyal student of Imam 'Ali
and the greatest authority among the scholars of the external and esoteric sciences in
the time of the generation subsequent to the Companions, related: "A man came
weeping to God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace). He said: T had a
little girl; she drowned in such-and-such stream nearby. I left her there.' He pitied the
man and said they would go there together. They went, and the Messenger (UWBP)
called to the dead girl, saying her name. At once the dead girl replied: T am present
and answer your call gladly.' He asked her: 'Do you want to return to your father and

979

mother?' She replied: 'No, I have found something better here!'"

The Second: Important authorities like Imam Bayhaqi and Imam b. 'Adiyy relate
from Anas b. Malik: Anas said: "An elderly woman had a single son who suddenly
died. The righteous woman was very grieved and prayed: 'O God, I left my home and
migrated here only to obtain Your pleasure and to pay allegiance to God's Noble
Messenger (UWBP) and to serve him. For the sake of Your Messenger, return my son
to me, who was the only person to look after me.'" Anas said: "The dead man rose up
and came and ate with us."

In the following lines from the celebrated poem Qasidat al-Burda, Imam Busiri
refers to this extraordinary event: "Were his wonders to corre

271 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' ', i, 314; al-Khafaji, Shark al-Shifa', iii, 91; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id,
viii, 295.

272 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' ', i, 320; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 106.

273 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' ', i, 320; Ibn Kathir, al-Biaaya wa'l-Nihaya, vi, 292.

190

spond to his virtue in greatness / Mere mention of his name would have animated
decayed bones."

The Third: Scholars like Imam Bayhaqi relate from 'Abdullah b. 'Ubaydullah
al-Ansari: 'Abdullah said: "I was present when Thabit b. Qays b. Shammas fell as a
martyr in the Battle of Yamama and was buried. As he was being put in his grave, a
voice suddenly came from him, saying: 'Muhammad is the Messenger of God, Abu
Bakr is the Veracious [Siddiq], 'Umar, the martyr, and 'Uthman, pious and
merciful.' 274 We uuncovered him and looked: he was dead and lifeless, yet he was
foretelling 'Umar's martyrdom even before he had succeeded to the Caliphate.

The Fourth: Imam Tabarani, and Abu Nu'aym in his Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, relate
from Nu'man b. Bashir: "Zayd b. Kharija suddenly dropped down dead in the
marketplace. We took his body to his house. That evening between sunset and the
night prayer, while the women were weeping all around him, he exclaimed: 'Silence!
Silence!' Then, saying: 'Muhammad is God's Messenger! Peace be upon you, O
Messenger of God!', he spoke most eloquently for a while. We looked: he was dead,
without life." 275

Thus, if lifeless corpses affirm his prophethood and the living do not, for sure
they are more dead than the dead and more lifeless than corpses!

As regards angels appearing and serving God's Messenger (UWBP), and jinns
believing in him and obeying him, these facts have been reported numerously and
unanimously. They have been stated explicitly in many verses of the Qur'an. 276 At the

977

Battle of Badr, according to the Qur'an, five thousand angels served him as soldiers
in the front line, like the Companions. Indeed, those angels acquired distinction

978

among the angels, like the men who fought in the battle. There are two aspects to
be considered in this matter:

The First is the fact that the existence of the different sorts of jinn and angels is
as definite as that of the varieties and species of animals and human beings, and that
they have relations with us. We have proved this decisively in the Twenty-Ninth
Word as certainly as two plus two equals four, and we refer their proof to that Word.

274 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 320; A Ale al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 649; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-
Nihaya, vi, 157-8.

275 Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, viii, 291 (through various lines); al-Haythami, Majma' al-
Zawa'id, v, 179-80 (through two lines of transmission).
• 76 See, Qur'an, 3:123-5; 72:1-2; 46:29.

277 See, Qur'an, 3:123-5.

278 Bukhari, Maghazi, 11.

191

The Second Aspect is members of God's Messenger's (UWBP) community
seeing them and speaking with them, as a miracle of his.

Thus, the leading scholars of Hadith, and foremost Bukhari and Muslim,
unanimously relate: "One time, an angel, that is, Gabriel, appeared in the form of a
man dressed in white. He approached God's Messenger (UWBP), who was sitting
among his Companions, and asked: 'What is Islam? What is belief? And what is
goodness? Explain them.' The Messenger (UWBP) explained them, and the
Companions gathered there both received valuable instruction, and saw the person
clearly. Although he seemed like a traveller, he displayed no sign of a journey. He
suddenly rose and disappeared. God's Messenger (UWBP) then said: 'Gabriel did that
in order to teach you!'" 279

Also, the authorities on Hadith relate through certain and authentic narrations
about which there is 'consensus in meaning:' "The Companions saw Gabriel with
God's Messenger (UWBP) many times in the form of Dihya, who was very
handsome." For instance, 'Umar, Ibn 'Abbas, Usama b. Zayd, Harith, 'A'isha al-
Siddiqa, and Umm Salama established and related certainly: "We frequently saw
Gabriel with the God' s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) in the form

98D

of Dihya." Is it at all possible that such people would say that they had seen him if
they had not?

Also, the conqueror of Persia, Sa'd b. Abi Waqqas, who was one of the ten
promised Paradise, relates in an authentic narration: "At the Battle of Uhud we saw
two white-dressed persons either side of God's Messenger (UWBP), guarding him
like sentries. We understood that they were the angels, Gabriel and Michael." 281 Is it
possible that if such a hero of Islam says he saw them, he had not seen them?

Also, Abu Sufyan b. Harith b. 'Abd al-Muttalib, the Prophet's (UWBP) cousin,
relates in an authentic narration: "At the Battle of Badr, we saw horsemen dressed in

98?

white between the sky and the earth."

Also, Hamza pleaded with the Noble Messenger (UWBP) to see Gabriel. So he
showed him to Hamza in the Ka'ba, but he could not endure it and fell to the ground

283

unconscious.

179 Bukhari, Iman, 37; Muslim, Iman, 1-7.

280 Bukhari, Fada'il al-Ashab, 30; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, ix, 276-7; Ahmad b. Hanbal,
Fada'il al-Sahaba (Tahqiq: Wasiyyullah), nos: 1817, 1853, 1918; Musnad, i, 212; al-'Asqalani, al-
Isaba, i, 598.

281 Bukhari, Maghazi, 18; Libas, 24; Muslim, Fada'il, 46-7, no: 2306; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 361.

282 Musnad, i, 147, 353; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 362; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 281; 'Ali al-Qari,
Sharh al-Shifa', i, 735.

283 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 362; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 282; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 736.

192

There were numerous occurrences like these of angels being seen. They all
demonstrated one sort of the miracles of Muhammad (UWBP), and show that the
angels too were like moths drawn to the lamp of his prophethood.

When it comes to jinns, it was not only the Companions, it frequently happens
that ordinary members of the Muslim community meet with them and see them. But
the most certain and authentic reports are given us by the leading scholars of Hadith,
who say: Ibn Mas'ud related: "I saw the jinn on the night they accepted Islam at Batn
al-Nakhl. I likened them to the Zut, a tall-statured Sudanese tribe; they resembled
them." 284

There was also the incident concerning Khalid b. al-Walid, which is famous and
has been authenticated and accepted by the leading scholars of Hadith: when the idol
called 'Uzza was destroyed, a jinn came out of it in the form of a black woman.
Khalid cut it into two with his sword. The Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) said in connection with this: "They used to worship it inside the

IOC

idol 'Uzza; it can no longer be worshipped."

Also, is a narration from 'Umar: he said: "While we were with God's Messenger
(UWBP), a jinn called Hama came in the form of an old man carrying a staff; he
accepted Islam. The Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
instructed him in some of the short Suras of the Qur' an, which he listened to and then
departed." Some scholars of Hadith have questioned this last incident, but the most
important of them declared it to be authentic. In any event, it is unnecessary to
describe this sort at length, for the examples of it are many. We would only add this :

Through the light of God's Noble Messenger (UWBP), through his training and
through following him, thousands of spiritual poles and purified scholars like Shaikh
'Abd al-Qadir Gilani have met and spoken with angels and jinn. This fact has reached
the degree of consensus a hundred times over through innumerable instances. Yes,
members of Muhammad's (UWBP) community being in contact with angels and jinn,
and speaking with them, occurs through the miraculous guidance and instruction of
the Noble Messenger (UWBP).

284 Musnad (Tahqiq: Ahmad Shakir), vi, 165, no: 4353; Suyuti, al-Khasa'is al-Kubra, i, 343; ii, 361.

285 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' ', i, 362; al-Khafaji, Shark al-Shifa', iii, 287; 'AH al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 738;
Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, iv, 316; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa 'id, vi, 176.

286 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 363; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 287; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, v,
416-8.

287 Ibn Taymiyya, al-Tawassul wa'l-Wasila, 24; Ibn Taymiyya, Majmu' al-Fatawa, xi, 307.

193

Third Branch

The protection and preservation of God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings
and peace) was a clear miracle, and many instances of it are indicated by the clear
truth of the verse, "And God will defend you from men. "(5:67) For sure, when God's
Messenger (UWBP) appeared, he was not only challenging one group, or one people,
or a few rulers, or one religion; he was rather challenging single-handed all kings and
the people of all religions. And yet until he died in perfect ease and happiness and
rose to the heavenly court, for twenty-three years he was without guard or protector
and was exposed to numerous plots, with his own uncle his greatest enemy and his
own tribe and people hostile to him. This shows what a powerful truth the above-
mentioned verse expresses and what a firm point of support it was. We shall mention
as examples only a few events classed as definite.

First Event: Scholars of Hadith and the Prophet's (UWBP) biography report
unanimously that the Quraysh had made a certain agreement to kill God's Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace). Upon the suggestion of a demon in human
form, so as to prevent discord within the Quraysh, at least one member of every
branch of the tribe formed a group of nearly two hundred men under the leadership of
Abu Jahl and Abu Lahab, and they staged a surprise attack on the Messenger's
(UWBP) house. 'Ali was together with him. He had told him to sleep that night in his
bed. The Messenger (UWBP) waited till the Quraysh came and completely
surrounded the house, then he went out and threw a handful of earth at their heads,
and not one of them saw him. He passed through them and disappeared. 288 When he
reached the cave of Hira, two pigeons and a spider became his guards, and protected
him against all the Quraysh. 289

The Second Event: It certainly occurred that when they emerged from the cave
and set off towards Medina, they were followed by a very brave man called Suraqa,
who, for a large reward, had been sent by the leaders of the Quraysh to kill them.
God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) and Abu Bakr the Veracious
had seen Suraqa coming when they came out of the cave. Abu Bakr had been anxious,
but God's Messenger (UWBP) said: "Do not be anxious, God is with us!"(9:40), as he
had in the

288 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 349; Musnad (Tahqiq: Ahmad Shakir), iv, 269, no: 2009; al-Haythami,
Majma' al-Zawa'id, ii, 228.

:89 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 313; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 368; Musnad, i, 248; San'ani, al-
Musannaf, v, 389; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, iii, 179-81; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id,
vii, 27; Ibn al-Qayyim, Zad al-Ma'ad (Tahqiq: Arnavu\de), iii, 52; al-Tabrizi, Mishkat al-Masabih, no:
5934; Maruzi, Musnad Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, no: 73; Zayla'i, Nasb al-Ra'ya, i, 123; al-Haythami,
Majma' al-Zawa'id, vi, 52-3.

194

cave. Abu Bakr looked at Suraqa: his horse's hooves were stuck in the sand. He was
freed and started following them again. Then again the horse became transfixed, and
something like smoke was rising from where its hooves were stuck. At that point he
understood that it was beyond his power and anyone else's power to harm God's
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace). He cried for mercy. The Messenger
(UWBP) freed him, but said: "Go back, but make sure no one else comes after us." 290

In connection with this incident, we should also mention that a shepherd spotted
them and immediately set off for Mecca to inform the Quraysh. But on arriving at the
city, he forgot why he had come. No matter how much he tried, he could not
remember. He was obliged to return. Then later he understood that he had been made
to forget it. 291

The Third Event: The leading scholars of Hadith relate through many chains of
transmission that at the Battle of Ghatafan and Anmar, a bold tribal chief called
Ghurath got close to the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
without anyone seeing him, his sword ready in his hand. He said to God's Messenger
(UWBP): "Who will save you from me?" God's Messenger (UWBP) replied: "God!"
Then he prayed: "O God, save me from him, if You thus will!" Suddenly, Ghurath
received a blow from the Unseen between the shoulders and his sword fell to the
ground. The Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) picked up the
sword and said: "Now who will save you from me?" Then he forgave him. The man
returned to his tribe. Everyone was astonished at the bold, valiant fighter, and asked
him what had happened to him and why he had done nothing. He replied to them:
"That's the way it happened. I have come now from the best of men." 292

In an incident similar to this at the Battle of Badr, a dissembler approached the
Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) from behind when no one was
aware of it. Just as he was raising his sword to strike, God's Messenger (UWBP)
turned and looked at him; the man trembled and his sword slipped to the ground. 29

The Fourth Event: This is well-known almost to the degree of 'consensus in
meaning,' and is given by most Qur'anic commentators as the immediate reason for
the revelation of the verse, "Indeed We have put yokes

290 Bukhari, Manaqib, 25; Muslim, Zuhd, 75; Ibn Hibban, Sahih 65; 9: 11.

291 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' ', i, 351; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 715.

292 Bukhari, Jihad, 84, 87; Maghazi, 31-2; Muslim, Salat al-Musafirin, 311, no: 843; Qadi Iyad, al-
Shifa', i, 347-8; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, ix, 7-8; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iii, 29-30.

293 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 347; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 710.

195

round their necks right up their chins, so that their heads are forced up [and they
cannot see]. And We have put a bar in front of them and a bar behind them, and
further, We have covered them up, so that they cannot see."(36:8-9) It is also related
by the most learned commentators and scholars of Hadith. They relate that Abu Jahl
took an oath, saying: "I shall strike Muhammad with a stone if I see him prostrating."
He took a large stone and went to find God's Messenger (UWBP). He lifted his hands
to cast the stone when he saw him prostrating, and they remained raised. God's
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) stood up on completing the prayers,
and Abu Jahl's hand was released. He could move it either because the Messenger
(UWBP) permitted, or because there was no longer any need for it to remain thus. 294

In a similar incident, a man from the same tribe as Abu Jahl, al-Walid b. Mughira
according to one narration, went to the Ka'ba with a large stone in his hand, to strike
the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) while he was prostrating,
but the man' s eyes were sealed and he could not see the Messenger (UWBP) entering,
nor was he able to see the people who had sent him; he could only hear their voices.
When God's Messenger (UWBP) finished praying, his eyes were opened, for no need
remained for them to be sealed. 295

Also, it is related through an authentic narration from Abu Bakr the Veracious
that after the Sura about Abu Lahab 296 had been revealed, his wife, "Hammalat al-
Hatab" (the wood carrier) Umm Jamil, came to the Ka'ba with a stone in her hand.
She saw Abu Bakr, who was sitting beside the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace), and asked him, "Where's your friend? I hear that he mocked
me. If I see him, I will hit him in the mouth with this rock." She could not see God's
Messenger (UWBP), although he was sitting beside him. Of course, a wood-carrier
of Hell like that could not enter the presence of "the Sultan of Lawlak," 298 who was
under divine protection, and see him. How could she?

The Fifth Event: It is related through a sound narration that 'Amir b. Tufayl and
Arbadb. Qays conspired to assassinate God's Noble Messenger

294 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' ', i, 351; al-Khafaji, Shark al-Shifa', iii, 241; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa' id,
viii, 227; Muslim, No: 2797; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, iii, 42-3.

295 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' , i, 351; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 242.

296 Sura 111, al-Masad.

197 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' , i, 349; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 233; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa' id,
i, 353; Ibn Hibban, Sahih, viii, 152; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, ii, 361.

98 This refers to the Hadith Qudsi: "But for thee, but for thee, I would not have created the spheres."
(Tr.)

196

(Upon whom be blessings and peace). 'Amir said: "I'll keep him busy, and you strike
him." They went, but Arbad did not do anything. Amir asked him later why he did not
strike him. Arbad answered: "How could I? Every time I intended to hit him, I saw
you between us. How could I have struck you?" 299

The Sixth Event: It is related through an authentic narration that at the battle
either of Uhud or Hunayn, Shayba b. 'Uthman al-Hajabayya, whose uncle and father
Hamza had killed, crept up stealthily on the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) in order to avenge them. On his raising his drawn sword, it
suddenly slipped from his hand. God's Messenger (UWBP) turned and looked at him,
putting his hand on his chest. Shayba later said: "At that moment there was no one in
the world I loved more." He believed in him. The Messenger (UWBP) told him to go
and fight. Shayba said: "I went and fought in front of God's Messenger (UWBP). If I
had come across my own father at that time, I would have struck him!" 300

Also, on the day of the conquest of Mecca, a man called Fadala approached
God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) with the intention of striking
him. The Messenger (UWBP) looked at him, and said, smiling: "What have you told
yourself?", praying that he might be forgiven. Fadala became a believer, and said: "At
that moment there was no one in the world I loved more."

The Seventh Event: According to a sound narration, at the very moment some
Jews, with the intention of assassinating him, were going to drop down a large rock
on God's Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) while he was

t no

sitting, he rose through divine protection; so the plot came to nothing.

There were many events similar to these seven. The scholars of Hadith, and
foremost Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim, relate from 'A'isha that after the verse,
"And God will defend you from men"(5:67) was revealed, God's Messenger (UWBP)
told those who

299 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 353; al-Khafaji, Shark al-Shifa', iii, 249; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, v,
318

300 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 353; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 248; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id,
vi, 183-4; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 718; al-'Asqalani, al-Isaba, ii, 157.

301 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 352; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 248; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 718.

302 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 353; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 243; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 716;
Abu Nu'aym, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, ii, 489-90.

197

guarded him from time to time: "0 men, leave me, for God, the Great and Mighty,
protects me!"

Thus, from the beginning up to here, this treatise shows that every species of
being, every realm of creation in the universe, recognized the Noble Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace), and was connected with him. His miracles were
manifested in every one of them. This means that the person of Muhammad (UWBP)
was the official and Messenger of God Almighty, but in regard to His titles of Creator
of the Universe and Sustainer of all Creatures. For example, every office or
department of government knows and recognizes a high-ranking official, an inspector,
of the king, and whichever of them he enters, those in it show an interest in him, for
he acts in the name of the king of all of them. If he is only an inspector in the
judiciary, then only that department of government recognizes him; the other offices
do not. And if he is an inspector in the army, the civil service does not recognize him.
It is understood, then, that all the realms and spheres of divine rule, every species and
group from the angels to the flies and spiders, knew and recognized God's Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace), or had been informed about him. That is to say,
he was the Seal of the Prophets and the Messenger of the Sustainer of All the Worlds.
And his messengership was more comprehensive and all-embracing than those of the
preceding prophets.

SIXTEENTH SIGN

The wonders that took place before his prophetic mission, but which were related
to it, are called irhasat, and these too were indications and proofs of his prophethood.
They were of three kinds:

The First Kind

This kind of irhasat comprises the tidings of Muhammad's (UWBP) prophethood
given by the Torah, the Bible, the Psalms of David, and the scriptures revealed to
other prophets, as stated by the Qur'an. Indeed, since those Books are revealed
scriptures and those who brought them were prophets, it is necessary and certain that
they should have mentioned the one who would supersede their religions, change the
shape of the universe, and illuminate half the earth with the light he brought. Is it
possible that those scriptures, which foretold insignificant events, would not speak of
the most important phenomenon of humanity, the prophethood of Muhammad
(UWBP)? Yes, since they would certainly speak of it, they would either denounce it
as a falsehood and so save their religions from destruction and

303 Tirmidhi, v, 351, no: 3406; Tirmidhi (Tahqiq: Ahmad Shakir), no: 3049; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 352;
al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, ii, 313.

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their books from abrogation, or they would affirm it, and through that man of truth,
save their religions from superstition and corruption. Now, both friend and foe agree
that there is no sign of any such denouncement in the scriptures, in which case there
must be affirmation. And since there is certain affirmation, and since there is a
definite reason and fundamental cause for such affirmation, we too shall demonstrate
through three categorical proofs the existence of this affirmation:

First Proof: God's Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
says to them through the tongue of the Qur'an: "Your scriptures describe and confirm
me; they confirm me in the things I say." He challenges them with verses such as,

Say, "Bring the Torah and read it, if you are men of truth!" (3:93) * Say,
"Come, let us gather together, our sons and your sons, our women and your
women, ourselves and yourselves; then let us earnestly pray and invoke the
curse of God on those who lie!"(3:6l)

Despite his continuously taunting them with verses such as these, no Jewish scholar
or Christian priest was able to show that he had made any error. If they had been able
to, those very numerous and very obdurate and jealous unbelievers and dissembling
Jews and the whole world of unbelief would have proclaimed it everywhere. The
Messenger (UWBP) also said: "Either you find any error of mine, or I shall fight you
until I destroy you!" And they chose war and wretchedness. That means they could
not find any error. For if they had, they would have been saved from all that.

Second Proof: The words of the Torah, the Bible, and the Psalms do not
have the miraculousness of those of the Qur'an. They have also been translated again
and again, and a great many alien words have become intermingled with them. Also,
the words of commentators and their false interpretations have been confused with
their verses. In addition, the distortions of the ignorant and the hostile have been
incorporated into them. In these ways, the corruptions and alterations have multiplied
in those Books. In fact, Shaikh Rahmatullah al-Hindi, the well-known scholar, proved
to Jewish and Christian scholars and priests thousands of corruptions in them, and
silenced them. Nevertheless, despite these corruptions, in our times the celebrated
Husain Jisri (May God have mercy on him) found one hundred and fourteen allusions
to the prophethood of Muhammad (UWBP), and included them in his al-Risala al-
Hamidiya. This was translated into Turkish by the late Ismail Hakki of Manastir;
whoever wishes may refer to it. 304

304 Husain Jisri, Risdle-i Hamidiye (Turk, trans.), 52-94.

199

Also, many Jewish and Christian scholars acknowledged and admitted that the
attributes of Muhammad the Arabian (Upon whom be blessings and peace) were
written in their scriptures. 305 The famous Roman Emperor Heraclius, who was a non-
Muslim himself, said: "Jesus foretold Muhammad's coming." 306

Also, another Roman ruler called Muqawqis, the Governor of Egypt, 307 and
celebrated Jewish scholars and leaders such as Ibn Suriya, Zubayr b. Batiya, Ibn
Akhtab and his brother Ka'b b. Asad, although remaining non-Muslim, admitted: "He
is described in our Books." 308

Also, some of the well-known Jewish scholars and Christian priests gave up their
obduracy on seeing Muhammad's (UWBP) attributes as described in the above-
mentioned books, and believed in him. They then pointed out these references to other
Jewish and Christian scholars, and convinced them. Among them were the famous
'Abdullah b. Salam, Wahb b. Munabbih, Abu Yasir, the two sons of Sa'ya, Asid and
Tha'laba, and Shamul. The latter lived at the time of Tubba', the ruler of Yemen. 309
Shamul became a believer before Muhammad's prophetic mission and without ever
seeing him, just as Tubba' did. While the guest of the Bani Nadir before the prophetic
mission, a gnostic called Ibn al-Hayyaban, declared: "A prophet will soon appear, and
this is the place he will emigrate to." He died there. Later, when that tribe was at war
with God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace), Asid and Tha'laba came
forward and cried out to the tribe: "By God, he is the one Ibn al-Hayyaban promised
would come. Don't fight him!" 310 But they did not heed him, and paid the penalty.

Also, many Jewish scholars like Ibn Yasin, Mikhayriq, and Ka'b al-

305 Ibn Hisham, al-Sirat al-Nabawiyya, i, 217; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, ii, 744; Qadi Iyad, al-
Shifa', U363-5.

306 Ibn Sayyid al-Nas, 'Uyun al-Athar ii, 26; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' i, 364; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa',
745.

307 Suyuti, al-Khasa'is al-Kubra, ii, 139; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 366; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i,
744-5; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, iv, 80, 81, 272; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, iii, 362;
Waqidi, Kitab al-Maghazi, 403-4; Abu Nu'aym, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, i, 85.

308 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 366; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 744-5; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-
Nihaya, iv, 80-1; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, iii, 361-2; Waqidi, al-Maghazi 403-4; Ibn Jawzi, Sifat
al-Safwa, iii, 361-2; Abu Nu'aym, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, i, 79; ii, 492.

309 Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, i, 367; ii, 526; vi, 240-9; al-Hindi, Kanz al-'Ummal, xi, 401; xii,
390-408; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 364; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 739-43; al-Haythami, Majma' al-
Zawa'id, viii, 240.

310 Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, ii, 80-1; iv, 31; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 744-5; Yusuf
Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-'Alamin, 137; Abu Nu'aym, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, i, 82; Ibn al-Jawzi, Sifat
al-Safwa, i, 87.

200

Ahbar, became believers on seeing the prophetic attributes in their Books, and
silenced those who did not accept faith. 311

There was also the famous Christian scholar and monk, Bahira, 312 who was
mentioned above: God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) was twelve
years old when he went to Damascus with his uncle, and it was for his sake that
Bahira invited the Quraysh. For he had seen a cloud casting its shadow on the
travelling caravan. When it continued to do so, he realized that the one he was seeking
had remained with the caravan, and he sent someone to fetch him. He told Abu Talib:
"Return to Mecca! The Jews are exceedingly jealous and will resort to treachery, for
his attributes are described in the Torah." 313

Also, Nestor the Abyssinian, and the ruler of that country, the Negus, came to
believe on seeing Muhammad's attributes written in their Books. 314

Also, a well-known Christian scholar called Daghatr became a believer on seeing
the description of the Prophet (UWBP), and was martyred when he proclaimed this
among the Byzantines. 315

Also, from the Christian leaders, Harith b. Abi Shumar al-Ghasani and the
prominent rulers and religious leaders of Damascus such as Sahib al-Ilya, Heraclius,
Ibn Natur and al-Jarud, entered the fold of Islam after seeing the Prophet's (UWBP)
description in their Books. 316 Of them, only Heraclius concealed his belief, for the
sake of worldly rule. 317

Also, like these, Salman al-Farsi had formerly been a Christian. He

311 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' ', i, 364; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 739; Ibn al-Jawzi, Sifat al-Safwa, i, 87;
Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-'Alamin, 87-8, 135; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, 161-3; Abu
Nu'aym, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, i, 78-9.

312 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 308; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 631; Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 3 (Bab: Maja'
fi Badi' al-Nubuwwa); al-Mubarakfuri, Tuhfat al-Ahwazi, no: 3699; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, ii, 615;
Ibn Hisham, Sirat al-Nabi, 115; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa ii, 24; Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah
'ala'l-Alamin 158.

313 Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 3; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, ii, 6155-6; Ibn Hisham, al-Sirat al-Nabawiyya, i,
191-4; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, ii, 27-9.

314 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 364; A Ale al-Qari Sharh al-Shifa', i, 744.

315 Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, i, 367; ii, 526; vi, 240-9; al-Hindi, Kanz al-'Ummal, xi, 401; xii,
390-408; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 364; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 739-43; al-Haythami, Majma' al-
Zawa'id, viii, 240.

316 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 744-5; Ibn Hisham, al-Sirat al-Nabawiyya, iv, 221-2; Abu Nu'aym,
Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, i, 101.

317 Bukhari, Bad' al-Wahy, 6; Shahadat, 28; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 744; Yusuf Nabhani,
Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-Alamin, 121, 150-1; Qastalani, al-Mawahib al-Ladunniya, vi, 198; Tabarani, al-
Mu'jam al-Kabir, iii, 2108; Ibn 'Adiyy, al-Kamil fi'l-Du'afa, iii, 1094; Abu Nu'aym, Dala'il al-
Nubuwwa, i, 101-2.

201

searched for the Noble Messenger (UWBP) after seeing his description. 318

Also, a famous scholar called Tamim, and the well-known Abyssinian ruler, the

Negus, and the Abyssinian Christians, and the priests of Najran, all unanimously

declared that they had seen the Prophet's (UWBP) description in their scriptures, and

had come to believe in him. 319

The Third Proof: Here, as examples, we shall point out from the Gospel,

the Torah, and the Psalms, a few instances of verses concerning our Prophet (Upon

whom be blessings and peace).

First: In the Psalms, there is the following verse:

O God, send to us after the period between prophets one who will establish
an exemplary model.

Here, "One who will establish an exemplary model" refers to the Prophet Muhammad
(UWBP).

A verse from the Gospels says:

The Messiah said: "I am leaving for my father and your father, so that He
may send you the Paraclete,"

that is, Ahmad Muhammad.

A second verse from the Gospels:

/ ask from my Lord for the Paraclete that he may abide with you forever.

Paraclete, meaning the distinguisher of good from evil, is the name of our Prophet
(UWBP) in those Books.

A verse from the Torah says:

Verily God told Abraham that Hagar - the mother of Isma 'il - will bear
children. There will emerge from her sons one whose hand will

318 al-'Asqalani, Path al-Bari, vii, 222; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, ii, 82; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya
wa'l-Nihaya, ii, 310-6; Musnad, v, 437; Ibn Hisham, Sirat al-Nabi, i, 233; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak,
iii, 604; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 364; 'AH al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 670; Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah
'ala'l-'Alamin, 144; Abu Nu'aym, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, i, 258-64.

319 al-'Asqalani, Path al-Bari, vii, 222; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, ii, 82; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya
wa'l-Nihaya, ii, 310-6; Musnad, v, 437; Ibn Hisham, Sirat al-Nabi, i, 233; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak,
iii, 604; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 364; 'AH al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 670; Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah
'ala'l-'Alamin, 144; Abu Nu'aym, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, i, 258-64.

320 Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-'Alamin, 104, 115.

321 Halabi, al-Sirat al-Halabiya i, 352; Jisri, Risale-i Hamidiye (Turkish trans.), i, 250; Qastalani, al-
Mawahib al-Ladunniya, vi, 201.

322 'AH al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 743; Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-'Alamin, 99; Jisri, Risale-i
Hamidiye, i, 255; Gospel of John, 14:16.

202

be above all, and the hands of all will be opened to him in reverence.

Another verse from the Torah:

And He said to Moses: "O Moses, verily I shall send them a prophet like you,
from the sons of their brothers [the children of Isma HI]; I shall place My
word in his mouth, and shall punish whoever does not accept the words of
the one who will speak in My name. "

A third verse from the Torah:

Moses said: "O Lord! Verily I have found in the Torah the best of
communities that will emerge for the benefit of humanity, that will enjoin
good and forbid wrong, and that will believe in God. Let it be my
community!" God said: "That is the community of Muhammad. "
A REMINDER: In those books, the name of Muhammad is given in Syriac form,
such as Mushaffah, Munhamanna, Himyata, and names meaning Muhammad in
Hebrew. Otherwise the name of Muhammad is explicitly mentioned only in a few
places, and was also altered by the jealous Jews. 326
A verse from the Psalms of David states:

O David! A prophet will appear after you, named Ahmad Muhammad; he
will be truthful, and he will be a chief, and his Community will be
forgiven.

One of the Seven 'Abdullah's, 'Abdullah b. 'Amr b. al-'As, who made extensive
studies of the earlier scriptures, and 'Abdullah b. Salam, who was the earliest to
accept Islam from among the famous Jewish scholars, and the famous scholar Ka'b
al-Ahbar from among the Children of Israel, all pointed out in the Torah, which was
not then corrupted to its present extent, the following verse, which after addressing
Moses, then addresses the prophet-yet-to-come:

3 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 743; Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-'Alamin, 105-6; Genesis,
Chap. 16.

324 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 743; Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-Alamin, 86; Halabi, al-
Sirat al-Halabiya, i, 347; Deuteronomy, Chapter 18.

325 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 746; Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-Alamin, 107-18; Isaiah,
Chapter 42.

326 Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-Alamin, 112-3; Qastalani, al-Mawahib al-Ladunniya, vi, 189.

327 Halabi, al-Sirat al-Halabiya, i, 353; Kandahlawi, Hayat al-Sahaba, i, 18; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya
wa'l-Nihaya, ii, 326; 'Ale al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 739; Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-Alamin,
122.

203

O Prophet, verily We have sent you as a witness, a bearer of glad tidings, a
warner and a protection for the unlettered. You are My bondsman, and I
have named you the Reliant on God. You shall not be harsh, stern, and
clamorous in the market places, nor shall you requite evil with evil, but
instead pardon and forgive. God shall not take you unto Himself until you
straighten a crooked people by causing them to say, "No god but God. "

Another verse from the Torah:

Muhammad is God's Messenger, his birthplace is Mecca, he will emigrate to
Tayba, his rule will be in Damascus, and his community will constantly
praise God.329 329

In this verse, a Syriac word meaning Muhammad is mentioned for the word
Muhammad.

Here is another verse from the Torah:

You are My bondsman and messenger, and I have named you Reliant on
God, 330

which is addressed to a prophet who is to come after Moses, and is from the progeny
of Isma'il, the brother of Isaac.

In the following verse from the Torah,

My chosen bondsman is not harsh or stern,

the meaning of Mukhtar (chosen) is the same as Mustafa, a name of Muhammad.

In several places in the Gospels, a prophet who will come after Jesus is
referred to as "the Master of the World." He is described as:

He will have with him a staff of iron with which he will fight, as will his

, 333

people.
This verse indicates that a prophet will come with a sword, charged with

328 Bukhari, Buyu\ A , 5; Halabi, al-Sirat al-Halabiya, i, 346; Darimi, Muqaddima, 2; Kandahlawi,
Hayat al-Sahaba, i, 17; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, ii, 326; Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-
'Alamin, 105, 135; al-'Ajurri, al-Shari'a, AAA, 452; Qastalani, Mawahib al-Ladunniya, vi, 192; Isaiah,
chap. 42.

329 Darimi, Muqaddima, 2; Halabi, al-Sirat al-Halabiya, i, 346-51; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 739;
Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-Alamin, 116; Abu Na'em, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, i, 72.

330 See, fn. 328. (This is part of the same verse.)

331 Darimi, Muqaddima, 2; Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-Alamin, 105, 119; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh
al-Shifa ', i, 739.

332 John, 14:30; 16:11.

333 Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-Alamin, 99, 114.

204

waging jihad. "Qadib min hadid (literally, staff of iron)" means sword. And so will be
his community. In agreement with the Biblical verse mentioned above, and referring
to it as well as some other verses, the following Qur'anic verse at the end of Sura al-
Fath also states that his community, like him, will be commanded to wage jihad:

And their similitude in the Gospel is like a seed that sends forth its blade,
then makes it strong; it then becomes thick, and it stands on its own stem,
filling the sowers with wonder and delight. As a result, it fills the unbelievers
with rage at them. (48:29)

In the thirty-third chapter of the fifth book of the Torah, 334 there is the following
verse:

The Lord came from Sinai, rose up unto us from Sa 'ir, and shined forth from
Mount Paran.

In this verse, with the phrase "the Lord came from Sinai," the prophethood of Moses
is mentioned; with the phrase "rose up unto us from Sa'ir" (Sa'ir being a mountain
near Damascus), the prophethood of Jesus is indicated. And the phrase "He shined
forth from Mount Paran" (the Paran Mountains being the mountains of Hijaz), gives
tidings of the prophethood of Muhammad (UWBP), as all will agree. Moreover,
confirming the sentence, "This is their similitude in the Torah,"(48:29) is the
following verse of the Torah concerning the Prophet's (UWBP) Companions, who
would shine forth from the Paran Mountains:

The flags of the blessed ones will be with him, and they will be on his
right.

In this verse, the Companions are described as "the blessed ones," that is, his
Companions are blessed, righteous men, the beloved ones of God.

In the forty-second chapter of the Book of Isaiah, there are the following verses:

See My servant, whom I uphold; My Chosen One, in whom I delight. He will
reveal justice to the nations of the world... He will encourage the
fainthearted, those tempted to despair. He will see full justice given to all
who have been wronged. He will not be satisfied until truth and
righteousness prevail throughout the earth, nor until even

334 Deuteronomy, 33:2.

335 Halabi, al-Sirat al-Halabiya, i, 348; Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-'Alamin, 90, 102-6;
Qastalani, al-Mawahib al-Ladunniya, vi, 198.

336 Halabi, al-Sirat al-Halabiya, i, 348; Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-Alamin, 113;
Deuteronomy, 33:2.

205

distant lands beyond the seas have put their trust in him.

Here, the verses explicitly describe Muhammad (Upon whom be blessings and peace),
the prophet of the end of time.

In the fourth chapter of the Book of Micah, are the following verses:

But in the last days it shall come to pass that the mountain of the House of
God will be the most renowned one of all the mountains of the world, praised
by all nations; people from all over the world will make pilgrimage there.
"Come, " they will say to one another, "let us go up to the mountain of God
and the House of God. "

These verses obviously describe the most blessed mountain in the world, Mount
'Arafat, and the worship and proclamations of "God is Most Great!" of those making
the Hajj, who will flock there from all climes, and the Community of Muhammad,
famous for the divine mercy it will receive.

In the seventy- second chapter of the Psalms, there are the following verses:

And he will reign from sea to sea,

And from the river to the ends of the earth.

The kings of Yemen and the Islands

All will bring their gifts.

And to him all the kings will prostrate themselves,

All the nations will serve him.

And he will live,

And on his behalf prayer will be made constantly,

All day long he will be praised.

His name will prove to be to time indefinite,
It will continue as long as the sun.
All will be blessed in him,
All nations will praise him.

These verses describe the Glory of the World, the Prophet Muhammad (UWBP) most
evidently. Apart from Muhammad the Arabian, what prophet has come since David
(Upon whom be peace) who has spread his religion

337 Isaiah, 42:1-4, 10.

338 Micah, 4:1-2.

339 Yusuf Nabhani, Hujj at Allah 'ala'l-'Alamin, 91-104; Jisri, Risale-i Hamidiye (Turkish trans.), i,
410; Psalms, 72:8, 10, 11, 15-17

206

from East to West, made kings pay tribute, and brought rulers to submission as
though prostrating; to whom every day one fifth of mankind offer benedictions and
prayers, and whose lights have irradiated from Medina? Has there been any other?

Again, the Turkish translation of John's Gospel, chapter fourteen verse thirty,
says:

/ shall not speak with you for much longer, for the ruler of the world is
coming, and I am nothing compared with him.

Thus, the title "Ruler of the World" means Glory of the World. And the title Glory of
the World is one of the most famous of Muhammad the Arabian's (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) titles.

Again in John's Gospel, chapter sixteen verse seven, it says:

But I am telling you the truth. My departure is but for your benefit. For,
unless I depart, the Comforter will not come.

Now see, who other than Muhammad the Arabian (Upon whom be blessings and
peace) is the Ruler of the World and true consoler of men? Yes, the Glory of the
World is he, and he is the one who will save transitory man from eternal extinction
and thus comforts him.

Again, the eighth verse of chapter sixteen in John' s Gospel:

When he comes, he will give the world convincing evidence concerning its
sin, its righteousness, and its judgement .

Who other than Muhammad the Arabian (Upon whom be blessings and peace) has
turned the world's wrongdoing into righteousness, saved men from sin and
associating partners with God, and transformed politics and world rule?
Also from the Gospel of John, the eleventh verse of chapter sixteen:

There is deliverance from judgement, for the Ruler of this World has already
been judged.

Here "the Ruler of the World" is certainly Ahmad Muhammad (UWBP), for he is
known as the Master of Humanity.

342

Also, in John's Gospel, the thirteenth verse of chapter twelve: 343

Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-'Alamin, 95-7; al-Anwar al-Muhammadiyya.
Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-'Alamin, 95-7; al-Anwar al-Muhammadiyya.

342 Yes, he is such a lord and ruler that in most centuries for one thousand three hundred and fifty years
he has had at least three hundred and fifty million followers and subjects, who have obeyed his
commands in complete submission, and every day renew their allegiance to him by calling down God's
blessings on him. (Author)

343 16:13. (Tr.)

207

But when he, the Spirit of Truth, comes, he will guide you all to the truth, for
he will not be presenting his own ideas, but will be passing onto you what he
has heard. He will tell you about the future. 344

This verse is explicit. Who apart from Muhammad the Arabian (UWBP) has called all
men to the truth, whose every statement was based on revelation, has spoken what he
had heard from Gabriel, and informed man in detail about the resurrection of the dead
and the hereafter? Who other than he could do this?

Also, the Books of other prophets include names in Syriac and Hebrew that
correspond to the various names of the Noble Messenger (UWBP), such as
Muhammad, Ahmad, Mukhtar. For example, in the scriptures of the Prophet Shu'ayb,
his name is "Mushaffah," 345 and means Muhammad. In the Torah, he is mentioned as
"Munhamanna," which again means Muhammad, and as "Himyata," 346 which means
the Prophet of al-Haram. In the Psalms, he is called "al-Mukhtar." 347 Again in the
Torah, the name is "al-Hatam al-Khatam." Both in the Torah and in the Psalms, it
is "Muqim al-Sunna," 349 in the scriptures of Abraham and in the Torah, he is
mentioned as "Mazmaz," and again in the Torah, as "Ahyad."

God's Most Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) himself said:
"In the Qur'an, my name is Muhammad, in the Bible, Ahmad, and in the Torah,
Ahyad." 351 In fact, the Bible refers to him as "The one with the sword and the
staff." 352 Indeed, the greatest of the prophets who wielded the sword, and was charged
with fighting in God's way together with his community, was God's Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace). The Gospels also describe him as "wearing a
crown." Yes, this

344 Halabi, al-Sirat al-Halabiya, i, 346; 'AH al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 743

345 Halabi, al-Sirat al-Halabiya, i, 353; Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-'Alamin, 112; Qastalani,
Mawahib al-Ladunniya, vi, 189.

346 Halabi, al-Sirat al-Halabiya, i, 346, 354; Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-Alamin, 112-3.

347 Halabi, al-Sirat al-Halabiya, i, 353; Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-Alamin, 112; Qastalani, al-
Mawahib al-Ladunniya, vi, 189; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 739.

348 Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-Alamin, 114.

349 Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-Alamin, 115.

350 Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala 'I- Alamin, 113; Halabi, al-Sirat al-Halabiya, i, 353.

351 Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-Alamin, 108, 112; Halabi, al-Sirat al-Halabiya, i, 353; al-
Anwar al-Muhammadiya min al-Mawahib al-Ladunniya, 143, narrated from Ibn 'Abbas.

352 Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala 'I- Alamin, 1 14; Halabi, al-Sirat al-Halabiya, i, 346-7; 'Ali al-
Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 739.

53 Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-Alamin, 113, 114; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 739.

208

title is particular to God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace), for
"crown" means turban, for in former days, it was the Arabs who as a people, all wore
the turban and headband. This definitely therefore refers to God's Messenger
(UWBP).

The term "Paraclete" in the Gospel, or "Faraqlit," is defined in Biblical
interpretation as "the one who distinguishes truth from falsehood." 354 It is therefore
the name of one who in the future will lead people to the truth.

In one place in the Gospels, Jesus (Upon whom be peace) says: "I am going so

ice

that the Lord of the World may come." Who other than the Noble Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace) has come after Jesus who will be the Ruler of
the World, distinguish and separate truth from falsehood, and guide mankind in place
of Jesus? That is to say, Jesus (Upon whom be peace) was constantly giving his
community the good news: Another will come; no need will remain for me. I am his
forerunner and herald. Confirming this is the following verse of the Qur'an:

And remember, Jesus, the son of Mary, said: "O Children of Israel! I am the
Messenger of God unto you, confirming that which was revealed before me
in the Torah and bringing the good tidings of a Messenger to come after me,
whose name is Ahmad [the Praised One]. "(61 :6)

Yes, in the Gospels, Jesus gave the glad tidings many times, that the greatest leader of
mankind would come. He is mentioned with various names, in, of course, Syriac and
Hebrew - and has been seen by scholars - which bear the meaning of Ahmad,
Muhammad, and the Distinguisher between Truth and Falsehood. 356 That is to say, on
many occasions Jesus (Upon whom be peace) told of the coming of Ahmad (Upon

OCT

whom be blessings and peace).

Question: Why is it that while the other prophets foretell the coming of
Muhammad (UWBP), Jesus (UWP) does so more fully and in the form of good news?

The Answer: Because Ahmad (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
defended Jesus (Upon whom be peace) against

354 Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-'Alamin, 112.

355 Halabi, Sira, i, 214; John, 16:7.

356 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 234-5; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 496-7; Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-

Alamin, 112-5; Halabi, Sira, i, 214.

357

At the site of the tomb of Sham'un al-Safa, the famous traveller Evliya Chelebi came across the

following verses from the Gospels, written on gazelle hide: "A youth from the progeny of Abraham is

to be a prophet. He will not be a liar; his birthplace will be Mecca; he will come with piety; his blessed

name is Ahmad Muhammad;* those who obey him will prosper in this world and the next." (Author)

•The word, written as Mawamit, was corrupted fromMamad, itself a corruption of Muhammad.

209

the fearsome denials and slander of the Jews, and saved his religion from corruption.
Furthermore, in the face of the burdensome Shari'a of the Children of Israel, who did
not recognize Jesus, he came with an elevated Shari'a which was easy, all-
encompassing, and completed the deficiencies of Jesus' Shari'a. For these reasons,
Jesus often gave the good news: the Ruler of the World will come! 358

Now it is clear that in the Torah, the Gospels, the Psalms of David, and in the
scriptures of other prophets, there are numerous discussions of a prophet who is to
come at a later time, many verses mentioning him. Just as we pointed out examples of
these, showing that he is mentioned in these Books under various names. Who, other
than Muhammad (Upon whom be blessings and peace), the Prophet of the end of
time, could it be that these scriptures of the prophets speak of so repeatedly in their
verses, and with such importance?

The Second Kind

The signs of prophethood that were manifested by way of irhasat also include
those tidings of his coming given before his prophetic mission in that time between
prophets by the soothsayers and certain people known as saints and gnostics at that
time; they published their claims and passed them down to subsequent generations in
their poetry. These are numerous, and we shall mention some that are well-known and
have been accepted and narrated by the scholars of history and the Prophet' s life.

First: One of the rulers of Yemen, called Tubba', saw descriptions of God's
Messenger (UWBP) in former scriptures, and believed in him. He announced this by
means of a poem, which went like this:

/ bear witness to Ahmad, for he is a Messenger from God, the Creator of

man;
Were I to live long enough to see him, I would be a minister and a cousin of

1-359

his.

That is, I would have been like 'Ali.

Second: Quss b. Sa'ida was the most renowned and most significant orator of the
Arabs, a monotheist, and man of enlightened mind. Before Muhammad's (UWBP)
prophetic mission, he announced his messengership with these lines:

358 Qur'an, 61:1. See also, Halabi, Sira, i, 214; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 743; Nabhani, Hujjat
Allah 'ala'l-'Alamin, 99, 114; John, 14:16, 17, 26, 30; 15:26; 16:7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14.

359 Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, ii, 166; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 363; A Ale al-Qari, Shark al-
Shifa', i, 740; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, ii, 388; Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-Alamin, 138.

210

Ahmad shall be sent forth amongst us, the best prophet ever sent;

God's blessings be upon him, whenever a riding party sets out amidst

cries! 360
Third: Ka'b b. Lu'ayy, one of the forefathers of the Noble Messsenger (Upon
whom be blessings and peace), announced Muhammad's (UWBP) prophethood by
way of inspiration as follows:

Suddenly, Muhammad the Prophet will appear,
Giving tidings most true.

Fourth: Sayf b. Dhi-Yazan, one of the rulers of Yemen, read descriptions of
God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) in the old scriptures, and
believing in him, longed to see him. When 'Abd al-Muttalib, Muhammad's
grandfather, went to Yemen with some of the Quraysh, Sayf summoned them and
said: "A child will be born in Hijaz, with a mark between his shoulders resembling a
seal. He will be the leader of all humanity." Then, in private he told 'Abd al-Muttalib:
"You are his grandfather," 362 foretelling his mission in a wondrous way.

Fifth: Waraqa b. Nawfal was a cousin of Khadija. When the first revelation
came, the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) was deeply shaken.
Khadija described the event to the well-known Waraqa b. Nawfal, who told her to
send him to him. God's Messenger (UWBP) went to Waraqa and told him how the
revelation had come. Waraqa said: "Good news, O Muhammad! I testify that you are
the awaited prophet who was foretold by Jesus." 363 That is, Don't worry! It was truly
the coming of revelation.

Sixth: Before the prophetic mission, a gnostic called Athkalan al-Himyari asked
the Quraysh when he saw them: "Is there anyone among you who claims
prophethood?" They replied in the negative. He again asked them at the start of his
mission, and this time their reply was affirmative. Athkalan said: "The world is
awaiting him !" 364

360 Suyuti, al-Fath al-Kabir, ii, 133; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, ii, 230; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i,
363; AH al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 740; Tabarani, al-Majmu' al-Kabir, xii, 1254; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-
Nubuwwa, ii, 101; Abu Nu'aym, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, i, 105.

361 Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, ii, 244; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 364; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa',
i, 740; Abu Nu'aym, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, i, 89-90.

362 Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, ii, 328; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 343; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa',
i, 740; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, ii, 388; Abu Nu'aym, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, i, 95-6; Halabi, al-Sirat al-
Halabiya, i, 187.

363 Bukhari, Bad' al-Wahy, 3; Anbiya', 21; Ta'bir, 1; Musnad (Tahqiq: Ahmad Shakir), iv, 304, no:
2846; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 363; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 743; 'Ajurri, al-Shari'a, 443; Abu
Nu'aym, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, i, 217.

364 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 363; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 742; Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-
'Alamin, 140.

211

Seventh: Ibn al-'Ala, a famous Christian scholar, told of God's Messenger
(UWBP) before his mission, never having seen him. He later came, saw the
Messenger (UWBP), and said: "By the One who sent you in truth, I found your
description in the Gospels, and the Son of Mary gave glad tidings of your coming." 365

Eighth: Mentioned above was the Negus of Abyssinia, who declared: "Would
that I had been the servant of Muhammad the Arabian (Upon whom be blessings and
peace), rather than a king. To serve him would have been far superior to this
sovereignty." 366

In addition to these tidings given by these learned men through divine inspiration
from the Unseen, soothsayers too gave news from the Unseen of the coming of God's
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace), and of his prophethood, by means
of jinn and spirit beings. These are numerous also, and we shall mention a few which
are well-known, have reached the degree of 'consensus in meaning,' and are related in
most of the books of history and the Prophet's (UWBP) biography. Referring the
lengthy accounts of them to those books, we shall give only a summary of them.

The First is the famous soothsayer, Shiqq, who had only one eye, one arm, and
one leg; he was quite simply half a man. His repeated predictions concerning
Muhammad's (UWBP) messengership have passed into the history books, with the
certainty of consensus in meaning. 367

The Second is the famous soothsayer of Damascus, Sateh, who was a
monstrosity lacking bones, and even limbs, whose face was in his chest and who lived
a very long time. He was highly reputed at that time for the correct information he
gave concerning the Unseen. The Persian king, Chosroes, even, sent a learned envoy
called Mubezan to ask Satih to interpret a strange dream he had at the time of
Muhammad's (UWBP) birth, in which the fourteen pinnacles of his palace collapsed.
Satih said: "Fourteen men will rule over you, then your empire will be destroyed.
Also someone will come who will announce a religion; he will abolish both your
religion and your empire," sending news of this to Chosroes. In this way, Satih expli

365 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 744; Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-'Alamin, 121, 208.

366 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 365; Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-Alamin, 115; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-
Nubuwwa, ii, 285.

367 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 364; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa ', i, 747; Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-
Alamin, 168-72; Abu Nu'aym, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, i, 123, 125.

212

citly foretold the coming of the Prophet of the end of time. 368

As written in detail in the books of history and the Prophet's biography,
soothsayers like Sawad b. Qarib al-Dawsi, Khunafir, Af'a Najran, Jidhl b. Jidhl al-
Kindi, Ibn Khalasat al-Dawsi, and Fatima bint al-Nu'man al-Najariyya, foretold the
coming of the Prophet of the end of time, stating that that Prophet was Muhammad
(UWBP). 369

Also, one of 'Uthman's relations, Sa'd b. bint al-Kurayz, received knowledge
from the Unseen by means of soothsaying about the prophethood of Muhammad
(Upon whom be blessings and peace). In the early days of Islam, he told 'Uthman
Dhi'l-Nurayn to go and accept faith. 'Uthman did so and entered the fold of Islam at
the beginning. Sa'd expressed the event with a poem, which went like this:

Through my words, God has guided 'Uthman to the source
That yields righteousness; truly God guides to the truth.

Like soothsayers, jinns who were invisible but whose voices were heard, called
hatif, repeatedly foretold the coming of God's Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace). For example:

An invisible jinn shouted out the following to Dhayab b. al-Harith, and was the
reason that he and others accepted Islam: "O Dhayab! O Dhayab! Listen to the oddest
thing: Muhammad has appeared with the Book. He is calling on Mecca, yet they do
not respond to him!" 371

Another unseen jinn called out to Sama' b. Qarrat al-Ghatafani, "The truth has
come in manifest radiance, the false is destroyed and uprooted," and caused him and
some others to believe. 372

Such messages and good tidings given by unseen jinns are extremely well-known
and numerous.

Just as the voices of jinns and the soothsayers foretold him, so too idols and
sacrifices slaughtered for the idols gave news of the prophethood of God's Messenger
(UWBP). For example:

One is the famous story of the idol of the Mazan tribe, who shouted out:

368 Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, ii, 355-69; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, ii, 126, 129; Abu
Nu'aym, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, i, 125; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 365; 'AH al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 747;
Suyuti, al-Khasa'is al-Kubra, i, 128-30.

369 Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, ii, 335; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, ii, 248; Abu Nu'aym,
Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, i, 125; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 365; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 747; Suyuti,
al-Khasa'is al-Kubra, i, 128-30; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, viii, 248-9, 251.

Suyuti, al-Khasa'is al-Kubra\, i, 258.

371 Halabi, al-Sirat al-Halabiya, i, 335-7; Suyuti, al-Khasa'is al-Kubra, i, 358; Yusuf Nabhani, Hujjat
Allah 'ala'l-'Alamin, 181.

372 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 748; Suyuti, al-Khasa'is al-Kubra, i, 252.

213

"This is the Prophet who has been sent; he comes with the revealed truth," 373 telling
of Muhammad's (UWBP) messengership.

Another is the well-known incident which caused 'Abbas b. Mardas to accept
Islam: there was an idol called Dimar, which one day called out: "Dimar was
worshipped before the declaration of Muhammad; that misguidance can no longer

,,374

continue.

Before he accepted Islam, 'Umar heard an animal sacrificed to an idol exclaim:
"O sacrificer, the means of success are at hand: an eloquent man proclaiming, 'No
god but God!'" 375

There are very many more examples like these, which have been accepted as
authentic and narrated in reliable books.

And just as soothsayers, gnostics, invisible jinns, and even idols and sacrifices
told of Muhammad's (UWBP) messengership, and each instance was the cause of
people coming to believe in him, so too inscriptions on stones over and in graves, and
on gravestones, like "Muhammad, a worker of righteousness, the trustworthy," were
the means of some people coming to believe. 376 Because, in the time shortly before
Muhammad (Upon whom be blessings and peace) lived, there were only seven men
bearing that name, and not one of them deserved the epithet of righteous and
trustworthy. 377

The Third Kind

These are irhasat including the wondrous events which occurred at the time of,
and in conjunction with, the birth of God's Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace). There were also events that occurred before his prophetic
mission which were miracles. They were many and we shall mention a few examples
that became famous, have been accepted by the authorities on Hadiths, and whose
authenticity have been established.

The First: On the night of the Prophet's (UWBP) birth, both his mother, and the
mothers of 'Uthman b. al-'As and 'Abd al-Rahman b. 'Awf, who

373 Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, ii, 255; Halabi, al-Sirat al-Halabiya, i, 325; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya
wa'l-Nihaya, ii, 337; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa' id, viii, 242; 'AH al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 747;
Suyuti, al-Khasa'is al-Kubra, i, 252-71.

374 al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, viii, 246; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, ii, 341-2; Bayhaqi,
Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, i, 118; al-Shifa' (Tahqiq: M. Emin Kara Ali et al.), i, 598.

375 Bukhari, Manaqib al-Ansar, 35; al-Sa'ati, al-Fath al-Rabbani, xx, 2030.

376 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' i, 467; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa' i, 749; Halabi, al-Sirat al-Halabiya i, 354.
Halabi, al-Sirat al-Halabiya i, 131-4.

214

were with her, saw a brilliant, widely scattered light, about which they said: "At the
time of his birth we saw a light so bright it lit up the east and the west for us."

The Second: That night most of the idols in the Ka'ba toppled over and fell to
the ground. 379

The Third: That night the famous aywan of Chosroes' palace shook and cracked

ion

apart, and its fourteen pinnacles collapsed.

The Fourth: That night the small lake of Saveh, which was considered to be
holy, sank into the ground, 381 and at Istakhrabad the fire which, burning continuously

TOO

for a thousand years, the Zoroastrians had worshipped, was extinguished.

These four events indicated that the person who had just been born would abolish
fire-worship, destroy the palace of the Persian kings, and prevent those things being
sanctified that God did not permit.

The Fifth: Although they did not coincide with the night of Muhammad's
(UWBP) birth, certain events that took place not long before it are also included in the
irhasat. One is the War of the Elephant, which is mentioned in the Qur'an in Sura al-
Fil. Abraha, the king of Abyssinia, came to destroy the Ka'ba, driving a huge elephant
called Mahmudi before his forces. When they came close to Mecca, the elephant was
unable to move. They could not make it move forward, and had to retreat. While
retreating, a flock of birds attacked and routed them, and they fled. This extraordinary
story is recorded in detail in the history books. The event was one of the proofs of
Muhammad's (UWBP) prophethood, for it occurred close in time to his birth and
saved the Holy Ka'ba, his qibla, birthplace, and native land, from Abraha' s
destruction. 383

The Sixth: According to the testimony of Halima al-Sa'diya and her husband,
when God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) was with them in his
childhood, they frequently saw a cloud above him shield

378 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' i, 466; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa' i, 750; al-Khafaji, Shark al-Shifa' iii, 311;
al-Sa'ati, al-Fath al-Rabbani xx, 2030.

379 Suyuti, al-Khasa'is al-Kubra i, 119-31; ii, 272; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa i, 19.

380 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa' i, 750; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa i, 126; Suyuti, al-Khasa'is al-
Kubra i, 128; ii, 272.

381 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' i, 366; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa' i, 751; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa i,
127; Suyuti, al-Khasa'is al-Kubra i, 128.

382 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' i, 367; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa' i, 751; 'Ali al-Qari al-Makki, al-Masnu' fi
Ma 'rifat al-Hadith al-Mawdu ' al-Mawdu 'at al-Sughra ' (Tahqiq: Abu Ghudda), 18.

' 83 Ibn Hisham, al-Sirat al-Nabawiyya, i, 44-54; Ibn Sa'd, nl-Tabaqat al-Kubra, i, 90-2; Abu Nu'aym,
Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, i, 144-51; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya, ii, 157-60.

215

ing him from the sun. They told everyone this, and it was well-known and

T.QA

authenticated.

Also, as testified to by the monk Bahira, when the Noble Messenger (UWBP)
went to Damascus at the age of twelve, he saw a cloud casting a shadow over his
head, and he pointed this out. 385

Again before his prophetic mission, one time God's Messenger (UWBP) returned
from a trading journey he made together with Khadija's servant, Maysara, when
Khadija saw two angels shading him like clouds. She mentioned this to her servant
Maysara, and he replied: "I observed the same thing throughout our journey."

The Seventh: It is established in a sound narration that before his prophetic
mission, God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) sat down under a
tree. Although the place was dried up, it suddenly grew green. The tree's branches

TOT

inclined over his head, twisting back and shading him.

The Eighth: When the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
was small, he stayed in Abu Talib's house. Whenever he ate together with Abu Talib
and his household, they would eat to repletion; whereas when he was not present, they

too ^80

were not satisfied. This is both well-known and definite.

Also, Umm Ayman, who looked after and served the Noble Messenger (Upon
whom be blessings and peace) when he was small, said: "God's Messenger (UWBP)
never complained about being hungry or thirsty, neither when small nor when he was
older." 390

The Ninth: It is both well-known and definite that unlike other members of her
tribe, his wet-nurse Halima al-Sa'diya's goats and posses

384 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' ', i, 368; al-Khafaji, Shark al-Shifa', iii, 318; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 753.

385 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' ', i, 308; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 631; Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 3 (Bab: Maja'
fi Badi' al-Nubuwwa); al-Mubarakfuri, Tuhfat al-Ahwazi, no: 3699; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, ii, 615;
Ibn Hisham, Sirat al-Nabi, 115.

386 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' ', i, 368; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 318; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 753;
Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, ii, 65.

387 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' , i, 368; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 318; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 753.

388 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' , i, 367; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 315; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 751;
Abu Nu'aym, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, i, 166.

' 89 Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqat al-Kubra, i, 119-20; Abu Nu A aym, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, i, 166; Suyuti, al-
Khasa'is al-Kubra, i, 205.

390 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' , i, 368; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 325; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 752;
Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, vi, 125.

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sions were very productive and abundant. 391

Also, flies did not bother him; they never alighted on his clothes or blessed
body 392 - just as one of his progeny, Sayyid 'Abd al-Qadir Gilani, received this
legacy from his forefather, for flies never alighted on him either. 393

The Tenth: After God's Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
was born, and especially on the night of his birth, there was a great increase in falling
stars. 394 As shown with decisive proofs in the Fifteenth Word, falling stars are a sign
of jinns and devils being barred from receiving news of the Unseen. Thus, since
God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) had appeared in the world
together with revelation, it was necessary to prevent the knowledge about the Unseen
being transmitted by soothsayers, diviners, and jinn, which was inaccurate and mixed
with lies, so that their knowledge should not cause any doubts about revelation, and
should not resemble it. Before the prophetic mission, soothsaying was widespread.
Then with its revelation, the Qur'an brought it to an end. Indeed, many soothsayers
accepted Islam, for they could no longer find their informers, who were jinns. That is,
the Qur'an had put an end to it. And these days a new type of soothsaying has
appeared in the form of mediums among the spiritualists of the West. But we shall not
go into that now.

In Short: Very many events occurred and persons appeared confirming and
causing others to confirm the prophethood of the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) before the commencement of his mission. For sure, before the
appearance of the one who was going to be the ruler of the world 395 and would change
the world's spiritual shape, and would make this world into the tillage for the next,
and proclaim the

391 al-Sa'ati, al-Fath al-Rabbani, xx, 192-3; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, viii, 220-1; Abu
Nu A aym, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, i, 111-3; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya, ii, 273; Qadi Iyad, al-
Shifa', i, 366; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 750; al-Khafaji, Shark al-Shifa', iii, 313.

392 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' ', i, 368; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa', iii, 319; 'Ali al-Qari, Shark al-Shifa', i, 753;
Sha'rani, al-Tabaqat al-Kubra, i, 109.

393 Nabhani, Jami' Karamat al-Awliya', ii, 203.

394 al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, viii, 220; Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, i, 111; Qadi Iyad, al-
Shifa', i, 366; Halabi, al-Sirat al-Halabiya, i, 207-8.

395

Yes, the Sultan of Lawlak* was such a leader that his rule has been continuing for one thousand
three hundred and fifty years. Every century after the first, he has had at least 350 million followers and
subjects. With half the globe under his banner, every day his followers renew their allegiance to him in
perfect submission by calling down on him peace and blessings, and obey his commands.
•'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 6. [See also, fn. 298].

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high value of the creatures of the world, and show to man and jinn the way to eternal
happiness and save them from everlasting extinction, and solve the obscure talisman
of the world and riddle of the wisdom in its creation, and would know and make
known the purposes of the universe's Creator, and recognize the Creator and acquaint
Him to all men - before such a one appeared, surely everything, all species and
realms of beings would be happy at his coming, would await him and welcome and
applaud him, and if his coming was made known to them by their Creator, they in
turn would announce it. Indeed, we saw in the above Signs and examples how each
realm of creature displayed his miracles as if welcoming him, and confirmed his
prophethood through the tongue of miracles.

SEVENTEENTH SIGN

After the Qur'an, the greatest miracle of God's Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) was his own self. That is, the elevated moral virtues brought
together in his person, which as friend and foe agreed was in all respects of the very
highest degree. A hero of the greatest bravery, 'Ali, said again and again: "Whenever
the fighting grew fierce, we would take refuge behind God's Messenger (Upon whom
be blessings and peace)." 396 Like this, his was the highest and unattainable degree of
all praiseworthy qualities. For this greatest miracle, we refer readers to the al-Shifa '
al-Sharif of Qadi Iyad, the learned scholar of the Maghrib, for he described and
proved beautifully this miracle of praiseworthy moral qualities.

A further great miracle of Muhammad (UWBP) which is verified by friend and
foe alike is his illustrious Shari'a, the like of which neither came before it nor will
come after it. For a partial explanation of it, we refer readers to the thirty-three Words,
thirty-three Letters, thirty-one Flashes, and thirteen Rays which we have written.

Among his greatest miracles, a certain one, the many reports of which are
unanimous, is the Splitting of the Moon. This miracle is related through many chains
of transmission from many of the leading Companions like Ibn Mas'ud, Ibn 'Abbas,
Ibn 'Umar, 'Ali, Anas, and Hudhayfa. In addition, the Qur'an announced this supreme
miracle to the whole world with the verse:

The Hour is nigh, and the moon split. (54:1)

The obdurate idolators of the Quraysh at that time could not deny what this

396 Musnad, i, 86; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, ii, 143; Kanz al- 'Ummal, xii, 419.

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verse states; they could only declare that it was "magic." 397 That is to say, the
unbelievers also confirmed the splitting of the moon as certain. For this supreme
miracle, we refer readers to the Addendum of the Thirty- First Word.

Furthermore, just as the Noble Messenger (UWBP) showed the inhabitants of the
earth the miracle of the Splitting of the Moon, so too he showed the inhabitants of the
heavens his supreme miracle of the Ascension. Referring that greatest miracle to the
Treatise on the Ascension, the Thirty-First Word, which demonstrates with decisive
proofs - even to deniers - how luminous, exalted, and true a miracle it was, we shall
mention here only his journey to Jerusalem, the preliminary part of the miracle of the
Ascension. For it was a miracle too that when asked by the Quraysh the following
morning, he provided them with a description of the Masjid al-Aqsa. It was as
follows:

The morning after the night of the Ascension, he informed the Quraysh about the
Ascension. They dismissed it as false, and said: "If you really went to the Masjid al-
Aqsa in Jerusalem, then describe to us its doors, walls, and condition." The Noble
Messenger (UWBP) later said: "I was annoyed by their question and denial in a way
that I had never been annoyed before. Suddenly, God Almighty lifted the veil between
me and the Masjid al-Aqsa and showed it to me; I looked at it, and saw and described
it." 398 Then the Quraysh understood that he was giving the correct and complete
description.

God's Noble Messenger (UWBP) also told them: "During the journey, I saw one
of your caravans. It will arrive here tomorrow at such-and-such a time." They waited
for the caravan. It was delayed for an hour, so in order that the Messenger' s (UWBP)
prediction should be right, the sun was arrested for an hour, as is confirmed by those
who investigated the event. That is to say, in order to prove what he said was right,
the earth stopped its journeying, its duty, for an hour, and its immobility was shown
as the sun being arrested in its motion. 399

Thus, the mighty earth abandoned its duty in order to confirm a single statement
of Muhammad the Arabian (UWBP), and the mighty sun witnessed it. So you may
understand how unfortunate are those who do not

97 Tirmidhi, Tafsir al-Qur'an, 54:5; Musnad, iv, 82.

398 Bukhari, Manaqib al-Ansar, 41; Tafsir Sura, 17:3; Muslim, Iman, 276, 278; Tafsir Sura, 17:3;
Musnad, i, 309; iii, 377; Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa', i, 191.

399 Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa' , i, 284; 'Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa', i, 591-2; Suyuti, al-Durar al-Muntathira,
193; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, viii, 296; al-Sa'ati, al-Fath al-Rabbani, vi, 155; al-Albani,
Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Da 'ifa, 972.

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affirm him nor obey his commands, and how fortunate are those who affirm him and
say: "We have heard and we obey!" Now offer praise and thanks to God for Islam and
belief!

EIGHTEENTH SIGN

The greatest miracle of God's Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and
peace), an eternal one, is the All- Wise Qur'an, which comprises hundreds of
evidences of his prophethood, and forty aspects of whose own miraculousness have
been proven. The Twenty-Fifth Word has explained concisely and proved those forty
aspects in its approximately one hundred and fifty pages. Therefore, referring that
supreme miracle, a treasury of miracles, to that Word, here we shall explain only one
or two points.

First Point

If it is asked: The miraculousness of the Qur'an lies in its eloquence. But
all classes of men have the right to a share of its understanding, and only one learned
scholar out of a thousand can understand the miraculousness in its eloquence?

The Answer: The All- Wise Qur' an has a different kind of miraculousness
corresponding to the understanding of each class; it indicates the existence of its
miraculousness to each in a different way. For example, to the scholars of rhetoric and
eloquence, it exhibits the miraculousness of its extraordinary eloquence. To the poets
and orators, it shows its exalted, beautiful, and original style, which no one can
imitate although it pleases everyone. The passage of time does not cause its style to
age; it always remains fresh and new. Its prose and word-order are so well-ordered
that it is both elevated and pleasant. To soothsayers and other diviners of the Unseen,
it displays its miraculousness in its extraordinary reports concerning the Unseen. To
historians, it demonstrates its miraculousness by giving information concerning
events of past ages, as well as those of the future, and of the Intermediate Realm and
the hereafter. To social and political scientists, it shows the miraculousness in its
sacred principles. Yes, the Supreme Shari'a, which proceeds from the Qur'an,
indicates that mystery of miraculousness. To those occupied with knowledge of God
and cosmic truths, it shows the miraculousness of the sacred divine truths in the
Qur'an, or else it indicates the existence of that miraculousness. To the Sufis and
saints, it shows the miraculousness in the hidden mysteries of its verses, which
constantly rise and fall like waves in the sea of the Qur'an. And so on. To each of
forty classes of men, it opens up a window and shows its miraculousness. The
ordinary people even, who only listen to the

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Qur'an understanding a little of its meaning, confirm that it does not resemble any
other book. They say: "The Qur'an is either inferior to all the other books we have
heard read, which not even an enemy could claim - just as it is impossible - or it is
superior to all of them and is thus a miracle." Now, in order to help him, we shall
explain further the miraculousness which the ordinary man understood by just
listening. It is as follows:

When the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition appeared challenging the whole
world, it aroused passionate feelings of two kinds in people:

The First: In friends, the desire to imitate it; that is, the desire to resemble the
style of their beloved Qur' an, and a wish to speak like it.

The Second: In enemies, the desire to criticize and dispute it; that is, the wish to
invalidate its claim of miraculousness by competing with its style.

Thus, because of these two intense emotions, millions of books were written in
Arabic, and are to be seen. Now, whoever listens to the most eloquent, the most
brilliant, of these books being read together with the Qur'an is bound to say that it
does not resemble any of them. That means that the Qur' an is not of the same level as
them. In which case, it must either be inferior to all of them, which together with
being impossible a hundred times over, no one, not even Satan, could claim, or the
Qur' an of Miraculous Exposition is superior to all of them.

Furthermore, the All- Wise Qur'an demonstrates its miraculousness before the
uneducated mass of people, who do not understand its meaning, by not wearying
them. Indeed, they say: "If I hear the finest and best known poems two or three times,
I become bored of them. But the Qur'an never wearies me; the more I listen to it,
even, the more it pleases me. It cannot therefore be written by man."

To children who try to memorize it, the All- Wise Qur'an shows its
miraculousness by settling in their memories with the greatest of ease, despite their
small, delicate, weak and simple heads being unable to retain for long a single page of
other books, and many of the verses and phrases of that large Qur'an resembling one
another, which should cause muddle and confusion.

Even to the sick and the dying, who are disturbed by the slightest sound and
noise, the murmuring sound of the Qur'an makes felt a sort of its miraculousness, by
being as sweet and agreeable for them as Zamzam water.

In Short: The All-Wise Qur'an demonstrates its miraculousness to forty
different classes and groups of people, or it indicates the existence of its
miraculousness. It neglects no one. Even for those who can comprehend

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only what their eyes see and who have no ear to hear with, no heart to feel with, and
no knowledge to judge with, the Qur'an alludes to its miraculousness in a fashion. 400
It is like this:

In the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition handwritten by the calligrapher Hafiz
Osman and later printed, many of the words look to one another. For example, if a
needle is passed through the word "dog" in the phrase "they were seven, the dog
being the eighth" in Sura al-Kahf (18:22) and through the underlying pages, with a
slight deviation it will go through the word "Qitmir" in Sura al-Fatir (35:13), thus
establishing the dog's name. In a similar way, the words "they will be all brought
before us" (muhdarun-in) occur twice in Sura Ya. Sin. (36:32, 53, 75), the first
overlying the second. The same words are again repeated twice in Sura al-Saffat
(37:57, 127), and these look both to each other and to those in Sura Ya. Sin. Also, the
phrase "in pairs" (mathna) occurs only three times in the Qur'an, and two of these
corresponding cannot be mere coincidence. 401 There are numerous similar examples.
One word even coincides with slight deviation on five or six underlying pages. I have
seen a copy of the Qur'an in which passages looking to one another on facing pages
were written in red ink. At that time I said that that too indicated another sort of
miracle. Some time later I saw that many phrases looked to others on the reverse of
pages, corresponding to one another in a meaningful way. Thus, since the
arrangement of the Qur' an in the writing and script of printed copies of the Qur' an
also is through the guidance of the Prophet (UWBP) and divine inspiration, it is a sort
of sign of its miraculousness. For it is neither the work of chance, nor of the human
mind. Sometimes there are deviations, but that is generally the fault of the printing
and if it had been absolutely in order, the words would have corresponded to one
another exactly.

Furthermore, on every page of the Qur' an' s Suras of long and medium length
which were revealed in Medina, the word "Allah" has been repeated in the most
wondrous manner. In addition to being repeated mostly five, six, seven, eight, nine or
eleven times on the same page, the repetitions of

Here the mention of the aspect of its miraculousness directed to those without ear, heart and
knowledge, and who see only with their eyes, is extremely concise, abbreviated, and even deficient.
But it has been demonstrated most clearly and brilliantly in the Twenty-Ninth and Thirtieth Letters,* so
that even the blind can see it. We have had a copy of the Qur'an written that shows this aspect of
miraculousness. God willing, it will be published, then everyone will be able to see it.
*The Thirtieth Letter had been planned and intended, but it gave up its place to Isharat al-I'jaz (Signs
of Miraculousness), while itself never materialized. (Author)

401 The phrase occuring towards the end of Sura al-Saba' (34:46) corresponds to the same phrase as the
beginning of Sura al-Fatir (35: 1).

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the two sides of the same page or on facing pages display beautiful and significant
numerical relationships. 402 , 403 , 404 , 405

Second Point

At the time of Moses (Upon whom be peace), it was magic that was prevalent, so
his most important miracles resembled it. And at Jesus (Upon whom be peace) 's time,
it was medicine that was prevalent and his miracles were mostly of that kind.
Similarly, at the time of the Most Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and
peace), in the Arabian Peninsula four things were prevalent:

The First: Eloquence and rhetoric.

The Second: Poetry and oratory.

402 Also, for those who practise the recitation of the divine names and praises and supplicate God, the
Qur'an&s adorned and rhymed words, and eloquent and artistic style, and the many virtues of its
eloquence, which draw attention to itself, afford an elevated seriousness and sense of the divine
presence, and a collectedness of mind; they do not mar or spoil these. Whereas, rhetoric, artistic
wording, rhyme and poetic composition of that sort usually weaken seriousness, make their elegance
felt, disturb the sense of God's presence, and distract attention. In fact, I used to recite Imam al-
Shafi'i's famous supplication frequently, for it is a most subtle and serious supplication, is composed in
an elevated versified form, and once caused the end of dearth and famine in Egypt. On reading it, I
observed that it was in verse and rhymed, and that this spoilt its lofty seriousness. I recited it constantly
for eight or nine years, and I was unable to reconcile the verse and rhyme with its serious nature. I
understood from this that there is a sort of miraculousness in the rhyming and ordering and qualities of
the Qur'an's words, which are particular and natural and original to it, that preserves completely the
seriousness and sense of the divine presence, not spoiling them. Thus, even if those who recite
supplications and the divine names and praises do not understand this sort of miraculousness with the
mind, they perceive it with the heart.

403

Another aspect of the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition's miraculousness is that it expresses the
most elevated and brilliant degree of the Noble Messenger's (UWBP) belief, who manifested the
Greatest Name. It also expresses and instructs in a natural manner the religion of truth, which, being
most vast, extensive, and lofty, sets forth the lofty truths of the worlds of the hereafter and of
dominicality like a sacred map. It conveys too in all its infinite glory and majesty, the address of the
Creator of the universe, in respect of His being the Sustainer of all beings. Certainly, in the face of its
exposition being thus, if, in accordance with the verse,

"Say: If the whole of mankind and the jinn were to gather together to pro-
duce the like of this Qur'an, they could not produce its ftfe,"(17:88)
all the minds of mankind were to unite and become a single mind, they could not contest it or oppose it.
How could they? They are as distant from the Qur'an as the earth is from the Pleiades. For in view of
the three above principles, it is certainly not possible to imitate the Qur'an, nor to compose its like.

404 At the bottom of every page of the Qur'an, the verses are complete and they end rhyming in a fine
way. The reason is this: when the verse called Mudayana (2:292) provides the standard for the pages,
and the Suras Ikhlas and Kawthar, the standard for the lines, this fine quality of the All-Wise Qur'an
and sign of its miraculousness become apparent.

405 Because of unfortunate haste, we had to content ourselves in this section with some slight
indications and brief instances and small signs of a highly important and magnificent wonder, one
which from the point of view of the Risale-i Nur's success is beautiful, illuminating, and encouraging.
Now, that important truth and encouraging wonder - under the name of 'coincidence' (tevdfuk), and
five or six sorts at that - forms a chain of wonders of the Risale-i Nur, and flashes of a visible sort of
the Qur'an's miraculousness, and a source of signs of the ciphers of the Unseen. Later, we had a copy
of the Qur'an written that showed in gilded letters a flash of its miraculousness which appeared from
the coinciding of the word Alla\h. And I wrote eight short pieces, called The Eight Symbols (Rumuzat-i
Semaniye), which explain the subtle relationships evident in the coinciding of the Qur'an's letters, and
their allusions concerning the Unseen. I also wrote five treatises, one about the wonders of Ghauth al-
Gilani, three about those of 'Ali, and one called Indications of the Qur'an (fsdrdt-i Kur'aniye), which
by means of tevafuk or coincidences, confirm, commend, and applaud the Risale-i Nur. That is to say,
that important truth was perceived and written in summary fashion in the writing of The Miracles of
Muhammad, but unfortunately the author saw and described only a tiny part of it; he continued without
further pursuing it.

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The Third: Soothsaying and divining matters of the Unseen.

The Fourth: Knowledge of past events and cosmology.

Thus, when the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition appeared, it challenged those
with knowledge of these four fields.

Firstly, it made the men of rhetoric and eloquence bow before it; they all listened
to it in astonishment.

Secondly, it filled the poets and orators with amazement, that is, those who spoke
well and declaimed fine poetry, so that they bit their fingers in astonishment. It
nullified the value of their finest poems inscribed in gold, causing them to remove the
famous Seven Hanging Poems, their pride and glory, from the walls of the Ka'ba.

It silenced the soothsayers and sorcerers, who gave news of the Unseen, and
made them forget the knowledge they had received. It drove away the jinns, and put
an end to soothsaying.

It saved those with knowledge of the past and cosmology from superstition and
falsehood, and instructed them in true facts and luminous knowledge.

Thus, these four groups bowed before the Qur'an in perfect wonder and
veneration, becoming its students. At no time could any of them attempt to contest it.

If it is asked: How do we know that no one could dispute or contest it?

The A n s w e r : If it had been possible to dispute it, for sure someone would
have attempted it. For their religion, their possessions, their lives, and their families
had been put into peril. If they had disputed it, they would have been saved. If it had
been possible, they were bound to contest it. And if they had done so, since those who
wished to do this, the unbelievers and dissemblers were many, and truly many, they
were sure to have supported such a contest and would have advertised it widely. Just
as they

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spread everything that was against Islam. And if someone had disputed the Qur'an
and they had made it known to everyone, it would certainly have been recorded in the
books of history in glittering terms. But all the histories and books are in evidence;
apart from a few passages about Musaylima the Liar, there is nothing in any of them.
Whereas for twenty-three years the All- Wise Qur'an continuously taunted and
challenged them in a way that would increase their obduracy. It in effect said:

"Let someone unlettered like Muhammad the Trustworthy compose the like of
the Qur'an. You won't be able to, so come on, not an unlettered person, let someone
very learned and literary do it. You won't be able to do that either, so rather than a
single person, gather together all your scholars and men of eloquence, and let them
assist one another, and the false gods on which you rely can also lend a hand. You
won't be able to do this either, so use the literary works of the past, and even call on
those of the future to help you, and then compose the like of the Qur'an. And if you
can't do this, don't compose all the Qur'an, but only ten Suras. You won't be able to
manage ten which are truly like the Qur'an's Suras, so put it together out of stories
and fictitious tales; just produce something similar to the word-order and eloquence.
And don't write a long Sura, just a short one. But if you can't do this, your religion,
lives, property, and families will all be in danger, both in this world and in the next!"

With these eight alternatives, the Wise Qur'an has challenged and silenced men
and jinn, not for twenty-three years, but for one thousand three hundred. Nonetheless,
in those early times, those unbelievers did not have recourse to the easiest way,
dispute or contest, but chose the most difficult way, that of war, putting their lives,
possessions, and families into danger. That means, it was not possible to dispute it.

Wouldn't any intelligent person, particularly the people of Arabia at that time -
and the Quraysh, who were very clever - have ensured that one of their literary men
composed a Sura similar to one of the Qur'an's and so be saved from its attacks;
would they have abandoned the short and easy way, cast all they possessed into peril,
and travelled the way most fraught with difficulties?

In Short: As the famous Jahiz put it: "Dispute with words was not possible, so
they were compelled to fight with the sword."

If it is asked: Some learned scholars have said that not one of the Qur'an's
Suras, but not a single of its verses can be disputed, nor even a single sentence or a
word, nor have they been disputed. But this appears to be exaggerated and
unacceptable to reason, for many human words resemble those of the Qur' an. Why do
they say this?

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The Answer: There are two schools of thought concerning the Qur' an' s
miraculousness and inimitability.

The prevailing and preferred school states that the subtle qualities of eloquence
and meaning in the Qur' an are beyond human power.

The second and less preferred school states that it is within human ability to
dispute one of the Qur' an' s Suras, but Almighty God has prevented this as a miracle
of Muhammad (UWBP). Like a man may rise to his feet, but if a prophet tells him
that he cannot and he is unable to, then it is a miracle. This opinion is called the Sarfa
School. That is, Almighty God prevented men and jinn from successfully disputing a
single of the Qur' an' s Suras. According to this school, scholars who state that a single
of its words cannot be disputed, are correct. Because since on account of its
miraculousness Almighty God prevented them, they could not so much as open their
mouths to dispute it. And even if they had done so, they could not have uttered a
word.

However, according to the first-mentioned prevalent and preferred school of
thought, that statement of scholars includes the following subtlety: the All- Wise
Qur' an' s phrases and words look to one another. It sometimes happens that a single
word looks to ten places; in it are ten relationships and ten fine points of eloquence.
We have pointed out examples of some of these in the commentary called Isharat al-
I'jaz (Signs of Miraculousness), in the phrases of Sura al-Fatiha and those of, "Alif.
Lam. Mini. * This is the Book; in it is guidance sure, without doubt. ."(2:1-2)

For example, take a highly decorated palace; to situate in relation to all the
decorations a stone which is like the central point of many varied decorations, is
dependent on knowing the entire wall together with all its decorations. And to situate
the pupil of the eye in a human head is dependent on knowing its relations with the
whole body and all the body's wondrous functions, together with the eye's position in
the face of those duties. In just the same way, the most advanced of the people of
reality have demonstrated numerous relationships between the Qur' an' s words and
their aspects and connections, and other verses and phrases. Scholars of the Hurufi
School in particular have gone further, explaining and demonstrating to their
followers a page of hidden meanings in a single of the Qur' an' s letters.

Furthermore, since it is the speech of the Creator of all things, each of its words
may be like a heart or seed; that is, a heart contained in an immaterial body formed of
mysteries, or the seed of an immaterial tree.

Thus, words like those of the Qur' an, and even phrases or verses, may occur in
man's speech, but an all-encompassing knowledge is necessary to

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situate them exactly as they are in the Qur'an, taking into account the many
relationships.

Third Point

A brief but true reflection on the essential nature of the Qur'an of Miraculous
Exposition was once inspired in my heart as a divine bounty. Now I will give below a
translation of that Arabic piece.

The six aspects of the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition are brilliant and
luminous; neither doubt nor misgiving can penetrate it. For its back leans on God's
Throne; there is the light of revelation in that aspect. Before it and its goal is the
happiness of this world and the next; it has laid its hand on post-eternity and the
hereafter, and contains the light of happiness and Paradise. Above it shines the seal of
miraculousness. Beneath it lie the pillars of proof and evidence. Its inner face is pure
guidance, while its right causes the mind to affirm it with phrases like "Will they not
think?" Providing spiritual sustenance to hearts, its left causes the conscience to
testify to God's blessings. So from what side, what corner, can the thieves of doubt
and misgiving enter the Qur' an of Miraculous Exposition?

Yes, the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition encompasses all the points of
agreement found in the books of the prophets, the saints, and those who affirm divine
unity, whose centuries, ways, and temperaments were all different; that is, those who
sought the truth through either the intellect or the heart mentioned in their books the
All- Wise Qur' an' s concise decrees and principles, in such a way as to confirm them.
Thus, they are like the roots of the heavenly tree of the Qur'an.

The All- Wise Qur'an is also founded on revelation and is revelation. For the
Glorious One who revealed it, demonstrated and proved it was revelation through the
miracles of Muhammad (UWBP). And the Qur'an too, which reveals, shows through
the miraculousness upon it that it comes from the Divine Throne. Then the alarm of
the Most Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) to whom it was
revealed, when it was first revealed and his unconscious state during its revelation and
his sincerity and veneration towards the Qur'an, which were greater than everyone's,
all demonstrate that it was revelation coming from pre-eternity; it was his guest.

Moreover, the Qur'an is self-evidently pure guidance, for its opposite is the
misguidance of unbelief. It is also of necessity the source of the lights of belief, and
the reverse of this is of course, darkness. We have proved this decisively in many of
the Words.

Furthermore, the Qur'an is of a certainty the assembly of truths; illusion and
superstition cannot intrude on it. The elevated perfections which the

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world of Islam, to which it gave form, and the Shari'a, which it put forward, display
testify and prove that it is pure truth and contains no contradictions. Its discussions
concerning the world of the Unseen testify to this too, like those concerning the
Manifest World.

Without doubt, the Qur' an also leads to the happiness of this world and the next,
and urges man to it. If anyone doubts this, let him read the Qur' an once and heed what
it says. Moreover, the fruits the Qur' an produces are both perfect and living. In which
case, the roots of the tree of the Qur' an are founded on reality and are living. For the
life of the fruit points to the life of the tree. See, how many perfect, living, luminous
fruits it has produced each century, such as the saints and purified scholars !

Also, with a conviction arising from innumerable various signs, it may be said the
Qur' an is accepted and sought after by both men, and jinn, and angels, for when it is
recited, they gather around, drawn to it like moths.

And together with being revelation, the Qur' an has been strengthened and
fortified with rational proofs; the unanimity of the wise and intelligent testifies to this.
The great scholars of theology, and the geniuses of philosophy like Ibn Sina and Ibn
Rushd unanimously demonstrated the Qur'anic principles, in accordance with their
own methods and proofs.

The Qur' an is also affirmed by all sound natures. So long as it is not corrupted in
any way, human nature confirms it. For an easy conscience and peace of mind are to
be found through its lights. That is to say, unspoilt human nature affirms it through
the testimony of a tranquil conscience, and says to the Qur' an through the tongue of
disposition: "Our natures cannot be perfected without you!" We have proved this
truth in many places.

The Qur' an is also observedly and self-evidently an eternal and perpetual
miracle; it always displays its miraculousness. It never dies away like other miracles;
its time never comes to an end; it is everlasting.

Furthermore, there is such breadth in the Qur' an' s guidance that the Angel
Gabriel and a young child may listen to its same lesson side by side, and both receive
their share. And a brilliant philosopher like Ibn Sina may study the same of its lessons
side by side with an ordinary reciter, and they both will receive their instruction. It
may even happen that due to the strength and purity of his belief, the common man
may benefit more than Ibn Sina.

Also, there is in the Qur' an an eye that sees and encompasses the whole universe,
and holds it before it like the pages of a book, describing its levels and worlds. Like a
watchmaker turns, opens, shows, and describes his clock, the Qur' an does the same
with the universe, as though it were holding it in its hand. The Qur' an of Mighty
Stature is thus; it declares: "Know that there is no god but God," and proclaims the
divine unity.

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O God! Make the Qur'an our companion in this world, and a friend for us in
the grave, and at the resurrection an intercessor, and on the Bridge a light,
and from the Fire a shield and screen, and in Paradise a companion, and in
all good works, a guide and leader. O God! Illuminate our hearts and graves
with the light of belief and the Qur'an; and illumine the proof of the Qur'an
for the sake of and in veneration of the one to whom the Qur'an was
revealed, and grant blessings and peace to him and his Family from the Most
Merciful One, the Gentle One. Amen.

NINETEENTH SIGN

It has been proved in the previous Signs most decisively and indubitably that the
Most Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) was God Almighty's
Messenger. His messengership being thus established through thousands of certain
evidences, Muhammad the Arabian (Upon whom be blessings and peace) was the
most brilliant and conclusive proof of divine unity and eternal happiness. In this Sign,
we shall offer a concise and summary definition of that shining evidence, that
articulate proof. For since he is the proof and his conclusion is knowledge of God, we
must surely recognize the proof and learn the manner of his evidence. With an
extremely brief summary, therefore, we shall describe in what ways he is a proof of it
and its correctness. It is as follows:

Like all the beings in the universe, God's Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) pointed through his own self to the Creator of the universe's
existence and unity; and he proclaimed with his tongue that evidence of his self,
together with the evidence offered by all beings. Since he himself was the evidence,
we shall point in fifteen Principles to his proof and integrity, his truthfulness and
veracity.

First Principle .-This proof, who indicated the universe's Maker with both his self,
and his tongue, and his conduct, and his speech, was both verified by the reality of the
universe, and was veracious. For the evidence to divine unity made by all beings is
surely confirmation of the one who proclaimed that unity. That is to say, the cause he
proclaimed is verified by the whole universe. Also, since the perfection of divine
unity and absolute good of eternal happiness he expounded are in agreement and
conformity with the beauty and perfection of all the truths of the world, he was
certainly veracious in his cause. That is to say, the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) was an articulate proof of divine unity and eternal happiness who
was both veracious and verified.

Second Principle: Also, since that veracious and verified proof per

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formed thousands of miracles greater than all the previous prophets, came with a
Shari'a that will never be abrogated, and his call was to all men and jinn, he was
surely the chief of the prophets, and therefore gathered together in himself the essence
and unanimity of all their miracles. That means the strength of the prophet's
consensus and the testimony of their miracles forms a support for his truthfulness and
veracity. He was also the master and leader of all the saints and purified scholars, who
attained to perfection through his training and guidance and the light of his Shari'a. In
which case, gathered together in him were the mystery of their wonders, their
unanimous affirmation, and the strength of their verifications. For they travelled the
way their master opened up and left open, and they found the truth. In which case, all
their wonder-working and verifications and consensus forms a support for their sacred
master's truthfulness and veracity. Also, as was seen in the previous Signs, this proof
of divine unity was equipped with such certain, evident, and definite miracles and
wondrous irhasat, and his prophethood was proved by such irrefutable evidences that
their affirmation could not be disputed, even if the whole universe were to unite
against him.

Third Principle: And in that herald of divine unity and giver of the tidings of
eternal happiness, who was himself a clear miracle, were such elevated moral
qualities, and in the duties of his messengership such sublime attributes, and in the
Shari'a he propagated such high virtues, that even his most bitter enemy had to
confirm them, being unable to deny them. Since the highest and best moral qualities,
the most elevated and perfect attributes, and the most precious and acceptable virtues
were present in his self, his duties, and his religion, for sure, that person was the
exemplar, model, personification, and master of the perfections and elevated moral
qualities in beings. In which case, those perfections in his self, his duty, and his
religion form a support for his veracity and truthfulness so powerful that it can in no
way be shaken.

Fourth Principle: And that herald of divine unity and happiness, who was the
source of perfections and teacher of elevated virtues, did not speak of himself; he was
made to speak. Yes, he was made to speak by the Creator of the universe. He received
instruction from his Pre-Eternal Master, then he taught. For the universe's Creator
showed through the thousands of proofs of his prophethood, in part described in the
above Signs, through all those miracles He created through his hand, that he was not
speaking on his own account, but conveying His speech. Furthermore, the Qur'an that
came to him shows through its forty aspects of miraculousness, outer and inner, that
he was Almighty God's interpreter. Also, through all

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his sincerity, fear of God, seriousness, reliability, and all his other qualities and
conduct, he showed that he was not speaking his own ideas in his own name, but was
speaking in the name of his Creator. In addition, all those who penetrate to reality
who heed him have affirmed him with the truths they have investigated and laid open;
they have believed with knowledge of certainty (ilmelyakin) that he was not speaking
on his own behalf, but that the Creator of the universe was causing him to speak and
teaching, teaching by means of him. In which case, his veracity and truthfulness are
supported by the consensus of these four powerful principles.

Fifth Principle: And that Interpreter of Pre-Eternal Speech saw spirit beings,
conversed with angels, and offered guidance to men and jinn. He received knowledge
surpassing the world of men and jinn, and even the worlds of spirits and the angels; he
had access to, and relationships with, the realms that lie beyond theirs. The miracles
mentioned previously and the story of his life, which have the authenticity of
consensus, all prove this fact. In which case, unlike soothsayers and others who give
news of the Unseen, no jinn, no spirit being, no angel, and apart from Gabriel, not
even the highest angels in attendance on God Almighty, could interfere in the tidings
he gave. And on some occasions, he even left Gabriel, his companion, behind.

Sixth Principle: And that person, the lord of the angels, jinn, and men, was the
most illumined and perfect fruit of the tree of the universe, and the personification of
divine mercy, and the exemplar of dominical love, and the most luminous proof of the
Truth, and the most radiant lamp of reality, and the key to the talisman of the
universe, and the solver of the riddle of creation, and the expounder of the wisdom of
the world, and the herald of divine sovereignty, and the describer of the beauties of
dominical art, and in regard to the comprehensiveness of his disposition, he was the
most complete example of the perfections of beings. In which case, these attributes of
his and his spiritual personality indicate, indeed, show that this being was the ultimate
cause of the universe's existence; that is to say, the universe's Creator looked to this
being and created the universe. It may be said that if He had not created him, He
would not have created the universe. Yes, the truths of the Qur'an and lights of belief
he brought to men and jinn, and the elevated virtues and exalted perfections apparent
in his being are a decisive witness to this fact.

Seventh Principle: And that proof of the Truth and lamp of reality demonstrated
a religion and Shari'a that comprise principles ensuring the happiness of this world
and the next. Moreover, besides being comprehensive, they explain with complete
correctness the universe's truths and functions,

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and the Creator of the universe's names and attributes. Thus, Islam and the Shari'a are
so comprehensive and perfect, and describe the universe and Himself in such a way,
that anyone who studies them carefully is bound to understand that his religion is a
declaration, a manifesto, describing both the One who made this beautiful universe,
and the universe itself. In the same way that a palace's builder writes an instruction
sheet suitable to the palace so that he may describe himself through its features, the
religion and Shari'a of Muhammad (UWBP) demonstrate through their clear
elevatedness, comprehensiveness, and truth that his religion proceeded from the pen
of the One who creates and regulates the universe. Whoever ordered the universe so
well is the One who ordered this religion equally well. Yes, the perfect order of the
one requires the perfect order of the other.

Eighth Principle: Thus qualified by the above-mentioned attributes and sustained
by totally unshakeable, powerful supports, Muhammad the Arabian (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) proclaimed his message over the heads of men and jinn in the
name of the World of the Unseen, turned to the Manifest World; he addressed the
peoples and nations waiting beyond the centuries of the future; he called out to all jinn
and men; he made all places and all times hear. Yes, we too hear!

Ninth Principle: His address is so elevated and powerful that all the centuries
heed it. Yes, all the centuries hear the echo of his voice.

Tenth Principle: It is apparent from that person's (UWBP) manner that he saw,
and spoke accordingly. For at times of greatest peril, he spoke unhesitatingly,
fearlessly, with utter steadfastness. On occasion he challenged the whole world on his
own.

Eleventh Principle: With all his strength he made so powerful a call and
summons that he caused half the earth and a fifth of mankind to respond to his voice,
declaring: "Yes, we have heard and we obey!"

Twelfth Principle: He called with such seriousness and instructed so
fundamentally that he inscribed his principles on the face of the centuries and on the
very stones of all corners of the world; he engraved them on the face of time.

Thirteenth Principle: He proclaimed the soundness of the injunctions he
conveyed with such confidence and sureness, that should the whole world have
gathered, they could not have made him revoke or abjure a single of those precepts.
Witness to this are all his life and his illustrious biography.

Fourteenth Principle: He called and summoned with such confidence and trust
that he became obliged to no one and no difficulty upset him; with complete sincerity
and honesty, he accepted before anyone the

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precepts he had brought, and acted accordingly, and proclaimed them. Witness to this
were his famous asceticism and independence and his never stooping to the
ephemeral glitter of this world, which were well-known by everyone, friend and foe.

Fifteenth Principle: His obedience to the religion he brought, and his worship of
his Maker, and his abstaining from whatever was forbidden, all of which he
performed to a greater degree than everyone else, demonstrate conclusively that he
was the envoy and herald of the Monarch of Pre-Eternity and Post-Eternity; he was
the most sincere servant of the One who is worshipped by right, and the interpreter of
His pre-eternal word.

The conclusion of these fifteen Principles is this: the one qualified by the above-
mentioned attributes proclaimed divine unity with all his strength repeatedly and
constantly throughout his life, saying: "So know that there is no god but God."

O God, grant him blessings and peace to the number of good deeds of his
community, and to his Family.

Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught
us; indeed You are All-Knowing, All-Wise. ! '(2:32)

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A Divine Gift
And a Mark of Dominical Favour

In the hope of complying with the meaning of the verse, "But the favour of your
Sustainer, rehearse and proclaim,"(93 : 1 1 ) I shall mention a mark of Almighty God's
favour and mercy that was apparent in the writing of this treatise, so that those who
read it may understand its importance.

I had no intention of writing this treatise, for the Nineteenth and Thirty-First
Words about the messengership of Muhammad (UWBP) had been written. Then
suddenly I felt a compelling impulse to write it. Also my power of memory had been
extinguished due to the calamities I had suffered. Moreover, in accordance with my
way, I had not taken the path of narrative, that is, "he said that," "it was said that," in
the works I had written. Furthermore, I had no books of Hadith or the Prophet's
(UWBP) biography available to me. Nevertheless, saying: "I place my trust in God," I
began. It was extremely successful and my memory assisted me in a way that
surpassed even that of the Old Said. Thirty to forty pages were written at speed every
two or three hours. Once fifteen pages were written in a single hour. It was mostly
narrated from such books as Bukhari, Muslim, Bayhaqi, Tirmidhi, al-Shifa' al-Sharif,
Abu Nu'aym, and Tabari. My heart was trembling, because if there had been any
error in relating them - since they are Hadiths - it would have been a sin. But it was
clear that divine favour was with us and there was need for the treatise. God willing,
what has been written is sound. If perhaps there are any errors in the wording of some
of the Hadiths or in the names of the narrators, I request that my brothers will look on
them tolerantly and correct them.

Said N u r s i

Ustad Said Nursi, our master, dictated and we wrote the first draft. He had no books with
him, nor did he refer to any. He would suddenly dictate at great speed, and we wrote. We
would write thirty, forty, and sometimes more, pages in two or three hours. We formed the
conviction that this ease was itself a wonder proceeding from the miracles of the Prophet
Muhammad (UWBP).

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The First Addendum

to The Miracles of Muhammad (UWBP)

[The Nineteenth Word about the Messengership of Muhammad (UWBP) and
the Miracle of the Splitting of the Moon have been included here because of
their relevance]

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

This Word consists of fourteen "Droplets," and is also the Fourteenth Flash

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 Lesson of the Arabic 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. And the other 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, articulate, proof, and must listen to him.

Yes, behold the collective personality of this proof! The face of the earth is his
mosque, Mecca, his mihrab, and Medina, his pulpit. Our Prophet (Upon whom be
blessings and peace), this clear proof, is the leader of all believers, preacher to all
mankind, the chief of all the prophets, the lord of all the saints, and the leader of a
circle for the remembrance of God comprising 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 wonder-working confirm and corroborate. For he declares and claims: "There is
no god but God!" All on left and right, that is, those

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luminous reciters of God's names lined up in the past and the future, repeat the same
words, and through their consensus as though declare: "You speak the truth and what
you say is right!" What false idea has the power to intrude on a claim that 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 was he confirmed and corroborated by hundreds of
allusions in such revealed scriptures as the Torah and Bible. ' So too, the thousands of
signs that appeared before the beginning of his mission, and the well-known tidings of
the voices from the Unseen and the unanimous testimony of the soothsayers, the
indications of the thousands of his miracles such as the Splitting of the Moon, and the
justice of Shari'a, all confirmed and corroborated him. Similarly, in his person, his
laudable morals, which were at the peak 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 - these
all showed 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 obscure riddle 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 awesomely difficult questions that are asked of all
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

1 In his Risale-i Hamidiye, Husain Jisri found one hundred and fourteen indications in those scriptures.
If this many remained after the texts had been corrupted, there must surely have been many explicit
mentions previously.

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be 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 all become 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.

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, while the world itself
becomes a book of the Eternally Besought One's wisdom. Man's boundless weakness
and impotence make him inferior to all other animals and his intelligence, an
instrument of grief, sorrow, and sadness, makes him more wretched, yet when he is
illumined with that light, he rises above all animals and all creatures. Through
entreaty, his illuminated impotence, poverty, and intelligence make him a petted
monarch; due to his complaints, he becomes a spoiled vicegerent of the earth. That is
to say, if it were 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 it and the firmament would not be in existence.

Sixth Droplet

That person (UWBP) 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 messengership, 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 lit up east and west like dazzling lightning! Half
the earth and a fifth of mankind have accepted the

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gift of his guidance and preserved it like life itself. So how is it that our evil-
commanding souls and satans do not accept with all its degrees, the basis of all such a
person (UWBP) claimed, that is, "There is no god but God?"

Seventh Droplet

Now, consider how, eradicating in no time at all their evil, savage customs and
habits to which they were fanatically attached, he decked out the various wild,
unyielding peoples of that broad peninsula with the finest virtues, and made them
teachers of all the world and masters to the civilized nations. See, it was not just 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 be
eradicated permanently only by a powerful ruler with great effort. But look! This
person (UWBP) eliminated 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 (UWBP). Let them each take a
hundred philosophers, go there, and strive for a hundred years: would they 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 fearlessly without displaying anxiety or disquiet enough to inform
the enemies at his side of his deception. Now look at that person (UWBP); 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

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enemies? Is it at all possible that any trickery should have been involved? God forbid!
"It is naught but Revelation inspired." {53:4) 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 be truth to one who sees 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, if it were to be said to
you: "Hand over half of your life and property, and someone will come from the
moon and Jupiter and tell you all about them. He will also tell you the truth about
your future and what will happen to you." You would be sure to give them if you
have any curiosity at all. Whereas that person (UWBP) tells of a Monarch in whose
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 of his guest-
houses out of thousands.

Also, he speaks truly of a world so wondrous and a revolution so tremendous that
if the earth were a bomb and exploded it would not be all that strange. Look! Listen to
some of the Suras he is reciting: "When the sun is folded up."{%\:\) * "When the sky
is cleft asunder." (81:2) * "[The Day] of Noise and Clamour." '(101:1)

Also, he speaks truly of a future in comparison with which the future in this
world is a tiny mirage. And he describes most earnestly such happiness that it
resembles an eternal sun in comparison with the fleeting lightning-flash of happiness
in this world.

Eleventh Droplet

Surely wonders await us beneath the outer veil of the universe, which is thus
strange and perplexing. So one thus wonderful and extraordinary, a displayer of
marvels, is necessary to tell of its wonders. It is apparent from that person's conduct
that he has seen them, and sees them, and says that he has seen them. 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. Everyone, therefore, should leave
everything and hasten to this person and heed the numerous other necessary and
curiosity-arousing truths like these that he teaches. So how is it that most people are
deaf and blind, and mad even, that they do not see this truth, and not listen to it and
understand it?

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Twelfth Droplet

Just as this person (UWBP) is an articulate proof and evidence as true as the unity
of the Creator of beings; so he is a decisive proof and clear evidence for the
resurrection of the dead and eternal happiness. Indeed, 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 reason for
its creation. We repeat here this mystery, which is mentioned in the Tenth Word,
because of its relevance (lit. station.)

See! This Person (UWBP) prays with a prayer so supreme it is as if the Arabian
Peninsula and the earth too perform the prayers through his majestic prayer, and offer
entreaties. See, he entreats in a congregation so vast it is as if all the luminous,
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 those of
the heavens, and all beings, join in his prayer, declaring: "Yes! O our Sustainer! Grant
it to us! We too want it!" He supplicates with such want, so sorrowfully, in such a
loving, yearning, and beseeching fashion 2 that he brings the whole cosmos to tears,
making them join in his prayer.

See! The purpose and aim of his prayer is such 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. See! He seeks and pleads for help and mercy in a manner so elevated
and sweet, 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 obscure
living being and its entreaties, accepts them, and has mercy on it. For He gives what is
asked for, if only through the tongue of disposition. And He gives it in so Wise,
Seeing, and Compassionate a form that it leaves no doubt that His nurturing and
regulation is particular to Him, the All-Hearing and All-Seeing One, the Most
Generous and Most Compassionate One.

2 Tirmidhi, Da'awat, 30.

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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 hands, 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
Person's (UWBP) prayers would have been sufficient for the construction of Paradise,
the creation of which is as easy for divine power as the creation of the spring. Yes,
just as his messengership was the reason for the opening of this place of examination
and trial, so his worship and servitude of God were 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 better than
what exists," 3 and 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 or understanding them, and not carrying them out? God forbid! A hundred
thousand times, God forbid! Such a beauty would not permit such ugliness; it would
not become ugly!

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 comprehend
completely only one hundredth of the marvels of that Person' s (UWBP) duties and the
wonders 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'i, Abu Bayazid Bistami, Shaikh 'Abd al-Qadir Gilani, Shah Naqshband, Imam
Ghazali and Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi. But postponing the details of our observations to
another time, we must recite some benedictions for that displayer of miracles and
bringer of guidance, which mention a number of his certain miracles:

3 Imam Gazali, Ihydu Ulumi'd-Din (Turk, trans.), iv, 258; Ibn 'Arabi, al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya, i, 53; iv,
154.

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Endless peace and blessings be upon our master Muhammad, 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 messengerhood 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 Muhammad! 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 Kawthar;
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,
Muhammad! 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 Muhammad's (UWBP) prophethood
which I have here indicated briefly, in a Turkish treatise called Suadt-i
Mdrifeti'n-Nebi and in the Nineteenth Letter (The Miracles of Muhammad).
There too aspects of the All- Wise Qur'an's miraculous ness have been
mentioned briefly. Again, in a Turkish treatise called Lemeat 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. Of those forty aspects, only the eloquence in
the word-order I have written in forty pages in an Arabic commentary called
Signs of Miraculousness (Isharat al-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 Muhammad (UWBP) together with divine unity so decisively that it
leaves no need for further proof. We shall therefore give its definition and indicate
one or two flashes of its miraculousness which have been the cause of criticism.

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The All- Wise Qur'an, which makes known to us our Sustainer, is as follows: 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 the lines of events; the treasury of the Most
Merciful' s favours and of the pre-eternal addresses, which issue 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, and 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 of prayer, and 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, not everyone is
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 the longer
Suras, each is like a small Qur'an. That is to say, so that no one should be deprived,
its purposes such as divine unity, the resurrection of the dead, and the story of Moses
have been repeated. Also, like bodily needs, spiritual needs are various. Man is in
need of some things 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. This
means the repetition of verses arises from the repetition of need. It makes the
repetition in order to point out the need and awaken and excite it, and to arouse desire
and appetite.

Moreover, the Qur'an is a founder; it is the basis of the Clear Religion and the
foundation of the world of Islam. It transformed human society, and is the answer to
the repeated questions of its various classes. Repetition is necessary for a founder in
order to establish things. It is necessary to corroborate them. Confirmation and
repetition are necessary to strengthen them.

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Furthermore, it speaks of such mighty matters and minute truths that numerous
repetitions are necessary in different forms to establish them in the hearts of everyone.
However, they are only apparently repetitions, for each verse has numerous meanings,
numerous benefits, and many aspects and levels. Each place a verse is found, it is
mentioned for a different meaning, benefit, and purpose.

Also, the Qur'an's being unspecific and concise in certain cosmic matters is a
flash of miraculousness, for the purpose of guidance. It is not a cause of criticism, nor
a fault, as 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? Why does it leave some matters in concise form, and
speak of others simply and superficially so as to facilitate general understanding, and
not wound people's feelings or weary and tax the minds of ordinary people?"

By way of answer we say: Philosophy has strayed from the path of truth, that's
why. Also, of course you have understood from the previous 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 scientists in particular. 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 generally. 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; in a way that brings subtle things close with comparisons, and 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." This
is because it does not speak of the sun for itself and its nature, but because it is a sort
of mainspring of an order and centre of a system, and order and systems are mirrors of
the Maker's skill. It says:

The sun runs its course .(36:38)

that is, the sun revolves. Through calling to mind the orderly disposals of divine
power in the revolutions of winter and summer, and day and night with the phrase,
"The sun revolves," it makes known the Maker's tremendousness. Thus, whatever the
reality of this revolving, it does not

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affect the order, which is woven and observed, and which is the purpose. It also says,

And set the sun as a lamp .(" '1:16)

Here, by depicting with the word "lamp" the world in the form of a palace, and the
things within it as decorations, necessities, and provisions prepared for man and living
beings, and the sun as a subjugated candleholder, it makes known the Creator's mercy
and bestowal. Now look and see what this foolish, 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."
Apart from a terrible dread and fearful wonder, philosophy imparts to the spirit no
knowledge that will perfect it. 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 miraculous expositions of the Qur'an!

[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 the All- Wise Qur'an's miraculousness.
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.]

O God! Make the Qur'an healing for us, the writer of this and his peers, for
all our ills, and a companion to us 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 all his
Family and Companions. Amen. Amen.

The Eternal One, He is the Eternal One!

S aid N u r s i

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About the Miracle of the
Splitting of the Moon

[Addendum to the Nineteenth and Thirty-First Words]

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

The Hour is nigh, and the moon is split. * But if they see a sign, they turn

away, and say: "This is evident magic. "(54:1-2)

Philosophers and their unreasoning imitators, who want to eclipse with their
vicious delusions the Splitting of the Moon, which is a miracle of Muhammad
(UWBP) that shines like the moon, say: "If the Splitting of the Moon had occurred, it
would have been known to the whole world and would have been related throughout
the subsequent history of man."

The Answer: Since the Splitting of the Moon was demonstrated as an
evidence of prophethood, and happened instantaneously at night when people were
asleep, and before a gathering who, although they witnessed such an evidence, denied
it; and since there were obstacles hindering the sighting of it such as mist, clouds, and
time-differences between different parts of the world; and since at that time science
and civilization were not widespread, and observation of the skies was very limited,
and the event itself was exceptional, there was, therefore, nothing to necessitate that it
should have been seen all over the world and been recorded in the general histories. 1
For now, listen to five points out of many that will scatter those clouds of delusion
concerning the Splitting of the Moon.

First Point: The extreme stubbornness of the unbelievers there at that time
is well-known and is recorded in history. And yet, when the All- Wise Qur'an
announced this event to the whole world through saying: "And the moon is
split,"(54:l) not one of those unbelievers, who denied the Qur'an, spoke up to give
the lie to this verse; that is, not one of them denied the event it was announcing. If the
event had not been considered a

1 See, al-Nawawi, Shark al-Sahih Muslim, xvii, 143; Ibn Qutayba, Ta'wil Mukhtalif al-Hadith, i, 21-5.

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definite fact by the unbelievers, they would have made the verse a pretext, denied it
strenuously, and tried to attack and nullify Muhammad's (UWBP) claim to
prophethood. However, the biographies of the Prophet (UWBP) and histories
mentioning the event relate nothing to suggest that the unbelievers denied it. The only
thing that history relates is, as the verse "And [they] say, 'This is evident
magic'"(54:2) points out, the unbelievers who saw the event declared it to be magic,
and said that if the caravans in other places had seen it, it was true, otherwise he had
bewitched them. The caravans arriving the following morning from the Yemen and
other places announced that they had seen such a happening. So the unbelievers said
of the Pride of All the Worlds (UWBP) that, God forbid, the magic of Abu Talib's
orphan had affected the heavens. 2

Second Point: The majority of the most illustrious scholars, like Sa'd al-
din Taftazani, declared that like the Prophet (UWBP) had satisfied the thirst of a
whole army with water flowing from his fingers, and the whole congregation had
heard a dry wooden post against which he had leant while delivering the sermon weep
on being separated from him, the Splitting of the Moon had been transmitted by
numerous authorities. 3 That is to say, these events had been passed down from group
to group forming such a vast congregation that a conspiracy to lie would have been
impossible. Like the appearance of the famous Haley's Comet a thousand years ago
had been unanimously reported, and the existence of the island of Ceylon was certain
because of the unanimous reports concerning it, although we had not seen it.

It is therefore unreasonable to foster baseless doubts about such certain,
witnessed matters. It is enough that they are not impossible. And as for the Splitting
of the Moon, it is quite as possible as a mountain' s splitting with a volcanic eruption.

Third Point: Miracles are for proving claims to prophethood and for
convincing those who deny such claims, they are not for compelling people to
believe. They have therefore to be shown to those who hear such claims to an extent
that will persuade them. It would be contrary to the All- Wise and Glorious One's
wisdom to display them all over the world or in so self-evident a manner that
everyone would be compelled to believe. It

2 Tirmidhi, Tafsir al-Qur'an, 54; Musnad, iii, 165; al-Tabari, Jami' al-Bayan, xxvii, 84-5; al-Qurtubi,
al-Jami' li-Ahkam al-Qur'an, xvii, 126; al-Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, ii, 268.

3 al-Iji, Kitab al-Mawaqif, iii, 405-6; al-Amidi, Ghayat al-Maram, i, 365; Ibn Taymiya, al-Jawab al-
Sahih, i, 414; ii, 44; al-Shahristani, al-Farq bayn al-Firaq, i, 313; al-Taftazani, Sharh al-Maqasid, v,
17.

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would also be contrary to the mystery of man's accountability. For this requires
"opening the door to the reason without cancelling the power of choice." If the All-
Wise Creator had left the moon split apart for a couple of hours so as to show it to the
whole world as the philosophers wished, and it had been recorded in all the general
histories of mankind, then it would have been like all other occurrences in the heavens
and would not have been an evidence for Muhammad's (UWBP) claim to
prophethood, nor been special to it. Or else it would have been so self-evident a
miracle that it would have annulled the reason' s power to choose, and compelled it to
accept it; it would have had to assent to his prophethood. People with coal-like spirits
like Abu Jahl would have remained on the same level as people with diamond-like
spirits like Abu Bakr the Veracious; the mystery of man's accountability would have
been lost. It was due to this mystery that, being both instantaneous, and at nighttime,
and at a time of sleep; and due to time differences, mist, and cloud and other factors
concealing it, it was not shown to the whole world and did not pass into the histories.

Fourth Point: Since this event occurred instantaneously at night while
everyone was sleeping, of course it was not seen all over the world. Even if some
people had seen it, they would not have believed their eyes. And if it had made them
believe, such a significant event would not have become lasting material for future
histories due to isolated individual reports.

In some books it is written that after the moon split into two halves, it fell to
earth, but veracious scholars have rejected such additions, saying that they were
perhaps added by dissemblers with the intention of disparaging this evident miracle,
and depreciating it. 4

Also, in England and Spain, which were then enveloped in mists of ignorance,
the time it occurred would have been just after sunset, in America it would have been
daytime, and in China and Japan, morning. Elsewhere there would have been other
obstacles preventing it from being seen. Now consider those unreasoning objectors
who say that the histories of peoples like the English, Chinese, Japanese, and
Americans do not mention it, and that therefore it did not occur. A thousand curses be
on the heads of those who toady to Europe and repeat such things.

Fifth Point: The Splitting of the Moon happened neither of its own accord
due to certain causes, nor as a result of chance, nor was it a natural event that occurred
through the ordinary laws of nature. It was rather

80; Darwish al-H\t, Athna' al-Matalib, i, 378, 1606; al-Madani, Tahdhir
al-Muslimin, i, 163; 'AH al-Qari, al-Asrar al-Marfu'a, 398.

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something out of the ordinary which the All-Wise Creator of the sun and the moon
caused to happen in order to confirm His Messenger's messengership and to
illuminate his claim.

As required by the mysteries of guidance and human responsibility and the
wisdom of prophethood, it was shown as a convincing proof to a number of people
specified by dominical wisdom. The mystery of wisdom required that it was not
shown to people in every region of the world, who had not yet heard of Muhammad's
(UWBP) claim to prophethood. Numerous obstacles prevented them, therefore, such
as mist, cloud, and time-differences, and the fact that in some countries the moon had
not risen, and in others the sun had risen, while in others it was morning, and in yet
others the sun had just set.

If it had been shown to all and sundry, it would have been shown as a sign of
Muhammad (UWBP) and a miracle of his prophethood, in which case his
messengership would have been so obvious that everyone would have been compelled
to affirm it. Human reason and will would have been cancelled, and belief is attained
through the faculties of reason and will. Human responsibility and accountability
would have been nullified. If it had been shown merely as an occurrence in the
heavens, its connection with Muhammad's (UWBP) messengership would have been
cut, and there would have been nothing about it that pertained to him.

To Conclude: No doubt remains concerning the possibility of the Splitting of
the Moon; it has been proved decisively. Now we shall mention six 5 of the many
evidences pointing to its occurrence.

The concurrence of the Prophet's (UWBP) Companions, who were all men of
justice, on its occurrence. 6

The agreement of all exacting commentators on the Qur' an in their explanations
of the verse, "And the moon is split."

The fact that, relying on numerous different chains of authorities and lines of
transmission, all the scholars of the prophetic traditions and transmitters of the sound
narrations narrated the event. 7

That is to say, there are six proofs concerning the event in the form of a sixfold consensus.
Unfortunately, the explanation of them is brief and they deserve more.

6 See, al-Wahidi, al-Wajizfi Tafsir al-Kitab al- 'Aziz, i, 370; al-Tabari, Jami' al-Bayan, 2784-7; al-
Qurtubi, al-Jami' li-Ahkam al-Qur'an, xvii, 126-7; al-Suyuti, al-Durr al-Manthur, vii, 672.

7 Line of 'Abdullah b. Mas'ud: Bukhari, Tafsir,(54:)l; Muslim, Sifat al-Munafiqin, 44-5; Tirmidhi,
Tafsir, 54. Line of 'Abdullah b. 'Umar: Muslim, Sifat al-Munafiqin,45, 48; Tirmidhi, Tafsir, 54:1. Line
of 'Abdullah b. 'Abbas: Bukhari, Manaqib, 27; Manaqib al-Ansar, 36; Tafsir (54:)1; Muslim, Sifat al-
Munafiqin, 48. Line of Anas b. Malik: Bukhari, Manaqib, 27; Manaqib al-Ansar, 36; Tafsir (54:) 1;
Muslim, Sifat al-Munafiqin,48; Tirmidhi, Tafsir Sura 54. Line of Khuzayfa ibn al-Yaman: al-Tabari,
Jami' al-Bayan, xxvii, 51; 'Abd al-Razzaq, al-Musannaf, iii, 193-4; Abu Nu'aym, Hilyat al-Awliya', i,
280-1. Line of Jubayr b. Mut'im: Tirmidhi, Tafsir Sura 54; Musnad, iv, 82; Ibn Hibban, al-Sahih, xiv,
422.

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The testimony of all the saints and the veracious, those who receive inspiration,
and uncover the mysteries of the creation.

The confirmation of learned scholars and theologians, whose ways differ greatly
from one another.

The fact that Muhammad's (UWBP) Community accepted its occurrence, which,
on an established principle, never agrees upon error. 8

These six evidences prove the Splitting of the Moon as clearly as the sun.

Conclusion

Up to here this Addendum has aimed to establish the truth and to silence those
enemies who deny it. The following sentences speak in the name of the truth and for
the sake of belief. In the former, establishing the truth spoke; now the truth speaks:

The Seal of the Office of Prophethood, who was the luminous moon of the
heavens of messengership, proved his sainthood through his Ascension. It was his
greatest wonder and the supreme miracle of sainthood, achieved through his worship,
which was so elevated as to make him God's beloved. That is to say, by travelling
with his earthly body through the heavens, his superiority and his being God's
beloved were demonstrated to the dwellers of the heavens and inhabitants of the lofty
worlds. So too, through the moon, which is bound to the earth and suspended in the
heavens, being split into two halves at the sign of an earth dweller, it displayed a
miracle to the other inhabitants of the earth, which indicated the former's
messengership. Thus, the person of Muhammad (UWBP) flew to the peak of
perfections on the two luminous wings of messengership and sainthood - like the two
luminous unfolded wings of the moon; he ascended to the distance of two bow-
lengths; he became the cause of pride of the dwellers of both the heavens and the
earth.

Upon him and upon his Family be blessings and peace such as will fill the
earth and the heavens.

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

Abu Da'ud, Fitan wa Malahim, 1; Tirmidhi, Fitan, 7; Ibn Maja, Fitan, 7.

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The Third Addendum
to The Miracles of Muhammad (uwbp)

[This is about the Messengership of Muhammad (UWBP) and is the answer,
in concise index-like form, to the first of the three questions and difficulties
in the Third Principle of the Thirty-First Word, about his Ascension.]

Question: Why is this mighty Ascension special to Muhammad the Arabian
(Upon whom be blessings and peace)?

The An s w e rto your first difficulty: It has been analysed in detail in the first
thirty Words, so here we shall set out a concise list briefly alluding to the perfections
of Muhammad (UWBP), to the signs of his prophethood, and to the fact that he was
the most worthy to make the Ascension. It is as follows.

Firstly: Despite numerous corruptions in the texts of such Holy Scriptures as the
Torah, Gospels, and Psalms, in recent times even, an exacting scholar like Husain
Jisri found one hundred and fourteen allusions to Muhammad's (UWBP)
prophethood; these good tidings he set forth in his Risale-i Hamidiye. 1

Secondly: It has been proved historically that there were many predictions
accurately forecasting Muhammad's (UWBP) prophethood, like those of the two
soothsayers Shiqq and Satih, which, a while previously to it, gave news of it and the
fact that he was to be the prophet of the end of time. 2

Thirdly: There were hundreds of extraordinary happenings, famous in history,
called irhasat, that is, signs forewarning men of a coming prophet. Among them were
the idols in the Ka'ba falling from their places on the night of Muhammad's (UWBP)
birth, 3 and the famous palace of Chosroes the Persian being rent asunder. 4

Fourthly: History and the Prophet's (UWBP) biographies show that he

1 Husain Jisri, Risale-i Hamidiye (Turk, trans.), 52-94.

2 Ibn Hisham, al-Sirat al-Nabawiyya, i, 124-7, 158, 190, 192; al-Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, i, 126-
30; Abu Nu'aym, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, i, 122-8.

3 al-Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, i, 19; al-Suyuti, al-Khasa'is al-Kubra, i, 81.

4 al-Bayhaqi, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, i, 19, 126; Abu Nu'aym, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, i, 139.

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satisfied the thirst of an army with water flowing from his fingers, 5 that in the
presence of a large congregation in the mosque, the dry wooden support against
which he (UWBP) used to lean moaned like a camel and wept on being separated
from him when he mounted the pulpit, 6 and that he was distinguished by close on a
thousand miracles attested to by such verses of the Qur'an as, "And the moon
split,"(54:l) referring to the splitting of the moon, 7 and verified by those who
investigated them.

Fifthly: Anyone who considers the facts and is fair and just cannot hesitate to
agree that, as is unanimously agreed by friend and foe alike, good moral qualities
were to be found at the highest degree in his person, and that, in accordance with the
testimony of all his dealings and actions, attributes and character of the loftiest
excellence were apparent in the way he performed his duties and proclaimed Islam.
And in accordance with the fine qualities and conduct enjoined by the religion of
Islam, laudable virtues of the highest order were to be found in the law he brought.

Sixthly: As is alluded to in the Second Indication of the Tenth Word, it is a
requirement of wisdom that the Godhead be manifested. And this desire to be
manifested is met at the widest level and in the most brilliant fashion by the
comprehensive worship performed by Muhammad (UWBP) in the practice of his
religion. Also, wisdom and truth require that the Creator of the world displays His
beauty in its utter perfection through some means. And the one who met that wish,
and displayed and described the Creator' s beauty in the most perfect fashion was self-
evidently the person of Muhammad (UWBP).

It was also clearly Muhammad (UWBP) who, in response to the desire of the
world's Maker to exhibit His perfect art and infinite beauty and attract attentive gazes
towards them, heralded them with the loudest voice.

Again it was necessarily Muhammad (UWBP) who, in response to the desire of
the Sustainer of All the Worlds to proclaim His unity in the levels of multiplicity,
announced all the degrees of unity, each at its highest level.

And, as is indicated by the utter beauty of beings and is required by truth and
wisdom, the world's Owner desires to see His infinite essential beauty and the subtle
qualities of His exquisiteness and to display them in mirrors. Again it was self-
evidently Muhammad (UWBP) who in response to that desire acted as a mirror and
displayed that beauty most radiantly, and loved it and made others love it.

5 Bukhari, Wudu', 32, 46; Manaqib, 25; Ashriba, 31; Muslim, Zuhd, 74; Fada'il, 4-6; Tirmidhi,

Manaqib, 6.
Bukhari, }
7 .Bukhari, Manaqib, 27; Manaqib al-Ansar, 36; Tafsir, 54:1; Muslim, Sifat al-Munafiqin, 43-

6 Bukhari, Manaqib, 25; Jum'a, 26; Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 6; Jum A a, 10; Nasa'i, 17.

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And, in response to the desire of the Maker of the palace of this world to exhibit
His hidden treasuries, filled as they are with wondrous miracles and priceless jewels,
and through them to describe and make known His perfections, it was again self-
evidently Muhammad (UWBP) who exhibited, described, and displayed them in the
most comprehensively.

And, since the Maker of the universe adorns it with various wonders and
embellishments and has included conscious creatures in it so that they might make
tours and excursions and ponder over it and take lessons, wisdom requires that He
should desire to make known the meanings and value of those works of art to those
who will observe and ponder over them. And it was again self-evidently Muhammad
(UWBP) who, in response to this desire of the universe's Maker, by means of the All-
Wise Qur'an, acted as guide in the most comprehensive fashion to jinn and man, and
to spirit beings and angels.

Also, the All-Wise Ruler of the universe wishes, by means of an envoy, to cause
conscious beings to unravel the obscure talisman containing the aim and purpose of
the change and transformations in the universe and to solve the riddle of the three
perplexing questions: "Where do beings come from?", "Where are they going?", and
"What are they?" And again it was self-evidently Muhammad (UWBP) who in
response to this wish of the All- Wise Ruler unravelled the talisman and solved the
riddle by means of the truths of the Qur'an, in the clearest and most comprehensive
fashion.

Also, the All-Glorious Maker of the universe desires to make Himself known to
conscious beings by means of His fine artefacts and to make them love Him through
all His precious bounties, and, most certainly, to make known to them by means of an
envoy the divine wishes and what will please Him in return for those bounties. And
again it was self-evidently Muhammad (UWBP) who, in response to this desire of the
All-Glorious Maker, by means of the Qur'an, expounded those wishes and things that
please Him by word and deed in the most exalted and perfect fashion.

Also, since the Sustainer of All the Worlds has given to man, who is the fruit of
the universe, a comprehensive disposition which encompasses the universe and has
prepared him for universal worship; and since, because of man's faculties and senses,
multiplicity and the world afflict him; the Sustainer desires to turn his face from
multiplicity to unity, from transience to permanence. And again it was self-evidently
Muhammad (UWBP) who, in response to this desire, by means of the Qur'an, acted
as guide in the most comprehensive and complete fashion, and in the best way, and
carried out the duty of prophethood in the most perfect manner.

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Thus, among beings the most superior are animate beings, and among animate
beings the most superior are conscious beings, and among conscious beings the most
superior are true human beings, and among true human beings the one who carried
out the above-mentioned duties at the most comprehensive level and in the most
perfect form, would of a certainty rise through an all-embracing Ascension to "the
distance of two bow-lengths," knock at the door of eternal happiness, open the
treasury of mercy, and see the hidden truths of belief. Again it would be him.

Seventhly: As is plain to see, beings are made beautiful with the very finest
embellishment. This demonstrates that their Maker possesses a powerful will to make
beautiful and intention to adorn. And this shows that the Maker necessarily possesses
a strong desire and holy love towards His art. And among beings it was again most
certainly he who displayed altogether in himself the most comprehensive and subtle
wonders of art, and knew them and made them known and himself loved, and who
appreciated the beauties to be found in other beings, declaring: "What wonders God
has willed!", and was most beloved in the sight of his Maker, who nurtures and loves
His art.

Thus, it was again self-evidently he (UWBP) who, declaring: "All glory be to
God! What wonders God has willed! God is most Great!" in the face of the exquisite
qualities that gild beings and the subtle perfections that illuminate them, causes the
heavens to ring out, and who, through the strains of the Qur'an, causes the universe to
reverberate, and through his admiration and appreciation, his contemplation and
display, his mentioning of the divine names and affirmation of divine unity, brings
land and sea to a state of ecstasy.

Thus, in accordance with the saying "the cause is like the doer," 8 it is pure truth
and sheer wisdom that the one on whose scales shall be found the equivalent of all the
good deeds performed by his community, and whose spiritual perfections draw
strength from the benedictions of all his community, 9 and who, as a result of the
duties he discharged in his prophethood, received immaterial recompense and
boundless emanations of divine mercy and love, should advance by the stairway of
the Ascension as far as Paradise, "the Lote-tree of the farthest limit," the divine
throne, and "the distance of two bow-lengths. "(53: 1-18)

This resembles the Hadith "Whoever points out an instance of good [to someone] will receive the
same recompense as the one who performs it." See, Tirmidhi, 'Ilm, 14; Musnad, v, 357; Abu Hanifa,
al-Musnad, i, 151.
9 See, Qur'an, 33:56; Bukhari, Adhan, 8; Tafsir (17:)11: Muslim, Salat, 14; Abu Da'ud, Salat, 37.

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The Fourth Addendum
to The Miracles of Muhammad (uwbp)

[The Sixteenth Degree, on the Messengership of Muhammad
(UWBP), from The Supreme Sign.]

Then that traveller through the world addressed his own intellect saying: "Since I
am seeking my Master and Creator by means of the creatures of the cosmos, I ought
before all else to visit the most celebrated of all these creatures, the greatest and most
accomplished commander among them, according to the testimony even of his
enemies, the most renowned ruler, the most exalted in speech and the most brilliant an
intellect, who has illuminated fourteen centuries with his excellence and with his
Qur'an, Muhammad the Arabian Prophet (May God's peace and blessings be upon
him)." In order thus to visit him and seek from him the answer to his quest, he entered
the blessed age of the Prophet (UWBP) in his mind, and saw that age to be one of true
felicity, thanks to that being. For through the light he had brought, he had turned the
most primitive and illiterate of peoples into the masters and teachers of the world.

He said too to his own intellect, "Before asking him concerning our Creator, we
should first learn the value of this extraordinary being, the veracity of his words and
the truthfulness of his warnings." Thus he began investigating, and of the numerous
conclusive proofs that he found we will briefly indicate here only nine of the most
general ones.

The First: All excellent qualities and characteristics were to be found in that
extraordinary being, according to the testimony even of his enemies. Hundreds of
miracles were made manifest at his hands, according to explicit Qur'anic verses or
traditions enjoying the status of tawatur. 1 Examples of these miracles are his splitting
of the moon, "And the moon split,"(54:l) with a single indication of his finger; his
casting of a handful of dust into the eyes of his enemies, causing them to flee, "It was
not your act

1 Tawatur is the kind of report that is transmitted by numerous authorities, about which there is
consensus, and no room for doubt. (Tr.)

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when you threw, but God's,"(8:17) and his giving his thirsting army to drink from the
water that flowed forth from his five fingers like the Spring of Kawthar. Since some
of those miracles, numbering more than three hundred, have been set forth with
decisive proofs in the remarkable and wondrous work known as The Miracles of
Muhammad (the Nineteenth Letter), we leave discussion of the miracles to that book,
and permit the traveller to continue speaking:

"A being who in addition to noble characteristics and perfections has all these
luminous miracles to demonstrate, must certainly be the most truthful in speech of all
men. It is inconceivable that he would stoop to trickery, lies and error, the deeds of
the vile."

The S e c o n d : He holds in his hand a decree from the Lord of the universe, a
decree accepted and affirmed in each century by more than three hundred million
people. This decree, the Qur'an of Mighty Stature, is wondrous in seven different
ways. The fact that the Qur'an has forty different aspects of miraculousnes and that it
is the word of the Creator of all beings has been set forth in detail with strong proofs
in the Twenty- Fifth Word, The Miraculousnes s of the Qur'an, a celebrated treatise
that is like the sun of the Risale-i Nur. We therefore leave such matters to that work
and listen to the traveller as he says, "There can never be any possibility of lying on
the part of the being who is the conveyor and proclaimer of this decree, for that would
be a violation of the decree and treachery toward the One who issued it."

The Third: Such a Sacred Law, an Islam, a code of worship, a cause, a
summons, and a faith did that being bring forth that the like of them does not exist,
nor could it exist. Nor does a more perfect form of them exist, nor could it exist. For
the Law appearing with that unlettered being has no rival in its administration of one
fifth of humanity for fourteen centuries, in a just and precise manner through its
numerous injunctions. Moreover the Islam that emerged from the deeds, sayings, and
inward states of that unlettered being has no peer, nor can it have, for in each century
it has been for three hundred million men a guide and a refuge, the teacher and
educator of their intellects and the illuminator and purifier of their hearts, the cause
for the refinement and training of their souls, and the source of progress and
advancement of their spirits.

The Prophet (UWBP) is similarly unparalleled in the way in which he was the
foremost in practising all the forms of worship found in his religion, and the first in
piety and the fear of God; in his observing the duties of worship fully and with
attention to their profoundest dimensions, even while engaged in constant struggle
and activity; in his practice of worship

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combining in perfect fashion the beginning and end of worship and servitude of God
without imitation of anyone.

With the Jaushan al-Kabir, from among his thousands of supplicatory prayers
and invocations, he describes his Sustainer with such a degree of gnosis that all the
gnostics and saints who have come after him have been unable, with their joint
efforts, to attain a similar degree of gnosis and accurate description. This shows that
in prayer too he is without peer. Whoever looks at the section at the beginning of the
Treatise on Supplicatory Prayer, which sets forth some part of the meaning of one of
the ninety-nine sections of the Jaushan al-Kabir, will say that the Jaushan too has no
peer.

In his conveying of the message and his summoning men to the truth, he
displayed such steadfastness, firmness and courage that although great states and
religions, and even his own people, tribe and uncle opposed him in the most hostile
fashion, he exhibited not the slightest trace of hesitation, anxiety or fear. The fact that
he successfully challenged the whole world and made Islam the master of the world
likewise proves that there is not and cannot be anyone like him in his conveying of
the message and summons.

In his faith, he had so extraordinary a strength, so marvellous a certainty, so
miraculous a breadth, and so exalted a conviction, illumining the whole world, that
none of the ideas and beliefs then dominating the world, and none of the philosophies
of the sages and teachings of the religious leaders, was able, despite extreme hostility
and denial, to induce in his certainty, conviction, trust and assurance, the slightest
doubt, hesitation, weakness or anxiety. Moreover, the saintly of all ages, headed by
the Companions, the foremost in the degrees of belief, have all drawn on his fountain
of belief and regarded him as representing the highest degree of faith. This proves that
his faith too is matchless. Our traveller therefore concluded, and affirmed with his
intellect, that lying and duplicity have no place in the one who has brought such a
unique sacred law, such an unparalleled Islam, such a wondrous devotion to worship,
such an extraordinary excellence in supplicatory prayer, such a universally acclaimed
summons to the truth and such a miraculous faith.

The F o u r t h : In the same way that the consensus of the prophets is a strong
proof for the existence and unity of God, so too it is a firm testimony to the
truthfulness and messengerhood of this being. For all the sacred attributes, miracles
and functions that indicate the truthfulness and messengerhood of the prophets (Upon
whom be peace) existed in full measure in that being according to the testimony of
history. The prophets have verbally predicted the coming of that being and given
good tidings

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thereof in the Torah, the Gospels, the Psalms, and other scriptures; more than twenty
of the most conclusive examples of these glad tidings, drawn from the scriptures, have
been set forth and proven in the Nineteenth Letter. Similarly, through all the deeds
and miracles associated with their prophethood they have affirmed and - as it were -
put their signature to the mission of that being which is the foremost and most perfect
in the tasks and functions of prophethood. Just as through verbal consensus they
indicate the divine unity, through the unanimity of their deeds they bear witness to the
truthfulness of that being. This too was understood by our traveller.

The Fifth: Similarly, the thousands of saints who have attained truth,
reality, perfection, wondrous deeds, unveiling and witnessing through the instruction
of this being and following him, bear unanimous witness not only to the divine unity
but also to the truthfulness and messengerhood of this being. Again, the fact that they
witness, through the light of sainthood, some of the truths he proclaimed concerning
the World of the Unseen, and that they believe in and affirm all of those truths
through the light of belief, either with 'knowledge of certainty,' or with the 'vision of
certainty,' or with 'absolute certainty.' He saw that this too demonstates like the sun
the degree of truthfulness and rectitude of that great being, their master.

The Sixth: The millions of purified, sincere, and punctilious scholars and
faithful sages, who have reached the highest station of learning through the teaching
and instruction contained in the sacred truths brought by that being, despite his
unlettered nature, the exalted sciences he invented and divine knowledge he
discovered - they not only prove and affirm, unanimously and with the strongest
proofs, the divine unity which is the foundation of his mission, but also bear
unanimous witness to the truthfulness of this supreme teacher and great master, and to
the veracity of his words. This is a proof as clear as daylight. The Risale-i Nur too
with its one hundred parts is but a single proof of his truthfulness.

The Seventh: The Family and Companions of the Prophet - who with their
insight, knowledge, and spiritual accomplishment are the most renowned, the most
respected, the most celebrated, the most pious and the most keensighted of men after
the prophets - examined and scrutinized, with the utmost attention, seriousness and
exactitude, all the states, thoughts and conditions of this being, whether hidden or
open. They came to the unanimous conclusion that he was the most truthful, exalted,
and honest being in the world, and this, their unshakeable affirmation and firm belief,
is a proof like the daylight attesting the reality of the sun.

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The Eighth: The cosmos indicates its Maker, Inscriber, and Designer, who
creates, administers, and arranges it, and through determining its measure and form
and regulating it, has disposal over it as though it was a palace, a book, an exhibition,
a spectacle. And so too it indicates that it requires and necessitates an elevated herald,
a truthful unveiler, a learned master, and a truthful teacher who will know and make
known the divine purposes in the universe's creation, teach the dominical instances of
wisdom in its changes and transformations, give instruction in the results of its dutiful
motions, proclaim its essential value and the perfections of the beings within it, and
express the meanings of that mighty book; it indicates that he is certain to exist. Thus,
the traveller knew that it testified to the truthfulness of this being, who performed
these functions better than anyone, and to his being a most elevated and loyal official
of the universe's Creator.

The Ninth: There is behind the veil One who wishes to demonstrate with
these ingenious and wise artefacts the perfection of His talent and art; to make
Himself known and loved by means of these countless adorned and decorated
creations; to evoke praise and thanks through the unnumbered pleasurable and
valuable bounties that he bestows; to cause men to worship Him with gratitude and
appreciation in the face of His dominicality, through His solicitous and protective
sustenance of life, and His provision of nurture and bounty in such manner as to
satisfy the most delicate of tastes and appetites; to manifest His Godhead through the
change of seasons, the alternation of night and day, and through all His magnificent
and majestic deeds, all His awe-inspiring and wise acts and creativity, and thereby to
cause men to believe in his Godhead, in submission, humility and obedience; and to
demonstrate His justice and truthfulness by at all times protecting virtue and the
virtuous and destroying evil and the evil, by annihilating with blows from heaven the
oppressor and the liar. There will of a certainty be at the side of this Unseen Being
His most beloved creature and most devoted bondsman, who, serving the purposes
that have just been mentioned, discovers and unravels the talisman and riddle of the
creation of the universe, who acts always in the name of that Creator, who seeks aid
and success from Him, and who receives them from Him - Muhammad of Quraysh
(Peace and blessings be upon him!)

The traveller further said, addressing his own intellect: "Since these nine truths
bear witness to the truthfulness of this being, he must be the source of glory of
mankind and the source of honour for the world. If we therefore call him the Pride of
the World and Glory of the Sons of Adam, it will be fitting. The fact that the awesome
sovereignty of that decree of the

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Compassionate One, the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition that he holds in his hand,
has conquered half the world, together with his individual perfections and exalted
virtues, shows that he is the most important personage in the world. The most
important word concerning our Creator is that which he utters."

Now see: the foundation of the summons of this extraordinary being and the aim
of all his life, based on the strength furnished by his hundreds of decisive and evident
and manifest miracles, and the thousands of exalted, fundamental truths contained in
his religion, was to prove and bear witness to the existence of the Necessary Existent,
His unity, attributes and names, to affirm, proclaim and announce Him. He is
therefore like a sun in the cosmos, the most brilliant proof of our Creator, this being
whom we call the Beloved of God. There are three forms of great and infallible
consensus each of which affirms, confirms, and puts its signature to the witness he
bears.

The First: the unanimous affirmation made by that luminous assembly known
and celebrated throughout the world as the Family of Muhammad (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) including thousands of poles and supreme saints of penetrating
gaze and ability to perceive the Unseen, such Imam 'Ali (May God be pleased with
him), who said, "Were the veil to be lifted, my certainty would not increase," 2 and
'Abd al-Qadir al-Gilani, the Ghauth al-A'zam (May his mystery be sanctified), who
saw the Supreme Throne and the awesome form of Israfil while yet on the earth. 3

The Second: the confirmation made with a strong faith that permitted men to
sacrifice their lives and their property, their fathers and tribes, by the renowned
assembly known as the Companions, who found themselves among a primitive people
and in an unlettered environment, devoid of all social life and political thought,
without any scripture and lost in the darkness of a period between prophets; and who
in a very brief time came to be the masters, guides, and just rulers of the most
civilized and politically and socially advanced peoples and states, and to rule the
world from east to west in universally approved fashion.

The Third: the confirmation provided with unanimous and certain knowledge by
that lofty group of punctilious and profound scholars of whom in each age thousands
spring forth, who advance in wondrous fashion in every science and work in different
fields.

Thus, the testimony brought by this being to the divine unity is not

2 'Ali al-Qari, al-Asrar al-Marfu'a, 193.

3 Gumushkhaneli Ahmed Ziya al-Din, Majmu'at al-Ahzab, i, 561.

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particular and individual, but general and universal and unshakeable. If all the demons
that exist were to unite, they could not challenge it. Such was the conclusion reached
by the traveller.

In reference to the lesson learned in the School of Light by that traveller from the
world, that wayfarer in life, when he visited in his mind the blessed age of the Prophet
(UWBP), we said at the end of the Sixteenth Degree of the First Station:

There is no god but God, the Necessary Existent, the One, the Unique, the
Necessity of Whose Existence in Unity is indicated by the Pride of the World
and the Glory of the Sons of Adam, through the majesty of the sovereignty of
his Qur'an, the splendour of the expanse of his religion, the multiplicity of
his perfections, and the exaltedness of his characteristics, as confirmed even
by the testimony of his enemies. He bears witness and brings proof through
the strength of his hundreds of manifest and evident miracles, that both
testify to truth and are themselves the object of true testimony; and through
the strength of the thousands of luminous and conclusive truths contained in
his religion, according to the consensus of all the possessors of light, the
agreement of his illumined Companions, and the unanimity of the scholars
of his community, the possessors of proofs and luminous insight.

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The Twentieth Letter

In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise. (17 ':44)

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

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

[This sentence expressing divine unity, which is recited following the
morning and evening prayers, possesses numerous merits 2 and according to
an authentic narration bears the degree of the Greatest Name. 3 It consists of
eleven phrases each of which conveys both some good tidings, and a degree
in the unity of dominicality (tevhid-i rububiyet), and an aspect of the
grandeur and perfection of divine unity from the point of view of a Greatest
Name. Referring a full explanation of these vast, elevated truths to other parts
of the Risale-i Nur, in fulfilment of a promise we shall for now write a brief,
index-like summary of them in two "Stations" and an "Introduction."]

1 Bukhari, Adhan, 155; Tahajjud 21; Muslim, Dhikr, 28, 30, 74, 75, 76; Tirmidhi, Mawaqit, 108; Hajj,
104; Nasa'i, Sahw, 83-6; Ibn Maja, Du A a, 10, 14, 16; Abu Da'ud, Manasik, 56; Darimi, Salat, 88, 90;
Muwatta', Hajj, 127, 243; Qur'an, 20, 22; Musnad, i, 47; ii, 5; iii, 320; iv, 4; v, 191.

2 See, Musnad, iv, 60; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, x, 107.

3 See, Ibn Maja, Du'a, 9.

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Introduction

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

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

First Station

Each of the eleven phrases of the above-mentioned sentence affirming divine
unity contains some good news. And in the good news lies a cure, while in each of
those cures a spritual pleasure is to be found.

THE FIRST PHRASE: "There is no god but God"

This phrase conveys the following good news to the human spirit, suffering as it
does countless needs and the attacks of innumerable enemies. On the one hand the
spirit finds a place of recourse, a source of help, through which is opened to it the
door of a treasury of mercy that will guarantee all its needs. While on the other it
finds a support and source of strength, for the phrase makes known its Creator and
True Object of Worship, who possesses the absolute power to secure it from the evil
of all its

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enemies; it shows its master, and who it is that owns it. Through pointing this out, the
phrase saves the heart from utter desolation and the spirit from aching sorrow; it
ensures an eternal joy, a perpetual happiness.

THE SECOND PHRASE: "He is One"

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

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

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

THE THIRD PHRASE: "He has no partner"

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

However, God Almighty, the Monarch of Pre-Eternity and Post-Eternity, has no
partner in His sovereignty, just as He has no need for partners or helpers in the
execution of His dominicality.

If it were not for His command and will, His strength and power, not a single
thing could interfere with another. Everyone can have recourse to Him directly. Since
He has no partner or helper, no one seeking recourse can be told: "Stop! It is
forbidden to enter His presence!"

This phrase, therefore, delivers the following joyful announcement to the human
spirit: the human spirit which has attained to faith may, without let or hindrance,
opposition or interference, in any state, for any wish, at any time and in any place,
enter the presence of the All-Beauteous and Glorious One, the One of power and
perfection, who is the Pre-Eternal and Post-Eternal Owner of the treasuries of mercy,
the treasuries of bliss, and

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may present its needs. Discovering His mercy and relying on His power, it will find
perfect ease and happiness.

THE FOURTH PHRASE: "His is the dominion"

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

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

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

THE FIFTH PHRASE: "His is the praise"

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

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

An apple an august monarch presents to you holds a pleasure superior to that of a
hundred, indeed a thousand, apples, for it is he that has bestowed it on you and made
you experience the pleasure of a royal favour. In the same way, through the phrase
"His is the praise" will be opened to you the door of a spiritual pleasure a thousand
times sweeter than the bounty itself.

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For the phrase means to offer praise and thanks; that is to say, to perceive the
bestowal of bounty. This in turn means to recognize the Bestower, which is to reflect
on the bestowal of bounty, and so finally to ponder over the favour of His compassion
and His continuing to bestow bounties.

THE SIXTH PHRASE: "He alone grants life"

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

O man! Do not trouble yourself by shouldering the heavy burdens of life. Do not
think of the transience of life and start grieving. Do not see only its worldly and
unimportant fruits and regret that you came to this world. For the life-machine in the
ship of your being belongs to the Ever-Living and Self-Subsistent One, and it is He
who provides for all its expenses and requirements. Also, your life has a great many
aims and results, and they pertain to Him, too.

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

THE SEVENTH PHRASE: "And deals death"

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

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

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THE EIGHTH PHRASE: "And He is living and dies not"

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

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

THE NINTH PHRASE: "All good is in His hand"

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

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

The All-Powerful One of Glory preserves seeds and grains, which are the pages
of the register of last spring's deeds and the deposit-boxes of its services, and
publishes them the following spring in glittering fashion,

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indeed, in a manner a hundred times more plentiful than the originals. The results of
your life He is preserving in the same way, and will reward your service in a truly
abundant fashion.

THE TENTH PHRASE: "And He is Powerful over all things"

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

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

We observe every year on the face of the earth that He gathers together and
disperses with perfect order and balance, with perfect timing and ease, more than
three hundred thousand species and groups of animals and plants. Most certainly such
an All-Powerful One of Glory is capable of carrying out His promise.

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

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THE ELEVENTH PHRASE: "And with Him all things have their end"

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

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

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

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

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Second Station

[The Second Station proves divine unity at the level of the Greatest Name,
briefly and in summary form.]

THE FIRST PHRASE: "There is no god but God"

In this phrase is an affirmation of the unity of the Godhead and of the True
Object of Worship. An extremely powerful proof of this degree is as follows:

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

Indeed, the constant evanescence and renewal of beings demonstrate that those
beings are the manifestations of the sacred names of an All-Powerful Maker, and are
shadows of the lights of His names; that they are works of art produced by His
actions, and impressions and pages inscribed by the pen of divine determining (kader)
and power; that they are mirrors reflecting the beauty of His perfection.

Just as the Owner of the universe proves this mighty truth and exalted degree of
the affirmation of His unity with all the scriptures and sacred books that He has
revealed, so have the people of truth and the perfected members of the human race
proved it through their investigations and discoveries. The universe too points to this
degree through the unceasing testimonies of the miracles of art, wonders of power,
and treasuries of wealth that it displays, despite its impotence and poverty. That is to
say, the scriptures and books of the Pre-Eternal Witness, and the investigations and
unveilings of the people of witnessing, and the orderly states and wise and purposeful
functions of the Manifest World are united in their agreement on this degree of the
affirmation of divine unity.

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

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THE SECOND PHRASE: "He is One"

This phrase demonstrates an explicit degree of the affirmation of divine unity. A
convincing and comprehensive argument proving it is as follows:

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

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

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

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

That is to say, the order and balance in all beings show us plainly a universal
ordering and balancing; and the ordering and balancing show us a universal wisdom
and justice; and the wisdom and justice in turn show us a power and knowledge. That
is, it is apparent that behind these veils is One Powerful over all things who has
Knowledge of all things.

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

Thus, when we study beings attentively, we observe that their beginnings are
instruction sheets prepared by One Possessing Knowledge, and

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that their ends are plans and manifestos of a Maker; that their outer faces are
beautifully proportioned dresses of artistry devised by One who Chooses and Wills,
and their inner faces, well-designed machines of an All-Powerful One.

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

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

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

THE THIRD PHRASE: "He has no partner"

This phrase is proved cogently and brilliantly in the First Station of the Thirty-
Second Word, so we refer you to that. It cannot be more clearly elucidated; there is no
need for further explanation.

THE FOURTH PHRASE: "His is the dominion"

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

His is the dominion because: the macrocosm is similar to the microcosm;
what is fashioned by His power is a missive expressing His deter

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

First Section: "The macrocosm is similar to the microcosm; what is
fashioned by His power is a missive expressing His determining." That is to say, the
macrocosm, which is called the universe, and the microcosm, which is its miniature
specimen and is called man, point to evidences of divine unity, both within man's self
and outside it, that are written by the pens of divine power and divine determining.

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

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

Second Section: "His creating the macrocosm makes it as a place of
prostration, while His giving of existence to the microcosm makes it as prostrating." It
has this meaning: the All- Wise Maker created the macrocosm in such a novel,
wonderful form, inscribing on it the signs of His grandeur, that He transformed it into
a mighty mosque. And He created man in this way: giving him intellect and causing
him to prostrate in wonderment with it at those miracles of His art and at His
wondrous power, He caused him to read the signs of His grandeur. Thus girding him
ready for worship in that mighty mosque, He created him as a prostrating slave.

Is it at all possible that the true object of worship of those prostrating

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worshippers in this mighty mosque could be other than the One, Single Maker?

Third Section: "His bringing the former into being makes it as a
property, while His giving of existence to the latter makes it as owned." It has this
meaning: the Glorious Lord of All Dominion created the macrocosm, and especially
the face of the earth, so that it resembles countless concentric circles or spheres.
Every sphere is like an arable field where, minute by minute, season by season,
century by century, He sows, reaps, and harvests crops. He continuously administers
His property, and works it.

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

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

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

In addition to bringing the macrocosm into being in the form of a cultivated
property, He has created man and has given him such tools and abilities, senses,
feelings, and especially such a soul, such desires, needs, appetities, greed and claims,
that in that extensive property he is like a totally owned creature who is in need of all
of it.

Is it therefore at all possible that anything apart from the Glorious Lord of All
Dominion, who makes everything from the vast world of minute particles to a fly, as a
field and cultivated property, and makes insignificant man a spectator, inspector,
tiller, merchant, herald, worshipper, and slave

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in that vast property and takes him as an honoured guest and beloved addressee of
Himself - could anything other than Him have free disposal over the property and be
lord over the totally owned slave?

Fourth Section: "His art in the former displays it as a book, while His
colouring in the latter shines through speech." Its meaning is this: the Glorious
Maker's art in the macrocosm is so meaningful that because it is manifested in the
form of a book, thus making the universe into a huge volume, the human intellect has
extracted the library of true natural science and philosophy from it and has written the
library accordingly. And that book of wisdom is bound to reality and draws assistance
from reality to such a degree that it has been proclaimed in the form of the All- Wise
Qur' an, which is a copy of that huge manifested book.

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

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

Fifth Section: "His power in the former reveals His majesty, while His
mercy in the latter arrays His bounty." It has this meaning: divine power in the
macrocosm demonstrates the majesty of His dominicality, whereas dominical mercy
arrays His bounties in man, who is the microcosm. That is, the Maker's power, in
respect of grandeur and glory (celdl), creates the universe in the form of a palace so
magnificent that its sun is a mighty electric light, its moon, a lamp, and its stars,
candles, gilded fruits and scattered lights. While the face of the earth is a laden table,
an arable field, a garden, a carpet; and its mountains, each a storehouse, a mast, a
fortress; and so on.

He demonstrates the majesty of His dominicality in brilliant fashion by,

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on a vast scale, making all things into the huge palace's necessities; and His mercy, in
respect of beauty (cemdl), bestows on all creatures with spirits, and even on the
minutest animate creatures, the varieties of His bounties, ordering their beings with
them. He adorns them from head to toe with the bounties, embellishing them
abundantly, munificently. He has counterpoised the beauty of His mercy and that
glorious majesty, those microscopic tongues and that vast tongue.

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

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

Sixth Section: "His majesty in the former testifies that He is One, while
His bounty in the latter proclaims that he is Single." Its meaning is this: just as the
majesty of dominicality, which is manifested in the totality of the universe, proves
and demonstrates divine unity (vahdaniyet), so dominical bounty, which bestows on
the members of animate creatures their regular provisions, proves and demonstrates
divine oneness (ehadiyet).

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

Thus, this section indicates that the majesty of dominicality (rububiyet), which
has total disposal over the universe, makes the huge sun a servant, a lamp, and a stove
for animate creatures on the face of the earth; and makes the mighty earth a cradle, a
hostel, and place of trade for them; and fire, a cook and friend present everywhere;
and clouds, strainers and wet-nurses; and mountains, storehouses and treasuries; and
the air, a fan for animate creatures, for breathing in and out; and water, a nurse who
suckles new

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arrivals to life and a seller of sweet drinks who supplies animals with the water of life;
this divine dominicality demonstrates divine unity most lucidly.

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

Thus, as divine unity is apparent in respect of glory and majesty, so bounty and
munificence proclaim divine oneness in respect of beauty and mercy. This is because,
within this all-embracing art, animate creatures and especially man possess the
faculties and abilities to understand, accept, and desire the infinite varieties of
bounties, and to reflect all the divine names manifested in the universe. Simply, like a
point of focus, man displays all the Beautiful Names together by means of his mirror-
like essence, and through it, proclaims God's oneness.

Seventh Section: "His stamp on the former is on all things, universal
and particular, while His seal on the latter is on the body and on the limbs." Its
meaning is this: just as the Glorious Maker has a mighty stamp on the macrocosm as a
whole, so He has put a stamp of unity on each of its parts and species. And just as he
has set the seal of unity on the face and body of each human being, the microcosm, so
on each of their limbs is a seal of His unity.

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

THE FIFTH PHRASE: "His is the praise"

Since the perfections found in all being, which are the cause of acclaim and
tribute, are His, praise too belongs to Him. All acclaim and laudation belongs to Him,
from whomever to whomever it has come and will come from pre-eternity to post-
eternity. For bounty, munificence, perfection, and

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beauty, which are the causes of acclaim, and everything that gives rise to praise, are
His, they belong to Him. Indeed, as the Qur'an indicates, worship, glorification,
prostration, supplication, and praise and laudation rise continuously, unceasingly,
from all beings to the divine court. The following is a comprehensive proof which sets
forth this truth affirming divine unity.

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

Then we look at the globe of the earth within the park of the universe and we see
it in the form of a garden in which uncountable varieties of multicoloured, beautifully
adorned flowering plants have been laid out and through which innumerable species
of animals have been scattered. In this garden of the earth, all these adorned plants
and decorated animals proclaim through their well-ordered forms and balanced
shapes: "We are each of us a miracle, a wonder of art, created by a Single All-Wise
Maker; each of us heralds His unity and is a witness to His unity."

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

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

"All the occurrences of the past, which are wonders of His power, testify that that
Absolutely Powerful One is also powerful over the wonders of

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the future and its contingencies. Just as the one who brought about yesterday will
bring about tomorrow, so the All-Powerful One who created the past will also create
the future. The All- Wise Maker who made this world, will also make the hereafter.

"Yes, just as the All-Powerful One of Glory is the only one truly deserving of
worship; so He is the only one deserving of praise. Just as worship is exclusively His,
so are praise and laudation His alone."

Is it at all possible that an All-Wise Maker who created the heavens and the earth
would leave without purpose human beings, who are their most important result and
the most perfect fruit of the universe? Is it at all possible that He would hand them
over to causes and chance, that He would transform His self-evident wisdom into
futility? God forbid! Is it at all possible that having planned then formed a tree, giving
it the utmost importance, and having administered it and raised it with the greatest
wisdom, someone who was wise and knowing would ignore its fruits, which are its
aim and purpose? Would he attach no importance to them, and leave them either for
thieves or to rot scattered on the ground? Of course it would be impossible. It is
because of its fruit that the tree is given importance.

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

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

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

Is it at all possible that one who cannot create a spring, and cannot

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

Moreover, whoever creates all the apples is again the one who creates all the
seeds and fruits in the world, which are the source of food. That is to say, the one who
gives the tiniest bounty to the least significant animate creature is directly the
universe's Creator and its Glorious Provider. Since this is so, thanks and praise are
His directly. Since this is so, the reality of the universe declares unceasingly with the
tongue of truth: "All the praise offered by all beings from pre-eternity to post-eternity
is due to Him alone!"

THE SIXTH PHRASE: "He grants life"

That is, it is He alone who gives life, in which case it is also He alone who
creates all things. For life is the spirit, light, leaven, foundation, result, and summary
of the universe, so whoever grants life must also be the universe's Creator. It must be
He who grants life, then, the Ever-Living and Self-Subsistent One. We therefore point
out as follows a mighty proof of this degree of the affirmation of divine unity:

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

Is it at all possible, then, that anything could meddle, interfere, or have a

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share in this giving of life and administering, in this nurturing and sustaining, other
than one who possesses knowledge comprehensive enough to encompass the army
together with all of its affairs, and the absolute power to manage it in addition to
providing all its necessities? God forbid! A hundred thousand times!

It is obvious that if there are ten tribes in one battalion, impotent human beings
would be compelled to equip them in a single fashion because to equip them all
separately would be as difficult as equipping ten battalions. The Ever-Living and Self-
Subsistent One, however, provides the equipment necessary for the lives of the more
than three hundred thousand different tribes within that magnificent army. And He
does this with no trouble or difficulty, in a light and easy manner, most wisely and
maintaining orderliness. He causes the mighty army to declare with one tongue: "It is
He Who gives life,"(23:80) and the vast congregation in the mosque of the universe to
recite:

God, there is no god save Him, the Ever-Living and Self-Subsistent One. Neither
slumber overtakes Him nor sleep. His is all that is in the heavens and all that is on
earth. Who is there that could intercede with Him, except by His leave? He knows all
that lies open before men and all that is hidden from them, whereas they cannot attain
to aught of His knowledge save that which He wills. His Throne extends over the
heavens and the earth, and He feels no weariness in preserving them. And He alone is
Truly Exalted, Tremendous.(2:255)

THE SEVENTH PHRASE: "And deals death"

It is He who causes death. That is, just as it is He who grants life, so it is again He
who takes life and grants death. Indeed, death is not only destruction and extinction
that it may be attributed to causes or nature. Just as a seed superficially dies and rots
while inside it a shoot is being kneaded and is coming to life, that is, it is passing from
the particular life of a seed to the universal life of a shoot; so too, although death is
apparently disintegration and banishment, in reality, for human beings it is the sign,
introduction, and starting point of perpetual life. In which case, the Absolutely
Powerful One who grants and administers life must certainly be the One who creates
death. The following points to a mighty proof of this, the greatest degree of the
affirmation of divine unity, contained in this phrase.

As is explained in the Twenty- Fourth Window of the Thirty- Third Letter, through
divine will, all beings are flowing. At its Sustainer's command, the universe is in
continuous motion. With divine permission, all creatures

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are unceasingly flowing in the river of time; they are being sent from the World of the
Unseen; they are being clothed in external existence in the Manifest world; then they
are being poured in orderly fashion into the World of the Unseen, and it is there that
they alight. At their Sustainer's command, they continuously come from the future,
stop by in passing pausing for a breath, and are poured into the past.

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

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

THE EIGHTH PHRASE: "And He is living and dies not"

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

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

Decisive witnesses to this truth are the transience and ephemerality of the
universe. That is, through their existence and lives, 4 beings bear witness to and point
to the life of the Undying Ever-Living One and to the necessary existence of His life,
and through their deaths and their ephemerality they bear witness to and point to the
perpetuity of His life and its eternity. For the fact that on the demise of beings others
follow on after them, manifesting life like them and taking their places, demonstrates
that there is an unceasingly living being who continuously renews life's
manifestation.

Bubbles on the surface of a flowing river sparkle in the sun and disappear. Troop
after troop of bubbles appear, following on one after another. They display the same
sparkle, are extinguished and vanish. Sparkling and being extinguished in this way,
they point to the continuance of an elevated, enduring sun. Similarly, the alternation
of life and death in these constantly moving beings testifies to the continuance and
perpetualness of an Ever-Living Ever-Enduring One.

Yes, beings are mirrors. As darkness is the mirror to light, showing up the light's
brilliance to the degree of its intensity, so due to the contrast of opposites beings act
as mirrors in many respects. For example, beings act as mirrors to the Maker's power
through their impotence and to His riches through their poverty; similarly, they act as
mirrors to His everlastingness through their ephemerality. Through their povert in
wintertime and glittering wealth and riches in springtime, trees and the face of the
earth act as mirrors in most unequivocal fashion to the power and mercy of an
Absolutely Powerful One, a Possessor of Absolute Riches. It is as though all things
are making supplication together with Uways al-Qarani through the tongues of their
beings, and are saying:

4

When the Prophet Abraham (Upon whom be peace) referred the subject of the rising and setting of
the sun in his debate with Nimrod to life and death,* it was a transition and progress from a particular
meaning of the giving of life and death to a universal meaning. It demonstrates the most illuminating
and widest sphere of the proof, and does not, as some commentators on the Qur'an have asserted,
abandon the hidden proof for the obvious one.
*See, Qur'an, 2:258.

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

All creatures, universal and particular, act as mirrors in a way that, like Uways al-
Qarani, has the meaning of supplication. All proclaim divine power and perfection
through their impotence and poverty and deficiency.

THE NINTH PHRASE: "All good is in His hand"

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

The Maker who controls and creates with the acts that are apparent in the
universe has all-encompassing knowledge, and such knowledge is His particular,
inherent and necessary quality. Its separation from Him is impossible. In the same
way that it is not possible for the sun to exist but for its light not to exist, it is also not
possible, though thousands of times

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more so, for the knowledge of the Being who creates these well-ordered beings to be
separated from Him.

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

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

All the instances of wisdom apparent in beings point to such knowledge. For He
who performs His works kindly and graciously must know; He must know what He is
doing. And all well-ordered beings, each with balance, and all finely balanced and
measured shapes and forms, each with order, also indicate such all-encompassing
knowledge. For to carry out work with wisdom means to do it with knowledge. And
all favour and adornment point to such knowledge. For he who works skilfully and in
a measured and balanced way is surely relying on a powerful knowledge. And the
regular measuredness apparent in beings, their shapes cut out with a view to purposes
and benefits, and the fruitful situations and assemblages as though arranged according
the principles of divine decree and the compasses of divine determining, all
demonstrate an all-embracing knowledge. For sure, it is by virtue of all-encompassing
knowledge that each thing is given an ordered, distinct form, as well as a particular
shape that is appropriate and beneficial to its life and existence; it could not occur any
other way.

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

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Also, although it is not clear to the creatures themselves, the appointed hour of
their deaths, which is tied to a law of determination, demonstrates a comprehensive
knowledge. For although its time does not appear to be determined, the death of all
groups and individuals is appointed within a period of time with a beginning and an
end. The fact that the seeds, fruits and results of a thing are preserved at the time of
death, since they will continue its duties after it and are the means of its
transformation into a new life, demonstrates an all-encompassing knowledge.

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

Also, the care and attention, the artistic fashioning and skilful decoration and art
in all things demonstrate all-embracing knowledge. For it is only through a profound
knowledge that an orderly, adorned, artistic, and purposeful state can be chosen from
among thousands of possible states. The choice apparent in all beings demonstrates
all-encompassing knowledge.

Also, the total ease in the creation and origination of things points to perfect
knowledge. For the facility in achieving a certain situation is commensurate with the
degree of knowledge and skill. However well it is known, it will be achieved with that
degree of ease. Thus, we see that beings, every one of which is a miracle of art, are
created easily, without trouble or confusion, in a short period of time, in a wondrous,
yet miraculous, fashion. That is to say, there is infinite knowledge, since it finds
expression through infinite ease; and so on.

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

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

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If it is asked: Knowledge alone is not sufficient; will is also necessary. If
there were no will, knowledge would be insufficient, wouldn't it?

The Answer: All beings both indicate and testify to all-encompassing
knowledge, and they point to the comprehensive will of the one possessing that
knowledge. It is as follows:

While hesitating among great numbers of possibilities, an ordered individuality is
given to all things, especially to animate beings, through a determined probability
from among a great host of muddled probabilities, and through a productive way from
among a great many fruitless ways. This demonstrates a universal will of many facets.

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

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

In Short: Just as there are between different things many resemblances and
coincidences with regard to their essentials and results, for example, between the
major members and organs of animals' bodies, and they display a single stamp of
unity, indicating decisively that all animals have the same Maker who is One, Single,
and possesses Unity; so too the different identities and distinct features of the animals,
all determined in accordance with wisdom and purpose, shows that their Single Maker
acts with choice and will. He does what He wishes to do, He does not do what He
does not wish to do; He acts with intention and will.

There are as many indications of and attestations to divine knowledge and
dominical will as there are beings, indeed as the beings' attributes and

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qualities. Therefore, some philosophers denying divine will, and some of those who
favour innovation denying divine determining, and some of the people of
misguidance claiming that God is not concerned with minor matters, and the
naturalists attributing some things to nature and causes, are lies multiplied to the
number of beings and a lunacy of misguidance compounded to the number of those
beings' attributes. For whoever denies the innumerable instances of their veracious
witnessing is telling a lie of infinite proportions.

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

THE TENTH PHRASE: "And He is powerful over all things"

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

His command is only, when He wills a thing to be, He but says to it, "Be!"
and it is, (36:82)

He only has to command and it is done.

As soon as a skilful artist puts his hand to his work, it functions smoothly like a
machine. One could say in order to express his speed and skill, that the work of art is
so closely under his control that it is as if at his command, at his touch, the pieces
appear, the works of art come into existence. In the same way, the verse states: "His
command is only, when He wills a thing to be, He but says to it 'Be!', and it is,"
alluding to the absolute subjugation and obedience of all things to the power of the
All- Powerful One of Glory, and the absolute ease and lack of trouble with which His
power functions. We shall elucidate in five points five of the innumerable mysteries
contained in this mighty truth.

The First

In relation to divine power the greatest thing is as easy as the smallest. The
creation of a species with all of its members is as easy and trouble-free as the creation
of a single member. It is as easy to create Paradise as the spring and it is as easy to
create the spring as a flower.

This mystery has been explained and proved with the six comparisons - the
Mystery of Luminosity, the Mystery of Transparency, the Mystery of Reciprocity, the
Mystery of Balance, the Mystery of Order, the Mystery of Obedience, and the
Mystery of Disengagedness - at the end of the Tenth

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Word, which is about the resurrection of the dead, and in the discussion also about the
resurrection in the Second Aim of the Twenty- Ninth Word, which is about the angels,
the immortality of man's spirit, and the resurrection. It has been demonstrated in these
that in relation to divine power the stars are as easy as atoms and that innumerable
individuals are created as easily as one individual. Since these mysteries have been
proved in those two Words, we refer you to them and cut short the discussion here.

Th e Second

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

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

The Third

The vastest whole is as easy as the smallest part in relation to the power of the
All-Powerful Maker who rules in the universe with actions, direction, and disposal
that are clearly to be seen. The creation of a universal consisting of a multiplicity of
individuals is as easy as the creation of a single particular, and in an insignificant
particular, art of the highest worth may be displayed. This mystery and the wisdom in
it arise from three sources:

Firstly: from the assistance of unity (vdhidiyet).

Secondly: from the facility of unity (vahdet).

Thirdly: from the manifestation of oneness (ehadiyet).

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

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For example, if a country has a single ruler, by reason of the law of his sole
sovereignty (vahdet-i saltanat), he is able to mobilize the moral strength of the whole
army behind every single soldier. And because he is able to do this, a single soldier is
able to capture a king and have command over him in the name of his monarch.
Furthermore, just as the monarch may employ and direct a single soldier and a single
official, by reason of the mystery of sole sovereignty, he is able to direct the whole
army and all his officials. It is as if, by reason of the mystery of sole sovereignty, he is
able to send everyone, everything, to the assistance of one individual.

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

In exactly the same way, "And God's is the highest similitude,"(16:60) since the
universe's Maker is One, He assembles His names, which look to all things, before
each single thing, and He creates with infinite art, in a valuable way. If there is need
for it, He looks to a single thing by means of all things, He causes them to look to it;
He gives assistance and strengthens it. Also, by reason of the mystery of unity, He
creates, disposes, and administers all things as though they were a single thing.

It is due to the mystery of this assistance of unity that in the universe a certain
quality is apparent which is exalted and sublime to the utmost degree as regards its art
and value, and this within the utmost abundance and profusion.

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

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

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Furthermore, if with regard to unity, the elements necessary for life are given to a
tree's fruits, relying on one centre, one law, and one root, thousands of fruits are as
easy as a single fruit. If, on the other hand, each fruit is bound to a different centre and
all their vital necessities are sent to them separately, each fruit will give rise to as
many difficulties as the whole tree. For the elements necessary for the life of the
whole tree will be necessary for each fruit.

Thus, like these two comparisons, "And God's is the highest similitude,"(16:60)
because the universe's Maker is the Single One of Unity, He acts with unity (vahdet),
and because He acts with unity all things are as easy as one thing. Moreover, He is
able to make a single thing as valuable as all things as regards its art. And creating
innumerable individuals in a most valuable form, He demonstrates absolute liberality
through the tongue of the limitless abundance and endless profusion of beings, and He
manifests boundless generosity and infinite creativity.

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

We have explained this mystery in others of the Words like this: the sun is to an
extent unrestricted with regard to its luminosity, so its image is reflected in every
burnished and shining object. If thousands and millions of mirrors are exposed to its
light, the manifestation of its likeness will be found in each one of them without being
divided. If the capacities of the mirrors are such, the sun will be able to demonstrate
its effects in them in all their magnitude. One thing will not be an obstacle to another.
Thousands of things will enter thousands of places with the ease of one thing entering
one place. Each place will display the sun's manifestation as much as thousands of
places display it.

Thus, "And God's is the highest similitude,"(16:60) the manifestation of the
universe's All-Glorious Maker is such, with all His attributes which are light and with
all His names which are luminous, that through the mystery of the regard of oneness,
although He is not in any place, He is all-present and all-seeing in all places. There is
no division in His regarding and acting

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towards the creation. He performs every task at the same time, in all places, without
difficulty, without hindrance.

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

This mystery led the Sophists, who were the most advanced philosophers, to
realize that the path of associating partners with God was infinitely more difficult than
the way of truth and path of affirming divine unity; that it was irrational to the utmost
degree. So because they had averted their faces from the way of truth and looked to
that of unbelief and misguidance, they were compelled to renounce their reasons and
deny the existence of everything.

Th e F o urth

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

First: the necessity and total detachment of the Maker.

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

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

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

The degrees of existence are different. And the worlds of existence are all
different. Because they are all different, a particle from a level of existence that is
deeply rooted in existence is as great as a mountain from a less substantial level; it
contains the mountain.

For example, the faculty of memory, which is the size of a mustard-seed in a head
from the Manifest World, takes on an existence the size of a library from the World of
Meaning. And a mirror the size of a fingernail

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from the external world encompasses a mighty city from the level of the World of
Similitudes. If the memory and the mirror from the external world had possessed
consciousness and creative power, they would have been able to bring about endless
transformations and activity in the Worlds of Meaning and Similitudes through the
power of their minute existences in the external world. That is to say, when existence
is firmly established, power increases; what is only a little becomes much. Especially
if having acquired complete stability existence is disengaged and detached from
materiality and is not restricted, only a partial manifestation of it will be able to
transform many worlds of other less substantial levels of existence.

Thus, "And God's is the highest similitude,"(16:60) the universe's Glorious
Maker is Necessarily Existent. That is, His existence is essential, it is pre-eternal and
post-eternal, its non-existence is impossible, its cessation is impossible; it is the most
firmly rooted, the most sound, the strongest, and the most perfect of the levels of
existence. In relation to His existence, the other levels of existence are like extremely
pale shadows.

The degree of Necessary Existence is so stable and real, and contingent existence
is so insubstantial and pale that many of those who have investigated creation, such as
Muhyi al-Din al-'Arabi, have relegated the other levels of existence to the level of
delusion and imagination; they said: "There is no existent save Him." That is, things
should not be ascribed existence relatively to the Necessary Existence. They asserted
that they do not deserve to be called existent.

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

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

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

Thus, "And God's is the highest similitude,"(16:60) the sacred Essence of the
Necessarily Existent One is not of the same kind as contingent beings' essences. All
the truths of the universe are rays from the name of Truth, which is one of the
Beautiful Names of His Essence. Since His sacred Essence is Necessarily Existent
and completely detached from materiality and different from all other essences, it has
no like, no equivalent, no equal. So, most certainly, the administration and sustaining
of the universe is as easy for that All-Glorious One's pre-eternal power as that of the
spring, indeed, of a tree; and the creation of the resurrection of the dead, the realm of
the hereafter, and Heaven and Hell, is as easy as the resurrection in spring of a tree
which had died the previous autumn.

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

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

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In Short: The All-Powerful Maker creates everything in an appropriate form
without trouble, without undergoing any process, swiftly and easily. He creates
universals as easily as particulars. He creates particulars as full of art as He does
universals. Indeed, whoever creates universals and the heavens and the earth must
necessarily be the one who creates the particulars and animate individuals contained
in the heavens and earth; it could be nothing other than him. For those tiny particulars
are the fruits, seeds, and the miniature specimens of universals.

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

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

The Fifth

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

According to the meaning of,

The creation of you all and the resurrection of you all is but like that of a
single sow/,(31:28)

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

Nothing will there have been but one single blast, and lo! before Us will all
of them be arraigned,(36:53)

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

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

There, look at this sheer stupidity! The people of misguidance make what is the
proof of an absolute power, the proof of its non-existence; they open the door to
innumerable impossibilities. For if it were the case, such attributes of perfection as
infinite power and all-encompassing knowledge, which are necessary to the Maker of
the universe, would have to be ascribed to every particle of every creature so that each
could form itself.

THE ELEVENTH PHRASE: "And with Him all things have their end"

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

There are a great many truths which this phrase and those like it state. One is that
you will return to eternal bliss and Paradise. This has been proved so decisively by the
irrefutable certainty of the twelve arguments of the Tenth Word, and by the six
"Principles" that comprise the numerous cogent proofs of the Twenty-Ninth Word,
that they leave no need for further explanation. Those two Words have proved with
the certainty of the sun rising in the following morning after having set the previous
day, that life too, which has the meaning of the sun in this world, will rise in an
eternal form in the morning of the resurrection after its setting with the destruc

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tion of the world. Since the Tenth and Twenty-Ninth Words have proved this truth to
perfection, we refer you to them and here only say this:

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

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

The All- Wise Qur'an, the greatest of the revealed books, also demonstrates and
teaches this truth with thousands of its verses; with clear evidences and conclusive,
veracious proofs.

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

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

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O our Sustainer! Do not take us to task if we forget or unwittingly do
wrong. (2:286)

O our Sustainer! Let not our hearts swerve from the truth after You have
guided us; and bestow upon us the gift of Your mercy; indeed, You are the
Giver of Gifts. (3 : 8)

O my Sustainer! Open up my heart * And make my task easy for me * And
loosen the knot from my tongue * That they might fully understand my
speech.(20:25-S)

O our Sustainer! Accept this from us, indeed You are All-Seeing, All-
Knowing. * And forgive us, indeed You are the Accepter of Repentance, the
Compassionate. (2:127 -8)

All glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have
taught us; indeed You are All-Knowing, All-Wise. (2:32)

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Addendum to the Tenth Phrase
of the Twentieth Letter

In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.

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

For verily, in the remembrance of God hearts do find their rest.( 13:28) *
God sets forth a parable: A man belonging to many partners [all of them] at
variance with one another. (39:29)

Question: You have said in many places that in divine unity there is an
infinite facility and in multiplicity and associating partners with God, endless
difficulties; that there is such ease in divine unity that it is necessary and such
difficulty in associating partners with God that it is impossible. Whereas, the
difficulties and impossibilities that you demonstrate are also present with unity. For
example, you say that if particles were not officials, it would be necessary for either
all-encompassing knowledge or absolute power or innumerable immaterial machines
and printing-presses to be present in every particle. This of course is completely
impossible. Even if those particles were divine officials, it would still be necessary for
them to bear the same qualities so that they would be able to accomplish their endless
orderly duties. Could you unravel this problem for me?

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

First Comparison: For example, a tiny transparent glistening speck cannot of its
own accord situate itself within a light the size of a match-head even, and neither can
it be the source of it. It is able to have as much light, in its own right, as a tiny
particle, in accordance with its capacity and to the extent of its own mass. But if the
speck is connected to the sun, if it

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opens its eyes and looks at it, it will be able to comprehend the immense sun together
with its light, seven colours, heat, and even its distance; it will display a sort of greater
manifestation. That is to say, if the particle remains on its own, it will be able to
perform a function only to the extent of a particle, whereas if it is deemed to be an
official of the sun, and is connected to it and is a mirror to it, it will be able to
demonstrate certain partial examples of the sun's functioning, the same as the sun
itself.

Thus, "And God's is the highest similitude,"(16:60) if all beings, all particles, are
attributed to multiplicity, causes, nature, themselves, or to anything other than God,
then each of them must either possess all-embracing knowledge and absolute power,
or innumerable immaterial machines and printing-presses must take form within each,
so that it can carry out its wonderful duties. However, if the particles are attributed to
the Single One of Unity, each of them, each artefact, becomes connected to Him; it is
as though each becomes His official. Its connection allows it to display His
manifestation. And through this connection and state of being a manifestation, it relies
on an infinite knowledge and power. Thus, by reason of the mystery of the connection
and its reliance, it performs functions and duties far beyond its own power, through
the power of its Creator.

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

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

Since the first, independent, man, was compelled to carry his equipment and
sources of strength himself, the service he was able to perform was extremely
insignificant. Whereas the one who was an official did not have to carry his source of
strength; indeed, the army and the king carried him.

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Just like connecting his receiver to existing telegraph and telephone lines with a tiny
wire, the man, through the connection he formed, connected himself to an infinite
power.

Thus, "And God's is the highest similitude,"(16:60) if all creatures, all particles,
are attributed directly to the Single One of Unity and if they are connected to Him,
through the power of the connection and through of its Lord, at His command, an ant
can demolish the Pharaoh's palace; a fly can kill off Nimrod and consign him to Hell;
a germ can despatch an iniquitous tyrant to the grave; a seed the size of a wheat grain
becomes the workshop and machinery for producing a pine-tree the size of a
mountain; and a particle of air is able to operate efficiently and systematically in the
different functions and structures of all flowers and fruits. All this ease and facility
self-evidently arise from the connection and state of being an official. If the being in
question reverts to independence, if it is left to causes, multiplicity, and to itself, if it
travels the road of associating partners with God, then the service it will be able to
perform will be only to the extent of its physical entity and to the degree of its
consciousness.

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

Similarly, "And God's is the highest similitude,"(16:60) if innumerable things
and creatures are attributed to the Single One of Unity, through the connection, each
becomes a place of manifestation. Through displaying the manifestation of the Pre-
Eternal Sun, it acquires a connection with the laws of His wisdom, the principles of
his knowledge, and the decrees of His power. Then, through divine strength and
power, it displays such a dominical manifestation that it acquires an eye that sees all
things, a face that looks to all places, and words that have weight in all matters. If the
connection is severed, the thing will also be cut off from everything else, it will be
squeezed into the smallness of its own bulk. In which case, it would have to possess
absolute divinity so that it could perform the functions described above.

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In Short: The easiness and facility on the way of divine unity and belief
make it necessary, while the difficulties on the way of causes and assigning partners
to God make it impossible. For one person may, without trouble, put numerous
objects into a single situation and obtain one result. But if it is left to the objects
themselves to bring about the situation and obtain the result, they could do so only
with great trouble and much activity.

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

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

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

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

God sets forth a parable: A man belonging to many partners [all of them] at
variance with one another, and a man belonging wholly to one person: can
the two be deemed equal as regards their condition? [Nay] all praise is due
to God [alone]; but most of them do not understand this.(39:29)
All glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have
taught us; indeed You are All-Knowing, All-Wise. (2:32)
O God! Grant blessings and peace to our master Muhammad to the number
of the particles of the universe, and to all his Family and Companions.
Amen. And all praise be to God, the Sustainer of All the Worlds.
O God! O Unique One! O Single One! O Eternally Besought One! Other
than You there is no god, You are One, You have no partner! Yours is the
dominion and the praise! Granter of life and Dealer of death! All good is in
Your hand! O One powerful over all things! It is with You that all things
have their end! Through the truth of the mysteries of these phrases, appoint
the propagator of this treatise and his friends and companions to bliss
among the perfected affirmers of divine unity and the strictly veracious
scholars and the believers conscious of God. Amen. O God! Through the
truth of the mystery of Your oneness make the disseminator of this book
disseminate the mysteries of the profession of Your unity and make his heart
a place of manifestation for the lights of faith and his tongue speak of the
truths of the Qur'an. Amen. Amen. Amen.

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The Twenty-First Letter

In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise. (17 ':44)

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
Whether one or both of them attain old age in your life, say not to them a
word of contempt, nor repel them, but address them in terms of honour. *
And out of kindness, lower the wing of humility, and say: "My Sustainer!
Bestow on them Your mercy even as they cherished me in childhood. " *
Your Sustainer knows best what is in your hearts: if you do deeds of
righteousness, indeed he is Most Forgiving to those who turn to Him again
and again [in true penitence], (17:23-5)

O heedless person who has in his house an elderly parent or an invalid or
someone no longer able to work from among his relations or brothers in religion!
Study the above verses carefully and see how on five levels in different ways it
summons children to be kindly towards their elderly parents. Yes, the highest truth in
this world is the compassion of parents towards their children, and the most elevated
rights, their rights of respect in return for their compassion. For they sacrifice their
lives with the utmost pleasure, spending them for the sake of their children's lives. In
which case, every child who has not lost his humanity and become a monster honours
those respected, loyal, self-sacrificing friends, serves them sincerely, and tries to
please them and make them happy. Uncles and aunts, maternal and paternal, are like
parents. 1

So understand from this how base and lacking in conscience it is to be
contemptuous of those blessed elderly people, or to want their deaths.

1 Bukhari, Sulh, 6; Tirmidhi, Birr, 6; Abu Da'ud, Talaq, 35; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, ix, 269;
al-Daylami, Musnad al-Firdaws, ii, 207.

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Know what a wicked wrong and iniquity it is to want the lives of those who sacrificed
their lives for yours to pass quickly.

O you who struggles to secure his livelihood! That elderly or blind relative of
yours whom you belittle is a source of plenty and mercy in your house and repels
disaster. Beware! Do not say: "I have a low income and difficulty in making ends
meet," for if it were not for the plenty resulting from their presence, your
circumstances would have been even more straitened. Believe this fact which I am
telling you; I could prove it decisively and convince you, but I am cutting it short so
as not to prolong the discussion. Be content with this much. I swear that it is
absolutely certain; my evil-commanding soul and own devil, even, have submitted to
it. So you should be persuaded by something that has smashed my soul's obduracy
and silenced my devil.

Yes, the All-Glorious and Munificent Creator, who, as the universe testifies, is
infinitely Merciful, Compassionate, Bountiful, and Generous, provides infants with
the finest of sustenance when He sends them into this world, causing it to flow into
their mouths from the springs of their mother's breasts. So too, He provides, in the
form of plenty, the sustenance of the elderly, who are like children though even more
in need and deserving of kindness and compassion. He does not burden the avaricious
and miserly with their livelihood. All living creatures and all their species declare
through the tongues of their beings the munificent truth expressed by the following
verses:

For God is He Who gives [all] sustenance, - Lord of Power and Steadfast
[for ever[. (5 1:58) * How many are the creatures that carry not their own
sustenance? It is God Who feeds [both[ them and you. (29:60)

In fact, it is not only the sustenance of elderly relations that comes in the form of
plenty; the sustenance of creatures like cats who are friendly to man also comes in the
form of plenty, sent together with the food of the human beings. An example
supporting this, which I myself observed, is as follows: my close friends know that
for two to three years my appointed lot every day was half a loaf of bread, the loaves
in that village were small, and very often this was insufficient for me. Then four cats
came and stayed with me as my guests, and that same portion was sufficient both for
myself and for them. There was frequently some left over even.

This has recurred so often that it has made me certain that I was benefiting from
the plenty resulting from the cats. I declare most definitely that they were not a load
on me. It was not they who were obliged to me, but I to them.

O man! If a semi- wild animal is a means of plenty when it comes as a

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guest to the house of a human being, you can compare for yourself what plenty and
mercy man will bring as the noblest of creatures; and the believers, the most perfect
of men; and the powerless and ailing elderly, the most worthy of respect and
compassion among the believers; and relatives, the most worthy and deserving of
kindness, love, and to be served among the ailing elderly; and parents, who are the
truest and most loyal friends among relatives, if they are present in a house in their
old age. According to the meaning of, "If it were not for the elderly, bent double with
age, calamities would be visited on you in floods," 2 you can see the significant role
they play in disasters being averted.

O man, come to your senses! You too will grow old if you do not die young. If
you do not honour your parents, as stated by, "the punishment is similar to the act that
required it," 3 your children will not be dutiful towards you. If you want to secure your
life in the hereafter, here is a rich treasury for you: be dutiful towards your parents
and win their pleasure ! While if it is this world that you want, still try to please them,
for thanks to them your life will be easy and your sustenance plentiful. But if you are
contemptuous of them, wish for their deaths, and wound their sensitive and vulnerable
hearts, you will manifest the meaning of the verse,

They lose both this world and the hereafter. (22:1 1)

If you want the mercy of the Most Merciful One, be merciful towards those in your
house whom He has entrusted to you.

There was someone called Mustafa Cavus, one of my brothers of the hereafter. I
used to observe that he was very successful both in his religious life and his worldly
life. I did not know the reason for this. Then later I understood that the reason for his
achievement was that he had understood the rights of his elderly parents and observed
them to the letter; thanks to them he had found ease and mercy. God willing, he
repaired his life in the hereafter as well. Anyone who wants good fortune should try to
resemble him.

O God, grant blessings and peace to the one who said: "Paradise is beneath
the feet of mothers, " and to all his Family and Companions.
Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught
us; indeed You are All-Knowing, All-Wise. (2:32)

2 al-'Ajluni, Kashf al-Khafa' , ii, 163; Suyuti, Kanz a/-'Ummal, ix, 167; Ghazali, Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din,
341; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, x, 227; Bayhaqi, al-Sunan al-Kubra, 345.

3 "All acts are requited with something similar to them." al-'Ajluni, Kashf al-Khafa', i, 332; 'AH al-
Qari, al-Asrar al-Marfu'a, 103.

Suyuti, al-Jami' al-Saghir, 3642; al-'Ajluni, Kashf al-Khafa' , i, 335; al-Albani, Sahih al-Jami' al-
Saghir wa ziyadatuhu, 1259, 1260.

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The Twenty-Second Letter

In His Name!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise .(17 ':44)

[This letter consists of two topics; the first summons believers to
brotherhood and love.]

First Topic

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

Verily the believers are brethren; so reconcile then your brothers. (49:10) *
Repel evil with what is better than it; then the one between whom and
yourself enmity prevails will become like your friend and intimate. (41:34) *
Those who suppress their anger and forgive people - verily God loves those
who do good. (3:134)

Dispute and discord among the believers, and partisanship, obstinacy and envy,
leading to rancour and enmity among them, are repugnant and vile, are harmful and
sinful, by the combined testimony of wisdom and the supreme humanity that is Islam,
for personal, social, and spiritual life. They are in short, poison for the life of man. We
will set forth six of the extremely numerous aspects of this truth.

First Aspect

They are sinful in the view of truth.

O unjust man nurturing rancour and enmity against a believer! Let us

NOTE: The present translation of the Twenty-Second Letter was carried out by Hamid
Algar, Prof, of Near Eastern Studies in Univ. of California, Berkeley, U.S.A., and first
published in 1976. It has been slightly amended to fit the present work.

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suppose that you were on a ship, or in a house, with nine innocent people and one
criminal. If someone were to try to make the ship sink, or to set the house on fire,
because of that criminal, you know how great a sinner he would be. You would cry
out to the heavens against his sinfulness. Even if there were one innocent man and
nine criminals aboard the ship, it would be against all rules of justice to sink it.

So too, if there are in the person of a believer, who may be compared to a
dominical dwelling, a divine ship, not nine, but as many as twenty innocent attributes
such as belief, Islam, and neighbourliness; and if you then nurture rancour and enmity
against him on account of one criminal attribute that harms and displeases you,
attempting or desiring the sinking of his being, the burning of his house, then you too
will be a criminal guilty of a great atrocity.

Second Aspect

They are also sinful in the view of wisdom, for it is obvious that enmity and love
are opposites, just like light and darkness; while maintaining their respective essences,
they cannot be combined.

If love is truly found in a heart, by virtue of the predomination of the causes that
produce it, then enmity in that heart can only be metaphorical, and takes on the form
of compassion. The believer loves and should love his brother, and is pained by any
evil he sees in him. He attempts to reform him not with harshness but gently. It is for
this reason that the Hadith of the Prophet (UWBP) says, "No believer should be
angered with another and cease speaking to him for more than three days." 1

If the causes that produce enmity predominate, and true enmity takes up its seat
in a heart, then the love in that heart will become metaphorical, and take on the form
of artifice and flattery.

O unjust man! See now what a great sin is rancour and enmity toward a brother
believer! If you were to say that ordinary small stones are more valuable than the
Ka'ba and greater than Mount Uhud, it would be an ugly absurdity. So too, belief
which has the value of the Ka'ba, and Islam which has the splendour of Mount Uhud,
as well as other Islamic attributes, demand love and concord; but if you prefer to
belief and Islam certain shortcomings which arouse hostility, but in reality are like the
small stones you too will be engaging in great injustice, foolishness, and sin!

1 Bukhari, Adab, 57, 62; Isti'dhan, 9; Muslim, Birr, 23, 25, 26; Abu Da'ud, Adab, 47; Tirmidhi, Birr,
21, 24; Ibn Maja, Muqaddima, 7; Musnad, i, 176, 183; iii, 1 10, 165, 199, 209, 225; iv, 20, 327, 328; v,
416,421,422.

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The unity of belief necessitates also the unity of hearts, and the oneness of our
creed demands the oneness of our society. You cannot deny that if you find yourself
in the same regiment as someone, you will form a friendly attachment to him; a
brotherly relation will come into being as a result of your both being submitted to the
orders of a single commander. You will similarly experience a fraternal relation
through living in the same town with someone. Now there are ties of unity, bonds of
union, and relations of fraternity as numeous as the divine names that are shown and
demonstrated to you by the light and consciousness of belief.

Your Creator, Owner, Object of Worship, and Provider is one and the same for
both of you; thousands of things are and the same for you. Your Prophet (UWBP),
your religion, your qibla are one and the same; hundreds of things are one and the
same for you. Then too your village is one, your state is one, your country is one; tens
of things are one and the same for you. All of these things held in common dictate
oneness and unity, union and concord, love and brotherhood, and indeed the cosmos
and the planets are similarly interlinked by unseen chains. If, despite all this, you
prefer things worthless and transient as a spider's web that give rise to dispute and
discord, to rancour and enmity, and engage in true enmity towards a believer, then
you will understand - unless your heart is dead and your intelligence extinguished -
how great is your disrespect for that bond of unity, your slight to that relation of love,
your transgression against that tie of brotherhood!

Third Aspect

In accordance with the meaning of the verse:

No bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another, (6:164)

which expresses pure justice, to nurture rancour and enmity towards a believer is like
condemning all the innocent attributes found in him on account of one criminal
attribute, and is hence an act of great injustice. If you go further and include in your
enmity all the relatives of a believer on account of a single evil attribute of his, then,
in accordance with the following verse in which the active participle is in the
intensive form,

Verily man is much given to wrongdoing, (14:34)

you will have committed a still greater sin and transgression, against which truth, the
Shari'a and the wisdom of Islam combine to warn you. How then can you imagine
yourself to be right, and say: "I am in the right"?

In the view of truth, the cause for enmity and all forms of evil is in itself evil and
is dense like clay: it cannot infect or pass on to others. If someone

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learns from it and commits evil, that is another question. Good qualities that arouse
love are luminous like love; it is part of their function to be transmitted and produce
effects. It is for this reason that the proverb has come into being, "The friend of a
friend is a friend," 2 and also that it is said, "Many eyes are beloved on account of one
eye."

So O unjust man! If such be the view of truth, you will understand now, if you
have the capacity for seeing the truth, how great an offence it is to cherish enmity for
the likeable and innocent brothers and relatives of a man you dislike.

Fourth Aspect

It is a sin from the point of view of personal life. Listen to the following four
principles which are the base of this Fourth Aspect.

First Principle: When you know your way and opinions to be true, you have the
right to say, "My way is right and the best." But you do not have the right to say,
"Only my way is right." According to the sense of "The eye of contentment is too dim
to perceive faults; It is the eye of anger that exhibits all vice;" 3 your unjust view and
distorted opinion cannot be the all-decisive judge and cannot condemn the belief of
another as invalid.

Second Principle: It is your right that all that you say should be true, but not that
you should say all that is true. For one of insincere intention may sometimes take
unkindly to advice, and react against it unfavourably.

Third Principle: If you wish to nourish enmity, then direct it against the enmity
in your heart, and attempt to rid yourself of it. Be an enemy to your evil-commanding
soul and its caprice and attempt to reform it, for it inflicts more harm on you than all
else. Do not engage in enmity against other believers on account of that injurious
soul. Again, if you wish to cherish enmity, there are unbelievers and atheists in great
abundance; be hostile to them. In the same way that the attribute of love is fit to
receive love as its response, so too enmity will receive enmity as its own fitting
response. If you wish to defeat your enemy, then respond to his evil with good. For if
you respond with evil, enmity will increase, and even though he will be outwardly
defeated, he will nurture hatred in his heart and hostility will persist. But if you
respond to him with good, he will repent and become your friend. The meaning of the
lines: "If you treat the noble nobly, he will be yours; And if you treat the vile nobly,
he will revolt," 4 is that it is the

2 'Ali b. Abi Talib, Nahj al-Balagha, 748-9.
'Ali Mawardi, Adah al-Dunya wa'l-Din, 10; Diwan al-Shafi'i, 91.
Mutanabi. See, al- 'Urfal-Tayyibfi Shark Diwan al-Tayyib, ii, 710.

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mark of the believer to be noble, and he will become submitted to you by noble
treatment. And even if someone is apparently ignoble, he is noble with respect to his
belief. It often happens that if you tell an evil man, "You are good, you are good," he
will become good; and if you tell a good man, "You are bad, you are bad," he will
become bad. Hearken, therefore, to these sacred principles of the Qur'an, for
happiness and safety are to be found in them:

If they pass by futility, they pass by it in honourable disdain. (25:7 '2) * If you
forgive, pardon, and relent, verily God is All-Relenting, Merciful.(6A:\A)

Fourth Principle: Those who cherish rancour and enmity transgress against their
own souls, their brother believer, and divine mercy. For such a person condemns his
soul to painful torment with his rancour and enmity. He imposes torment on his soul
whenever his enemy receives some bounty, and pain from fear of him. If his enmity
arises from envy, then it is the most severe form of torment. For envy in the first place
consumes and destroys the envier, and its harm for the one envied is either slight or
nonexistent.

The cure for envy: Let the envious reflect on the ultimate fate of those things
that arouse his enmity. Then he will understand that the beauty, strength, rank, and
wealth possessed by his rival are transient and temporary. Their benefit is slight, and
the anxiety they cause is great. If it is a question of personal qualities that will gain
him reward in the hereafter, they cannot be an object of envy. But if one does envy
another on account of them, then he is either himself a hypocrite, wishing to destroy
the goods of the hereafter while yet in this world, or he imagines the one whom he
envies to be a hypocrite, thus being unjust towards him.

If he rejoices at the misfortunes he suffers and is grieved by the bounties he
receives, it is as if he is offended by the kindness shown towards him by divine
determining (kader) and divine mercy, as if he were criticizing and objecting to them.
Whoever criticizes divine determining is striking his head against an anvil on which it
will break, and whoever objects to divine mercy will himself be deprived of it.

How might justice and sound conscience accept that the response to something
worth not even a day's hostility should be a year's rancour and hostility? You cannot
condemn a brother believer for some evil you experience at his hand for the following
reasons:

Firstly, divine determining has a certain share of responsibility. It is necessary to
deduct that share from the total and respond to it with contentment and satisfaction.

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Secondly, the share of the soul and Satan should also be deducted, and one should
pity the man for having been overcome by his soul and await his repentance instead of
becoming his enemy.

Thirdly, look at the defect in your own soul that you do not see or do not wish to
see; deduct a share for that too. As for the small share which then remains, if you
respond with forgiveness, pardon, and magnanimity, in such a way as to conquer your
enemy swiftly and safely, then you will have escaped all sin and harm. But if, like
some drunken and crazed person who buys up fragments of glass and ice as if they
were diamonds, you respond to worthless, transient, temporary, and insignificant
happenings of this world with violent enmity, permanent rancour, and perpetual
hostility, as if you were going to remain in the world with your enemy for all eternity,
it would be extreme transgression, sinfulness, drunkenness, and lunacy.

If then you love yourself, do not permit this harmful hostility and desire for
revenge, so harmful for personal life, to enter your heart. If it has entered your heart,
do not listen to what it says. Hear what truth-seeing Hafiz of Shiraz says: "The world
is not a commodity worth arguing over." It is worthless since it is transient and
passing. If this is true of the world, then it is clear how worthless and insignficant are
the petty affairs of the world! Hafiz also said: "The tranquillity of both worlds lies in
the understanding of these two words: generosity towards friends, forbearance
towards enemies." 5

I f y o u say: "I have no choice, there is enmity within my disposition. I
cannot overlook those who antagonize me."

The Answer: If evil character and bad disposition do not exhibit any trace,
and you do not act with ill intention, there is no harm. If you have no choice in the
matter, then you are unable to abandon your enmity. If you recognize your defect and
understand that you are wrong to have that attribute, it will be a form of repentance
and seeking of forgiveness for you, thus delivering you from its evil effects. In fact,
we have written this Topic of the Letter in order to make possible such a seeking of
forgiveness, to distinguish right from wrong, and to prevent enmity from being
displayed as rightful.

A case worthy of notice: I once saw, as a result of biased partisanship, a pious
scholar of religion going so far in his condemnation of another scholar with whose
political opinions he disagreed as to imply that he was an unbeliever. He also praised
with respect a dissembler who shared his

5 Diwan-i Hafiz, 14 (Ghazal no: 5).

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own opinions. I was appalled at these evil results of political involvement. I said: "I
take refuge with God from Satan and politics," and from that time on withdrew from
politics.

Fifth Aspect

Obstinacy and partisanship are extremely harmful in social life.

If it is said: There is a Hadith which says: "Difference among my people is
an instance of divine mercy," 6 and difference requires partisanship.

The sickness of partisanship also delivers the oppressed common people from the
oppressor elite, for if the elite of a town or village join together, they will destroy the
oppressed common people. If there is partisanship, the oppressed may seek refuge
with one of the parties and thus save himself.

It is also from the confrontation of opinions and the contradiction of views that
truth becomes apparent in its full measure.

The Answer:

To the first part of the question, we say: The difference intended in the Hadith
is a positive difference. That is, each party strives to promote and diffuse its own
belief; it does not seek to tear down and destroy that of the other, but rather to
improve and reform it. Negative difference is rejected by the Hadith, for it aims in
partisan and hostile fashion at mutual destruction, and those who are at each other's
throats cannot act positively.

To the second part of the question, we say: If partisanship is in the name of
truth, it can become a refuge for those seeking their rights. But as for the partisanship
obtaining now, biased and self-centred, it can only be a refuge for the unjust and a
point of support for them. For if a devil comes to a man engaged in biased
partisanship, encourages him in his ideas and takes his side, that man will call down
God's blessings on the Devil. But if the opposing side is joined by a man of angelic
nature, then he will - may God protect us! - go so far as to invoke curses upon him.

To the third part of the question, we say: If the confrontation of views takes
place in the name of justice and for the sake of truth, then the difference concerns
only means; there is unity with respect to aim and basic purpose. Such a difference
makes manifest every aspect of the truth and serves justice and truth. But what
emerges from a confrontation of views that is partisan and biased, and takes place for
the sake of a tyrannical, evil-commanding soul, that is based on egotism and fame-
seeking - what emerges from this is not the flash of truth, but the fire of dissension.

6 al-'Ajluni, Kashf al-Khafa' , i, 64; al-Manawi, Fayd al-Qadir, i, 210-12.

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Unity of aim is necessary, but opposing views of this kind can never find a point of
convergence anywhere on earth. Since they do not differ for the sake of the truth, they
multiply ad infinitum, and give rise to divergences that can never be reconciled.

In Short: If one does not make of the exalted rules, "Love for the sake of
God, 7 * Dislike for the sake of God, judgement for the sake of God" 8 the guiding
principles of one's conduct, dispute and discord will result. If one does not say,
"dislike for the sake of God, judgement for the sake of God" and take due account of
those principles, one's attempts to do justice will result in injustice.

An event with an important lesson: Imam 'Ali (May God be pleased with him)
once threw an unbeliever to the ground. As he drew his sword to kill him, the
unbeliever spat in his face. He released him without killing him. The unbeliever said:
"Why did you not kill me?" He replied: "I was going to kill you for the sake of God.
But when you spat at me, I became angered and the purity of my intention was
clouded by the inclinations of my soul. It is for this reason that I did not kill you." The
unbeliever replied: "If your religion is so pure and disinterested, it must be the truth." 9

An occurrence worthy of note: When once a judge showed signs of anger while
cutting off the hand of a thief, the just ruler who chanced to observe him dismissed
him from his post. For if he had cut the hand in the name of the Shari'a, his soul
would have felt pity for the victim; he should have cut it off in a manner devoid of
both anger and mercy. Since the inclinations of his soul had had some share in his
deed, he did not perform the act with justice.

A regrettable social condition and an awesome disease affecting the life of
society, fit to be wept over by the heart of Islam: To forget and abandon internal
enmities when foreign enemies appear and attack is a demand of social welfare
recognized and enacted even by the most primitive peoples. What then ails those who
claim to be serving the Islamic community that at a time when numberless enemies
are taking up positions to attack, one after the other, they fail to forget their petty
enmities, and instead prepare the ground for the enemies' attacks? It is disgraceful
savagery, and treason committed against the social life of Islam.

A story to be pondered over: There were two groups of the Hasanan, a tribe of
nomads, hostile to each other. Although more than maybe fifty

7 Qur'an, 40:12; 28:70; 6:57.

8 Bukhari, Iman. 1; Abu Da'ud, Sunna, 2; Musnad, v, 146.

9 Shemseddin Sivasi, Manaqib-i Chahar Yar-i Guzin, 294.

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people had been killed on each side, when another tribe such as the Sibgan or
Haydaran came out against them, those two hostile groups would forget their enmity
and fight together, shoulder to shoulder, until the opposing tribe had been repelled,
without ever once recalling their internal dissensions.

O Believers ! Do you know how many tribes of enemies have taken up position to
attack the tribe of the people of belief? There are more than a hundred of them, like a
series of concentric circles. The believers are obliged to take up defensive positions,
each supporting the other and giving him a helping hand. Is it then at all fitting for the
people of belief that with their biased partisanship and hostile rancour they should
facilitate the attack of the enemy and fling open the doors for him to penetrate the fold
of Islam? There are maybe seventy circles of enemies, including the misguided, the
atheist, and the unbeliever, each of them as harmful to you as all the terrors and
afflictions of this world, and each of them regarding you with greed, anger and hatred.
Your firm weapon, shield and citadel against all of them is none other than the
brotherhood of Islam. So realize just how contrary to conscience and to the interests
of Islam it is to shake the citadel of Islam on account of petty hostilities and other
pretexts! Know this, and come to your senses!

According to a noble Hadith of the Prophet (UWBP), noxious and awesome
persons like Sufyan and the Dajjal will come to rule over the godless at the end of
time, and exploiting the greed, discord and hatred amongst the Muslims and mankind,
they will need only a small force to reduce humanity to anarchy and the vast world of
Islam to slavery. 10

O people of faith! If you do not wish to enter a humiliating condition of slavery,
come to your senses and enter and take refuge in the citadel of:

Indeed the believers are brothers, (49:10)

to defend yourselves against those oppressors who would exploit your differences!
Otherwise you will be able neither to protect your lives nor to defend your rights. It is
evident that if two champions are wrestling with each other, even a child can beat
them. If two mountains are balanced in the scales, even a small stone can disturb their
equilibrium and cause one to rise and the other to fall. So O people of belief! Your
strength is reduced to nothing as a result of your passions and biased partisanships,
and you can be defeated by the slightest forces. If you have any interest in your social
solidarity, then make of the exalted principle of "The believers are together

10 al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iv, 529-30; Ibn Hibban, Sahih, viii, 286.

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like a well-founded building, one part of which supports the other" 11 your guiding
principle in life! Then you will be delivered from humiliation in this world and
wretchedness in the hereafter.

Sixth Aspect

Spiritual life and correctness of worship will suffer as a result of enmity and
rancour, since the purity of intention that is the means of salvation will be damaged.
For a biased person will desire superiority over his enemy in the good deeds that he
performs and will be unable to act purely for the sake of God. He will also prefer, in
his judgement and dealings, the one who takes his side; he will be unable to be just.
Thus the purity of intention and the justice that are the bases of all good acts and
deeds will be lost on account of enmity and hostility.

The Sixth Aspect is extremely complex, but we will cut it short here since this is
not the place to enlarge on it.

11 Bukhari, Salat, 88; Adab 36; Mazalim, 5; Muslim, Birr, 65; Tirmidhi, Birr, 18; Nasa'i, Zakat, 67;
Musnad, vi, 405, 409.

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Second Topic

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

Verily God it is Who gives all sustenance, Lord of Power and
Steadfast. (51:58) * How many are the creatures that carry not their own
sustenance? It is God who provides for them and for you; He is All-Hearing,
All-Knowing. (29:60)

O people of belief! You will have understood by now how harmful is enmity.
Understand too that greed is another awesome disease, as harmful for the life of Islam
as enmity. Greed brings about disappointment, deficiency, and humiliation; it is the
cause of deprivation and abjection. The humiliation and abjection of people who have
leaped greedily upon the world, is a decisive proof of this truth. Greed demonstrates
its evil effects throughout the animate world, from the most universal of species to the
most particular of individuals. To seek out one's sustenance while placing one's trust
in God will, by constrast, bring about tranquillity and demonstrate everywhere its
beneficient effects.

Thus, fruit trees and plants, which are a species of animate being insofar as they
require sustenance, remain contentedly rooted where they are, placing their trust in
God and not evincing any greed; it is for this reason that their sustenance hastens
toward them. They breed too far more offspring than do the animals. The animals, by
contrast, pursue their sustenance greedily, and for this reason are able to attain it only
imperfectly and at the cost of great effort. Within the animal kingdom it is only the
young who, as it were, evince their trust in God by proclaiming their weakness and
impotence; hence it is that they receive in full measure their rightful and delicate
sustenance from the treasury of divine mercy. But savage beasts that pounce greedily
on their sustenance can hope only for an illicit and coarse sustenance, attained
through the expenditure of great effort. These two examples show that greed is the
cause of deprivation, while trust in God and contentment are the means to God's
mercy.

In the human kingdom, some peoples have clung to the world more greedily and
have loved its life with more passion than any others, but the usurious wealth they
have gained with great efforts is merely illicit property over which they exercise
temporary stewardship, and it benefits them little. It earns them, on the contrary, the
blows of abjection and humiliation,

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of death and insult, that are rained down on them by all peoples. This shows that
greed is a source of humiliation and loss. There are in addition so many instances of a
greedy person being exposed to loss that "the greedy is subject to disappointment and
loss" has become a universally accepted truth. This being the case, if you love wealth,
seek it not with greed but with contentment, so that you may have it in abundance.

The content and the greedy are like two men who enter the audience-hall of a
great personage. One of them says to himself: "It is enough that he should admit me
so that I can escape from the cold outside. Even if he motions me to sit in the lowest
position, I will count it as a kindness."

The second man says arrogantly, as if he had some right in the matter and
everyone were obliged to respect him: "I should be assigned the highest position." He
enters with greed and fixes his gaze on the highest positions, wishing to advance
toward them. But the master of the audience-hall turns him back and seats him in a
lower position. Instead of thanking him as he should, he is angered against him in his
heart and criticizes him. The lord of the palace will be offended by him.

The first man enters most humbly and wishes to sit in the lowest position. His
modesty pleases the lord of the audience-hall, and he invites him to sit in a higher
position. His gratitude increases, and his thankfulness is augmented.

Now this world is like an audience-hall of the Most Merciful One. The surface of
the globe is like a banqueting spread laid out by His mercy. The differing degrees of
sustenance and grades of bounty correspond to the seating positions in the audience-
hall.

Furthermore, even in the minutest of affairs everyone can experience the evil
effects of greed. For example, everyone knows in his heart that when two beggars
request something, he will be offended by the one who greedily importunes him, and
refuse his request; whereas he will take pity on the peaceable one and give him what
he asks.

Or to give another example, if you are unable to fall asleep at night and wish to
do so, you may succeed if you remain detached. But if you desire sleep greedily, and
say: "Let me sleep, let me sleep," then sleep will quit you entirely.

Yet another example is this, that if you greedily await the arrival of someone for
some important purpose and continually say: "He still hasn't come," ultimately you
will lose patience and get up and leave. But one minute later the person will come,
and your purpose will be frustrated.

The reason for all this is as follows. The production of a loaf of bread requires a
field to be cultivated and harvested, the grain to be taken to a

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mill, and the loaf to be baked in an oven. So too in the arrangement of all things there
is a certain slow deliberation decreed by God's wisdom. If on account of greed one
fails to act with slow deliberation, one will fail to notice the steps one must mount in
the arrangement of all things; he will either fall or be unable to traverse the steps, and
in either event will not reach his goal.

O brothers giddied by preoccupation with your livelihood, and drunk on your
greed for this world! Greed is harmful and pernicious; how is it then that you commit
all kinds of abject deed for the sake of your greed; accept all kinds of wealth, without
concern for licit or illicit; and sacrifice much of the hereafter? On account of your
greed you even abandon one of the most important pillars of Islam, the payment of
zakat, although zakat is for everyone a means of attracting plenty and repelling
misfortune. The one who does not pay zakat is bound to lose the amount of money he
would otherwise have paid: either he will spend it on some useless object, or it will be
taken from him by some misfortune.

In a veracious dream that came to me during the fifth year of the First World
War, the following question was put to me:

"What is the reason for this hunger, financial loss, and physical trial that now
afflicts the Muslims?" I replied in the dream:

"From the wealth He bestows upon us, God Almighty required from us either a
tenth or a fortieth 12 so that we may benefit from the grateful prayers of the poor, and
rancour and envy may be prevented. But in our greed and covetousness we refused to
give zakat, and God Almighty has taken from us a thirtieth where a fortieth was owed,
and an eighth where a tenth was owed.

"He required of us to undergo, for no more than one month each year, a hunger
with seventy beneficial purposes. But we took pity on our instinctual souls, and did
not undergo that temporary pleasurable hunger. God Almighty then punished us by
compelling us to fast for five years, with a hunger replete with seventy kinds of
misfortune.

"He also required of us, out of each period of twenty-four hours, one hour to be
spent in a form of divine drill, pleasing and sublime, luminous and beneficial. But in
our laziness we neglected the duty of prayer. That single hour was joined to the other
hours and wasted. As penance, God Almighty then caused us to undergo a form of
drill and physical exertion that took the place of prayer."

12 A tenth, that is, of wealth like corn that every year yields a new crop; and a fortieth of whatever
yielded a commercial profit in the course of the year.

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I then awoke, and upon reflection realized that an extremely important truth was
contained in that dream. As proven and explained in the Twenty-Fifth Word, when
comparing modern civilization with the principles of the Qur' an, all immorality and
instability in the social life of man proceeds from two sources:

The First: "Once my stomach is full, what do I care if others die of hunger?"

The Second: "You work, and I'll eat."

That which perpetuates these two is the prevalence of usury and interest on the
one hand, and the abandonment of zakat on the other. The only remedy able to cure
these two awesome social diseases lies in implementing zakat as a universal principle
and in forbidding usury. Zakat is a most essential support of happiness not merely for
individuals and particular societies, but for all of humanity. There are two classes of
men: the upper classes and the common people. It is only zakat that will induce
compassion and generosity in the upper classes toward the common people, and
respect and obedience in the common people toward the upper classes. In the absence
of zakat, the upper classes will descend on the common people with cruelty and
oppression, and the common people will rise up against the upper classes in rancour
and rebellion. There will be a constant struggle, a persistent opposition between the
two classes of men. It will finally result in the confrontation of capital and labour, as
happened in Russia.

O people of nobility and good conscience! O people of generosity and liberality!
If acts of generosity are not performed in the name of zakat, there are three harmful
results. The act may have no effect, for if you do not give in the name of God, you are
in effect imposing an obligation, and imprisoning some wretched pauper with a sense
of obligation. Then you will be deprived of his prayer, a prayer which would be most
acceptable in the sight of God. In reality you are nothing but an official entrusted with
the distribution of God Almighty's bounties among His servants; but if you imagine
yourself to be the owner of wealth, this is an act of ingratitude for the bounties you
have received. If, on the contrary, you give in the name of zakat, you will be rewarded
for having given in the name of God Almighty; you will have offered thanks for
bounties received. The needy person too will not be compelled to fawn and cringe in
front of you; his self-respect will not be injured, and his prayer on your behalf will be
accepted. See how great is the difference between, on the one hand, giving as much as
one would in zakat, but earning nothing but the harm of hypocrisy, fame, and the
imposition of obligation; and, on the other hand, performing the same good deeds in
the name of zakat, and thereby fulfilling a duty, and gaining

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a reward, the virtue of sincerity, and the prayers of those whom you have benefited?

Glory be unto You; we have no knowledge save that which you have taught us;
indeed, you are All-Knowing, All-Wise. (2:32)

O God, grant blessings and peace to our master Muhammad, who said: "The
believer is with respect to the believer like a firm building, of which one part supports
the other, " and who said too that "Contentment is a treasure that never perishes, "
and to his Family and his Companions. And praise be to God, the Sustainer of All the
Worlds.

13 Bukhari, Salat, 88; Adab, 36; Mazalim, 5; Muslim, Birr, 65; Tirmidhi, Birr, 18; Nasa'i, Zakat, 67;
Musnad, vi, 405, 409.

14 al-Suyuti, al-Fath al-Kabir, ii, 309.

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Conclusion

In his Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.{\l r :44)

Concerning Backbiting

In the Fifth Point of the First Ray of the First Light of the Twenty- Fifth Word, a
single Qur' anic verse having the effect of discouraging and restraining was shown to
induce repugnance at backbiting in six miraculous ways. It was shown too how
abominable a thing is backbiting in the view of the Qur' an, and that there is therefore
no need for any further explanation of the subject. Indeed, after the Qur' an has made
its declaration, there is neither the possibility nor the need for anything further.

The Qur' an reproaches the backbiter with six reproaches in the verse:

Would any among you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? (A9:\2)

and forbids him to commit this sin with six degrees of severity. When the verse is
directed to those persons actually engaged in backbiting, its meaning is the following.

As is well-known, the "hamza" at the beginning of the verse has an interrogative
sense. This interrogative sense penetrates all the words of the verse like water, so that
each word acquires an additional meaning. Thus the first word asks, with its "hamza:"
"Is it that you have no intelligence capable of discrimination, so that you fail to
perceive the ugliness of this thing?"

The second word "like" asks: "Is your heart, the seat of love and hatred, so
corrupted that it loves the most repugnant of things?"

The third word "any among you" asks: "What befell your sense of social and
civilized responsibility that you are able to accept something poisonous to social
life?"

The fourth word "to eat the flesh" asks: "What has befallen your sense of
humanity that you are tearing your friend apart with your fangs like a wild animal?"

The fifth word "of his brother" asks: "Do you have no fellow-feeling, no sense of
kinship, that you are able to sink your teeth into some wretch who is tied to you by
numerous links of brotherhood? Do you have no intelligence that you are able to bite
into your own limbs with your own teeth, in such lunatic fashion?"

The sixth word "dead" asks: "Where is your conscience? Is your nature

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so corrupt that you abandon all respect and act so repugnantly as to consume your
brother' s flesh?"

According then to the total sense of the verse, as well as the indications of each of
its words, slander and backbiting are repugnant to the intelligence and the heart, to
humanity and conscience, to nature and social consciousness.

You see then that the verse condemns backbiting in six miraculous degrees and
restrains men from it in six miraculous ways. Backbiting is the vile weapon most
commonly used by the people of enmity, envy, and obstinacy, and the self-respecting
will never stoop to employing so unclean a weapon. Some celebrated person once
said: "I never stoop to vexing my enemy with backbiting, for backbiting is the
weapon of the weak, the low, and the vile."

Backbiting consists of saying that which would be a cause of dislike and vexation
to the person in question if he were to be present and hear it. Even if what is said is
true, it is still backbiting. If it is a lie, then it is both backbiting and slander and a
doubly loathsome sin.

Backbiting can be permissible in a few special instances:

First: If a complaint be presented to some official, so that with his help evil be
removed and justice restored.

Second: If a person contemplating co-operation with another comes to seek your
advice, and you say to him, purely for the sake of his benefit and to advise him
correctly, without any self-interest: "Do not co-operate with him; it will be to your
disadvantage."

Third: If the purpose is not to expose someone to disgrace and notoriety, but
simply to make people aware, and one says: "That foolish, confused man went to
such-and-such a place."

Fourth: If the subject of backbiting is an open and unashamed sinner; is not
troubled by evil, but on the contrary takes pride in the sins he commits; finds pleasure
in his wrongdoing; and unhesitatingly sins in the most evident fashion.

In these particular cases, backbiting may be permissible, if it be done without
self-interest and purely for the sake of truth and communal welfare. But apart from
them, it is like a fire that consumes good deeds like a flame eating up wood.

If one has engaged in backbiting, or willingly listened to it, one should say: "O
God, forgive me and him concerning whom I spoke ill," and say to the subject of
backbiting, whenever one meets him: "Forgive me."

The Eternal One, He is the Eternal One!

Said N u r s i

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The Twenty-Third Letter

In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise .{\1 ':44)

Peace be upon you, and God's blessings and mercy for ever, to the number of the
seconds of the minutes of your life and the particles of your bodyl

My Dear, Enterprising, Serious, True, Sincere, and Sagacious Brother!

For brothers of the hereafter and the truth like us, differences of time and place
are no obstacle to their conversing and intimacy. Even if one is in the east, one in the
west, one in the past, one in the future, one in this world, and one in the next, they still
may be thought of as being together and may converse. Especially those who have
undertaken the same duty to achieve the same goal; they are as though united. Every
morning I imagine that you are here with me, and I make over a part, a third, of my
spiritual gains to you. May God find them acceptable! In my prayers you are together
with Abdulmecid and Abdurrahman. God willing, you always receive your share.
Your suffering difficulties in respect of worldly life saddened me a little, for your
sake. But since this world is not eternal and good may come of disasters, it occurred
to me to say on your behalf: "This too will pass." I thought of the Hadith: "True life is
the life of the hereafter." 1 I recited the verse: "God is with those who patiently
persevere."(2:253) I said: "To God do we belong, and to Him is our return."(2:156)
And I found consolation in place of you. If Almighty God loves one of His servants,
He makes him feel disgust at the world and shows it to be ugly. 2 God

1 Bukhari, Riqaq, 1; Jihad, 33, 110; Manaqib al-Athar, 9; Maghazi, 29; Muslim, Jihad, 126, 129;
Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 55; Ibn Maja, Masajid, 3; Musnad, ii, 381; iii, 172, 180, 216, 276; v, 332.

2 Tirmidhi, Tibb, 1; Musnad, v, 427; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iv, 207; al-Haythami, Majma' al-
Zawa'id, x, 285; al-Suyuti, Kanzal-'Ummal, iii, 204.

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willing, you belong to that class of His loved ones. Do not let the increased
difficulties preventing the spreading of the Words upset you. God willing, when the
amount you have distributed comes to manifest divine mercy, those light-filled seeds
will open a profusion of flowers.

You asked a number of questions. My dear brother! The majority of the Words
and Letters that have been written occurred to my heart instantaneously without the
exercise of will; and they turned out very well. If I reply to you relying on my will
and strength of knowledge and thought like the Old Said, the answers will turn out
dull and deficient. For some time now my heart has received no inspirations and the
whip of my memory been broken; so I shall reply extremely briefly to each of them,
so as not to deprive you of an answer.

YOUR FIRST QUESTION

What is the best way believers can pray for one another?

The Answer: Their prayer has to be within the bounds of what is
acceptable, for supplications become acceptable under certain conditions; their
acceptability increases as these conditions are fulfilled. For instance, when a person
wants to offer supplications, he should be purified spiritually by seeking forgiveness;
then he should recite benedictions (salawat) for the Prophet (UWBP), an acceptable
prayer, for intercession; and following his supplication he should again recite the
salawat. For a prayer offered between two such acceptable prayers itself becomes
acceptable; as is praying for another without their knowledge; 3 and are the traditional
supplications and prayers in the Qur'an and Hadiths. For example:

O God! I beseech You to bestow forgiveness and well-being on me and on
so-and-so in religion, this world, and the hereafter. * O our Sustainer! Give
us good in this world and good in the hereafter, and defend us from the
torment of the Fire .(2:201)

General supplications like these when offered sincerely and with humility and
tranquillity of heart; and following the five daily prayers, and the morning prayer in
particular; and in holy places, and mosques in particular; and on Fridays, and
particularly during "the hour when prayers are answered;" and during the three
months of Rajab, Sha'ban, and Ramadan, and on the well-known holy nights, such as
the Prophet's (UWBP) birthday and Ragha'ib, and on the Night of Power in particular
- it is to be strongly

3 Muslim, Dhikr, 86-8; Tirmidhi, Birr, 50; Abu Da'ud, Witr, 29; Ibn Maja, Manasik, 5.

4 al-Nawawi, al-Adhkar, 74; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, i, 517.

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hoped from divine mercy that such supplications will be accepted. 5 The results of
such acceptable prayers are either seen in this world exactly as requested, or they are
accepted in respect of the eternal life in the hereafter of the one who offered them.
That is to say, if what was sought does not occur exactly as wished, it should not be
said that the prayer was not accepted, 6 but that it was accepted in a better form.

YOUR SECOND QUESTION

Since the phrase, "May God be pleased with him" is used for the Companions of
the Prophet (UWBP), is it appropriate to use it in the same way for others?

The Answer: Yes, it may be used, because unlike "Upon whom be
blessings and peace," which is a mark of God's Messenger (UWBP), the epithet,
"May God be pleased with him" is not particular to the Companions, but should be
used for persons who, like the Companions, attained to the "greater sainthood" known
as "the legacy of prophethood," rising to the station of God's pleasure. Examples are
the four Imams, and Shaikh 'Abd al-Qadir Gilani, Imam-i Rabbani (Shaikh Ahmad
Sirhindi), and Imam Ghazali. But the general practice among religious scholars has
been to use "May God be pleased with him" for the Companions; "May God have
mercy on him" for the two generations succeeding them; "May God forgive him" for
subsequent generations; and "May his mystery be sanctified" for the great saints.

YOUR THIRD QUESTION

Which were superior, the great imams and interpreters of the Holy Law, or the
shahs and spiritual poles of the true Sufi paths?

The Answer: Not all the interpreters of the Law were superior to the shahs
and spiritual poles, only Abu Hanifa, Malik, Shafi'i, and Ahmad b. Hanbal. But in
some respects, some wondrous spiritual poles like Shaikh Gilani reached more
brilliant stations in particular virtues. However, general virtue was the Imams'.
Furthermore, some of the shahs of the Sufi paths were also interpreters of the Law; it
cannot therefore be said that all interpreters of the Law were superior to the spiritual
poles. But it may be said that after the Companions and the Mahdi, the four Imams
were superior.

5 Ghazali, Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din, i, 457-66; al-Nawawi, al-Adhkar, 420-6.

6 Bukhari, Da'wat, 22; Muslim, Dhikr, 90-1.

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YOUR FOURTH QUESTION

What is the purpose and aim of the words: "God is with those who patiently
persevere?"(2:153; 8:46)

The A n s w e r : As required by His name of All- Wise, Almighty God placed
in all things an arrangement like the steps of stairs. The impatient man does not act
with slow deliberation, so either skips some of the steps and falls, or leaves some
deficient; he cannot mount to the roof of his goal. Greed is therefore the cause of loss.
Patience however is the key to all difficulties, and the saying, "The greedy are subject
to disappointment and loss," and the Hadith, "Patience is the key to happiness," 7 have
become proverbial. That is to say, Almighty God's grace and favour are with the
patient. For patience is threefold:

The First is to patiently persevere in refraining from sin; this patience is taqwa
and manifests the meaning of the verse:

God is with those who fear Him and restrain themselves. (2:194)

The Second is patience in the face of calamity; this to place one's trust in God
and to submit to Him. It is to be honoured by the manifestation of these verses:

God loves the patient. (3 :1 46) * God loves those who put their trust in Him.
(3:159)

As for impatience, it amounts to complaining about God, and to criticizing His
actions, accusing His mercy, and not liking His wisdom. For sure, man is weak and
powerless, and weeps complainingly at the blows of misfortune, but his complaint
must be to Him, not about Him. It should resemble Jacob's (Upon whom be peace)
words:

He said: I only complain of my distraction and anguish to God.(\2:S6)

That is to say, he should complain to God, not lament saying: "What have I done that
this should have happened to me?" as though complaining to other human beings
about God; to excite the sympathy of impotent humans is harmful and meaningless.

The Third Sort of Patience is patient perseverance in worship, which raises a
person to the station of being beloved of God. It urges him towards perfect worship of
God and servitude of Him, which is the most elevated station.

7 al-'Ajluni, Kashf al-Khafa' , ii, 21.

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YOUR FIFTH QUESTION

Fifteen is accepted as the age of discretion. How did God's Messenger (Upon
whom be blessings and peace) worship before his prophetic mission?

The A n s w e r : He used to worship in accordance with what remained of
Abraham's (Upon whom be peace) religion, which was still extant in Arabia though
in very obscure form. But this was his own choice, to perform a good act, not because
he was obliged or compelled in any way. This truth is lengthy, so let it remain at that
for now.

YOUR SIXTH QUESTION

What was the wisdom in his prophethood commencing when he was forty years
of age, which is reckoned to be the age of perfect maturity, and his blessed life
continuing for sixty- three years?

The Answer: There were numerous purposes and instances of wisdom in
this. One of them is as follows: prophethood brings with it extremely heavy
responsibility. To bear it, the intellectual abilities have to mature and capacity of the
heart, increase and be perfected. Forty is the age they are most perfectly developed. In
addition, the period of youth, when the passions of the soul are enflamed, the blood is
fiery and exuberant, and worldly ambitions are intense, is not fitting for the duties of
prophethood, which are purely divine, sacred, and pertain to the hereafter. However
serious and sincere a man is before the age of forty, the suspicion that he is working
for worldly renown might occur to those who themselves seek fame. He could not
easily be exonerated in the face of their accusations. But after the age of forty, the
descent to the grave begins, and the hereafter looms larger for such a man than this
world. He can be easily vindicated by his actions and works, which look to the
hereafter, and he is successful. And others too are saved from thinking ill of him.

When it comes to his blessed life lasting sixty-three years, one of the instances of
wisdom in it is this: the believers are charged by the Shari'a to love and respect God's
Most Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) to the utmost degree, to
feel repelled at nothing about him at all, and to look on everything about him as good.
Almighty God, therefore, did not leave His Noble Beloved (UWBP) to live the
difficult, troublesome years of old age after sixty-three; He rather sent him to the
Sublime Court at that age, which was the average life expectancy of the community of
which he was the leader. He took him to Himself, showing that he was the leader in
every respect.

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YOUR SEVENTH QUESTION

Is the following a Hadith, and what does it mean? "The best of youths are those
who resemble men of mature age, while the worst men of middle age are those who
resemble youths." 8

The Answer:! have heard that it is a Hadith. Its meaning is this: "The best
youth is the one who thinks about death like an elderly person, and working for the
hereafter, avoids joining those who become captive to the passions of youth and
drown in heedlessness. And the worst of your elderly people is the one who tries to
resemble the young in heedlessness and passion, and follows the lusts of the soul like
a child."

The correct form of the second part you saw in the piece is as follows. I have
hung it above my head for the wisdom it teaches. I look it at it every morning and
evening and receive instruction:

If you want a friend, God is sufficient. Yes, if He is your friend, everything is
friendly.

If you want companions, the Qur'an is sufficient. For in the imagination one
meets with the prophets and angels in it, observes the events in which they were
involved, and becomes familiar with them.

If you want possessions, contentment is sufficient. Yes, the person who is
content is frugal; and the frugal person receives the blessing of plenty.

If you want an enemy, the soul is sufficient. Yes, the person who fancies
himself is visited with calamities and meets with difficulties, whereas the one who is
not fond of himself, finds happiness, and receives mercy.

If you want advice, death is sufficient. Yes, the person who thinks of death is
saved from love of this world, and works in earnest for the hereafter.

I am adding an eighth to your seven matters. It is like this: a couple of days ago, a
Qur'an reciter read part of Sura Yusuf as far as,

Take my soul [at death] as one submitting to Your will [as a Muslim], and
unite me with the righteous. (12:101)

This point occurred to me in a flash: everything concerning the Qur' an and belief is
valuable; however insignificant a point appears to be, it has great value. Nothing that
helps to win eternal happiness is insignificant. In which case, it may not be said that
this is only a small point and not worth explaining or being given importance. And
certainly, the first student and

'Ali Mawardi, Adab al-Dunya wa'l-Din, 27; Ghazali, Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din, i, 142; al-Manawi, al-Fayd
al-Qadir, iii, 487.

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person addressed in matters of this kind, who appreciates the fine points of the
Qur'an, Ibrahim Hulusi, wants to hear this point! In which case, listen to it:

It is a fine point about the finest of stories. An elevated, subtle, happy, and
miraculous point of the verse,

Take my soul [at death] as one submitting to Your will [as a Muslim], and
unite me with the righteous, (12:101)

which announces that the story of Joseph (Upon whom be peace), the best of stories,
has reached its conclusion. It is this: the sorrows of death and separation at the end of
other happy stories sour the pleasure the listener has received from the story in his
imagination, and dispel it. Especially if they describe death and separation just when
recounting the moment of perfect joy and happiness; this is even more painful and
causes those listening to cry out in sorrow. However, although this verse mentions
Joseph's death just at the most brilliant part of his story, when he is Ruler of Egypt,
united with his mother and father, fondly meeting with his brothers, and is
experiencing the greatest worldly happiness and joy, it does so in such a way as to
say: Joseph himself asked Almighty God for his death in order to experience greater
happiness and a more brilliant situation; and he did die and did receive that happiness.

That is to say, there is beyond the grave a happiness and joy greater than the
pleasurable happiness of this world, so that while in that most joyful worldly
situation, a truth-seeing person like Joseph (Upon whom be peace) wished for bitter
death, so as to receive that other happiness.

So note this eloquence of the All- Wise Qur' an, and the way it announces the end
of the story of Joseph. It causes not sorrow and regret to those listening to it, but gives
good tidings and adds further joy. It also gives guidance, saying: Work for beyond the
grave, for it is there that true happiness and pleasure will be found! It also points out
Joseph's exalted veraciousness, saying: Even the most brilliant and joyful situation of
this world did not cause him to become heedless; it did not captivate him; he still
wanted the hereafter.

The Eternal One, He is the Eternal One!

Said N ur s i

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The Twenty-Fourth Letter

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
God does what He wishes, and decrees what He wills.

Question: How can the solicitous nurturing, the purposeful and beneficial
planning, the loving kindness of the names of All-Compassionate, All-Wise, and
Loving, which are among the greatest of the divine names, be reconciled with death
and non-existence, decline and separation, and disaster and hardship, which are
awesome and terrible? Very well, man goes to eternal happiness so we can tolerate his
passing down the road of death, but how about the delicate species of trees and plants,
and the lovely flowers, which are all living creatures, and the animal species, which
are worthy of existence, lovers of life, and desire permanent life? What compassion
and kindness are there in their continuously without exception being annihilated, in
their being swiftly despatched to non-existence without being allowed to so much as
open their eyes, in their being made to toil without so much as taking a breath, in their
being changed by calamities with not one of them being left in peace, in their being
killed without exception, in their dying with not one of them remaining, in their
departing with none of them being gratified - what wisdom and purpose, what favour
and mercy, are there in this?

The Answer: Through five 'Signs,' which show the necessitating cause and
reason, and five 'Indications,' which point out the aims and benefits, we shall try to
look from afar at the mighty truth that solves this question, and is extremely broad,
profound, and elevated.

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First Station

[This consists of five Signs]

FIRST SIGN

As is described at the end of the Twenty-Sixth Word, when making a precious
garment, ornamented with jewels and embroidery, a skilful craftsman employs a poor
man in return for a commensurate wage. In order to display his skill and art, he
dresses the man in the garment, then measures and cuts it, and lengthens and shortens
it; making the man sit down and stand up, he gives it various forms. Does the
wretched man have the right to say to the craftsman: "Why are you meddling with this
garment which makes me beautiful, altering and changing it? Why are you making
me stand up and sit down, disturbing me and causing me trouble?"

In exactly the same way, in order to display the perfections of His art through the
embroideries of His names, the All-Glorious Maker takes the essential nature of
beings as a model, then He clothes them all and especially living creatures in the
garment of a body bejewelled with senses, and inscribes it with the pen of divine
decree and determining, thus displaying the manifestation of His names. In addition,
He gives to each one of them a perfection, a pleasure, an effulgence, in a way suitable
to it and as a wage.

Does anything have the right, then, to say to the All-Glorious Maker, who
exemplifies the meaning of, "the Lord of All Dominion has free disposal over His
realms as He wishes:" "You are giving me trouble and disturbing me."? God forbid!
Beings have no rights before the Necessarily Existent One, nor can they claim them.
What falls to them is, by offering thanks and praise, to carry out what is required by
the degree of existence He has given them. For the degrees of existence that are given
are occurrences, and each requires a cause. Degrees that are not given are
possibilities, and possibilities are non-existent as well as being infinite. As for
instances of non-existence, they do not require a cause. For example, minerals cannot
say: "Why weren't we plants?"; they cannot complain. What falls to them is to offer
thanks to their Creator for having been given mineral existence. And plants may not
complain asking why they were not animals; what is due to them is to offer thanks,
for they have received life as well as existence. As for animals, they cannot complain
that they are not humans; what

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is incumbent on them, since they have been given the precious substance of spirit in
addition to life and existence, is to offer thanks. And so on.

O querulous man! You did not remain non-existent; you were clothed in the
bounty of existence. You tasted life; you neither remained inanimate, nor were made
an animal. You received the bounty of Islam; you did not remain in misguidance. You
have experienced the bounties of good health and well-being!

O ungrateful one! Where did you win the right not to offer thanks in return for
the degrees of existence Almighty God has given you as a pure bounty? How is it that
because exalted bounties that are contingencies and non-existent and that you do not
deserve have not been given you, you complain about Almighty God with
meaningless greed, and are ungrateful for the bounties you have received? If a man
rises to an elevated position, such as climbing to the top of a minaret, and finds a high
station, and on every step receives a large bounty, then does not thank the one who
gave him the bounties and complainingly asks why he did not rise even higher, how
wrong he would be! What an ungrateful denial of the bounties, what a great
foolishness it would be, as even a lunatic would understand!

O discontented greedy, thriftless wasteful, unjustly complaining, heedless man!
Know certainly that contentment is profitable thanks, greed is loss-causing
ingratitude, and frugality, fine and beneficial respect for bounties. As for
wastefulness, it is ugly and harmful contempt for bounties. If you have any
intelligence, accustom yourself to being content, and try to be satisfied with little! If
you cannot endure it, say: "O Most Patient One!" and request patience. Be satisfied
with your lot and do not complain! Understand who is complaining about whom, and
be silent. If you have to complain, then complain about your soul to God Almighty,
for that's where the fault lies.

SECOND SIGN

As is stated at the end of the last matter of the Eighteenth Letter, one instance of
wisdom in the All-Glorious Creator's constantly changing and renewing beings in an
astonishing and awesome way through the activity of His dominicality is as follows:

Activity and motion in creatures arise from an appetite, a desire, a pleasure, a
love. It may be said that there is a sort of pleasure in all activity; or that activity is a
sort of pleasure, even. Pleasure too is turned towards a perfection; indeed, it is a sort
of perfection. Since activity indicates perfection, pleasure, beauty; and since the
Necessarily Existent One, who is absolute perfection and the Perfect One of Glory,
unites in His essence, attributes,

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and names every sort of perfection; for sure, in a manner fitting for the necessary
existence and holiness of the Necessarily Existent Essence, in a form suitable to His
absolute riches and essential self-sufficiency, in a way appropriate to His absolute
perfection and freedom from defect, He has a boundless sacred compassion and
infinite pure love. Of a certainty, there is an infinite holy eagerness arising from that
sacred compassion and pure love; and from that holy eagerness arises an infinite
sacred joy And arising from that sacred joy, is, if the term is permissible, an infinite
holy pleasure. And from this holy pleasure and from the gratitude and perfections of
creatures which result from the emergence and unfolding of their potentialities within
the activity of His power, arise, if one may say so, an infinite sacred gratification and
holy pride pertaining to that Most Merciful and Compassionate Essence. It is these
that necessitate a boundless activity. And that boundless activity in turn necessitates
boundless change and transformation, alteration and destruction. And the boundless
change and transformation necessitate death and extinction, decline and separation.

At one time, the benefits shown by human science and philosophy 1 concerning
the aims of beings appeared to me to be extremely insignificant. I understood from
this that such philosophy leads only to futility. Consequently, leading philosophers
either fall into the swamp of nature, or they become Sophists, or they deny divine
knowledge and choice, or they call the Creator "self-necessitating."

At that point, divine mercy sent the name of All-Wise to my aid, and it showed
me the great aims of creatures. That is to say, every creature, every artefact, is a
dominical missive for conscious beings to study. This aim satisfied me for a year.
Then the wonders in the art of beings were unfolded to me, and the former aim began
to seem deficient. Another, much greater aim became apparent, which was that the
main aims of creatures look to their Maker. I understood that it consists of creatures'
presenting to His gaze the perfections of His art, the embroideries of His names, the
embellishments of His wisdom, and the gifts of His mercy; it is their being mirrors to
His beauty and perfections. This aim satisfied me for a long time, then the miracles of
divine power and attributes of dominicality (§uunat-i rububiyet) in the extremely swift
changes and transformations within the astonishing activity in the art and creation of
things became apparent. The former aim too began to appear insufficient. I
understood that a necessitat

1 Human science and philosophy refers to those philosophies which are derived from human reason and
which hold science to be the source and measure of truth rather than divine revelation. [Tr.]

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ing cause, a motive, was necessary as great as that latter aim. It was then that the
causes in this second Sign and the aims in the Indications to follow became apparent.
It was made known to me with complete certainty that the activity of divine power in
the universe and the constant flood of beings are so meaningful that through them the
All- Wise Maker causes all the realms of beings in the universe to speak. It is as if the
beings of the earth and the skies and their motion and actions are the words of their
speech; their motion is their speech. That is, the motion and decline arising from
activity is speech glorifying God. The activity in the universe is the universe's silent
speech and that of the varieties of its beings; their being made to speak.

THIRD SIGN

Things do not go to non-existence, they rather pass from the realm of power to
the realm of knowledge; they go from the Manifest World to the World of the
Unseen; they turn from the world of change and transience to the worlds of light and
eternity. In reality, the beauty and perfection in things pertain to the divine names and
are their impresses and manifestations. Since the names are eternal and their
manifestations, perpetual, certainly their impresses will be renewed, refreshed, and
made beautiful. Things do not vanish into non-existence; their relative determinations
change; their realities, essences, and identities, from which spring their beauty and
loveliness, effulgence and perfection, are enduring.

The beauty of beings with no spirits pertain directly to the divine names; the
honour is theirs; praise is due to them; the beauty is theirs; love goes to them; they
suffer no harm on those mirrors changing.

For beings with spirits but no intellect, death is not a departure for extinction, a
vanishing into non-existence; it is to be saved from physical existence and the
turbulent duties of life. The beings make over the fruits of the duties they have
performed to their spirits. Relying on a divine name, their immortal spirits persist;
indeed, they attain a happiness worthy of them.

For beings that possess both spirit and intellect, death is anyway a journeying to
everlasting happiness, to the eternal realm, which is a spring of perfections, material
and non-material, and to such other dwelling-places of the All- Wise Maker as the
Intermediate Realm, the World of Similitudes, and the Spirit World, which all surpass
this world in beauty and luminosity. Their passing does not lead to their death and
extinction, separation and non-existence, but to their attaining perfection.

In Short: Since the All-Glorious Maker exists and He is Eternal, and

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since His attributes and names are perpetual and everlasting; certainly His names'
manifestations and impresses are renewed, affording them a sort of perpetualness;
they are not destroyed and do not just disappear; they are not ephemeral and
despatched to non-being. It is clear that by reason of his humanity, man is connected
with most other beings; he receives pleasure at their happiness and is grieved at their
destruction. He feel more grief at the suffering of living creatures, of humankind in
particular, and particularly the people of perfection he loves and admires; and his
happiness is greater at their happiness. Like a fond mother, he even sacrifices his own
happiness and comfort for theirs. Thus, through the light of the Qur'an and mystery of
belief, all believers - in accordance with their degree - may be happy at the happiness
of other beings, and at their continued existence and being saved from nothingness
and their being valuable dominical missives; they may gain a light as extensive as the
world. Everyone may profit from this light according to his degree. As for the people
of misguidance, in addition to their own pains they are grieved at the destruction of
beings, at their transience and apparently being despatched to non-existence - and if
they have spirits, at their suffering. That is to say, their unbelief fills their world with
non-existence; it empties it over their heads, causing them hell before they go there.

FOURTH SIGN

As we have said in many places, a monarch has various offices and departments
proceeding from such titles of his as Sultan, Khalifa, Judge, and Commander-in-
Chief. In the same way, Almighty God's Most Beautiful Names have innumerable
different sorts of manifestations. All the different sorts of creatures arise from the
varieties of manifestations. Thus, by virtue of the fact that every possessor of beauty
and perfection has an innate desire to see and display his beauty and perfection, the
names - since they are constant and eternal - want to be displayed in permanent
fashion on account of the Most Pure and Holy Essence. That is to say, they want to
see their impresses; that is, to see in the mirrors of their embroideries the
manifestation of their beauty and reflection of their perfection; that is, to renew every
instant the mighty book of the universe and the multifarious missives of beings; that
is, to constantly write them anew; that is, to write thousands of different missives on a
single page and to display each missive to the witnessing gaze of the Sacred Essence,
the Most Pure and Holy One, who is signified; and in addition, to exhibit them to the
meditative gazes of sentient beings, and to cause them to read them. Consider the
following poem, which alludes to this truth:

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The leaves of the book of the world are of varieties incalculable,
Its letters and words, too, are of number infinite;
Inscribed on the workbench of the Preserved Tablet of reality,
An embodied meaningful word, is each being in the world.
Study the lines of the universe; for they are missives to you from the Sublime
Assembly.

FIFTH SIGN

The fifth Sign consists of two points.

First Point: Since Almighty God exists, everything exists. Since they have
a relation with Almighty God, all things exist for everything. For through the mystery
of unity, through their relation with the Necessarily Existent One, all beings become
connected with all other beings. This means that through the mystery of unity, every
being that knows its relation with the Necessarily Existent One, or whose relation is
known, becomes connected to all beings since they are connected to Him. This means
that by virtue of that relation, all beings may manifest endless lights of existence. In
that respect, for them there is no separation or death. To live for a single passing
second yields innumerable lights of existence. Whereas if there is no such relation or
it is not known, the being or person manifests infinite separations and deaths. For in
the face of every being with which he could have been connected, he is exposed to a
separation, a parting, a death. That is, he burdens his personal existence with endless
instances of non-existence and separation. If he were to remain in existence for a
million years even (without connection), it would not be equal to living for an instant
with the relation mentioned above. The people of reality (ehl-i hakikat) have said
therefore: "Illumined existence for a passing instant is preferable to a million years of
profitless existence." It is also because of this that verifiers of the realities (ehl-i
tahkik) have said: "The lights of existence become apparent through recognizing the
Necessarily Existent One." That is to say: the universe is seen to be full of angels,
spirit beings, and intelligent beings, bathed in lights of existence. Whereas without
them, the darkness of non-existence and pains of death and separation encompass all
beings. In such a view, the world appears to be an empty, desolate wasteland.

Indeed, all the fruits of a tree have a relation with all the other fruits, and since
through the relation they are all friends and brothers, each possesses accidental
existences to their number. But if one of the fruits is plucked from the tree, it suffers a
separation and death in the face of all the other fruits; they all become as though non-
existent for it; it remains in the resulting darkness of external non-existence.

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In exactly the same way, in so far as they are connected to the power of the
Single Eternally Besoughted One, all things exist for everything. The absence of such
a relation results for all things in external non-existences to the number of things.

So see from this Sign the vastness of the lights of belief (iman) and the terrifying
darkness of misguidance. That is, belief is the mark of the elevated truth described in
this Sign; and it may be benefited from through belief. In the absence of belief, just as
for someone who is blind, deaf, dumb, and stupid everything is non-existent, so is
everything non-existent and dark for one without belief.

Second Point: The world and all things have three faces:

The First Face looks to the divine names and is their mirror. Death, separation,
and non-existence cannot intrude on this face; it rather manifests renewal and
remaking afresh.

The Second Face looks to the hereafter and gazes upon the World of Eternity; it
is its arable field. Here, enduring fruits and produce are raised. It serves eternity and
makes ephemeral things as though eternal. On this face too there is no death and
decline, but the manifestations of life and eternity.

The Third Face looks to transient beings, that is, to us. It is the beloved of
ephemeral beings and those who follow the caprices of their souls; the place of trade
for the conscious; the arena of trial and examination for those charged with duties.
Thus, the salve and cure for the pains and wounds of the transience and decline, the
death and extinction, on this third face, are the manifestations of life and eternity in its
inner face.

In Short: This flood of beings, these travelling creatures, are roving mirrors
and ever-changing places of manifestation for the renewal of the Necessarily Existent
One's lights of creation and existence.

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Second Station

[The Second Station consists of an Introduction and five Indications.
The Introduction contains two Topics.]

First T o p i c : In each of the following five Indications is a comparison,
written in the form of a dull, short-ranged telescope with which to observe the
attributes of dominicality. The comparisons cannot contain the reality of those
attributes; they cannot encompass them and be the measure of them, but they can
assist in looking at them. Any phrases or expressions in the comparisons, or in the
previous Signs, unfitting for the attributes of the Most Pure and Holy Essence are the
fault of the comparisons.

For example, the meanings of pleasure, joy, and gratification known by us cannot
express the sacred attributes; each rather indicates an observatory and is an aid to
reflective thought. Also, by showing in a small example the tip of an encompassing,
mighty law of dominicality, each proves the reality of the law present in the attributes
of dominicality. For example, it is said that a flower departs from existence leaving
thousands of existences behind it. This demonstrates a mighty law of dominicality
that is in force in all the beings of spring, indeed, of all the world.

Yes, through whichever law the All-Compassionate Creator changes and renews
the feathered dress of a bird, through the same law that All- Wise Maker renews the
dress of the globe of the earth every year. Through the same law, He transforms the
shape of the world every century. And through the same law, He will change the form
of the universe at the resurrection of the dead.

Through whichever law He impels particles like Mevlevi dervishes, He makes
the earth spin through the same law, like an ecstatic Mevlevi dervish rising up to
dance the sama'. And through that law, He causes worlds to revolve, and the solar
system to travel through space.

Through whichever law He renews, repairs, and dissolves the particles in your
body's cells, through the same law He renews your garden every year, making it anew
many times every season. And through the same law, He renews the face of the earth
every spring, drawing a fresh veil over its face.

Through whichever law that All-Powerful Maker raises a fly to life, through the
same law He restores to life the plane-tree opposite your win

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dow every spring; and through that law, He raises the globe of the earth to life in the
spring; and through the same law He will raise creatures to life at the resurrection.
The Qur'an alludes to this with the verse,

Your creation and your resurrection is but as a single sow/.(31:28)

And so on; you can make further examples in the same way.

There are many laws of dominicality like these which are in force from particles
to the totality of the world. Consider the immensity of these laws within dominical
activity; note carefully their breadth and see the meaning of unity within them.
Understand that each law is a proof of divine unity. Yes, since all these numerous and
immense laws are the manifestations of knowledge and will, and since they are both
the same and all-encompassing, they offer certain proof for the Maker's unity,
knowledge, and will.

Thus, most of the comparisons in the Words show through small examples the
tips of laws like these, and by doing so, point to the existence of the same law in the
matter claimed. Since the existence of the law is demonstrated through a comparison,
it proves the assertion as categorically as a logical proof. That is to say, most of the
comparisons in the Words should be considered categorical proofs and certain
arguments.

Second Topic: As is described in the Tenth Truth of the Tenth Word,
however many flowers and fruits there are on a tree, each of them has aims, purposes,
and instances of wisdom to that number. These instances of wisdom are of three sorts:

One sort looks to the Maker and displays the embroideries of His names.

Another sort looks to intelligent and conscious beings, and in their view, things
are valuable missives and meaningful words.

Another sort looks to the being itself and to its own life and perpetuation; and if
beneficial for man, it contains instances of wisdom accordingly.

At one time, while contemplating how all beings have such numerous aims, the
following phrases occurred to me in Arabic, which, like notes forming the basis of the
following Indications, allude to those universal aims:

These glorious beings are flowing places of manifestation and roving
mirrors for the renewal of the manifestations of the lights of His creativity -
Glory be unto Him! - through the changing of their relative determinations,
* Firstly, and by preserving their beautiful meanings and their identities in
the World of Similitudes; * Secondly, and producing truths pertaining to the
World of the Unseen and the weavings of the

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Preserved Tablet; * Thirdly, and spreading the fruits of the hereafter and
publishing everlasting panoramas; * Fourthly, and proclaiming dominical
glorifications and making known what the divine names necessitate; *
Fifthly, so that the divine attributes become apparent and the aspects of
divine knowledge.

These five sections comprise the bases of the Indications we shall discuss below.
Yes, all beings, and particularly living beings, possess on five levels different aims
and instances of wisdom and purposes. Like a tree produces fruit on branches one
over the other, so all living beings have five different levels of aims and purposes.

O ephemeral man! If you want your own tiny seed-like reality to be transformed
into an eternal fruit-bearing tree, and to obtain the ten levels of fruits and ten sorts of
aims pointed out in the five Indications, acquire true faith. Otherwise, in addition to
being deprived of all of them, you will be squeezed into that seed and you will rot!

FIRST INDICATION

Firstly: through the changing of their relative determinations, and by preserving
their beautiful meanings and their identities in the World of Similitudes.

This section expresses the following: although a being apparently disappears into
non-existence after departing from [external] existence, the meanings it has expressed
are preserved and perpetuated. Its identity, form, and essential nature also are
preserved in the World of Similitudes, on the Preserved Tablets, which are samples of
the World of Similitudes, and in memories, which are samples of the Preserved
Tablets. That is, the being loses its visible existence and gains hundreds of immaterial
existences and existences in knowledge.

For example, in order to print a page in a printing-press, the type is set up and
arranged. Then after the page has bequeathed its form and identity on many pages
when printed and after it has proclaimed its meanings to many minds, the
arrangement of the type is changed. For no need remains for it and other pages have
to be printed.

In exactly the same way, the pen of divine determining sets up and arranges the
beings of the earth, especially plants. Divine power creates them on the page of the
springtime. Then in order for them to express their beautiful meanings and for their
forms and identities to pass to the ledgers of the World of the Unseen, for instance the
World of Similitudes, divine wisdom requires that the arrangement be changed. In
this way, the page of

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another, future spring may be written and its beings express their meanings too.

SECOND INDICATION

Secondly, and producing truths pertaining to the World of the Unseen and the
weavings of the Preserved Tablet.

This section shows that before departing from existence, everything, whether
particular or universal, and especially living beings, produces many truths pertaining
to the Unseen. So too they leave behind them on the tablets and notebooks of the
World of Similitudes forms to the number of the stages of their lives. Their life
histories and those of their forms that are meaningful are inscribed and become
objects of study for spirit beings.

For example, a flower passes from existence, but together with leaving behind its
essential nature in its hundreds of seeds, it leaves thousands of its forms on small
Preserved Tablets and in memories, which are small samples of the Preserved Tablets.
And throughout the stages of its life it causes conscious beings to study the
embroideries of the divine names and the dominical glorifications it expresses; then it
departs.

Similarly, the springtime is a flower adorned with finely wrought beings in the
flower-pot of the face of the earth; it apparently dies and departs for non-existence,
but in its place it leaves behind in existence the truths pertaining to the Unseen it has
expressed to the number of its seeds, and identities in the World of Similitudes it has
published to the number of its flowers, and the instances of dominical wisdom it has
displayed to the number of its beings; only then is it hidden from us. Moreover, it
makes room for its friends, other springs, to come and perform their duties. That is to
say, the spring is divested of an external existence, and in meaning is clothed in a
thousand existences.

THIRD INDICATION

Thirdly, and spreading the fruits of the hereafter and publishing everlasting
panoramas.

This section states that the world is a workbench and an arable field raising crops
suitable for the market of the hereafter. We have proved in many of the Words that
just as jinn and men send their actions to the market of the hereafter, so too the other
beings in the world perform numerous duties on account of the hereafter and produce
many crops for it. It may even be said that the earth travels for them, or even that this
is its purpose. This dominical ship traverses a twenty-four thousand year distance in
one year, circumscribing the field of the resurrection.

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For example, the people of Paradise will surely wish to recall their adventures in
this world and recount them to one another. They will be exceedingly curious to see
the images and pictures of those adventures, and they will enjoy it immensely if they
can watch them like watching a cinema screen. Consequently, as the verse,

[Joyfully] facing each other on thrones [of dignity] (15:47; 37:44)

indicates, in Paradise, the realm of delight and happiness, worldly adventures and
scenes of worldly happenings will be recalled, amid everlasting panoramas.

Thus, the beautiful beings of this world appearing for a moment then
disappearing, and following on one after the other in succession, appear to be
factories and workshops manufacturing the vistas of eternity. For example, in order to
give fleeting situations a permanence and leave souvenirs for the people of the future,
the people of present-day civilization record the images of beautiful or strange
happenings and present them as gifts to the future by means of the cinema screen;
they show the past in the present and the future, and include it in them.

In just the same way, the All- Wise Maker of the beings of spring and this world
records the aims of their brief lives, which look to the World of Eternity, in that
world. He records in everlasting scenes in the Eternal Realm the vital duties and the
divine miracles they have performed throughout the stages of their lives, as required
by His names of All- Wise, All-Compassionate, and Loving.

FOURTH INDICATION

Fourthly, and proclaiming dominical glorifications and making known the
requirements of the divine names.

This section states that throughout the stages of their lives, beings perform
numerous varieties of dominical glorifications. They also display various situations
that the divine names necessitate and require. For example, the name of All-
Compassionate desires to be compassionate. The name of Provider necessitates the
giving of sustenance. The name of Gracious requires the granting of favours. And so
on; all the divine names require and necessitate something. Thus, in addition to
demonstrating the requirements of the names through their lives and existences, all
living beings glorify the All-Wise Maker to the number of their members and
faculties.

For example, a man eats delicious fruits which are then dissolved in his stomach
and apparently destroyed, but they both produce a pleasure and eagerness arising from
activity in all the cells of his body as well as his

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mouth and stomach, and comprise very many instances of wisdom like nurturing his
life and every part of his body and causing his life to continue. And the food itself
rises from vegetable existence to the level of human life; it progresses.

In exactly the same way, when beings are hidden behind the veil of death, in
addition to their very many glorifications enduring in their places, they bequeath to
the divine names many of the names' embroideries and requirements. That is to say,
they depart entrusting them to an eternal existence. If, then, when a transient and
temporary existence departs thousands of existences manifesting a sort of permanence
remain in its place, can it be said that the thing is to be pitied, or that it was all for
nothing, or why did that lovable creature depart; can it be complained about? For the
mercy, wisdom, and love that look to it required and necessitated it to be thus.
Otherwise thousands of benefits would have to be abandoned so that a single harm
would not come about; in which case the harm would be a thousandfold. That is to
say, the names of All-Compassionate, All- Wise, and Loving One are not opposed to
death and separation; indeed, they require and necessitate it.

FIFTH INDICATION

Fifthly, so that the divine attributes become apparent and the aspects of divine
knowledge.

This section states that on departing from visible existence, beings, and
particularly living beings, leave behind them many enduring things. As described in
the Second Sign, among the attributes of dominicality (fluunat-> rububiyet) - in a way
befitting the sacredness and perfect self-sufficiency of the Necessarily Existent
Essence and in a form worthy of Him - are a boundless love, an infinite compassion,
an endless pride, and, if the term is permissible, a boundless holy pleasure, a joy, and
if the expression is not mistaken, an infinite sacred delight, and a transcendent
happiness; the traces of which are to be observed and seen.

Yes, through change and transformation, decline and transience, beings are
driven on at speed within the astonishing activity necessitated by these attributes; they
are constantly sent from the Manifest World to the World of the Hereafter. Under the
manifestations of the attributes, creatures are shaken up in a continual flow and flood,
motion and movement, scattering to the ears of the heedless the lamentations of death
and separation, and to the hearing of the people of guidance, a clamour of
glorification and recital of God's names. It is by virtue of this mystery that all beings
depart leaving

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behind them in existence meanings, qualities, and states which will each be a means
to the manifestation of the Necessarily Existent One's eternal attributes.

Furthermore, beings depart leaving behind them the stages and states they have
undergone throughout their lives - a detailed existence which represents their external
existence - on the Preserved Tablet, and in the Clear Book and Clear Record, and
other spheres of existence like these that pertain to divine knowledge. This means that
every transitory being abandons one existence and gains thousands of permanent
existences.

For example, a number of common substances are thrown into a wondrous
machine in a factory; they burn up inside it and are apparently destroyed, but in those
vats valuable chemical substances are precipitated. Also, through its force and steam,
the factory's machinery works: in one area of it textiles are woven, in another books
are printed, while in another sweets and other rare confections are manufactured; and
so on; it produces these. That is to say, thousands of things come into existence
through the burning of those common substances and their apparent destruction. One
common existence departs but leaves a legacy of numerous elevated existences. Can
one therefore feel sorry for the common substance? Can one complain about the
factory owner because he did not pity it and burnt it, destroying those affectionate
substances?

Similarly, "And God's is the highest similitude,"( 16:60) as necessitated by
mercy, wisdom, and lovingness, the Wise, Compassionate, and Loving Creator causes
the factory of the universe to work. He makes all transient existences the seeds of
numerous perpetual existences; He makes them the means for the fulfilment of the
dominical aims; He makes them manifest the divine attributes; He makes them the ink
for the pen of divine determining and shuttles for the weaving of divine power; and
for many elevated aims and favours that we do not yet know, through the activity of
His power He causes the activity of the universe; He causes particles to spin, beings
to travel, animals to flow, and the planets to rotate; He makes the universe speak,
causing it to silently recite His verses, His signs, and to inscribe them. And of the
creatures of the earth - with regard to His dominicality - He makes the air a throne
for His command and will; the element of light a throne for His knowledge and
wisdom; water a throne for His bounty and mercy; and earth a throne for His
preservation and giving of life; and three of these thrones He rests on the creatures of
the earth.

Know certainly that the shining truth demonstrated in these five Signs and five
Indications is to be seen through the light of the Qur'an and may be laid claim to
through the strength of belief. Otherwise a terrifying dark

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ness takes the place of this enduring truth. For the people of misguidance, the world is
full to overflowing with deaths, separations, and non-existence; for them, the universe
is a sort of Hell. Everything has only a flash of existence and is surrounded by never-
ending non-being. The past and the future are filled with the darkness of non-
existence; they may find a sad light of existence only in the fleeting present.
However, through the mystery of the Qur'an and the light of belief, a light of
existence becomes apparent which shines from pre-eternity to post-eternity; believers
are connected with that, and through it secure eternal happiness.
In Short: In the manner of the poet Niyazi Misri, we say:

Till this breath becomes the ocean,

Till this cage is smashed to fragments,

Till this voice is silenced,

I shall call: O Truth! O Existent! O Living One! Most Worthy of Worship!

O Most Wise! One Sought! Most Compassionate! All-Loving!

And I call out:

There is no god but God, the Sovereign, the Truth, the Evident; Muhammad
is the Messenger of God, faithful in His promise, Amen.

And believing, I declare:

Resurrection after death is true; Paradise is true; Hell-fire is true; eternal
happiness is true; God is Compassionate, Wise, and Loving; and Mercy,
Wisdom, and Love encompass all things and all their attributes.
And they shall say: "Praise be to God, who has guided us to this [felicity];
never could we have found guidance, had it not been for the guidance of
God; indeed, it was the truth that the prophets of our Sustainer brought to
us! "'(7:43)

Glory be to the One who has made the garden of the earth the exhibition of
His art, the gathering of His creatures, the place of manifestation of His
power, the means of His wisdom, the garden of His mercy, the tillage of His
Paradise, the place of passage of creatures, through which beings flow, the
measure of artefacts; adorned by animals, embroidered with birds, made
fruitful by trees, made to bloom with flowers; miracles of His knowledge,
wonders of His art, gifts of His munificence, proofs of His favour, evidences
of His unity, subtleties of His wisdom, witnesses to His mercy; the smiling of
the blossoms with the adornment of fruits, the singing of the birds in the

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breezes of morning, the pattering of the rain on the cheeks of the flowers; the
adornment of the flowers, the embellishment of the fruits in these gardens;
all mothers, human and animal, are tender towards their small young,
making known a Loving One, making loved a Merciful One, the compassion
of a Kind One, the tenderness of One sympathetic to man and jinn, and to
spirits, animals, angels, and jinn.

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The First Addendum
to the Twenty-Fourth Letter

In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise. (11:44)

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

Say: No importance would your Sustainer attach to you were it not for your

supplication. {25:11)

Listen now to five points concerning this verse.
First Point

Supplication is a mighty mystery of worship; indeed, it is as though the spirit of
worship. As we have mentioned in many places, supplication is of three sorts.

The First Sort of Supplication: This is the tongue of latent ability. Through it
all seeds and grains supplicate the All- Wise Creator, saying: "Make us grow! Make
our tiny truths sprout and transform us into the mighty reality of a tree, so that we
may display the elaborate embroideries of Your names !"

Another sort of supplication through the tongue of latent ability is this: the
gathering together of causes is a supplication for the creation of the effect. That is to
say, the causes take up a position whereby they resemble a tongue of disposition
through which they beseech the effect from the All-Powerful One of Glory. For
example, water, heat, earth, and light take up positions around a seed, and their doing
this constitutes a tongue of supplication which says: "O Our Creator, make this seed
into a tree!" For the tree, a wonderful miracle of power, cannot be attributed to those
unconscious, lifeless, simple substances; that would be impossible. This means the
coming together of causes is a sort of supplication.

The Second Sort of Supplication: This is through the tongue of innate need. It is
the supplication made by all living creatures to the All-Compassionate Creator to give
them the things they need and desire, which are beyond their power and will, from
unexpected places, at the appropriate

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time. For an All- Wise and Compassionate One sends them all these things at the right
time, from places they do not know. They are beyond their reach. That is to say, the
bestowal is the result of supplication.

In Short: All that rises to the divine court from the universe is a supplication.
Those things that are causes seek the effects from God.

The Third Sort of Supplication: This is the supplication of conscious beings,
which arises from need. It is of two kinds:

If it is made at a time of desperate need, or is completely conformable with innate
need, or if it is close to the tongue of latent ability, or is made with the tongue of a
pure, sincere heart, this supplication is virtually always acceptable. The greater part of
human progress and most discoveries are the result of this sort of supplication. For the
things they call the wonders of civilization and the matters and discoveries they take
pride in are the result of what is in effect supplication. They were asked for with a
sincere tongue of latent ability and so were given. So long as there is nothing
preventing them and they are conformable with conditions, supplications made
through the tongues of latent ability and innate need are always acceptable.

The Second Kind: This is the well-known supplication and it too is of two kinds.
One is by action and the other by word. For example, ploughing is supplication by
action. It is not seeking the sustenance from the earth; the earth is a door to a treasury
of mercy, and the plough knocks on the earth, the door to divine mercy.

We shall skip details of the remaining sorts, and explain in the following two or
three points one or two of the secrets of supplication by word.

Second Point

Supplication has a powerful effect. It almost always yields results, indeed, its
results are continuous, especially if it gains universality and is constant. It may even
be said that supplication was one of the reasons for the world's creation. That is to
say, the supplications of chiefly mankind, and of them principally the Islamic world,
and mainly the sublime supplications of Muhammad the Arabian (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) were a cause of the universe's creation. That is to say, the
Creator of the World knew that in the future Muhammad (UWBP) would ask for
eternal happiness and for a manifestation of the divine names in the name of mankind,
indeed, on account of all beings, and He accepted that future supplicaton and created
the universe.

Since supplication possesses this great importance and capacity, is it at all
possible that the supplications offered all the time for one thousand

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three hundred and fifty years by three hundred million of mankind and by
uncountable numbers of blessed beings from among men, jinn, angels, and spirit
beings for the bestowal of suprem divine mercy and eternal happiness on the Person
of Muhammad (UWBP), and for the accomplishment of their aims would not be
accepted? Is it in any way possible that their supplications would be rejected?

Since all these supplications have acquired universality, extensiveness, and
continuousness to this extent and have reached the level of the tongues of latent
ability and innate need, for sure, as a result of them, Muhammad the Arabian (UWBP)
has achieved such a rank and degree that if all minds were to gather together and
become one mind, it could not completely comprehend it.

O Muslims! This is the intercessor you shall have on the Day of Resurrection! So
if you want to attract his intercession, follow his practices (sunna)\

Ifyou ask: Since he is God's Beloved, what need does he have of all these
blessings and supplications?

The Answer: This Being (UWBP) is concerned with the happiness of all his
community and shares in the good fortune of each of its members. So too, he is
disturbed by all their tribulations. For sure, the degrees of his own happiness and
perfection are endless, but since he desires ardently the numberless kinds of happiness
for the numberless members of his community for an unlimited time, and is saddened
at the numberless kinds of their wretchedness, he is surely worthy of and needy for
endless blessings and supplications and mercy.

Ifyou ask: Sometimes supplications are offered for things that are definite;
for example, the supplications in the prayers offered during lunar and solar eclipses.
Also, sometimes supplications are made for things that will never come about. What
does this mean?

The A n s w e r : As is explained in others of the Words, supplication is
worship. By means of it, God's servant proclaims his powerlessness and want. The
apparent purposes mark the times of the supplication and the supplicatory worship;
they are not really the purpose. The purpose of worship and its benefits look to the
hereafter. If its worldly aims are not obtained, it should not be said that the
supplication was not accepted, but that the time for it has not yet ended.

Also, is it at all possible that eternal happiness, which all the believers have asked
for at all times, continuously, with complete sincerity and yearning and entreaty,
should not be given to them, and that the Absolutely Generous One, the Absolutely
Compassionate One, who according to the

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testimony of the universe possesses boundless mercy, should not accept their
supplications and that eternal happiness should not exist?

Third Point

There are two ways in which voluntary supplication by word is acceptable. It is
either accepted exactly as desired or what is better is granted.

For example, someone asks for a son and Almighty God bestows a daughter like
Mary. One should not say that his supplication was not accepted, but that it was
accepted in a better way.

Also, sometimes a person makes supplication for his happiness in this world and
it is accepted for the hereafter. One should not say that his supplication was rejected,
but that it was accepted in a better form. Similarly, Almighty God is All- Wise; we
seek from Him and He responds to us. But He deals with us in accordance with His
wisdom.

A sick person should not cast aspersions on his doctor' s wisdom. If he asks for
honey and the expert doctor gives him quinine, he should not say: "The doctor didn't
listen to me." For the doctor listened to his sighs and moans; he heard them and
responded to them. He prescribed something better than what was asked for.

Fourth Point

The best, finest, sweetest, most immediate fruit and result of supplication is this,
that the person who offers it knows there is someone who listens to his voice, sends a
remedy for his ailment, takes pity on him, and whose hand of power reaches
everything. He is not alone in this great hostel of the world; there is an All-Generous
Being who looks after him and makes it friendly. Imagining himself in the presence of
the One who can bring about all his needs and repulse all his innumerable enemies, he
feels a joy and relief; he casts off his load, which is as heavy as the world, and
exclaims: "All praise be to God, the Lord and Sustainer of All the Worlds!"

Fifth Point

Supplication is the spirit of worship and results from sincere belief. For the
person who makes supplication shows that there is someone who rules the whole
universe, saying: "He knows the least significant things about me, can bring about my
farthest aims; who sees every circumstance of mine, and hears my voice. He hears the
voices of all beings, and He hears my voice too. He does all these things, so I await
my smallest needs from Him too. I ask Him for them !"

See the extensive, sincere belief in God's unity that supplication gives, and the
sweetness and purity of the light of belief that it shows! Under

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stand the meaning of the verse,

Say, No importance would your Sustainer attach to you were it not for your
supplication;{25:ll)

listen to the decree of,

And your Sustainer says: Call on Me; I shall answer vow. (40:60)

As the saying goes: "If I had not wanted to give, I would not have given
wanting."

Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught
us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All Wise! (2:32)

O God, grant blessings to our master Muhammad from pre-eternity to post-
eternity, to the number of things present in divine knowledge, and to his
Family and Companions, grant them peace; and preserve us from harm, and
preserve our religion. Amen. And all praise be to God, the Sustainer of All
the Worlds.

1 See, Abu Nu'aym, Hilyat al-Awliya', iii, 263.

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The Second Addendum
to the Twenty-Fourth Letter

[This is about the Ascension of the Prophet Muhammad (UWBP)]

In His Name!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise. (17 ':44)

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

For, indeed, he saw him at a second descent; * Near the Lote-tree of the
farthest limit; * Near it is to the Garden of Abode. * Behold, the Lote-tree
was shrouded in mystery unspeakable! * [His] eye did not waver, nor yet did
it stray; * Truly did he see some of the most profound of his Sustainer's
signs. (53 A3-IS)

[We shall explain in five points, the section on the Ascension in
the Mevlid of the Prophet (UWBP). 1 ]

First Point

Suleyman Efendi, in the Mevlid which he wrote, recounts a sad love story about
Buraq, which was brought from Paradise. Since Suleyman Efendi was one of the
saints and the story is based on narrations, it must surely express a truth.

The truth of the matter must be this: the creatures of the Eternal Realm are
closely connected with the light of God's Most Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace). For it is through the light that he brought that Paradise and the
world of the hereafter will be inhabited by mankind and the jinn. If it had not been for
him, there would have been no eternal happiness, and mankind and the jinn, who have
the ability to benefit from all the creatures of Paradise, would not have dwelt there; in
that sense it would have remained empty, a wasteland.

As is explained in the Fourth Branch of the Twenty- Fourth Word, a sort

' A Mevlid is a recitation by special singers of the long poem about the Prophet Muhammad (UWBP)
written by Suleyman Q elebi, who died in Bursa 780/1378.

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of nightingale has been chosen from each of the animal species to proclaim the
intense need of the species - and passion even - for the caravans of plant species
which, proceeding from the treasury of mercy, bear their provisions. The chief of
these are the nightingale and the rose. The songs of these dominical orators, and the
love-song of the nightingale for the rose, are a welcoming, an applause, glorifying
God, before the most beautiful of the plants.

Similarly, Gabriel (Upon whom be peace), one of the angels, served with perfect
love Muhammad the Arabian (Upon whom be blessings and peace), who was the
reason for the creation of the spheres, the cause of happiness in this world and the
next, and the beloved of the Sustainer of All the Worlds. He thus demonstrated the
obedience and submission of the angels to Adam (Upon whom be peace) and the
reason for their prostrating before him. Similarly, the people of Paradise - and some
of its animals even - feel a connection with Muhammad (UWBP), and this found
expression in the passionate feelings of Buraq, whom he mounted.

Second Point

One of the adventures during the Ascension concerned Almighty God's
transcendent love for His Most Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and
peace), which was expressed by the phrase: "I am your lover." In its common
meaning, such words are inappropriate for the Necessarily Existent One's holiness
and His essential self-sufficiency. Siileyman Efendi's Mevlid has enjoyed great
popularity; it may be understood from this that, as one of the people of sainthood and
reality, his allusion is correct. Its meaning is this:

The Necessarily Existent One possesses infinite beauty and perfection, for all the
varieties of them dispersed through the universe are the signs and indications of His
beauty and perfection. Those who possess beauty and perfection clearly love them.
Similarly, the All-Glorious One greatly loves His beauty, and He loves it in a way that
befits Himself. Furthermore, He loves His names, which are the rays of His beauty,
and since He loves them, He surely loves His art, which displays their beauty. In
which case, He also loves His creatures, which are mirrors reflecting His beauty and
perfection. Since He loves the creatures that display them, He certainly loves the
creatures' fine qualities, which point to the beauty and perfection of His names. The
All- Wise Qur'an alludes to these five sorts of love with its verses.

Thus, since the Most Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) was
the most perfect of creatures and the most excellent of beings;

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And since he displayed and applauded divine art with a clamour of glorification
and recitation of God's names;

And since he opened through the tongue of the Qur' an the treasuries of beauty
and perfection found in the names;

And since, through the tongue of the Qur' an he expounded brilliantly and
compellingly the evidences for the Maker' s perfection in the creational signs of the
universe;

And since through his universal worship he acted as a mirror to divine
dominicality;

And since through the comprehensiveness of his essential nature he was the most
perfect locus for the manifestation of all the divine names;

It surely may be said that since the All-Beauteous One of Glory loves His own
beauty, He loves Muhammad the Arabian (Upon whom be blessings and peace), the
most perfectly conscious mirror to His beauty. And since He loves His names, He
loves Muhammad the Arabian (Upon whom be blessings and peace), who was the
most brilliant mirror to the names, and He loves those who, according to their degree,
resemble him.

And since He loves His art, He certainly loves Muhammad the Arabian (Upon
whom be blessings and peace), who proclaimed His art to the universe in
reverberating voice, making it ring in the ears of the heavens, and who with a tumult
of glorification and recitation of the divine praises, brought to ecstasy the land and the
sea; and He loves too those who follow him.

And since He loves His artefacts, He loves living beings, the most perfect of His
artefacts, and intelligent beings, the most perfect of living beings, and human beings,
the most superior of intelligent beings, and He surely loves most of all Muhammad
the Arabian (Upon whom be blessings and peace), who as is agreed by all was the
most perfect of human beings.

And since He loves the moral virtues of His creatures, He loves Muhammad the
Arabian (Upon whom be blessings and peace), whose moral qualities were at the very
highest degree, as is agreed unanimously, and He loves too those who, as far as they
can, resemble him. This means that like His mercy, Almighty God's love
encompasses the universe.

Thus, it was because among all those innumerable beloveds, the ultimate degree
in every respect of the above-mentioned five aspects was unique to Muhammad the
Arabian (Upon whom be blessings and peace) that he was given the name of God's
Beloved.

This was the reason Siileyman Efendi expressed this highest rank of being God's
beloved with the words: "I am your lover." The expression is meant to provoke
thought; it is a distant allusion to this truth. Nevertheless,

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since it conjures up associations unfitting to the attributes of dominicality, it is best to
say instead: "I am pleased with you."

Third Point

The adventures of the Ascension cannot express those sacred, transcendent truths
through allusions that we understand. Its exchanges are like observation posts, means
to reflective thought, indications of profound and elevated truths, reminders for some
of the truths of faith, and allusions to inexpressible meanings. They are not adventures
in the sense that we know. We cannot reach those truths through our imaginations; we
rather feel a pleasurable excitement in our hearts through our faith, a luminous joy of
the spirit. For just as Almighty God has no like or match or peer in His essence and
attributes, so He has no like in His dominicality and its qualities. Nor does His love
resemble the love of creatures, or His attributes resemble theirs. So, holding such
expressions to be metaphors, we say this:

In a manner that befits His necessary existence and holiness and in a form
appropriate to His essential self-sufficiency and absolute perfection, the Necessarily
Existent One possesses certain qualities, like love, which are recalled through the
adventures in the section of the Mevlid about the Ascension. The Thirty-First Word
about the Prophet' s Ascension explains and expounds its reality in the context of the
principles of belief. Deeming that to be sufficient, we leave the present discussion at
this.

Fourth Point

The words, "He saw Almighty God beyond seventy thousand veils" 2 express
distance, whereas the Necessarily Existent One is free of space; He is closer to
everything than anything else. What does this mean?

The Answer: This truth has been explained in detail and with proofs in the
Thirty-First Word, so here we only say this:

Almighty God is utterly near to us, but we are utterly distant from Him. The sun
is near to us through the mirror we are holding, and all transparent objects on the earth
are a sort of throne for it and a sort of dwelling. If the sun had consciousness, it would
converse with us by means of our mirror, despite our being four thousand years
distant from it. Without drawing any comparisons, we can say that the Pre-Eternal
Sun is closer to everything than anything else, for He is the Necessarily Existent, he is
free of space; nothing at all can be a veil to Him. But everything is infinitely distant
from Him.

This is the mystery underlying the long distance of the Ascension on the one
hand, and the absence of distance expressed by, "And We are closer to

2 See, al-Qastalani, al-Mawahib al-Ladunniya (Sharh: al-Zarghani), vi, 93-100.

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him than his jugular vein,"(50:16) on the other. God's Most Noble Messenger (Upon
whom be blessings and peace) made the Ascension and traversed a vast distance, yet
he returned in a single instant. The Ascension was his spiritual journeying, an
expression of his sainthood. For through their spiritual journeying from forty days to
forty years, the saints advance to the degree of "absolute certainty" among the degrees
of faith.

Similarly, God's Most Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace),
the lord of all the saints, opened up a mighty highway with his Ascension, which
lasting forty minutes rather than forty years, was the supreme wonder of sainthood,
and which he made not only with his heart and spirit, but also with his body and his
senses and his subtle faculties. He rose to the ultimate degrees of the truths of faith.
He mounted by the steps of the Ascension to the divine throne, and at the station of
"the distance of two bow-lengths" witnessed with his own eyes with the vision of
certainty belief in God and belief in the hereafter, the principal truths of faith; he
entered Paradise and saw eternal happiness. Then he left open the highway he had
disclosed through the door of the Ascension, and all the saints of his community
travel on their spiritual journeyings under its shadow, with the spirit and heart, in
accordance with their degrees.

Fifth Point

The recitation of the Prophet's (UWBP) Mevlid and its section about his
Ascension is a fine, beneficial custom and admirable Islamic practice. It strengthens
in a pleasant, shining, and agreeable way the fellowship of Islamic social life; it is
gratifying and pleasurable instruction in the truths of faith; and is an effective and
stimulating way of depicting and encouraging the lights of belief, and love of God,
and love for the Prophet (UWBP). May Almighty God cause this custom to continue
to eternity, and may He grant mercy to the writers of Mevlids like Siileyman Efendi,
and a place in Paradise. Amen.

Conclusion

Since the Creator of the universe created in every species an outstanding
individual, including in it all the species' perfections and making it the pride of the
species, He would surely create - through the manifestation of His Greatest Name -
an individual who within the universe would be exceptional and perfect. Just as
among His names there is a Greatest Name, so among His creatures there should be a
pre-eminent individual in whom He would bring together all the perfections dispersed
through the universe, and through whom He would draw gazes upon Himself.

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Such an individual would surely be from among living creatures, for among the
species and realms of beings in the universe, the most perfect are living beings. And
among the animate species, the individual would be an intelligent being, for among
living beings the most perfect are those with intelligence. And certainly, that
exceptional individual would be a human being, for among intelligent beings, the one
capable of endless progress is man. And among men, that individual would be
Muhammad (Upon whom be blessings and peace). For no era in history, from the
time of Adam to the present, has produced his like, and cannot and will not produce
such a one. For taking half the globe of the earth and a fifth of mankind under his
spiritual rule, he has perpetuated it magisterially for one thousand three hundred and
fifty years, and for all who seek perfection has become a universal master in every
sort of truth and reality. As agreed by friend and foe alike, he possessed moral
qualities of the very highest order. At the start of his mission, he challenged the whole
world singlehanded. The person who brought the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition,
which is constantly recited by more than a hundred million men, is surely that
excellent individual; it could be no one else. He is both the seed, and the fruit, of this
world.

Blessings and peace be upon him to the number of the species of the universe
and all their beings!

You may understand then what a pleasurable, honourable, luminous, joyful,
auspicious, and elevated religious entertainment it is for believers to listen to the
Mevlid and Ascension of that Being whom they look on as their chief, master, leader,
and intercessor; that is, to hear about the beginning and end of his progress; that is, to
learn the story of his spiritual life.

O our Sustainer! In veneration of Your Most Noble Beloved (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) and for the sake of Your Greatest Name, make the
hearts of those who publish this treatise, and those of their companions,
manifest the lights of belief, and make their pens disseminate the mysteries of
the Qur'an, and set them on the Straight Path! Amen.

Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught
us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise 7(2:32)

The Eternal One, He is the Eternal One!

Said N u r s i

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* * *

The Twenty-Fifth Letter
was not written

* * *

359

The Twenty-Sixth Letter

First Topic

In His Name, be He Glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise. {17:44)

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

And if a suggestion from Satan assails your mind, seek refuge with God; for

He is All-Hearing and All-Knowing. (41:36)

A Proof of the Qur'an Against Satan and His Party

This first Topic defeats in argument the Devil, silences the rebellious, and strikes
them dumb by refuting in the most clear manner a fearsomely cunning stratagem of
the Devil, which is to be unbiased. It concerns an event part of which I described in
summary form ten years ago in my work entitled Lemeat. It is as follows:

Eleven years before this treatise was written, I was listening in the month of
Ramadan to the Qur'an being recited in Bayezid Mosque in Istanbul. Suddenly,
although I could see no one, I seemed to hear an unearthly voice which captured all
my attention. I listened with my imagination, and realized that it was saying to me:

"You consider the Qur'an to be extremely elevated and brilliant. Be unbiased for
a minute and consider it again. That is, suppose it to be man's word. I wonder whether
you would still see the same qualities and beauty in it?"

In truth, I was deceived by the voice; I thought of the Qur'an as being written by
man. Just as Bayezid Mosque is plunged into darkness when the electricity is
switched off, I observed that with that thought the brilliant

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lights of the Qur' an began to be extinguished. At that point I understood that it was
the Devil who was speaking to me; he was drawing me towards the abyss. I sought
help from the Qur' an and a light was at once imparted to my heart giving me firm
strength for the defence. I began to argue back at the Devil, saying:

"O Satan! Unbiased thinking is to take a position between two sides. Whereas
what both you and your disciples from among men call unbiased thinking is to take
the part of the opposing side; it is not impartiality, it is temporary unbelief. For to
consider the Qur' an to be man's word and to judge it as such is to take the part of the
opposing side; it is to favour something baseless and invalid. It is not being unbiased,
it is being biased towards falsehood."

The Devil replied: "Well, in that case, say it is neither God's Word nor man's
word. Think of it as between the two." To which I rejoined:

"That's not possible either. For if there is a disputed property for which there are
two claimants, and the claimants are close both to one another and to the property, the
property will either be given to someone other than them, or will be put somewhere
accessible so that whoever proves ownership can take it. If the two claimants are far
apart with one in the east and the other in the west, then according to the rule, it will
remain with the one who has possession of it since it is not possible for it to be left
somewhere between them.

"Thus, the Qur' an is a valuable property, and however distant man's word is from
God's, the two sides in question are that far apart; indeed, they are infinitely far from
one another. It is not possible for the Qur' an to be left between the two sides, which
are as far apart as the Pleiades and the ground. For they are opposites like existence
and non-existence or the two magnetic poles; there can be no point between them. In
which case, for the Qur' an, the one who possesses it is God's side. It will be accepted
as being in His possession, and the proofs of ownership will be regarded in that way.
Should the opposing side refute all the arguments proving it to be God's Word, it may
claim ownership of it, otherwise it cannot. God forbid! What hand can pull out the
nails fastening that vast jewel to the sublime throne of God, riveted as it is with
thousands of certain proofs, and break its supporting pillars, causing it to fall?"

"Inspite of you, O Satan!, the just and the fair-minded reason in this equitable and
rightful manner. They increase their belief in the Qur' an through even the slightest
evidences. While according to the way shown by you and your disciples, if just once
it is supposed to be man's word and that mighty jewel fastened to the divine throne is
cast to the ground, a proof

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with the strength of all the nails and the firmness of many proofs becomes necessary
in order to raise it from the ground and fasten it once more to the throne, and so be
saved from the darkness of unbelief and reach the lights of belief. But because it is
extremely difficult to do this, due to your wiles, many people are losing their faith at
this time by imagining themselves to be making unbiased judgements."

The Devil turned and said: "The Qur'an resembles man's word. It is similar to the
way men converse. That means it is man's word. If it were God's Word, it would be
appropriate to Him and altogether out of the ordinary. Just as His art does not
resemble man' s art, so His Word should not resemble man' s word."

I replied: "It may be understood as follows: apart from his miracles and special
attributes, the Prophet Muhammad (UWBP) was a human being in all his actions,
conduct, and behaviour. He submitted to and complied with the divine laws and
commands manifested in creation. He too suffered from the cold, experienced pain,
and so on. His deeds and attributes were not all made out of the ordinary so that he
could be the leader of his community through his actions, its guide through his
conduct, and instruct it through all his behaviour. If he had been out of the ordinary in
all his conduct, he could not have been the leader in every respect, the complete guide
for everyone, the "Mercy to All the Worlds" through all his attributes.

"In just the same way, the All-Wise Qur'an is the leader of the aware and the
conscious, the guide of jinn and men, the teacher of those aspiring to perfection, and
instructor of those seeking reality. It has necessarily, therefore, to be in a form similar
to human conversation and style. For men and jinn take their supplications from it and
learn their prayers from it; they express their concerns in its language, and learn from
it the rules of social behaviour, and so on. Everyone has recourse to it. If it had been
in similar form to the divine speech that the Prophet Moses (Peace be upon him)
heard on Mount Sinai, human beings could not have borne listening to it and hearing
it, nor made it a point of reference and recourse. Moses (Peace be upon him), one of
the five greatest prophets, could only endure to hear a few words. He said: "Ts Your
speech thus?' God replied: T have the power of all tongues.'" 1

Next, the Devil said: "Many people speak of matters similar to those in the
Qur'an in the name of religion. Isn't it possible, therefore, that a human being did
such a thing and made up the Qur' an in the name of religion?"

Suyuti, al-Durar al-Manthur, in, 536.

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Inspired by the light of the Qur'an, I replied as follows:

"Firstly: Out of love of religion, someone who is religious may say: 'The truth is
this; in reality, the matter is thus; Almighty God commands such-and-such.' But he
would not make God speak to suit himself. Trembling at the verse,

Who, then does more wrong than one who utters a lie concerning
God?(39:32),

he would not overstep his mark to an infinite degree, imitate God, and speak on His
behalf.

"Secondly: It is in no way possible for a human being to be successful in doing
such a thing on his own, in fact, it is completely impossible. People who resemble
each other may imitate one another, people of the same nation look the same as one
another, people who are close to one another in rank or status may impersonate one
another and temporarily deceive people, but they cannot do so for ever. For in any
event, the falseness and artificiality in their behaviour will show up their imposture to
the observant, and their deception will not last. If the person who is attempting to
imitate another under false pretences is quite unlike them; for example, if an
uneducated man wants to imitate in learning a genius like Ibn Sina, or a shepherd to
assume the position of a king, of course they will not deceive anyone at all, they will
only make fools of themselves. Everything they do will proclaim, 'This is an
impostor. '

"Thus, to suppose - God forbid!, a hundred thousand times - the Qur'an to be
man's word is utterly impossible; no rational being could accept its possibility; to do
so is a delirium like imagining to be possible something that is self-evidently
impossible, like a firefly being regarded by astronomers as a real star for a thousand
years; or a fly appearing to observers in the form of a peacock for a year; or a bogus
common private posing as a famous lofty field marshal, taking over his position and
remaining in it for a long period without giving away his deception; or like a
slandering, unbelieving liar affecting the manner and position of the most truthful,
trustworthy, upright believer throughout his life and being completely unruffled
before even the most observant while concealing his fraud from them.

"In just the same way, if the Qur'an is supposed to be man's word, then it has to
be supposed, God forbid, that that Perspicuous Book - which is clearly a brilliant star;
indeed, a sun of perfections perpetually scattering the lights of truth in the heavens of
the world of Islam - is like a firefly, a spurious sham made up by a counterfeiting
human; and those who are closest to it and study it most carefully do not realize this,
and consider it to be

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a perpetual, exalted star and source of truth. This is impossible a hundred times over,
and even if you were to go a hundred times further in your diabolical machinations, O
Satan, you could not make such an assertion, you could not deceive anyone of sound
reason! Only sometimes you trick people by making them look from a great distance,
thus making the star appear as small as a firefly.

"Thirdly: Also, if the Qur'an is imagined to be man's word, it necessitates that
the hidden reality of a criterion of truth and falsehood that is miraculous in its
exposition, and through the testimony of its fruits, results, and effects, is gilded with
the most spiritual and life-giving, the most truthful and happiness-bringing, the most
comprehensive and exalted qualities in the world of humanity, is, God forbid, the
fabrication of a single unaided and unlearned man's mind, and that the great geniuses
and brilliant scholars who observed him closely and studied him meticulously at no
time saw any trace of counterfeit or pretence in him and always found him serious,
genuine, and sincere.

"This is completely impossible, an idea so nonsensical as to shame the Devil
himself, like dreaming up an utterly impossible situation. For it entails supposing a
person who throughout his life demonstrated and taught trust, belief, confidence,
sincerity, seriousness, and integrity through all his conduct, words, and actions, and
raised eminently truthful and sincere followers, and was accepted as possessing the
highest, most shining virtues, to be the most untrustworthy, insincere, and
unbelieving. For in this question there is no point between the two.

"If, to suppose the impossible, the Qur'an were not the Word of God, it would
fall from the divine throne to the ground; it would not remain somewhere between.
While being the meeting-point of truths, it would become a source of superstition and
myth. And if, God forbid, the one who proclaimed that wonderful decree was not
God's Messenger, it would necessitate his descending from the highest of the high to
the lowest of the low, and from the degree of being the source of accomplishments
and perfections to the level of being a mine of trickery and intrigue; he could not
remain between the two. For one who lies and fabricates in God's name falls to the
very lowest of degrees.

"It is as impossible as permanently seeing a fly as a peacock, and all the time
seeing the peacocks' s attributes in the fly. Only someone lacking all intelligence
could imagine it to be possible.

"Fourthly: Also, if the Qur'an is imagined to be man's word, it necessitates
fancying that the Qur'an, which is a sacred commander of the community of
Muhammad, mankind's largest and most powerful army, is - God

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forbid - a powerless, valueless, baseless forgery. Whereas, self-evidently, through its
powerful laws, sound principles, and penetrating commands, it has equipped that huge
army both materially, and morally and spiritually, has imposed on it such an order,
regularity, and discipline that it has conquered both this world and the next, and has
instructed the minds of people each according to his degree, and trained their hearts,
conquered their spirits, purified their consciences, and employed and utilized their
limbs and members. To imagine it to be a counterfeit necessitates accepting a
hundredfold impossibility.

"Such an impossibility entails the further total impossibility of supposing that a
person who, through his deliberate conduct throughout his life taught mankind
Almighty God's laws, and through his honest behaviour instructed humanity in the
principles of truth, and through his sincere and reasonable words showed and
established the straight way of moderation and happiness, and as all his life testifies,
felt great fear at divine punishment and knew God better than anyone else and made
Him known, and in splendid fashion has for one thousand three hundred and fifty
years commanded a fifth of mankind and half the globe, and through his renowned
qualities is in truth the pride of mankind, indeed, of the universe, - it entails the
impossibility of supposing that, God forbid a hundred thousand times, he neither
feared God, nor knew Him, nor held back from lying, nor had any self-respect.
Because in this matter there is no point between the two. For if, to suppose the
impossible, the Qur'an is not the Word of God, if it falls from the divine throne to the
ground, it cannot remain somewhere between the two. Indeed, it has to be said to be
the property of the very worst of liars. And as for this, O Satan, even if you were a
hundred times more satanic, you could not deceive any mind that was not unsound,
nor persuade any heart that was not corrupted !"

The Devil retorted: "That's what you think! I have deceived most of mankind,
and their foremost thinkers, into denying the Qur'an and Muhammad."

I replied: "Firstly: When seen from a great distance, the largest thing appears the
same as the smallest. A star may even look like a candle.

"Secondly: Also, when seen both as secondary and superficially, something
which is completely impossible may appear to be possible.

"One time when an old man was watching the sky in order to spot the new moon
of Ramadan, a white hair fell on his eye. Imagining it to be the moon, he announced:
T have seen the new moon!' Now, it is impossible that the white hair was the moon,
but because his intention was to spot the moon and the hair was by the way and
secondary, he paid it no attention and thought the impossibility was possible.

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"Thirdly: Also, non-acceptance is one thing and denial is something quite
different. Non-acceptance is indifference, a closing of the eyes to something, an
ignorant absence of judgement. It may mask many completely impossible things and
the mind does not concern itself with them. As for denial, it is not non-acceptance, but
the acceptance of non-existence; it is a judgement. The mind is compelled to work. So
a devil like you takes hold of someone's mind and leads it to denial. Showing the
false to be truth and the impossible to be possible through such satanic wiles as
heedlessness, misguidance, fallacious reasoning, obstinacy, false arguments, pride,
deception, and habit, you make those unfortunate creatures in human form swallow
unbelief and denial, although they comprise innumerable impossibilities.

"Fourthly: Also, if the Qur'an is supposed to be the word of man, it necessitates
imagining to be its opposite a book that has self-evidently guided the purified,
veracious saints and spiritual poles, who shine like stars in the heavens of the world of
mankind, has continuously instructed all levels of perfected men in truth and justice,
veracity and fidelity, faith and trustworthiness, and has ensured the happiness of this
world and the next through the truths of the pillars of faith and the principles of the
pillars of Islam; a book that through the testimony of its achievements is of necessity
veracious, and pure, genuine truth, and absolutely right, and most serious - it
necessitates imagining, God forbid, that it comprises the opposites of these qualities,
effects, and lights, and not only is a collection of fabrications and lies, but also a
frenzy of unbelief that would shame even the Sophists and the devils, and cause them
to tremble.

"This impossibility necessitates the further, most ugly and abhorrent,
impossibility that the person who, according to the testimony of the religion and
Shari'a of Islam that he proclaimed, and the extraordinary fear of God and pure,
sincere worship that he demonstrated throughout his life, and as necessitated by the
good moral qualities unanimously witnessed in him, and according to the affirmation
of the people of truth and perfection whom he raised, was the most believing, the
most steadfast, the most trustworthy, and the most truthful, was - God forbid, and
again, God forbid - without faith, that he was most untrustworthy, did not fear God,
nor shrink from lying. To imagine this necessitates imagining the most loathsome
form of impossibility and perpetrating the most iniquitous and vicious sort of
misguidance.

"In Short: As is stated in the Eighteenth Sign of the Nineteenth Letter, the
common people, who gain an understanding of the Qur'an's miraculous nature by
listening to it, say: 'If I were to compare the Qur'an with all the other books I have
listened to, or with all the other books in the world, it

366

would resemble none of them; it is not the same as them in either kind or degree.' The
Qur'an, then, is either superior to all of them, or inferior to all of them. It is
impossible that it is inferior, and no enemy or the Devil even could say that. In which
case, the Qur'an is superior to all other books, and is therefore a miracle. In just the
same way, we say according to the categorical proof called "residue," taken from the
sciences of method and logic:

"O Satan and O disciples of Satan! The Qur'an is either the Word of God, come
from the supreme throne of God and His Greatest Name, or, God forbid, and again,
God forbid, it is a human forgery fabricated on earth by someone without belief who
neither feared God nor knew Him. In the face of the above proofs, O Satan, you can
neither say that, nor could you have said it, nor will you be able to say it in the future.
Therefore, the Qur'an is the Word of the Creator of the universe. Because there is no
point between the two; it is impossible and precluded that there should be. And we
have proved it most clearly and decisively; and you have seen it and heard it.

"In the same way, Muhammad (Upon whom be blessings and peace) is either
God's Messenger and the highest of the prophets and the most superior of creatures,
or, God forbid, he has to be imagined to be someone without belief who fell to the
lowest of the low because he lied concerning God, and did not know God, and did not
believe in His punishment. 2 And as for this, O Devil, neither you, nor the
philosophers of Europe or hypocrites of Asia on whom you rely, could say it; neither
could you say it in the past, nor shall you be able to say it in the future, for there is no
one in the world who would listen to it and accept it. It is because of this that the most
corrupting of those philosophers and the most lacking in conscience of the hypocrites,
even, admit that 'Muhammad the Arabian (UWBP) was very clever, and was most
moral and upright. '

"Since the matter is limited to these two sides, and the second one is impossible
and no one at all claims it to be true, and since we have proved with decisive
arguments that there is no point between them, for sure and of necessity, in spite of
you and your party, Muhammad the Arabian (Upon whom be blessings and peace)
was the Messenger of God, and the highest of the prophets and the best of all
creatures."

Upon him be blessings and peace to the number of angels and jinn and men.

2 Relying on the fact that the Qur'an mentions the unbelievers' blasphemies and obscenities, in order to
refute them, trembling, I too have been compelled to use these expressions, in the form of
impossibilities, to demonstrate the total impossibility and complete worthlessness of the blasphemous
ideas of the people of misguidance.

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A Second, Small Objection
of Satan

Not a word does he utter but there is a sentinel by him, ready [to note it]. *
And the stupor of death will bring the truth [before his eyes[: "This was the
thing you were trying to escape!" * And the trumpet shall be blown: that will
be the Day whereof warning [had been given[. * And there will come forth
every soul: with each will be [an angel[ to drive, and [an angel[ to bear
witness. * "You were heedless of this; now have We removed your veil. And
sharp is your sight this Day!" * And his companion will say: "Here is [his
record] ready with me!" * "Throw, throw into Hell every contumacious
rejecter! "(50: 18-24)

One time while reading these verses from Sura Qaf, the Devil said to me: "You
consider the principal aspects of the Qur'an's eloquence to lie in its clarity and
fluency of style, but in these verses it jumps from one subject to another. It jumps
from death agonies to the resurrection of the dead, from the blowing of the trumpet to
the Last Judgement, and from that to the entry into Hell of the unbelievers. What
fluency of style can there be with this extraordinary switching about? In most places
in the Qur' an, it brings together subjects like this that bear little relation to each other.
Where is its eloquence and smoothness with such discontinuity?"

I answered as follows:

After its eloquence, one of the chief elements of the Qur' an of Miraculous
Exposition's inimitability is its conciseness. Conciseness is one of the strongest and
most important elements of the Qur'an's miraculousness. The instances of it are so
numerous and beautiful that exacting scholars are left in wonder at it. For example:

Then the word went forth: "O earth! swallow up your water, and O sky!
withhold [your rain[!" And the water abated, and the matter was ended. The
ark rested on Mount Judi, and the word went forth: "Away with those who
do wrong! "(1 1 :44)

It describes the Great Flood and its consequences so concisely and miraculously in a
few short sentences that it has caused many scholars of rhetoric

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to prostrate before its eloquence. And, for example:

The Thamud rejected [their prophet] through their inordinate wrongdoing. *
Behold, the most wicked man among them was deputed [for impiety[. * But
the Apostle of God said to them: "It is a she-camel of God. And [bar her not
from[ having her drink!" * Then they rejected him, and they hamstrung her.
So their Lord, on account of their crime, obliterated their traces and made
them equal [in destruction, high and low[! * And for Him is no fear of its
consequences .(91 : 1 1-15)

In these few short sentences, with a miraculousness within the conciseness, fluency,
and clarity, and in a way that does not spoil the understanding, the Qur' an relates the
strange, momentous events involving the Thamud people and their consequences, and
the Thamud' s calamitous end. And for example:

And remember Zun-Nun, when he departed in wrath: he imagined that We
had no power over him. But he cried through the depths of darkness: "There
is no god but You; glory be unto You; I was indeed among the
wrongdoers. "(21 :87)

Here, many sentences have been "rolled up" between the words "that We had no
power over him" and "but he cried out in the depths of the darkness," but these
omitted sentences neither spoil the understanding, nor mar the fluency of the style. It
mentions the chief elements of the story of Jonah (Upon whom be peace), and refers
the rest to the intelligence.

And for example, in Sura Yusuf, the seven or eight sentences between the words
"Send me" and "Joseph, O man of truth !"( 12:45 -6) have been skipped concisely, yet
it neither impairs the understanding, nor mars the smoothness of the style. There are a
great many instances of this sort of miraculous conciseness in the Qur' an, and they
are very beautiful indeed.

However, the conciseness of the verses from Sura Qaf are particularly wonderful
and miraculous. For they each point out the truly dreadful future of the unbelievers
when each endless day will last fifty thousand years, and the dire things that will
happen to them in the awesome revolutions of the future. It flashes them over the
mind like lightning, depicting that long, long period of time to the mind's eye as a
single present page. Referring the events that are not mentioned to the imagination, it
evokes them with truly elevated fluency and smoothness of style.

When the Qur'an is read, listen to it with attention, and hold your peace:
that you may receive mercy. (7:204)

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And now if you have anything to say, O Satan, say it!

Satan replied: "I cannot oppose what you say, nor defend myself. But there are
many foolish people who listen to me; and many devils in human form who assist me;
and many pharaohs among philosophers who learn things from me which flatter their
egos, and prevent the publication of works like yours. Therefore I shall not lay down
my arms before you!"

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Second Topic

[This Topic was written in response to the wonder expressed by those
who serve me permanently at the surprising contradictions they see in
my conduct. It is also intended to rectify the excessively good opinions
of me of two of my students.]

I see that some of the perfections which properly pertain to the truths of the All-
Wise Qur'an are attributed to the instruments who proclaim those truths. And this is
wrong. For the sacredness of the source demonstrates effects as powerful as many
proofs; it is through these that it makes everyone accept its injunctions. Whenever the
herald or deputy obscures it, that is, whenever attention is turned to the herald, the
sacredness loses its effectiveness. It is because of this that I shall explain a truth to my
brothers who show me greater regard than is my due. It is as follows:

One person may have numerous personalities, all of which display different
qualities. For example, when a high official is in his office, his position necessitates
dignity and requires a stance that will preserve its loftiness. If he is humble before his
visitors, it will be lowering and will debase the position. But when in his own house,
his position requires - contrary to his official position - that he should be as modest
as he can. If he stands on his dignity, it will be arrogant. And so on. That is to say, a
person assumes a personality when performing his duty or work that in many respects
contradicts his true personality. If such a person is truly worthy of his duty and truly
capable of it, the two personalities are close to each other. But if he lacks the capacity;
if, for example, a common soldier is put in the position of a field marshal, the two
personalities are far apart; the individual, lowly, inferior qualities of the soldier are
incompatible with the elevated, superior character demanded by the position of field
marshal.

Thus, this wretched brother of yours has three personalities, which are very
distant from each other, truly very distant.

The First: In so far as I am a herald of the elevated treasury of the All- Wise
Qur'an, I have a temporary personality that pertains solely to the Qur'an. The
extremely exalted character demanded by this position is not mine; I do not possess
such a character. It rather consists of the qualities

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necessitated by the position and the duty. Any qualities this sort that you see in me are
not mine, so do not suppose I possess them; they belong to the position.

The Second Personality: Through Almighty God's grace, a
personality is given me at the time of worship when I am turned towards the divine
court; it displays certain marks. These arise from knowing one's faults, realizing
one's want and impotence, and seeking refuge in utter humility at the divine court,
which are the basis and meaning of worship. Through this personality, I know myself
to be more wretched, powerless, wanting, and faulty than everyone. If the whole
world were to praise and applaud me, it could not make me believe that I am good or
possess perfection of any sort.

The Third:I have my true personality, that is, the faulty personality of the
Old Said, that is, certain veins of character inherited from the Old Said. Sometimes it
inclines to hypocrisy and desires rank and position. Also, because I do not come from
a noble family, inferior qualities are to be observed, like my being frugal to the point
of miserliness.

My brothers ! I am not going to describe the many secret faults and ills of this
personality, lest I chase you away altogether.

My brothers, since I am not someone capable and of high position, this
personality of mine is very far from the character demanded by the duties of herald
and of worship; it does not show their traits. Also, in accordance with the rule, "No
ability is needed to receive God's gifts," Almighty God has compassionately
demonstrated His power in me so that He employs my personality, which is like that
of the lowest common soldier, in serving the mysteries of the Qur'an, which
resembles the highest position of field marshal. Thanks be to God a hundred thousand
times! The soul is baser than everything, and the duty higher!

All praise be to God, this is a bounty from my Lord!

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Third Topic

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

O mankind! We created you from a single [pair] of a male and a female, and

made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other.(A9:\2>)

That is, I created you as peoples, nations, and tribes, so that you might know one
another and the relations between you in social life, and assist one another; not so that
you would regard each other as strangers, refuse to acknowledge one another, and
nurture hostility and enmity

First Matter

Since the elevated truth stated by the above verse concerns the life of society, I
have been compelled to write it in the tongue, not of the New Said, who wants to
withdraw from society, but of the Old Said, who was involved in the social life of
Islam. It is written intending to serve the Qur'an of Mighty Stature and to shield it
against unjust attacks.

Second Matter

In explanation of the principle of mutual acquaintance and assistance alluded to
by the above verse, we say this: an army is divided into divisions, the divisions into
regiments, the regiments into battalions, and companies, and squads, so that all the
soldiers may know their many different connections and related duties. In this way,
they all will perform properly a general duty in accordance with the principle of
mutual assistance, and the collectivity they form will be safe from the attacks of the
enemy. The army is not arranged thus to be divided and split up, with one company
competing with another, one battalion being hostile to another, and one division
acting in opposition to another.

Similarly, Islamic society as a whole is a huge army that is divided into tribes and
groups. Nevertheless, it has unity in numerous respects: its groups' Creator is one and
the same, their Provider is one and the same, their Prophet is one and the same, their
qibla is one and the same, their Book is one and the same, their country is one and the
same; a thousand things are one and the same.

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All these things being one and the same necessitates brotherhood, love, and unity.
That is to say, being divided into groups and tribes should lead to mutual
acquaintance and mutual assistance, not to antipathy and mutual hostility.

Third Matter

The idea of nationalism has greatly advanced this century. The cunning European
tyrants in particular awaken this among Muslims in negative fashion so they may
divide them up and devour them.

Furthermore, in the idea of nationalism is a thrill of the soul, a heedless pleasure,
an inauspicious power. For this reason people involved in social life at this time
cannot be told to give it up. However, nationalism is of two kinds: one is negative,
inauspicious, and harmful; it is nourished by devouring others, persists through
hostility to others, and is aware of what it is doing. It is the cause of enmity and
disturbance. This is the reason the Hadith states that Islam has abrogated what
preceded it and put an end to the tribalism of Ignorance. 1 And the Qur'an decrees:

While the unbelievers got up in their hearts, heat and cant - the heat and
cant of Ignorance - God sent down His tranquillity to His Messenger and to
the believers, and made them stick close to the command of self-restraint;
and well were they entitled to it and worthy of it. And God has full
knowledge of all things. (48:26)

The above Hadith and verse reject in definite terms negative nationalism and
racialism. For positive, sacred Islamic nationhood leaves no need for them.

What race has three hundred and fifty million members? Which racialism can
gain for those who subscribe to it so many brothers - and eternal brothers at that - in
place of Islam? Negative nationalism has caused untold harm in history.

In Short: The Umayyads combined some nationalistic ideas with their
politics, and vexed the World of Islam. They also brought down many calamities on
themselves. Also, the European nations have promoted the idea of racialism
enormously this century; the ghastly events of the Great War demonstrated just how
harmful negative nationalism is, in addition to the perpetual, ill-omened enmity of the
French and Germans. And with us, in the Second Constitutional Period, - like the
myriad tongues at the destruction of the Tower of Babel, known as the "ramification
of peoples,"

'Imara, 36, 37; Abu Da'ud, Sunna, 5; Tirmidhi, Jihad, 28; 'Dm, 16; Nasa'i,
Bay' a, 26; Ibn Maja, Jihad, 39; Musnad, iv, 69, 70, 199, 204, 205; v, 381; vi, 402, 403.

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and their resulting dispersal - various refugee societies called "clubs" were formed,
chiefly by the Armenians and Greeks, because of their negative, nationalistic ideas,
and these were the cause of division. From that time to now, the condition of those
devoured by the Europeans due to those clubs, and of those made wretched by them,
has again demonstrated the harm of negative nationalism.

As for the present, when the peoples and tribes of Islam are most in need of one
another, and each is more oppressed and more poverty-stricken than the others, and
they are crushed beneath European domination, to regard one another as strangers due
to the idea of nationalism and look on each other as enemies, is such a calamity it is
indescribable. It is quite simply a lunacy like turning one's back on dreadful serpents
so as to avoid being bitten by a mosquito and struggling with the mosquito - due to
the idea of nationalism. To attach no importance to the European nations, which are
like huge dragons, at a time when with their insatiable greed their grasping hands are
outstretched, indeed, to in effect help them and to nurture enmity against fellow-
citizens in the eastern provinces or brother Muslims to the south, and to take up
positions opposed to them, is extremely detrimental and dangerous. In any event there
are no enemies among the people to the south that they should form a front against
them. The Qur'an's light comes from the south; it is where the light of Islam came
from. It is present among us and is found everywhere. So to be hostile towards those
fellow Muslims is indirectly harmful to Islam and the Qur'an. And hostility towards
Islam and the Qur'an is hostility of a sort towards the lives in this world and in the
next of all those fellow-citizens. To destroy the foundations of their two lives while
claiming to serve their social life in the name of patriotism, is not patriotism but
stupidity!

Fourth Matter

Positive nationalism arises from an inner need of social life and is the cause of
mutual assistance and solidarity. It gives rise to a beneficial strength, and is a way of
reinforcing Islamic brotherhood.

The idea of positive nationalism should serve Islam and be its citadel and armour;
it should not take its place. For within the brotherhood of Islam is a hundredfold
brotherhood that persists in the Intermediate Realm and World of Eternity. So
whatever its extent, national brotherhood may be an element of it. But to plant it in
place of Islamic brotherhood is a foolish crime like replacing the treasure of diamonds
within the citadel with the citadel's stones, and throwing the diamonds away.

O sons of this land, who are the people of the Qur'an! Challenging the

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whole world, you have proclaimed the Qur'an as its standard-bearers, not for six
hundred years, but for a thousand years since the time of the 'Abbasids. You have
made your nationhood a citadel to the Qur' an and Islam. You have silenced the whole
world and repulsed awesome attacks. You have confirmed the verse:

Soon God will produce a people whom He will love as they will love Him,
lowly with the believers, mighty against the rejecters, fighting in the way of
God.(5:54)

Now you must refrain from succumbing to the stratagems of Europe and the
dissemblers who imitate them, thus corroborating the passage above; you must be
frightened of doing such a thing!

A Noteworthy Situation: The Turks are the most numerous of the Islamic
peoples, and wherever they are found, they are Muslims. They have not divided into
Muslims and non-Muslims like other peoples. Wherever there are Turks, they are
Muslims. Turks who have abandoned Islam or who are not Muslims are no longer
Turkish, like the Hungarians. But even small races consist of both Muslims and non-
Muslims.

O my Turkish brother! You watch out in particular! Your nationhood has fused
with Islam and may not be separated from it. If you do separate them, you will be
finished! All your glorious deeds of the past are recorded in the book of Islam's
deeds, and cannot be effaced from the face of the earth by any power. So don't you
efface them from your heart at the evil suggestions and devices of Satan!

Fifth Matter

The peoples awakening in Asia are embracing the idea of nationalism and
imitating Europe precisely in every respect, and on the way are sacrificing many of
the things they hold sacred. However, every nation requires a dress suitable to its
particular stature. Even if the material is the same [for all nations], the styles have to
be different. A woman cannot be dressed in a gendarme's uniform, nor can an elderly
hoja be clothed in a tango-dancer's outfit. Moreover, blind imitation very often makes
people into laughing-stocks. This is so for the following reasons:

Firstly: If Europe is a shop, a barracks, Asia is an arable field and a mosque.
A shopkeeper can go to the ball, but a peasant cannot. The situation of a barracks and
that of a mosque cannot be the same.

Moreover, the appearance of most of the prophets in Asia, and the emergence of
the majority of philosophers in Europe is a sign, an indication, of pre-eternal divine
determining that what will arouse the Asian peoples and

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cause them to progress and to govern, are religion and the heart. As for philosophy, it
should assist religion and the heart, not take its place.

5 e c o n d I y : It is a grievous error to compare the religions of Islam and
Christianity and to be indifferent towards religion like Europe. Firstly, Europe has its
religion. The fact that such European leaders as Wilson, Lloyd George, and Venizelos
were as bigoted in their religion as priests, testifies that Europe has its religion, and is
even bigoted in one respect.

T h i r d I y : To compare Islam with Christianity is a false comparison and
wrong. For when it was bigoted in its religion, Europe was not civilized; it became
civilized on giving up its bigotry.

Furthermore, religion caused three hundred years of war between them. And
since it was the means of despotic tyrants crushing the common people, the poor, and
thinkers who were in their power, they all felt a temporary disgust at religion.
However, in Islam, history testifies that apart from one occasion, religion has not been
the cause of internal war.

Also, whenever the people of Islam have adhered in earnest to their religion, they
have advanced proportionately, achieving significant progress. Witness to this is the
greatest master of Europe, the Islamic state of Andalusia. But whenever the Islamic
community has been slack in religion, it has sunk into wretchedness, and declined.

Furthermore, Islam has protected the poor and the common people with
compassionate measures such as enjoining the payment of zakat and prohibiting usury
and interest. And in accordance with phrases like, "So will they not think,"(36:68) *
"So will they not reason,"(6:50) * "So will they not ponder on it,"(4:82) it has called
on the intelligence and encouraged reason and knowledge and protected scholars.
Islam has therefore always been the stronghold and place of recourse of the poor and
the people of learning. They have no reason to be vexed at Islam. The underlying
reason Islam differs in various respects from Christianity and other religions is this:

The basis of Islam is the pure affirmation of divine unity; it attributes no actual
effect to causes and intermediaries, and affords them no value in respect of creation
and position. Christianity, however, since it has accepted the idea of Jesus being the
Son of God, it gives some value to causes and intermediaries; it cannot break egotism.
It quite simply ascribes a manifestation of divine dominicality to its saints and great
ones, thus confirming the verse:

They take their priests and their anchorites to be their lords in derogation of
God. (9:31)

It is because of this that, together with maintaining their pride and egotism,

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those Christians who occupy the highest worldly ranks are religious and bigoted, like
the former American president, Wilson. In Islam, the religion of pure divine unity,
those holding the highest worldly positions either give up their egotism and pride, or
they give up their religion to an extent. For this reason, some are neglectful or even
irreligious.

Sixth Matter

To those people who go to excess in the idea of negative nationalism and
racialism we say this:

Firstly: The face of the world and especially this country of ours has since
ancient times seen numerous migrations and changes of population. In addition, when
the centre of Islamic rule was established here other peoples were drawn to it and they
settled here. Consequently, only when the Preserved Tablet is revealed will the races
truly be distinguished from each other. To construct movements and patriotism on the
idea of true race is both meaningless and extremely harmful. It is for this reason that
one of the nationalist leaders and racialists, who was very neglectful in religion, was
compelled to say: "If language and religion are the same, the nation is the same."
Since that is so, relations of language, religion, and country should be considered, not
true race. If the three are the same, the nation will certainly be strong. And if one is
absent, there will still be nationhood.

Secondly:! shall describe by way of example, two of the hundreds of
advantages the sacred nationhood of Islam has gained for the social life of the sons of
this land:

The First: What enabled this Islamic state, while numbering only twenty or
thirty million, to preserve its life and existence in the face of all the large states of
Europe was the following idea held by its army, which was born of the light of the
Qur'an: "If I die, I shall be a martyr; and if I kill, I shall be a ghazi." They met death
eagerly and with longing, laughing in its face. They always made Europe tremble.
What in the world is there that will give rise to such elevated self-sacrifice in the spirit
of a simple-hearted soldier? What patriotism can be instilled in its place? What can
make him willingly sacrifice his life and all his world?

The Second: Whenever the dragons (large states) of Europe have dealt a blow at
this Islamic state, they have caused three hundred and fifty million Muslims to weep
and cry out. So in order not to make them do that, those colonialists drew back their
hands; they lowered them, even while raising them to strike. What power can be
established in place of this constant moral support, which can be in no way belittled?
Let them show it! No, that huge moral strength must not be offended by negative
nationalism and independent patriotism.

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Seventh Matter

We say to those who exhibit excessive patriotism and negative nationalism: if
you truly love this nation and feel pity for it, be patriotic in such a way that your pity
is directed towards the majority of its people. For to serve the temporary heedless
social life of the minority, who are in no need of pity, in a way that is the reverse of
pity for the majority, is not patriotism. Patriotic works performed out of negative
racialism may be temporarily beneficial for two people out of eight. They receive the
kindness arising from that patriotism, although they do not deserve it. But the
remaining six are either elderly, or sick, or afflicted with tribulations, or are children,
or weak, or pious people turned earnestly toward the hereafter; these people want a
light, a solace, compassion, in the face of the Intermediate Realm and the hereafter,
with the life of which they are concerned rather than worldly life; they are in need of
helping hands that are blessed and patriotic. What patriotism could permit their light
to be extinguished, their solace to be destroyed? Alas! Where is that pity for the
nation, that self-sacrifice?

We must never lose hope in divine mercy. For Almighty God will not cause to
perish through temporary set-backs the magnificent army and mighty community of
the people of this land, which He employed for a thousand years in the service of the
Qur'an, appointing them its standard-bearer. He will once again kindle that light and
cause them to continue their duty, God willing !

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Fourth Topic

[NOTE: The ten Matters of this Fourth Topic are unconnected, in the
same way that the four Topics of this Twenty-Sixth Letter are
unconnected. So no connection should be sought. They were written
exactly as they occurred to me. This is part of a letter to an important
student of mine, consisting of the answers to five or six of his
questions.]

The First

Secondly: In your letter you mention that explanations and interpretations of
"Lord and Sustainer of All the Worlds,"(l:2) state that there are eighteen thousand
worlds, 1 and you ask the wisdom in this number.

My brother, at the moment I do not know the wisdom in it, but I can say this
much: the phrases of the Wise Qur'an are not restricted to a single meaning; for since
the Qur'an addresses all the levels of mankind, its phrases are like universals or
wholes that comprise meanings for each level. The meanings that are expounded are
like parts of the general law. Every Qur'anic commentator, every adept, mentions one
part of the whole. Basing it on either his illumination, or his proofs, or his way, he
prefers one meaning. Thus, in this verse too, one group disclosed a meaning which
corresponded to that number.

For example, the verses,

He has let free the two bodies of flowing water, meeting together; * Between
them is a barrier which they do not transgress,(55:\9-20)

which the people of sainthood hold to be significant and recite constantly in their
invocations, are parts with meanings ranging from the sea of dominicality and sea of
worship in the spheres of necessity and contingency respectively, to the seas of the
World of the Unseen and the Manifest World, and to the oceans of the north, south,
east, and west, and to the Adriatic and the Persian Gulf, the Mediterranean, the Red
Sea, and the Suez

1 Tabari, Jami' al-Bayan, i, 63.

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Canal, and to the freshwater and salt lakes, the various fresh-water lakes under the
soil layer and the salt lakes over it and contiguous with it, and to the small lakes
called the great rivers, such as the Nile, the Tigris, and the Euphrates, and the salty
seas into which they flow. Any of these may be intended or meant, and may be their
literal and metaphorical meanings.

In the same way, "All praise be to God, the Sustainer of All the Worlds"
encompasses numerous truths. The people of illumination and of reality interpret
them differently according to the meanings they uncover.

Personally, I think that the heavens consist of thousands of worlds; some of the
stars may each be worlds. On the earth too, every sort of creature is a world. Each
human being is a small world. As for the term, "Sustainer of All the Worlds," it
means that every world is administered, sustained, and governed directly through
Almighty God's dominicality (rububiyet).

Thirdly: God's Most Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and
peace) said: "When God wishes a people well, he causes them to see their own
faults." 2 And in the All- Wise Qur'an, Joseph (Upon whom be peace) said:

"Nor do I absolve my own self [of blame]; the [human] soul is certainly
prone to evil. "(12:53)

Yes, the person who is fond of himself and relies on himself is unfortunate, while
someone who sees his own faults is fortunate. So you are fortunate! Nevertheless, it
sometimes happens that the evil-commanding soul is transformed into the blaming
soul or the tranquil soul, and that it hands over its weapons and equipment to the
nerves. Then the nerves and veins of temperament perform its function till the end of
life. Although the person's evil-commanding soul died long beforehand, his nerves
are still apparent. Many great saints and holy men have complained about their evil-
commanding souls although their souls were tranquil. They have lamented over
sicknesses of the heart although their hearts were completely sound and illumined.
But what afflicted these persons was not their evil-commanding souls, but the soul's
functions that had been handed over to their nerves. Their ailments were not of the
heart, but of the imagination. My brother! God willing, what is attacking you is not
your soul and a sickness of the heart, but the state which, as we said, by reason of
human nature and to perpetuate striving, has been transferred to the nerves and results
in constant progress.

2 al-'Ajluni, Kashf al-Khafa' , i,

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Second Matter

Explanations of the three questions asked by the former teacher (hoja) are to be
found in various parts of the Risale-i Nur. For now we shall just make brief allusion to
them.

His First Question: Muhyi'1-Din al-'Arabi said in his letter to Fakhr
al-Din Razi: "To know God is different to knowing that He exists." What does this
mean and what did he intend by saying it?

Firstly: In the introduction to the Twenty-Second Word, which you read to him,
the comparison and example showing the difference between the true affirmation of
divine unity and its superficial affirmation point to what was intended. While the
Second and Third Stopping-Places of the Thirty-Second Word and its Aims, elucidate
it.

And secondly: Muhyi'1-Din al-'Arabi said that to Fakhr al-Din Razi, who was a
leading authority on theology, because the explications of the tenets of belief and the
existence of the Necessary Existent and divine unity offered by the authoritative
scholars of the principles of religion and theology were insufficient in his view.

Yes, the knowledge of God gained through theology does not afford a complete
knowledge and a complete sense of the divine presence. However, when gained
through the method of the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition, it affords both complete
knowledge and a total sense of the divine presence. God willing, all the parts of the
Risale-i Nur perform the duty of an electric lamp on that light-filled highway of the
Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition.

Furthermore, however deficient in Muhyi'1-Din al-'Arabi' s view the knowledge
of God was that Fakhr al-Din Razi obtained by means of theology, the knowledge of
God attained on the Sufi way is similarly deficient in relation to the knowledge
obtained through the legacy of prophethood directly from the All- Wise Qur' an. For in
order to attain a constant sense of the divine presence, the way of Muhyi'1-Din al-
'Arabi said: "There is no existent save He," going so far as to deny the existence of
the universe. As for the others, again to gain a constant sense of the divine presence,
they said: "There is none witnessed save He," entering a strange state as though
casting the universe into absolute oblivion.

However, the knowledge of God obtained from the All- Wise Qur'an affords a
constant sense of the divine presence, but it neither condemns the universe to non-
existence, nor imprisons it in absolute oblivion. It rather releases it from its
purposelessness and employs it in Almighty God's

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name. Everything becomes a mirror yielding knowledge of Him. As Sa'di Shirazi
said: "To the conscious gaze every leaf is a book yielding knowledge of the divine."

In everything a window opens up onto knowledge of God.

In some of the Words we have illustrated with the following comparison the
differences between the way of the scholars of theology and the true highway taken
from the Qur'an: in order to have water, some is brought from a distant place by
means of pipes, tunnelling through mountains. And some of it is obtained by digging
wells everywhere. The first sort is fraught with difficulties; the pipes become blocked
or broken. But those who know how to dig wells and extract water can find water
everywhere with no trouble.

Similarly, utilizing the impossibility of causation and causal sequences, the
scholars of theology cut the chains of causes at the extremities of the world and then
proved the existence of the Necessarily Existent One. They travelled a long road.
However, the true highway of the Wise Qur' an finds water everywhere and extracts it.
All its verses cause water to flow forth wherever they strike, like the Staff of Moses.
Each makes everything recite the rule: "In everything is a sign indicating that He is
One."

Furthermore, faith (imdn) is not gained only through knowledge; many of the
subtle faculties have their share of it. When food enters the stomach, it is distributed
in various ways to various members. Similarly, after entering the stomach of the
mind, the matters of faith that come through knowledge are absorbed by the spirit,
heart, inner heart, soul, and other subtle faculties; each receives its share according to
its degree. If they do not receive their share, faith is deficient. Muhyi' 1-Din al-'Arabi
was reminding Fakhr al-Din Razi of this point.

Third Matter

In what way is the verse, "We have honoured the sons of Adam"(17:70)
conformable with the verse, "He was indeed unjust and foolish"(33:72)?

The Answer: There are explanations in the Eleventh and Twenty-Third
Words, and in the Second Fruit of the Fifth Branch of the Twenty-Fourth Word. A
summary is as follows:

With His perfect power, Almighty God makes many things from a single thing,
causes one thing to perform numerous duties, and writes a thousand books on a single
page; so too He created man as a comprehensive species, in place of many species.
That is to say, He willed that through

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man, a single species, functions would be performed to the number of the different
levels of all the animal species. For this reason, He placed no innate limit on man's
powers and senses, no natural restriction, and left them free. Those of the other
animals are limited and naturally restricted. Whereas each of man's powers may roam
free over an endless distance towards infinity. For since he is a mirror to the infinite
manifestations of the names of the universe's Creator, his powers have been given an
infinite capacity.

For example, even if the whole world were given to man, due to his greed, he
would say: "Are there any more?"(50:30) And due to his selfishness, he finds it
acceptable that a thousand people should suffer harm for his own sake. And so on. He
may advance endlessly in bad morality and reach the degree of the Nimrods and
Pharaohs; as is shown by the use of the intensive form in the verse above (33:72), he
is given to great wrongdoing. Similarly, he may manifest endless progress in good
morality, and rise to the level of the prophets and veracious ones.

Moreover, contrary to the animals, man is ignorant about all the things necessary
for life and is compelled to learn everything. He is in need of innumerable things, and
therefore in accordance with the intensive form in the same verse, is "most ignorant."
But when animals come into the world, they need few things, and what they do need,
everything necessary for their lives, they may learn in a couple of months, or even a
couple of days, or in some cases, in a couple of hours. It is as if they have been
perfected in another world and come thus. But man can only rise to his feet in one or
two years, and only in fifteen can distinguish between what is beneficial and what is
harmful. The intensive form of "most ignorant" indicates this too.

Fourth Matter

You ask concerning the wisdom contained in [the Hadith]: "Renew your belief by
means of 'There is no god but God.'" 3 The wisdom in it has been mentioned in many
of the Words and one aspect of it is as follows:

Since man himself and the world in which he lives are being continuously
renewed, he needs constantly to renew his faith. For in reality each individual human
being consists of many individuals. He may be considered a different individual to the
number of the years of his life, or to the

3 Musnad, ii, 359; al-Mundhiri, al-Targhib wa'l-Tarhib, ii, 415; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iv, 256; al-
Haythami, Majma ' al-Zawa 'id, i, 52.

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number of its days or even hours. For since a single individual is subject to time, he is
like a model and each passing day clothes him in the form of another individual.

Furthermore, just as there is within man this plurality and renewal, so also is the
world in which he lives in motion. It goes and is replaced by another. It varies
constantly. Every day opens the door of another world. As for faith, it is both the light
of the life of each individual in that person, and it is the light of the world in which he
lives. And as for "There is no god but God," it is a key with which to turn on the light.

Then the instinctual soul, desire, doubts, and Satan exercise great influence over
man. In order to damage his faith, they are much of the time able to take advantage of
his negligence, to trick him with their wiles, and thus to extinguish the light of belief
with doubts and uncertainty. Also, man is prone to act and utter words which
apparently oppose the Shari'a, and which in the view of some religious authorities are
no less than unbelief. Therefore, there is a need to renew belief all the time, every
hour, every day.

Question: The masters of scholastic theology wrapped up the world in the
abbreviated concepts of contingency and createdness and having disposed of it, so to
speak, proved divine unity. And one school of Sufis, in order to experience God's
presence and affirm His unity fully, said: "Nothing is observed but Him." They thus
forgot the universe and drew the veil of oblivion over it, and then fully experienced
the divine presence. Another school of Sufis, in order to truly affirm divine unity and
enter God's presence at the highest degree, said: "There is no existent but Him." They
relegated the universe to the level of imagination and cast it into non-existence, and
then fully entered the divine presence. But you point out that in the Qur'an is a mighty
highway besides these three ways. And you say that its mark is the phrases: "There is
nothing sought but Him," and, "There is nothing worshipped but Him." Can you show
me a brief proof of the affirmation of divine unity that this highway provides and
point out a short way leading to it?

The Answer: All the Words and Letters of the Risale-i Nur point out that
highway. For now, as you wish, we shall indicate concisely an extensive, lengthy and
mighty proof of it.

Every thing in the world ascribes every other thing to its own Creator. And every
artistically fashioned object in this world demonstrates that all such objects are the
works of its own fashioner. And every creative act in the universe proves that all
creative acts are the acts of its author. And every name that is manifested in beings
indicates that all names are the

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names and titles of the one whom it signifies. That is to say, every thing is a direct
proof of divine unity and a window yielding knowledge of God.

An object, especially if it is animate, is a miniature specimen of the universe, a
seed of the world, and a fruit of the globe of the earth. Since this is so, the one who
created the miniature specimen, seed and fruit must also be the one who created the
universe. For the creator of the fruit cannot be other than the creator of the tree that
bears it.

And so, in the same way that every object ascribes every other object to its own
fashioner, every act ascribes every other act to its author. For we see that each
creative act appears as the tip of a law of creativity that is so extensive as to
encompass most other creatures, and so long as to reach from particles to galaxies.
That is to say, whoever performs the creative act must be the author of all the creative
acts which are tied to the universal law that encompasses those beings and stretches
from particles to galaxies.

For sure, the one who gives life to a fly must be the one who creates all insects
and animals and who gives life to the earth. And whoever spins particles as though
they were Mevlevi dervishes must be the one who sets successive beings in motion as
far as the sun travelling through the skies with its planets. For the law is a chain and
the creative acts are tied to it.

That is to say, just as all objects ascribe all other objects to their fashioner, and all
creative acts attribute all other acts to its author, in exactly the same way, every divine
name manifested in the universe ascribes every other name to the One whom it
describes and proves that they are His titles. For the names manifested in the universe
are like intersecting circles, blending one with the other like the seven colours in light;
they assist one another and perfect and adorn one another's works of art.

For example, the instant the name of Giver of Life is manifested on a thing and
life is given, the name of All- Wise also becomes manifest; it orders the body which is
that animate creature's dwelling-place with wisdom. At the same time, the name of
Munificent is manifested; it adorns the creature's dwelling-place. So too, the
manifestation of the name of All-Compassionate appears; it presents the body's needs
benevolently. At the same instant, the manifestation of the name of Provider appears;
it supplies the material and spiritual sustenance necessary for the continued existence
of the animate creature in unexpected ways. And so on. This means that to whomever
the name of Giver of Life belongs, the name of All-Wise, which is luminous and
comprehensive in the universe, is also His. The name of All-Compassionate, which
nurtures all creatures kindly, is His too. And the name of Provider, which sustains all
animate creatures munificently, is His name and title. And so on.

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That is to say, every name, every act, every object is a proof of divine unity, and
a proof that is a stamp of divine unity (vahdaniyet) and a seal of divine oneness
(ehadiyet) which has been inscribed on the pages of the universe and on the lines of
the centuries. All of them indicate that all the words of the universe, which are called
beings, are inscriptions traced by the pen of its own scribe.

O God! Grant blessings to the one who said: "The best thing I and the
prophets before me have said is, 'There is no god but God.'" and to his
Family and Companions, and grant them peace.

Fifth Matter

Secondly: You ask in your letter whether "There is no god but God" is
sufficient on its own. That is, intending the second part, you ask: can someone who
does not say "Muhammad is the Messenger of God" find salvation? The answer to
this is lengthy, so for now we shall only say this:

The two parts of the confession of faith cannot be separated; they prove each
other, comprise each other; one cannot be without the other. Since the Messenger
(Upon whom be blessings and peace) was the Seal of the Prophets and the heir of all
the prophets, he is at the start of all the ways leading to God. There can be no way to
reality and salvation outside his mighty highway. All the leading gnostics and
verifiers of reality have said like Sa'di Shirazi: "It is impossible, Sa'di, to be
victorious on the way of salvation, except by following Mustafa." They also said: "All
ways are closed except the highway of Muhammad."

However, it sometimes happens that people are on the highway of Muhammad
(UWBP) and within it, but are not aware of it.

And it sometimes happens that they do not know the Prophet (UWBP), but the
road they have taken is part of his highway.

It happens too that because they are in a state of ecstasy or entirely immersed in
contemplation or have withdrawn from the world, they do not think of the highway of
Muhammad, and "There is no god but God" is sufficient for them.

Nevertheless, the most important side of the matter is this: non-acceptance is one
thing, while the acceptance of non-being is another.

4 Muwatta', Qur'an, 32; Hajj 246; al-'Ajluni, Kashf al-Khafa' , i, 353; al-Albani, Sahih al-Jami' al-
Saghir, no: 1113.

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Ecstatics and recluses or those who have not heard or are uninformed about it, do not
know the Prophet (UWBP) or they do not think of him that they might accept him.
They are ignorant in that respect. They know "There is no god but God" only in
respect of esoteric knowledge of Him. They may well be saved. But if those people
who have heard of the Prophet (UWBP) and know his message do not affirm him,
they do not recognize Almighty God. For them, the phrase "There is no god but God"
on its own does not express divine unity, the affirmation of which is a means of
salvation. For this is not ignorant non-acceptance, which may be excusable to a
degree, it is rather the acceptance of non-being, which is denial. The person who
denies Muhammad (Upon whom be blessings and peace), who with his miracles and
works was the pride of the universe and glory of mankind, certainly cannot receive
any light and will not recognize God. However, that is enough for now.

Sixth Matter

Thirdly: Some of the terms used in the First Topic, which is about Satan's
way and is called Dispute With the Devil, were very vehement, although they were
modified with expressions like "God forbid! God forbid!" and "to suppose the
impossible." They still make me tremble. There were a few small modifications in the
piece that was later sent to you; have you been able to correct your copy accordingly?
It' s up to you to do what you think; you can skip any of the expressions you think
unnecessary.

My dear brother, that Topic holds great importance, because Satan is the atheists'
master. Only when he is silenced will his imitators cease to be deceived. The fact that
the All- Wise Qur'an mentions the unbelievers' vile expressions gave me courage. In
order to demonstrate the complete worthlessness of that diabolical way, trembling and
by way of supposing the impossible, I used the ridiculous expressions the members of
Satan's Party are compelled by their way to accept and which willy nilly they utter
through its tongue. And by using them, we cornered them at the bottom of the well
and took possession of the whole field on account of the Qur'an; we exposed their
frauds. Consider the victory through the following comparison:

For example, let us imagine a tall minaret the top of which touches the skies, and
at the base of which a well has been dug that goes down to the centre of the earth.
Two groups are disputing over proving where, between the top of the minaret and the
bottom of the well, a man stands for his call

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to prayer to be heard by all the people throughout the country. The first group says:
"He has to be at the top of the minaret reciting the call to prayer to the universe,
because we hear it. It is vibrant; it is lofty. For sure everyone cannot see him in that
high position, but everyone can see him according to their degree on one of the steps
when he climbs the minaret and when he descends it. They know that he ascends it,
and that wherever it is that he appears, he is someone of high stature." However, the
other, satanic and foolish, group says: "No, his position is not at the top of the
minaret; it's at the bottom of the well, wherever it is he appears." But no one at all has
seen him at the bottom of the well, nor can they see him there. Let us suppose he was
as heavy and lacking in will as a stone; surely he would have been at the bottom of
the well and someone would have seen him there.

Now, the battlefield of these two opposing groups is the long distance stretching
from the top of the minaret to the bottom of the well. The people of light, called
God's Party, point out the mu'ezzin at the top of the minaret to those with a lofty
view. And to those whose sight cannot rise that far and to the short-sighted, they point
him out on a step each according to his degree. A slight hint is enough for them,
proving that the mu'ezzin is not a lifeless block of stone, but a perfect man who
climbs upwards and appears and makes the call to prayer when he wishes. As for the
other group, known as Satan's Party, they pronounce stupidly: "Show him to
everyone at the top of the minaret, or else his place is the bottom of the well." In their
folly they do not know that he is not shown to everyone at the top of the minaret
because everyone's sight does not rise that far. Also, in exaggerated fashion, they
want to claim possession of the whole distance with the exception of the top of the
minaret.

Then someone appears intending to solve the dispute between the two
communities. He says to Satan's Party: "You inauspicious group! If the supreme
mu'ezzin's position was at the bottom of the well, he would have been as lifeless,
inanimate, and powerless as a stone. It could not have been him who appeared on the
well's steps and minaret's degrees. Since you saw him on the latter, he is certain not
to be powerless and lifeless. His position must be at the top of the minaret. In which
case, either show that he is at the bottom of the well - which you can't, nor can you
make anyone believe that he is there - or be silent! The arena of your defence is the
well bottom. The remaining space and that long distance is the arena of this blessed
community; they have only to point him out somewhere other than at the bottom of
the well, to win the case."

Like this comparison, the Topic about the dispute with the Devil takes

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the long distance from the divine throne to the ground from Satan's Party and forcibly
drives them into a corner. It leaves the most irrational, the most impossible, the most
loathsome place to them. It drives them into a hole so narrow no one could enter it
and takes possession of the entire distance in the name of the Qur' an.

If they are asked what the Qur' an is and they reply: "It is a good book, written by
man, that teaches good morality," they should be told: "It must then be the Word of
God and you have to accept it as such, for according to your way, you cannot say that
it is 'good' !"

If they are asked what they know about the Prophet (UWBP), and they reply: "He
was a very clever person with good morals," they should be told: "You should believe
in him in that case, because if he was very moral and clever, he must have been God's
Messenger. You say he was 'good,' but that is unacceptable according to your creed;
you can't say that." And so on. Further aspects of the reality can be applied to other
facets of the comparison.

In consequence, the First Topic, in which the Devil is disputed with, does not
mean that the believers have to know about the miracles of Muhammad (UWBP) and
learn about their certain proofs in order to preserve their faith. A slight hint, a small
indication, will save it. All the deeds, all the qualities, all the conduct of Muhammad
(UWBP) are miracles of a sort, proving that his position is at the highest of the high,
not at the lowest of the low at the bottom of the well.

Seventh Matter

An instructive matter:

[Because some of my friends have groundless worries and are
becoming dispirited, I am obliged to relate a dominical favour and an
instance of divine protection which pertain solely to service of the
Qur' an, in order to strengthen their morale, and since they have that
weak vein of temperament, to save them. What I have to say is
suggested by seven signs. Four of them show how those friends
received blows entirely contrary to their intentions, as a result of their
taking up hostile positions towards me not personally but

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because I serve the Qur'an, purely for worldly aims and despite being
friends. The three other signs denote earnest and constant friends who
in order to find favour with the worldly 5 and achieve some worldly
goal, and so that they could feel confident, temporarily failed to display
the manly stance demanded by friendship. However, regretably, all
those three friends were punished in ways that were the opposite of
what they had intended.]

The first four, who were seemingly friends but later displayed enmity:

The First: Employing various means, a District Officer begged me for a copy of
the Tenth Word. I gave him one. But then, in order to be promoted, he spurned my
friendship and turned hostile to me. This took the form of complaining to the
Governor and informing on me. But as a mark of favour for service of the Qur'an, he
was not promoted, but dismissed.

The Second: Another District Officer assumed a competitive and hostile stance
towards me although he was a friend, for the sake of his superiors and to attract the
attention of the worldly, but he received a blow contrary to his intentions. He was
sentenced to two and a half years' imprisonment owing to some unforeseen matter.
Later he asked for prayers from a servant of the Qur'an. Perhaps he will be saved,
God willing, since prayers were offered for him.

The Third: A teacher appeared to be a friend and I looked on him as one. Then
he moved to Barla to settle there and he chose to adopt a hostile stance. But he
received a blow contrary to his intentions: he was posted away from teaching to serve
in the army. He was sent away from Barla.

The Fourth: There was a teacher, who because he seemed to me to be both a
hafiz 6 and pious, I was sincerely friendly towards him in the hope that he would show
friendship to me by serving the Qur'an. Then, in order to curry favour with the
worldly, he behaved very coldly towards us and was frightened, because of one single
thing an official had said. He too received a blow contrary to his intentions: he was
severely reprimanded by the inspector, and dismissed.

These four men received those blows because of their animosity. However, the
following three friends did not display the manly attitude that serious friendship
demands, and so received not blows, but warnings contrary to their intentions, which
were admonitions of a sort.

The First: A respected person who was a most important, serious, and true
student of mine used to write out the Words continually and dissemi

5 "The worldly" (ehl-i diinya): those people whose view is restricted to the life of this world, and who
disregard the hereafter, or those who sell religion for this world. (Tr.)

6 Hafiz: a person who has memorized the whole Qur'an. (Tr.)

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nate them. But when a confused high official arrived and an incident occurred, he hid
the Words he had written. He also temporarily gave up copying them out in the hope
that he would not suffer any difficulty or hardship at the hands of the worldly and
would be safe from their evil. But as a mark of his error of temporarily ceasing to
serve the Qur'an, for a year he continuously suffered the calamity of having a
thousand-lira fine hanging over him, which he had to pay. Then the moment he
formed the intention to write out more copies and returned to his former position, he
was cleared in the case, till finally, praise be to God, he was acquitted. He was poor
and needy, and was saved from paying a thousand liras.

The Second: Intending to gain the good opinion of the worldly and the new
officer, a courageous, serious, and bold friend of mine of five years' standing
unthinkingly and involuntarily did not meet with me for several months, despite being
my neighbour. He did not even pay me a visit during Ramadan or the Festival. But the
village question turned out exactly the opposite of what he had intended, and he lost
his influence.

The Third: A hafiz who used to visit me once or twice a week became the
prayer-leader, and so that he could wear the turban, deserted me for two months. He
did not even visit me during the Festival. But contrary to his intention, and contrary to
usual practice, he was not allowed to wear a turban, even after seven or eight months.

There have been numerous incidents like these, but I have not mentioned them so
as not to offend the people concerned. Each of them is only a sign, but when they are
put together one perceives a strength. It gives one the conviction that - not directed
towards myself, for I do not consider myself worthy of any favour, but purely in
respect of serving the Qur' an - we carry out that service under dominical protection
and through divine grace. My friends should think of this and not be carried away by
groundless fears. I have explained these things to them privately because our service
is a divine bestowal, and because it is the cause of thanks not pride, and because the
Qur'an commands:

But the bounty of your Sustainer rehearse and proclaim.(93:ll)

Eighth Matter

[This forms the footnote to the third example in the Third Point about
the fifth of the obstacles to making independent judgements of the
divine law (ijtihad), in the Twenty-Seventh Word.]

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An Important Question: Some of the verifiers of reality have said
that each of the words of the Qur' an and of supplications and other glorifications of
God illuminate man's spiritual faculties in numerous ways, providing spiritual
sustenance. But if the meanings are not known, just to say the words is insufficient.
The words are a garment; would it not be more useful if they were changed, and every
group clothed the meanings in words of their own language?

The Answer: The words of the Qur' an and of the glorifications of the
Prophet (UWBP) are not lifeless garments; they are like the living skin of a body;
indeed, with the passage of time, they have become the skin. Garments are changed,
but the body would be harmed if the skin were to be changed. Blessed words like
those of the five daily prayers and the call to prayer have become the mark and sign of
their usual meanings. And marks and signs cannot be changed. I have often observed
in myself an inner state which I experience. It is a fact, and is this:

On the Day of 'Arafa, the eve of the Festival of Sacrifices, I used to recite Sura
al-Ikhlas hundreds of times. 7 1 would observe that some of the non-physical senses in
me would receive the sustenance several times, then would cease to do so and stop.
Others like the faculty of reflective thought would turn towards the meaning for a
time, receive their share, then they too would stop. And some like the heart would
receive their share in respect of certain concepts that yielded a spiritual pleasure, then
they too would fall silent. And so on. Gradually, with repetition only a few of the
subtle faculties would remain, becoming wearied long after the others. They would
persist, leaving no need for further study and meanings. Heedlessness did not have an
adverse effect on them, as it did on the faculty of thought. The usual meanings, of
which they were the marks and signs, and abbreviated meanings of the expressive
words, were enough for them. To think of the meaning at that point would have
caused harmful boredom. Anyway, the subtle faculties that persist do not need to
study and comprehend but to recollect, turn towards, and be prompted. And the words
that are like skin are sufficient for them and perform the duty of meaning. They are
means of constant effulgence especially when it is recalled through those Arabic
words that they are the Word of God and divine speech.

This state, which I myself experienced, shows that it is extremely harmful to
express in another language truths like the call to prayer and the tes

7 For Hadiths about the merits of reciting Sura al-Bchlas (Sura 112) specific numbers of times, see,
Tirmidhi, Fada'il al-Qur'an, 11; Musnad, iii, 437; Darimi, Fada'il al-Qur'an, 24; al-Suyuti, al-Fath al-
Kabir, iii, 227; Bayhaqi, Shu'ab al-lman, ii, 506-8.

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bihat following the obligatory prayers, and frequently repeated Suras of the Qur'an
like Fatiha and Ikhlas. For when the perpetual spring of the divine words and words
of the Prophet (UWBP) are lost, the perpetual share of those perpetual subtle faculties
is also lost. Also harmful are the loss of the minimum of ten merits for each word, and
the heedlessness and darkness of spirit caused by the human terms of the translations,
since the constant sense of the divine presence does continue for everyone throughout
the prayers.

Yes, just like Imam-i A'zam said that "There is no god but God" is the mark and
sign of the affirmation of divine unity, so we say the following: the great majority of
the words of divine glorification and praise, and especially of those of the call to
prayer and obligatory prayers, have come to be marks and signs. Like signs, their
usual Shari'i meanings are understood, rather than their literal meanings. So
according to the Shari'a, it is not possible to change them. Even an uneducated man
can learn the gist of them, which all believers should know; that is, their meanings in
summary. How can those people who pass their whole lives with Islam yet fill their
heads with endless trivia be excused from learning in one or two weeks the gist of
what these blessed words mean, which are the key to eternal life? How can they be
Muslims? How can they be called "reasonable people"? It surely is not reasonable to
destroy the protective cases of those springs of light for the sake of lazy loafers like
them!

Furthermore, whatever nation a person belongs to, he understands from
"Subhanallahl Glory be to God!" that he is declaring Almighty God free of all defect.
Isn't this enough? If he inclines towards the meaning in his own language, he will
study it once with his intellect. But if he repeats it a hundred times a day in its proper
form, apart from his intellect's share of studying, the gist of it, which is derived from
the words and spreads and blends with them, will produce many lights and much
effulgence. The sacredness he receives from the words being divine speech, and the
effulgence and lights proceeding from the sacredness, are especially important.

In Short: Nothing at all can replace the sacred divine words that are the
protective cases of the essentials of religion, and nothing can substitute them, and
nothing else can perform their functions. Even if they can express them temporarily,
they cannot do so permanently or in sacred and elevated fashion. As for the words
that are the protective cases of the theoretical matters of religion, there is no necessity
for them to be changed. For such a need is met by preaching, teaching, advice, and
other instruction.

To Conclude: The comprehensiveness of the grammatical Arabic language
and the miraculousness of the Qur'an's words make them untranslat

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able. I can say even that their translation is impossible. Anyone who doubts this
should refer to the Twenty-Fifth Word. What they call translations are abbreviated,
deficient approximations. How can such approximations be compared with the living,
true meanings of the Qur' an' s verses, which have many aspects of ramification?

Ninth Matter

[An important, confidential matter, and a mystery related to
sainthood.]

The largest group in the World of Islam, the people of truth and moderation,
called the Ahl al-Sunna wa'l-Jama'at or Sunnis, have preserved the truths of the
Qur' an and faith by following to the letter the illustrious practices (T. siinnet; At.
sunna) of the Prophet (UWBP) within the bounds of moderation. The great majority
of the saints have emerged from within this sphere. Others have appeared outside it
and on a path opposed to some of the Sunnis' principles and rules. Observers of this
latter group of saints have divided into two groups:

One group has denied their sainthood because they oppose the Sunnis' principles.
This group has even gone so far as to declare some of those saints unbelievers.

The other group consists of their followers. They accept their sainthood and say:
"The truth is not restricted to the Sunnis' way." They have formed a group of
innovators and have taken the path of misguidance. They do not know that everyone
who is rightly- guided cannot be a guide. Their shaikhs are to be excused for their
mistakes because they are ecstatics, but their followers may not be excused.

As for the middle group, they do not deny the saints' sainthood, but do not accept
their ways and paths. They say: "Any things they say that are opposed to the
principles [of religion] are either metaphorical utterances the meaning of which is not
known, or they [the saints] are in error, being overcome by their inward states."

Unfortunately, intending to protect the Sunni way, the first group, especially
literalist scholars, have denied saints of great importance and been compelled to
accuse them of misguidance. While the saints' supporters, which form the second
group, have abandoned the right path due to their excessive good will towards shaikhs
of that sort; they have fallen into innovation, and even misguidance.

395

In connection with this, for a long time a matter preoccupied my mind: at a
crucial time I execrated a group of the people of misguidance. Then an awesome
collective strength arose in the face of my malediction; it both turned it back on me
and prevented me from repeating it.

Then I saw that facilitated by a collective strength in its wrongful activities, that
group of the people of misguidance was dragging the people along behind it. It was
being successful. This was not due to compulsion alone; rather, since it had combined
with a desire aroused by the power of sainthood, some of the believers were being
carried away by it; they looked on the group favourably and did not consider it to be
too bad.

I took fright when I perceived these two secrets. "Glory be to God!" I exclaimed,
"can there be a sainthood other than that of the true way? Would the people of reality
support such a terrible current of misguidance?" Then one blessed Day of 'Arafat,
following a praiseworthy Islamic practice, I recited Sura al-Ikhlas hundreds of times
and through its blessings, the matter entitled "Answer to an Important Question" was
imparted to my impotent heart, together with the following truth, through divine
mercy:

As is told in the well-known, meaningful story of Jibali Baba, which dates from
the time of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror, some saints are in a state of ecstasy while
appearing to be rational and reasonable. Others sometimes appear to be sober and in
command of their reasoning faculties, and sometimes they enter a state outside this.
One class of this sort are confused and cannot distinguish between things. They apply
a matter they see while in a state of intoxication to things after they have returned to a
state of sobriety. They are then in error but do not realize it. Some ecstatics are
preserved by God and do not enter misguidance on their spiritual journeying. But
others are not preserved, and may be found in the sects following innovation and
misguidance. They have even been held to be unbelievers.

Thus, because they are temporarily or permanently in a state of ecstasy, they
resemble "blessed lunatics." And because they resemble them, they are not
responsible. And because they are not responsible, they are not punishable. On their
ecstatic sainthood persisting, they come to support the people of misguidance and
innovation; they spread their ways to an extent, and inauspiciously cause some
believers and people of truth to enter them.

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Tenth Matter

[It was requested by some friends that a principle concerning visitors
be explained. That is the reason this was written.]

It should be known that those who visit me either come in respect of worldly life,
and that door is closed; or they come in respect of the life of the hereafter, and in that
respect there are two doors: either they come supposing my person to be blessed and
to possess high spiritual rank, and that door is closed too. For I do not like myself and
I do not like people who like me. All thanks be to Almighty God that He did not make
me like myself. Or they come purely in respect of my being a herald of the All- Wise
Qur' an. I willingly accept anyone who enters by this door. Such people are of three
sorts: they are either friends, or brothers, or students.

The characteristics of friends and conditions of their friendship: They have to
earnestly support our work and service connected with the Words and the lights of the
Qur' an. They should not support injustice, innovations, or misguidance in heartfelt
fashion. They should themselves try to profit from the Words.

The characteristics of brothers and conditions of their brotherhood:
Together with truly and earnestly working to disseminate the Words, they should
perform the five obligatory prayers and not commit the seven grievous sins.

The characteristics of students and conditions of their studentship: To feel as
though the Words are their own property written by themselves, and to know their
vital duty, their life's work, to be the service and dissemination of them.

These three levels are connected with my three personalities. A friend is
connected with my individual, essential personality. A brother is connected with the
personality that springs from my worship and bondsmanship of Almighty God. And a
student is connected with the personality that undertakes the duties of herald of the
Wise Qur' an and teacher.

Such meetings yield three fruits:

The First: In regard to being herald, it is to receive instruction about the jewels
of the Qur' an from either myself or the Words. Even if it is only a single lesson.

The Second: In respect of worship, it is to have a share of my gains of the
hereafter.

The Third: It is to turn together towards the divine court, and binding

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our hearts to Almighty God and seeking success and guidance, to work together in the
service of the All- Wise Qur' an.

If a student, every morning he is with me in name and sometimes also in
imagination, and he receives a share.

If a brother, he is several times together with me with his particular name and
form in my supplications and gains, and he receives a share. Then he is included
among all the brothers, and I hand him over to divine mercy so that when I say "my
brothers and sisters" in prayer, he is among them. If I do not know them, divine mercy
knows them and sees them.

If a friend who performs the obligatory prayers and gives up grievous sins, he is
included in my prayers together with all the brothers. My condition is that all three
categories include me in their supplications and spiritual gains.

O God! Grant blessings to the one who said: "The believer is to the believer
like a well-founded building, with one part strengthening the other, " and to
his Family and Companions, and grant them peace.

Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught
us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise !(2:32)

And they shall say: "Praise be to God, who has guided us to this [felicity];
never could we have found guidance, had it not been for the guidance of
God; indeed it was the truth that the Messengers of our Sustainer brought to
us!" (1:43)

O God, Who responded to Noah among his people, * And helped Abraham
before his enemies, * And returned Joseph to Jacob, * And raised Job's
suffering from him, * And answered the prayer of Zakariya, * And responded
to Jonah b. Matta; we implore You through the mystery of those who offered
these answered prayers that You preserve me and those who disseminate
these treatises and their companions from the evil of satans among jinn and
men, and help us in the face of our enemies, and do not leave us to our own
devices, and remove our anxieties and their anxieties, and heal the
sicknesses of our hearts and of their hearts. Amen. Amen. Amen.

See, Bukhari, Salat, 88; Adab, 36; Mazalim, 5; Muslim, Birr, 18; Nasal, Zakat, 67; Musnad, iv, 405,
409.

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The Twenty-Seventh Letter

[This consists of estimable letters, which are pure reality, written by the author of the
Risale-i Nur to his students, as well as some written by the Risale-i Nur students to
their Master, and to each other, describing the blessings and effulgence they had
received from studying the Risale-i Nur. It has not been included here since is three or
four times the size of the present collection, and has been published separately under
the titles of Barla Lahikasi, Kastamonu Lahikasi, and Emirdag Lahikasi.]

399

TheTwenty-Eighth Letter

[This letter consists of eight matters]

The First Matter,
which is the First Part

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
If it be that you can interpret dreams. (12:43)

Secondly: You want me to interpret now the dream you had three years ago
three days after meeting me, whose meaning has long since become apparent. That
beautiful, happy, and auspicious dream has been consigned to the past, so I'm right to
say the following regarding it, am I not?

/ am neither the night nor a lover of the night; * / am a servant of the Sun; it

is of the Sun that I speak.

Those illusions which are the snare of the saints, * Are the moon-faced

2

reflections of the garden of God.

Yes, my brother, we have become accustomed to discussing with you teachings
concerning pure reality (hakikat), but to study dreams, the doors of which are open to
fancy and illusion in order to ascertain reality, is not completely in keeping with our
way of researching into and verifying reality. So in connection with that minor
incident of sleep, we shall explain six points about the reality of sleep, the small
brother of death, 3 according to

1 Imam Rabbani, al-Maktubat, i, 124 (No: 130).

2 Jalal al-Din al-Rumi, Mathnawi, 10.

3 al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id, x, 415; Daylami, Musnad al-Firdaws, iv, 309.

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scholarly principles and from the angle indicated by verses of the Qur'an. In the
seventh, we shall offer a brief interpretation of your dream.

The First

Just as an important element of Sura Yusuf is Yusuf's dream, so the Qur'an
indicates with many of its verses, such as:

And We made your sleep for rest(78:9)

that dreams and sleep may hold important, though veiled, truths.

The Second

Verifiers of reality do not favour trusting in the interpretation of dreams and
taking of omens through the Qur'an. For the All- Wise Qur'an strikes at the
unbelievers frequently and severely, and if such severity is shown towards the person
who takes omens, it causes him to despair and confuses his heart. Dreams also,
because although they are good they are thought to be evil and sometimes appear to
be opposed to reality, may cause a person to fall into despair, destroy his morale, and
make him think badly of things. There are many dreams the meanings and
interpretations of which are very good although the form they take is terrifying,
injurious, or unclean. Not everyone can discover the relation between the form a
dream takes and its true meaning, so they become unnecessarily anxious, despairing,
and unhappy. It was only because of this aspect of dreams that, like Imam-i Rabbani
and the verifiers of reality, I said at the beginning: "I am neither the night nor a lover
of the night."

The Third

An authentic Hadith states that one of the forty parts of prophethood was made
manifest in the form of true dreams during sleep, 4 which means that true dreams are
both valid and have a connection with the functions of prophethood. This Third Point
is both important, and lengthy and profound, and related to prophethood, so I am
postponing it to another time and not opening this door for now.

The Fourth

Dreams are of three sorts. 5 Two of them, in the words of the Qur'an, are "A
confused medley of dreams"( 12:44) and not worth interpreting. If they have any
meaning, it is of no importance. Either due to some ailment, the

4 Bukhari, Ta'bir, 2, 4, 10, 26; Muslim, Ru'ya, 6-9; Abu Da'ud, Adab, 88; Tirmidhi, Ru'ya, 1, 2, 6, 10;
Ibn Maja, Ru'ya, 1, 3, 6, 9; Darimi, Ru'ya, 2; Muwatta', Ru'ya, 1, 3; Musnad, ii, 18, 50, 219; iv, 10-
13; v, 316,319.

5 Muslim, Ru'ya&, 6; Abu Da'ud, Adab, 88; Tirmidhi, Ru'ya, 6; Musnad, ii, 269.

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power of imagination mixes things up and depicts them accordingly; or it recalls some
stimulating event that happened to the person that day, or previously, or even at the
same time a year or two earlier, and it modifies and reproduces it in some other form.
These are both "A confused medley of dreams," and not worth interpreting.

The third sort is true dreams. When the senses that bind man to the Manifest
World and roam in it rest and cease their activity, the dominical subtle faculty in
man's make-up forms a direct relation with World of the Unseen and opens up a
window onto it. Through the window, it looks on events that are in preparation; it
comes face to face with the manifestations of the Preserved Tablet and some samples
of the missives of divine determining; it beholds some true occurrences. Sometimes
the imagination governs in such dreams, dressing them in the garments of form. There
are numerous types and levels of this sort of dream. Sometimes they turn out exactly
as dreamed; sometimes they turn out slightly obscured, as though under a fine veil;
and sometimes they turn out heavily veiled.

It is narrated in Hadiths that the dreams God's Most Noble Messenger (Upon
whom be blessings and peace) had at the outset of the revelations turned out as true
and clear as the breaking of morning. 6

The Fifth

True dreams are a higher development of premonitions. Everyone has
premonitions to a greater or lesser degree. Animals even have them. At one time I
discovered two senses including premonition scientifically, additional to the well-
known external and inner senses such as the unconscious instinctive senses that impel
and stimulate, and hearing and sight. Philosophers and the people of misguidance
mistakenly and foolishly call those little known senses "natural instinct." God forbid!
They are not "natural" instinct; divine determining impels human beings and animals
through a sort of innate inspiration. For example, if some animals like cats lose their
sight, through this impulse of divine determining, they go and find a plant that heals
their eyes and rub it on them, and they get better.

Also, birds of prey like eagles, which, similarly to the public health officials of
the earth are charged with the duty of removing the carcasses of nomadic animals, are
informed through that impulse of divine determining, that inspiration of the sense of
premonition, that divine drive, of animal remains a day' s distance away, and they go
and find them.

6 Bukhari, Badi' al-Wahy, 3; Tafsir Sura, 96:1; Ta'bir, 1; Muslim, Iman, 252; Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 6;
Musnad, vi, 153, 232.

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Also, a young bee newly come into the world, flies a day's distance when only a
day old without losing its way, and through that drive of divine determining and
inspiring impulse, returns to its hive.

Also, it happens frequently to everyone that while speaking of someone, the door
opens and totally unexpectedly the same person enters. There is even a saying in
Kurdish which goes: "Talk of the wolf and ready your gun, for it's bound to appear."
That is to say, through a premonition, that dominical subtle faculty perceives the
person's arrival in summary fashion. But since the conscious mind does not
comprehend it, it prompts him to speak of it, not intentionally but involuntarily.
Intuitive people sometimes say that someone is coming, almost miraculously. At one
time I myself, even, was acutely sensitive in this way. I wanted to incorporate the
condition into a principle, but was unable to adapt it and couldn't. However, in
righteous people, and particularly the people of sainthood, premonition develops to a
high degree, showing its effects wondrously.

Thus, ordinary people even may manifest a sort of sainthood by virtue of which
in true dreams, they dream of things appertaining to the Unseen and the future like the
saints. Yes, for ordinary people, in respect of true dreams sleep may resemble a
degree of sainthood. So too, it is for everyone a splendid dominical cinema. However,
those with good morals think good thoughts, and someone who has good thoughts
dreams of good things. But since those with bad morals think bad thoughts, they
dream of bad things. Furthermore, for everyone, true dreams are windows in the
Manifest World that look onto the World of the Unseen. For restricted, ephemeral
human beings, they are also an arena of infinite proportions manifesting a sort of
eternity, and a place for gazing on the past and the future as though they were the
present. They are also a resting-place for beings with spirits, crushed as they are
beneath the responsibilities of life and who suffer great hardship. It is for reasons
similar to these that with verses like: "And We made your sleep for rest,"(78:9) the
All- Wise Qur'an teaches about sleep (hakikat-i nevmiye), giving it importance.

The Sixth and Most Important

Having experienced them numerous times, true dreams have become for me
decisive proofs at the degree of absolute certainty (hakkalyakin) that divine
determining encompasses all things. Especially the last few years, these dreams have
reached such a degree that they have made me certain that the most insignificant
events and unimportant dealings and even the most commonplace conversations I will
have the following day are written and ordained before they occur, and that by
dreaming of them the night before, I have read them not with my tongue but with my
eyes. Not once,

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not a hundred times, but perhaps a thousand times, the things I have said in my
dreams or the people I have dreamt of at night, although I had not thought of them at
all, have turned out exactly or with little interpretation the following day. It means
that the most trivial things are both recorded and written before they happen. That is
to say, there is no chance or coincidence, events do not occur haphazardly, they are
not without order.

The Seventh

Your beautiful, blessed, and auspicious dream was very good for the Qur'an and
for us. Also, time has interpreted it and is interpreting it; there is no need for me to do
so. Its partial interpretation also turned out well. If you study it carefully, you will
understand. I shall point out only one or two aspects. That is, I shall explain a truth
(hakikat). The visions you have had, which are like the true meanings (hakikat) of
dreams, are the representations of those true meanings. It is like this:

That vast field was the world of Islam. The mosque at its end was the province of
Isparta. The muddy water around it was the swamp of the dissoluteness, idleness, and
innovations of the present time. Your swiftly reaching the mosque safely and without
being contaminated by the mud was a sign that you took up the lights of the Qur' an
before everyone else, and had remained unspoilt with your heart uncorrupted. The
small congregation in the mosque consisted of some of the people who have taken the
Words upon themselves, like Hakki, Hulusi, Sabri, Siileyman, Riistii, Bekir, Mustafa,
Ali, Zuhtu, Lutfi, Husrev, and Re'fet. As for the small platform, it was a small village
like Barla. The loud voice was an allusion to the power and rapid spread of the
Words. The place assigned to you in the first row, was that vacated for you by
Abdurrahman. The indication and fact that the congregation, as though wireless
receivers, wanted to make the whole world hear its teachings, will turn out at a later
date, God willing. If the people now are like small seeds, with divine assistance, in the
future they will all be like tall trees and telegraph offices. As for the turbanned youth,
he is someone who will work together with Hulusi, or even surpass him; he is
destined to become one of the students and those who disseminate the Words. I can
think of some of them, but I cannot say definitely. The youth is someone who will
come into prominence through the power of sainthood. You can interpret the
remaining points instead of me.

Speaking with friends like you is both agreeable and acceptable, so I have spoken
at length about this brief matter, and perhaps I have been prodigal. But since I began
with the intention of showing a way of expounding the Qur' an' s verses about sleep,
God willing, my prodigality will be forgiven, or not be prodigality even.

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The Second Part,
which is the Second Matter

[This was written to put a stop to and solve a significant argument
about the Hadith which describes how Moses (Upon whom be peace)
struck Azra'il (Upon whom be peace) in the eye, and the rest of the
story. 1 ]

I heard a scholarly argument in Egridir. It was wrong to hold such an argument
especially at this time, but I did not know it was an argument. I was asked a question
and shown a Hadith in a reliable book marked with a qaf, which signifies the
agreement of the two Shaikhs [Bukhari and Muslim]. They asked me: "Is it a Hadith
or isn't it?"

I replied that one should have confidence in someone who, in a reliable book
such as that, cites the agreement of the two Shaikhs concerning a Hadith; it means it is
a Hadith. However, Hadiths may contain allegorical obscurities like the Qur'an, and
only experts can ascertain their meanings. Even the literal meaning of this Hadith
suggests that it may belong to the allegorical category of those obscure ones. If I had
known that it was a point of argument, I would not have given such a short answer,
and would have replied as follows:

Firstly: The primary condition for discussing matters of this sort is to argue
fairly, intending to discover the truth. It is permissible for those who know about the
subject to discuss it, so long as they do not do so stubbornly nor give rise to
misunderstanding. Evidence that such an argument is for the sake of the truth is that if
the truth emerges through the opposite party, a person is not upset but pleased. For he
will have learned something he did not know. If it had emerged through him, he
would not have learned much and might well have become arrogant.

Secondly: If the argument is about a Hadith, the categories of Hadiths have to be
known, as well as the types of implicit revelation, and the varieties of prophetic
speech. It is not permissible to discuss ambiguous Hadiths

l Bukhari, Jana'iz, 69; Anbiya', 31; Muslim, Fada'il, 157-8; Nasa'i, Jana'iz, 121; Musnad, ii, 269, 315,
351.

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among the ordinary people, and to show off and justify oneself like a lawyer, and to
rely on egotism to support ones arguments rather than on truth and right. The question
being broached and argued about is having an adverse effect on the minds of the poor
ordinary people. They cannot comprehend obscure allegorical Hadiths like these, and
if they deny them, it opens the terrifying door to their also denying definite,
unambiguous Hadiths that they cannot understand with their limited intelligences. If
they take the Hadith on face value and accept the literal meaning and they spread it
around, it paves the way for the people of misguidance to object to it and call it
superstition. Since attention has been attracted to this allegorical Hadith unnecessarily
and harmfully, and there are many Hadiths of this sort, it is essential to offer an
explanation that will remove their doubts. Whether or not the Hadith is certain, the
following fact should be mentioned.

We may deem sufficient the detailed explanations in the treatises we have
written; that is, the twelve principles in the Third Branch of the Twenty- Fourth Word,
and in the Fourth Branch; and in one of the principles in the Introduction in the
Nineteenth Letter about the sorts of revelation; and here indicate only briefly that
truth. It is as follows:

The angels are not restricted to a having single form like human beings; although
they are individual beings, they are also universals. Azra'il (Upon whom be peace) is
the supervisor of the angels who are charged with taking possession of the spirits of
the dying.

Question: "Does Azra'il (UWP) himself take possession of them, or do his
helpers do this?"

There are three "ways" in this matter:

The First Way: Azra'il (Upon whom be peace) takes possession of every dying
person's spirit. Nothing is an obstacle to another, for he is luminous. Something
luminous can be present in innumerable places by means innumerable mirrors and
appear in them. The similitudes of luminous beings possess their characteristics; they
may be deemed the same as them and not other than them. The sun' s image in mirrors
displays it's light and heat. Similarly, the images of such spirit beings as the angels in
the various mirrors of the World of Similitudes are the same as them; they display
their characteristics. But they are represented in accordance with the capacities of the
mirrors. The same instant Gabriel (Upon whom be peace) appeared before the
Companions in the form of Dihya, he appeared in different forms in thousands of
places and was prostrating with his magnificent wings, which stretch from east to
west, before the divine throne. His similitude was everywhere in accordance with the
place's capacity; at the same instant he was present in thousands of places.

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According to this way, for the human and particular image of the Angel of Death
represented in a human being's mirror when he is taking possession of his spirit to
receive the blow of a resolute, angry, awe-inspiring person like Moses (Upon whom
be peace), and for that image-form, which resembled the Angel of Death's clothes, to
have his eye put out, would be neither impossible, nor extraordinary, nor irrational.

The Second Way: The archangels Gabriel, Michael, and Azra'il are like general
supervisors. They have helpers that are similar to them in kind and resemble them, but
are lesser than them. The assistants differ according to the sorts of creatures; those
who take possession of the spirits of the righteous 2 are of one sort, while those who
take possession of the spirits of the wicked are of another, 3 as the following verses
point out:

By the [angels] who tear out [the souls of the wicked] with violence; * By
those who gently draw out [the souls of the blessed]. (79:1-2)

In view of this way, it is perfectly reasonable that, because he was naturally awe-
inspiring and brave, and was an acceptable suppliant of God, Moses (Upon whom be
peace) should have dealt a blow not at Azra'il (Upon whom be peace), but at the
wraith-like body of one of his helpers. 4

The Third Way: As is explained in the Fourth Principle in the Twenty-Ninth
Word and is indicated by some Hadiths, there are some angels who have forty
thousand heads, and in each of their heads are forty thousand tongues, (which means
that they also have eighty thousand eyes), and with each of those tongues they utter
forty thousand divine glorifications. Yes, since the duties the angels are charged with
are in accordance with the sorts of beings of the Manifest World, they represent those
species' glorifications in the Spirit World. It is certain to be thus, for the globe of the
earth is a creature; it glorifies Almighty God. It has not forty thousand, but perhaps a
hundred thousand sorts of beings, which are like heads. Each sort has hundreds of
thousands of individual members which are like tongues;

2 In my native land, the Angel of Death charged with taking possession of the saints' spirits came while
a great saint well-known as Seyda was in the throes of death. Seyda shouted out beseeching the divine
court: "I love students of the religious sciences, so let the angel charged with taking possession of their
souls take possession of mine!" Those who were present testified to this incident.

3 Nasa'i, Jana'iz, 9; Ibn Maja, Jihad, 10.

4 In my native land, even, a very bold man saw the Angel of Death while he was in the throes of death.
He said: "You're seizing me while I'm lying in my bed!" And he got up, mounted his horse and
challenged him, taking his sword in his hand. He died on horseback, like a man.

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and so on. That means the angel appointed to the earth must have not forty thousand
heads but hundreds of thousands; and in every head must be hundreds of thousands of
tongues; and so on.

Thus, according to this way, Azra'il (Upon whom be peace) has a face and an eye
that looks to each person. When Moses (Upon whom be peace) struck Azra'il (Upon
whom be peace), it was not directed at his essential self and his true form, and it was
not an insult, or non-acceptance; he struck, and strikes, in the eye the being who drew
attention to his death and wanted to prevent his work, because he wanted his duties of
prophethood to continue for ever.

God knows best what is right. * None knows the Unseen save God. * Say:
The knowledge is with God alone.

He it is Who has sent down to you the Book: in it are verses basic or
fundamental [of established meaning]; they are the foundation of the Book;
others are allegorical. But those in whose hearts is perversity follow the part
thereof that is allegorical, seeking discord, and searching for its hidden
meanings, but no one knows its hidden meanings except God. And those who
are firmly grounded in knowledge say: "We believe in the Book; the whole of
it is from our Sustainer; " and none will grasp the Message except men of
under standing. (3 :7)

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The Third Piece,
which is the Third Matter

[This matter consists of a private and particular answer to a general
question asked by most of my brothers through the tongue of
disposition, and by some of them verbally.]

Question: You say to everyone who visits you: "Don't await any saintly
intervention from me and don't think of my person as being blessed. I have no
spiritual rank. Like a common soldier may convey orders coming from the rank of
field marshal, I convey the orders of just such a rank. And like a bankrupt can
advertise the precious diamonds of a jeweller's shop, I announce the wares of a
sacred, Qur'anic shop." However, our hearts desire an effulgence in the same way
that our minds need knowledge, and our spirits seek a light, and so on; we want many
things in many respects. We came to visit you supposing you to be the person who
will meet our needs. What we need is a saint, someone with saintly influence,
someone of spiritual attainment, rather than a scholar. If the matter is really as you
say, then perhaps we were wrong in visiting you? They ask this through the tongue of
disposition.

The Answer: Listen to the following five points, then think about them and
judge whether your visits are pointless or beneficial.

First Point

The common servant and wretched soldier of a king gives some generals and
pashas royal gifts and decorations in the king's name, and makes them grateful. If the
generals and pashas ask: "Why are we demeaning ourselves before this common
soldier and accepting these gifts and bounties from him?", it will be arrogant
foolishness. The soldier too, if, outside his duty, he does not stand up before the field
marshal and recognize him as superior to himself, it will be stupid folly. If one of the
grateful generals thankfully condescends to visit the soldier's humble dwelling, the
king, who sees and knows of the situation, will send dishes from the royal kitchen for
his loyal servant's eminent guest, so the soldier will not be ashamed at having nothing
to offer but dry bread.

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Similarly, however lowly he may be, a loyal servant of the All- Wise Qur'an
conveys its commands unhesitatingly and in its name to even the loftiest of people.
With pride and independence, not abasing himself or begging, he sells the Qur'an's
precious diamonds to those who are rich in spirit. However lofty they are, they should
not behave arrogantly towards the common servant while he is carrying out his duty.
And if they apply to the servant, it should not make him proud either, or get above
himself. If some of the customers for the sacred treasure regard the wretched servant
as a saint and look on him as exalted, certainly it is the mark of the Qur'anic truth's
sacred compassion to send them assistance, succour, and enlightenment from the
divine treasury, without the servant being aware of it or intervening, so that he should
not be ashamed.

Second Point

Imam-i Rabbani, the Regenerator of the Second Millennium, Ahmad Faruqi
(May God be pleased with him), said: "In my opinion, the unfolding and clarification
of a single of the truths of belief is preferable to thousands of illuminations and
instances of wonder-working. Moreover, the aim and result of all the Sufi paths are
the unfolding and clarification of the truths of faith." Since a champion of Sufism like
Imam-i Rabbani made such a pronouncement, surely the Words, which expound the
truths of faith with perfect clarity and proceed from the mysteries of the Qur' an, may
yield the results sought from sainthood.

Third Point

Thirty years ago dreadful blows descended on the heedless head of the Old Said
and he pondered over the assertion "Death is a reality." He saw himself in a muddy
swamp. He sought help, searched for a way, tried to find a saviour. He saw that the
ways were many; he was hesitant. He took an omen from the book Futuh al-Ghayb of
Gawth al-A'zam, Shaikh Gilani (May God be pleased with him). It opened at these
lines: "You are in the Dar al-Hikma, so find a doctor who will heal your heart." It is
strange, but at that time I was a member of the Daru'l-Hikmeti'l-Islamiye. I was as
though a doctor trying to heal the wounds of the people of Islam, but was sicker than
they. A sick person should look firstly to himself, then to others.

The Shaikh was saying to me: "You yourself are sick; find a doctor for yourself."
So I said: "You be my doctor!" I took him as my doctor and read the book as though
it were address

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ing me. But it was most severe. It smashed my pride in truly fearsome manner. It
carried out drastic surgery on my soul. I could not stand it. I read half of it as though it
were addressing me, but did not have the strength and endurance to finish it. I put the
book back on the shelf. Then a week later the pain of that curative operation subsided
and I felt pleasure instead. I again opened the book and read it right through; I
benefited a lot from it, that book of my first master. I listened to his prayers and
supplications, and profited abundantly.

Then I saw Maktubat (Letters) of Imam-i Rabbani and took it up. I opened it
purely to take an omen. It is strange, but in the whole of Maktubat the word
Bediuzzaman appears only twice and those two letters fell open for me at once. I saw
that written at the head of them was: "Letter to Mirza Bediuzzaman," and my father's
name was Mirza. "Glory be to God!" I exclaimed, "these letters are addressing me."
At that time the Old Said was also known as Bediuzzaman. Apart from Bediuzzaman
Hamadani, I knew of no one in the last three hundred years famous with the name.
Whereas in the Imam's time there was such a person and he wrote him these two
letters. His condition must have been similar to mine, for I found that these letters
were the cure for my ills. Only, the Imam persistently recommended in many of his
letters what he wrote in these two, which was: "Make your qibla one." That is, take
one person as your master and follow him; do not concern yourself with anyone else.

This most important recommendation did not seem fitting for my disposition and
mental state. However much I pondered over which of them to follow, I remained
perplexed and confused. They all had different qualities that drew me; one was not
enough. While thus bewildered, it was imparted to my heart by God's mercy: "The
All- Wise Qur' an is the head of these various ways and the source of these streams and
the sun of these planets; the true single qibla is to be found in it. In which case, it is
also the most elevated guide and holy master." So I clasped it with both hands and
clung on to it. Of course with my deficient, wretched abilities I could not absorb the
effulgence - like the water of life - of that true guide as was its due, but still, through
it, we can show that effulgence, that water of life, according to the degree of those
who receive it, those who perceive the truth through their hearts and attain to certain
spiritual states. That is to say, the Words and those lights, which proceed from the
Qur' an, are not only scholarly matters that address the intellect, they are matters of
faith that look to the heart, the spirit, and spiritual states. They resemble most
elevated, valuable knowledge of God.

Fourth Point

All the subtle inner faculties of those of the Companions and of the following two
generations who possessed the very highest degree of the greater sainthood received
their share from the Qur' an itself, and for them,

411

the Qur'an was a true guide and sufficient for them. This shows that just as the All-
Wise Qur'an states realities, so it emanates the effulgences of the greater sainthood to
those capable of receiving them.

Yes, there are two ways of passing from the apparent to reality:

One is to enter the intermediate realm of Sufism, and to reach reality by
traversing the degrees through spiritual journeying.

The Second Way is, through divine favour, to pass directly to reality without
entering the intermediate realm of the Sufi way. This is the elevated, direct way
particular to the Companions and those who succeeded them.

That is to say, the lights which issue from the truths of the Qur'an, and the
Words, which interpret those lights, may possess those characteristics, and do possess
them.

Fifth Point

We shall demonstrate through five small examples that the Words both instruct in
the realities, and perform the duty of guide.

First Example:! myself have formed the conviction through
experiencing, not ten or a hundred times but thousands of times, that just as the lights
proceeding from the Words and the Qur'an give instruction to my mind, so do they
induce a state of belief in my heart and produce the pleasure of belief in my spirit, and
so on. The same goes for worldly matters: just as the follower of a wonder-working
shaikh awaits saintly assistance from him to answer his needs; so I have awaited from
the wondrous mysteries of the All-Wise Qur'an that they answer my needs, and this
has been achieved for me on numerous occasions in ways I had not hoped or
anticipated. The following are only two minor examples:

The First: As is described in detail in the Sixteenth Letter, a large loaf of bread
appeared in an extraordinary way to a guest of mine called Siileyman, at the top of a
cedar tree. For two days the two of us fed off that gift from the Unseen.

The Second Example: I shall recount a very insignificant yet gratifying incident
that occurred recently. It was this:

Before dawn the thought came to me that some things had been said about me in
a way that would cast suspicion into a certain person's heart. I said to myself: "If only
I had seen him and had dispelled the disquiet from his heart." At that moment, I
needed part of one of my books which had been sent to Nis, and I said to myself: "If
only I had got it back." Then after the morning prayer I sat down and lo and behold!,
that same person entered the room with that very part of the book in his hand. I said to
him: "What is

412

it you are holding?" He answered: "I don't know. Someone gave it to me outside my
house saying that it had come from Nis; so I brought it to you." "Glory be to God!" I
exclaimed, "it does not look like chance this man coming from his house at this time
of day and this part of the Words arriving from Nis." And thinking: "It was surely the
All- Wise Qur' an' s saintly influence that gave a man such as this a piece of paper such
as that at the same moment and sent it to me," I exclaimed: "All praise be to God!
One who knows the smallest, most secret, least significant desire of my heart, will
certainly have compassion on me and protect me; in which case, I owe the world
nothing whatsoever!"

Second Example: My nephew, the late Abdurrahman, had a much higher
opinion of me personally than was my due, despite his having parted from me eight
years previously and having been tainted by the heedlessness and worries of the
world. He wanted such help and assistance from me as I did not have and could not
give. But the All- Wise Qur' an' s saintly influence came to his assistance: the Tenth
Word about the resurrection of the dead came into his possession three months before
his death. It cleansed him of his spiritual dirt and doubts and heedlessness. Quite
simply as though he had risen to the degree of sainthood, he displayed three clear
instances of wonder-working in the letter he wrote me before he died. It is included
among the pieces of the Twenty-Seventh Letter and may be referred to.

Third Example:! had a brother of the hereafter and student who was one
of those who approach reality with their hearts, called Hasan Efendi from Burdur. He
had an excessively good opinion of me, far better than I deserved, and expected
assistance from my wretched person as though awaiting the grace and influence of a
great saint. Suddenly, in completely unrelated fashion, I gave the Thirty-Second Word
to someone to study who lived in one of the villages of Burdur. Later I remembered
Hasan Efendi and I said: "If you go to Burdur, give it to Hasan Efendi, and let him
peruse it for five or six days." The man went and gave it to him straight away. It was
only a month of so till Hasan Efendi died. He cast himself on the Thirty-Second Word
just like a man suffering a terrible thirst casts himself on the sweet water of Kawthar
if he happens upon it. He studied it continuously and received its effulgence,
especially the discussion on the love of God in the Third Stopping-Place, till he was
completely cured of his ills. He found in it the enlightenment he would have expected
from the greatest spiritual pole. He went to the mosque in good health, performed the
prayer, and there surrendered his spirit to the Most Merciful (May God have mercy on
him).

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Fourth E x a mp I e : As is testified to by Hulusi Bey's piece in the Twenty-
Seventh Letter, he found in the light-filled Words, which interpret the mysteries of the
Qur'an, assistance and succour, effulgence and light greater than in the Naqshi way,
which is the most important and influential Sufi order.

Fifth Example: My brother Abdiilmecid suffered terribly at the death of
Abdurrahman (May God have mercy on him) and at other grievous events. He also
awaited from me assistance and influence I was unable to give. I was not
corresponding with him. Suddenly I sent him some of the main parts of the Words.
After studying them, he wrote to me and said: "Praise be to God, I have been saved! I
would have gone mad. Each of those Words has become like a spiritual guide for me.
I had parted from one guide, but I suddenly found lots of them all at once, and was
saved!" I realized that truly Abdiilmecid had embarked on a good way and had been
saved from his previous difficulties.

There are numerous examples like these five which show that if the sciences of
belief are experienced directly as cures from the mysteries of the All-Wise Qur'an in
consequence of need and as healing for wounds, those sciences and spiritual cures are
sufficient for those who perceive their need and make use of them with earnest
sincerity. Whatever the chemist and herald is like who sells and announces them - be
he commonplace, or bankrupt, or rich, or a person of rank, or a servant - it does not
make much difference. There is no need to have recourse to candlelight while the sun
shines. Since I am showing the sun, it is meaningless and unnecessary to seek
candlelight from me, especially since I have none. Others should rather assist me with
prayers, spiritual assistance, and even saintly influence. It is my right to seek help and
assistance from them, while it is incumbent on them to be content with the effulgence
they receive from the lights of the Risale-i Nur.

Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught
us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise 1(2:32)

O God, grant blessings to our master Muhammad that will be pleasing to
You and fulfilment of his truth, and to his Family and Companions, and grant
them peace.

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[A short, private letter that may be added as a supplement to the Third
Matter of the Twenty-Eighth Letter.]

My Brothers of the Hereafter and Hard-Working Students, Husrev Efendi and
Re'fetBey!

We perceived three instances of Qur'anic wonder-working in the lights of the
Qur'an known as the Words. Now through your effort and enthusiasm, you have
caused a fourth to be added. The three I know are these:

The First is the extraordinary ease and speed in their writing. The
Nineteenth Letter was written in two or three days working for three or four hours
each day making a total of twelve hours, without any other book, in the mountains
and orchards. The Thirtieth Word was written in five or six hours at a time of illness.
The Twenty-Eighth Word, the discussion on Paradise, was written in one or two hours
in Suleyman's garden in the valley. Tevfik, Suleyman and I were astonished at this
speed. And so on. And just as there is this wonder of the Qur' an in their composition

The Second, ...so too in their being written out and copied there is an
extraordinary facility, enthusiasm, and lack of boredom. One of these Words appears,
and suddenly, although there are many things at this time to weary the mind and
spirit, people in many places start to write it out with total enthusiasm. They prefer it
to anything else despite other pressing occupations. And so on.

The Third Qur'anic Wonder: The reading of the Words does not
cause boredom either. Especially when one feels the need for them; the more one
reads them, the more pleasure one receives, feeling no weariness.

Now you have proved a fourth Qur' anic wonder. A brother like Husrev who was
lazy and although for five years he had heard about the Words, did not start writing
them seriously, in one month wrote out fourteen books beautifully and carefully,
which was doubtless the fourth wonder of the Qur' an' s mysteries. He perfectly
appreciated the value of the Thirty- Three Windows in particular, the Thirty- Third
Letter, since it was written out most beautifully and carefully. Yes, it is a most
powerful, brilliant piece for gaining knowledge of God and belief in God. Only, the
first Windows are very concise and abbreviated, while the subsequent ones gradually
unfold and shine more brilliantly. Contrarily to other writings, most of the Words start
off concisely and gradually expand and illuminate.

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The Fourth Matter,
which is the Fourth Part

In His Name!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise. {11 :AA)

[The answer written for my brothers to a question about a minor,
though alerting, incident.]

You a s k : On the arrival of a blessed guest, your mosque was raided on the
night before Friday. What really happened? Why did they bother you?

The Answer:! shall explain four points, necessarily in the tongue of the Old
Said. Perhaps it will be the means of alerting my brothers, and you too will receive
your answer.

First Point

In reality the incident was a satanic plot and an act of aggression carried out by
dissemblers on account of atheism in a way that was a violation of the law and purely
arbitrary, in order to alarm us on the eve of Friday, destroy the congregation's
enthusiasm, and prevent me from meeting with people. It was strange, but that day,
that is, Thursday, I had gone somewhere to take some air. When returning, a long
black snake that looked like two snakes joined together appeared from my left, and
passed between me and the friend who was with me. Meaning to ask my friend if he
had been terrified at the snake, I asked him: "Did you see it?"

He replied: "What?"

I said: "That terrible snake."

He said: "No, I didn't see it and I can't see it."

"Glory be to God!", I exclaimed, "Such a huge snake passes between us and you
didn't see it! How is that?"

At the time nothing occurred to me. Then later this was imparted to my heart: "It
was a sign for you. Watch out!" I thought it was like one of the snakes I used to see at
night. That is, whenever an official visited me with a malicious intention, I would see
him in the form of a snake. In fact, one

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time I said to the District Officer: "Whenever you come intending evil, I see you as a
snake. Be careful!" I saw his predecessor many times like that. It means that the snake
I saw clearly was a sign that their treachery would not only remain intentional but
would take the form of actual aggression. For sure, this time their aggression was
apparently minor and they wanted to minimize it, but encouraged and joined by an
unscrupulous teacher, the District Officer ordered the gendarmes: "Bring the visitors
here!" We were reciting the tesbihat following the prayers in the mosque. Anyway
their intention was to make me angry so that I would react in the vein of the Old Said
and drive them out in the face of such unlawful, purely arbitrary treatment. But the
wretch did not know that Said would not defend himself with the broken piece of
wood in his hand while on his tongue he had a diamond sword from the workbench of
the Qur'an, indeed, he would have used the sword like that. But the gendarmes were
sensible, and since no state, no government at all, disturbs people in the mosque
during prayer while performing their religious duties, they waited till the prayers and
tesbihat were finished. The Officer was angry at this and sent the rural watchman
after them saying: "The gendarmes don't pay any attention to me." But Almighty God
did not force me to struggle with them.

So I make this recommendation to my brothers: so long as there is no absolute
necessity, don't bother yourselves with them. In keeping with the saying: "The best
answer for the stupid is silence," do not stoop to speak with them. But watch out, for
like showing weakness before a savage animal emboldens its attack, to show
weakness by being sycophantic towards those with the consciences of beasts,
encourages them to be aggressive. Friends must be alert so that the supporters of
atheism do not take advantage of other friends' indifference and heedlessness.

Second Point

The verse:

And incline not towards those who do wrong, or the Fire will seize
jom,(11:113)

threatens in awesome and severe fashion not only those who support and are the tools
of tyranny, but also those who have the slightest inclination towards it. For like
consenting to unbelief is unbelief, so is consenting to tyranny and wrongdoing,
tyranny and wrong.

One of the people of attainment perfectly interpreted as follows one of the many
jewels of the above verse:

One who assists tyranny is the world's most despicable being;
He is a dog, who receives pleasure from serving the unjust.

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Yes, some of them are snakes, some are dogs. The one who spied on us on that
blessed night when, with a blessed guest we were reciting blessed prayers, and
informed on us as though we were commiting some crime, and raided us, certainly
deserves the blow dealt by the above poem.

Third Point

Question: Since you rely on the Qur'an's saintly influence and its
effulgence and light to reform and guide the most obstinate of the godless, and you
actually do this, why do you not call to religion those aggressive people that are
around you, and guide them?

The A n s w e r : An important principle of the Shari'a is "The person who
knowingly consents to harm should not be condoned." Relying on the strength of the
Qur'an, I say that on condition even the most obdurate irreligious person is not utterly
vile and does not enjoy spreading the poison of misguidance like a snake, if I do not
convince him in a few hours, I am ready to try. However, to speak of truth and reality
to a conscience that has fallen to the very lowest degree of baseness, to snakes in
human form that have reached such a degree of hypocrisy that they knowingly sell
religion for the world and knowingly exchange the diamonds of reality for vile and
harmful fragments of glass, would be disrespectful towards those truths. It would be
like the proverb "Casting pearls before swine." For those who do these things have
several times heard the truth from the Risale-i Nur, and they knowingly try to refute
its truths before the misguidance of atheism. Such people receive pleasure from
poison, like snakes.

Fourth Point

The treatment I have received this seven years has been purely arbitrary and
outside the law. For the laws concerning exiles and captives and those in prison are
clear. By law, they can meet with their relatives and they should not be prevented
from mixing with people. In every country, with every people, worship and prayer are
immune from interference. Others like me stayed together with their friends and
relations in towns. They were prevented neither from mixing with others, nor from
communicating, nor from moving about freely. I was prevented. And my mosque and
my worship even were raided. And while it is Sunna according to the Shafi'i School
to repeat the words, "There is no god but God" in the prayers following the prescribed
prayers, they tried to make me give them up. Even, one of the old exiles in Burdur, an
illiterate called Sebab, and his mother-in-law, came here for a change of air. They
visited me because we come from the same place. They were summoned from the
mosque by three armed gendarmes. The official then tried to hide that he had made a

418

mistake and acted unlawfully, and apologized, saying: "Don't be angry, it was my
duty." Then he gave them permission and told them to go. Comparing other things
and treatment with that incident, it is understood that the treatment accorded to me is
purely arbitrary, and that they inflict vipers and curs on me. But I don't condescend to
bother with them. I refer it to Almighty God to ward off their evil. In fact, those who
instigated the event that was the cause of the exile are now back in their own lands,
and powerful chiefs are back at the heads of their tribes. Everyone has been
discharged. They made me and two other people exceptions, although I have no
connection with their world; may it be the end of them! But one of those two was
appointed Mufti somewhere and can travel everywhere outside his own region,
including to Ankara. And the other was left in Istanbul in the midst of forty thousand
people from his native region, and he can meet with everyone. Moreover, those two
persons are not alone and with no one, like me; they are very influential, with God's
permission. And so on and so forth. But they put me in a village and set those with the
least conscience on me. I have only been able to go to another village twenty minutes
away twice in six years, and they did not give me permission to go there for a few
days' change of air, crushing me even more under their tyranny. Whereas whatever
form a government takes the law is the same for all. There cannot be different laws
for villages and for different individuals. That is to say, the law as far as I am
concerned is unlawfulness. The officials here utilize government influence for their
own personal grudges. But I offer a hundred thousand thanks to Almighty God, and
by way of making known His bounties, I say this:

All this oppression and tyranny of theirs is like pieces of wood for the fire of
ardour and endeavour which illuminates the lights of the Qur'an; it makes them flare
up and shine. And those lights of the Qur'an, which have suffered this persecution of
theirs and have spread with the heat of endeavour, have made this province, indeed,
most of the country, into a medrese in place of Barla. They supposed me to a prisoner
in a village. On the contrary, in spite of the atheists, Barla has become the teaching
desk, and many places, like Isparta, have become the medrese.

All praise be to God, this is a bounty from my Lord and Sustainer.

419

The Fifth Matter,
which is the Fifth Part

On Thanks

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.

Will they not then give thanks? (36: 35, 73) * Will they not then give thanks? *
And we shall surely reward those who give thanks. (3: 1 45) * If you give
thanks, I shall increase [my favours] to you.(14:7) * Worship God and be of
those who give thanks.(39:66)

By repeating verses like these, the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition shows that
thanks is what the Most Merciful Creator wants most from His servants. The Qur'an,
the All- Wise Distinguisher between Truth and Falsehood, calls on men to offer
thanks, giving it the greatest importance. It shows ingratitude to be a denial of
bounties and in Sura al-Rahman utters a fearsomely severe threat thirty-three times
with the verse,

So which of the favours of your Sustainer do you deny?(55:\3, etc.)

It shows ingratitude to be denial and negation.

Indeed, just as the All- Wise Qur'an shows thanks to be the result of creation; so
the universe, which is a mighty Qur'an, shows the most important result of the
world's creation to be thanks. For if the universe is observed carefully, it is seen from
the way it is arranged that everything results in thanks; each looks to thanks to an
extent and is turned towards it. It is as though thanks is the most important fruit of the
tree of creation, and gratitude is the most elevated product of the factory of the
universe. The reason for this is as follows:

We see in the creation of the world that its beings are arranged as though in a
circle with life as its central point. All beings look to life, and serve life, and produce
the necessities of life. That is to say, the One who created the universe chose life from
it, giving it preference.

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Then we see that He created the animal kingdom in the form of a circle and
placed man at its centre. Simply, He centred the aims intended from animate beings
on man, gathering all living creatures around him and subjugating them to him. He
made them serve him and him dominant over them. That is to say, the Glorious
Creator chose man from among living beings, and willed and decreed this position for
him in the world.

Then we see that the world of man, and the animal world too, are disposed like
circles with sustenance placed at their centre. He has made mankind and the animals
enamoured of sustenance, has subjugated them to it, and made them serve it. What
rules them is sustenance. And He has made sustenance such a vast, rich treasury that
it embraces all His innumerable bounties. Even, with the faculty called the sense of
taste, He has placed on the tongue sensitive scales to the number of foods so that they
can recognize the tastes of the many varieties of sustenance. That is to say, the
strangest, richest, most wonderful, most agreeable, most comprehensive, and most
marvellous truth in the universe lies in sustenance.

Now we see that just as everything has been gathered around sustenance and
looks to it, so does sustenance in all its varieties subsist through thanks, both material
and immaterial and that offered by word and by state; it exists through thanks, it
produces thanks, its shows thanks. For appetite and desire for sustenance are a sort of
innate or instinctive thanks. Enjoyment and pleasure also are a sort of unconscious
thanks, offered by all animals. It is only man who changes the nature of that innate
thanks through misguidance and unbelief; he deviates from thanks and associates
partners with God.

Furthermore, the exquisitely adorned forms, the fragrant smells, the wonderfully
delicious tastes in the bounties that are sustenance invite thanks; they awake an
eagerness in animate beings, and through eagerness urge a sort of appreciation and
respect, and prompt thanks of a sort. They attract the attention of conscious beings
and engender admiration. They encourage them to respect the bounties; through this,
they lead them to offer thanks verbally and by act, and to be grateful; they cause them
to experience the highest, sweetest pleasure and enjoyment within thanks. That is,
they show that, as well as a brief and temporary superficial pleasure, through thanks,
these delicious foods and bounties gain the favours of the Most Merciful One, which
provide a permanent, true, boundless pleasure. They cause conscious beings to ponder
over the infinite, pleasurable favours of the All-Generous Owner of the treasuries of
mercy, and in effect to taste the everlasting delights of Paradise while still in this
world. Thus, although by means of thanks sustenance becomes such a valuable,

421

rich, all-embracing treasury, through ingratitude it becomes utterly valueless.

As is explained in the Sixth Word, when the sense of taste in the tongue is turned
towards sustenance for the sake of Almighty God, that is, when it performs its duty of
thanks, it becomes like a grateful inspector of the numberless kitchens of divine
mercy and a highly-esteemed supervisor full of praise. If it is turned towards it for the
sake of the soul, that is, without thinking of giving thanks to the One who has
bestowed the sustenance, the sense of taste is demoted from being a highly-esteemed
supervisor to the rank of a watchman of the factory of the stomach and a doorkeeper
of the stable of the belly. Just as through ingratitude these servants of sustenance
descend to such a level, so does the nature of sustenance and its other servants fall;
they fall from the highest rank to the lowest; they sink to a state opposed to the
Creator of the universe' s wisdom.

The measure of thanks is contentment, frugality, and being satisfied and grateful.
While the measure of ingratitude is greed, wastefulness and extravagance; it is
disrespect; it is eating whatever one comes across, whether lawful or unlawful.

Like ingratitude, greed causes both loss and degradation. For example, it is as
though because of greed that the blessed ant even with its social life is crushed
underfoot. For although a few grains of wheat would suffice it for a year, it is not
contented with this and collects thousands if it can. But the blessed honey-bee flies
overhead due to its contentment, and at a divine command bestows honey on human
beings for them to eat.

The name of All-Merciful - the greatest name after the name of Allah, which
signifies the divine essence and is the greatest name of the Most Pure and Holy One -
looks to sustenance, and is attained to through the thanks provoked by sustenance.
Also, the most obvious meaning of All-Merciful is Provider.

Moreover, there are different varieties of thanks, the most comprehensive of
which are the prescribed prayers. The prescribed prayers are a universal index of the
sorts of thanks.

Furthermore, thanks comprises pure belief and a sincere affirmation of God's
unity. For a person who eats an apple and utters, "Praise be to God!" is proclaiming
through his thanks: "This apple is a souvenir bestowed directly by the hand of power,
a gift directly from the treasury of mercy." By saying this and believing it, he is
ascribing everything, particular and universal, to the hand of power. He recognizes the
manifestation of mercy in everything. He announces through thanks, his true belief
and sincere affirmation of divine unity.

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The heedless man incurs serious loss through ingratitude for bounties. We shall
describe only one of its many aspects. It is as follows:

If someone eats a delicious bounty and gives thanks, by virtue of his thanks the
bounty becomes a light and a fruit of Paradise in the hereafter. If, because of the
pleasure, he thinks of it as the work of Almighty God's favour and mercy, it yields a
true, lasting delight and enjoyment. He sends kernels and essences of its meanings
and immaterial substances like these to the abodes above, while the material husk-like
residue, that is, the matter that has completed its duty and now is unnecessary,
becomes excreta and goes to be transformed into its original substances, that is, into
the elements. If he fails to give thanks, the temporary pleasure leaves a pain and
sorrow at its passing, and itself becomes waste. Bounty, which is as precious as
diamonds, is transformed into coal. Through thanks, ephemeral sustenance produces
enduring pleasures, everlasting fruits. While bounty that is met with ingratitude is
turned from the very best of forms into the most distasteful. For according to the
heedless person, after producing a fleeting pleasure, sustenance ends up as waste-
matter.

Sustenance is indeed in a form worthy of love, and this form is to be seen through
thanks. However, the passion of the misguided and heedless for sustenance is
animality. You can make further comparisons in this way and see what a loss the
heedless and misguided suffer.

Among animate species, man is the most needy for all the varieties of sustenance.
Almighty God created man as a comprehensive mirror to all His names; as a miracle
of power with the capacity to weigh up and recognize the contents of all His treasuries
of mercy; and as His vicegerent on earth possessing the faculties to draw to the scales
and evaluate all the subtleties of His names' manifestations. He therefore made man
utterly resourceless, rendering him needy for the endless varieties of sustenance,
material and immaterial. Thanks is the means of raising man to "the best of forms,"
which is the highest position in accordance with this comprehensiveness. If he does
not give thanks, he falls to "the lowest of the low," and perpetrates a great wrong.

In Short: Thanks is the most essential of the four fundamental principles of
the way of worship and winning God's love, the highest and most elevated way.
These four principles have been defined as follows:

"Four things are necessary on the way of the impotent, my friend:

"Absolute impotence, absolute poverty, absolute fervour, and absolute thanks, my
friend."

O God, through Your mercy, appoint us among those who give thanks, O

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Most Merciful of the Merciful!

Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught

us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise .(2:32)

O God, grant blessings and peace to our master Muhammad, master of those

who offer thanks and praise, and to all his Family and Companions. Amen.

And the close of their cry will be, "All praise be to God, Sustainer of All the

Worlds. "(10:10)

The Sixth Matter,
which is the Sixth Part

This was included in another collection and not included here.

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The Seventh Matter,
which is the Seventh Part

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

Say: "In the bounty of God, and in His mercy, in that let them rejoice;" that

is better than the [wealth] they hoard. (10:58)

[This matter consists of seven "Signs," but firstly, in order to recount a
number of divine bounties, we shall explain seven "Reasons," which
disclose the meanings of several divine favours.]

First Reason: Before the Great War, or around the beginning of it, I had a true
vision. In it, I was under the famous mountain of A€r>, known as Mount Ararat. The
mountain suddenly exploded with a terrible blast. Pieces the size of mountains were
scattered all over the world. I looked and saw that in that awful situation, my mother
was beside me. I said to her: "Don't be frightened. This is happening at Almighty
God's command, and He is All-Compassionate and All- Wise." Suddenly, while in
that situation, I saw that a person of importance was commanding me: "Expound the
Qur'an's miraculousness!" I awoke and I understood that there was going to be a
great explosion and upheaval, and that following it the walls surrounding the Qur'an
would be destroyed. The Qur'an would then defend itself directly. It was going to be
attacked and its miraculousness would be its steel armour. And in a way surpassing
his ability, someone like myself would be appointed at this time to reveal one sort of
its miraculousness; I understood that I had been designated.

Since the Qur'an's miraculousness has been expounded to an extent in the Words,
to set forth the divine favours received in our service, which are sorts of blessings and
emanations of its miraculousness, will surely assist it and pass to its account, and
should therefore be set forth.

Second Reason: The All- Wise Qur'an is our guide, master, and leader, and
shows us the way in all our conduct. So since it praises itself, following its
instruction, we shall praise its commentary.

425

Furthermore, since the Words that have been written are a sort of commentary on
the Qur'an, and its treatises are the property of the Qur'an's truths and its realities;
and since in most of its Suras, and particularly in the Alif. Lam. Ra.'s and Ha. Mim.'s,
the All- Wise Qur'an displays itself in all its magnificence, tells of its own perfections,
and praises itself in a way of which it is worthy; certainly we are charged with making
known the flashes of the Qur'an's miraculousness that are reflected in the Words, and
the dominical favours that are a sign of that service's acceptance. For our master does
this and teaches us to do it.

Third Reason: I do not say this about the Words out of modesty but in order to
explain a truth, that the truths and perfections in the Words are not mine; they are the
Qur'an's and they have issued from the Qur'an. The Tenth Word, for instance,
consists of a few droplets filtered from hundreds of verses, and the rest of the treatises
are all like that. Since I know it is thus and since I am transient, I shall depart, of
course something, a work, which is enduring should not, and must not, be tied to me.
And since it is the custom of the people of misguidance and rebellion to refute a work
that does not suit their purposes by refuting its author, the treatises, which are bound
to the stars of the skies of the Qur' an, should not be bound to a rotten post like me
who may be the object of criticism and disapproval, and may fall. Also, it is generally
the custom to search for the merits of a work in the qualities of its author, whom
people suppose to be the work's source and origin. To attribute those elevated truths
and brilliant jewels to a bankrupt like me in keeping with that custom, and to my
person, who could not produce one thousandth of them himself, is a great injustice
towards the truth. I am therefore compelled to proclaim that the treatises are not my
property; they are the Qur'an's property, and issuing from the Qur'an, they manifest
its virtues. Yes, the qualities of delicious bunches of grapes should not be sought in
their dry stalks. I resemble such a dry stalk.

Fourth Reason: Sometimes modesty suggests ingratitude for bounties, indeed, is
ingratitude for bounties. Then sometimes recounting bounties is a cause of pride. Both
are harmful. The only solution is for it to be neither. To admit to virtues and
perfections, but without claiming ownership of them, is to show them to be the works
bestowed by the True Bestower. For example, suppose someone were to dress you in
a robe of honour embroidered and encrusted with jewels and you became very
beautiful. The people then said to you: "What wonders God has willed! How beautiful
you are! How beautiful you have become!", but you modestly replied: "God forbid!
Don't say such a thing! What am I? This is nothing!" To do this would be ingratitude
for the bounty and disrespectful towards skilful crafts

426

man who had dressed you in the garment. While if you were to reply proudly: "Yes, I
am very beautiful. Surely there is no one to compare with me!", that would be
conceited pride.

In consequence, to avoid both conceit and ingratitude one should say: "Yes, I
have grown beautiful. But the beauty springs from the robe, and thus indirectly from
the one who clothed me in it; it is not mine."

Like this, if my voice were strong enough, I would shout out to the whole earth:
"The Words are beautiful; they are truth, they are reality; but they are not mine. They
are rays shining out from the truths of the Noble Qur'an."

In accordance with the principle of:

/ cannot praise Muhammad with my words, rather my words become
praiseworthy through Muhammad,

I say:

/ cannot praise the Qur'an with my words, rather my words become
praiseworthy through the Qur'an.

That is to say, I did not beautify the truths of the Qur'an's miraculousness, I could not
show them beautifully; rather, the Qur' an' s beautiful truths made my words beautiful
and elevated them. Since it is thus, it is acceptable to recount divine bounties and to
make known in the name of the beauty of the Qur'an's truths, the beauties of its
mirrors known as the Words, and the divine favours which comprise those mirrors.

Fifth Reason: A long time ago I heard from one of the people of sainthood that
he had divined from the obscure allusions of the saints of old - received from the
Unseen - that a light would appear in the East that would scatter the darkness of
innovation. He was certain of this. I have long awaited the coming of the light, and I
am awaiting it. But flowers appear in the spring and the ground has to be prepared for
such sacred flowers. I understood that with this service of ours we are preparing the
ground for those luminous people. So to proclaim the divine favours which pertain
not to us but to the lights called the Words should lead not to pride or conceit but to
praise and thanks, and to recounting the divine bounties.

Sixth Reason: Dominical favours, which are an immediate reward for our
serving the Qur'an by means of the Words, and an encouragement, are a success
granted by God. And success should be made known. If they surpass success, they
become a divine bestowal. To make known divine bestowal infers thanks. If they
surpass that too, they become wonders of the Qur' an with no interference on the part
of our wills; we have merely manifested them. It is harmless to make known wonders
of this sort, which

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occur unheralded and without the intervention of will. If they surpass ordinary
wonders, they become rays of the Qur'an's miraculousness. And since
miraculousness may be made known, the making known of what assists the
miraculousness passes to the account of the miraculousness and cannot be the cause
of any pride or conceit; it should rather be the cause of praise and thanks.

Seventh Reason: Eighty per cent of mankind are not investigative scholars who
can penetrate to reality, recognize reality as reality and accept it as such. They rather
accept matters by way of imitation, that they hear from acceptable and reliable people,
in consequence of their good opinions of them. In fact, they look on a powerful truth
as weak when in the possession of a weak man, while if they see a worthless matter in
the possession of a worthy man, they deem it valuable. Because of this, in order not to
reduce the value of the truths of faith and the Qur'an in the eyes of most people since
they are in the hands of a weak and worthless wretch like myself, I am compelled to
proclaim that outside our knowledge and will, someone is employing us; we are not
aware of it, but he is making us work. My evidence is this: outside our wills and
consciousness, we manifest certain favours and facilities. In which case, we are
compelled to shout out and proclaim those favours.

In consequence of the above seven reasons, we shall point out several signs of
universal dominical favours.

FIRST SIGN

Explained in the First Point of the Eighth Matter of the Twenty-Eighth Letter, are
the 'coincidences' (tevdfukat). For example, in the Nineteenth Letter, about the
miracles of Muhammad (UWBP), in a copy written by a scribe who was unaware of
this factor, on sixty pages - with the exception of two - from the Third to the
Eighteenth Signs, more than two hundred instances of the phrase "God's Noble
Messenger, Upon whom be blessings and peace" look to each other corresponding
perfectly. Anyone fair who looks at two pages would confirm that they are not the
product of mere chance. If many instances of the same word corresponded to each
other on the same page, half would be chance and half coincidence; it would only be
wholly coincidence if this occurred on more than one page. So if two, three, four, or
even more instances of the phrase "God's Noble Messenger, Upon whom be blessings
and peace" correspond to each other perfectly on all the pages, it surely is not possible
for it to be chance. It shows too that a coincidence that eight different scribes have
been unable to spoil is a powerful sign from the Unseen. Although the various degrees
of eloquence are

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to be found in the books of the scholars of rhetoric and eloquence, the eloquence of
the All- Wise Qur'an has risen to the degree of miraculousness and it is in no one's
power to reach it. Similarly, the 'coincidences' in the Nineteenth Letter, which is a
mirror of the miracles of Muhammad (UWBP), and in the Twenty- Fifth Word, which
is an interpreter of the miracles of the Qur'an, and in the various parts of the Risale-i
Nur, which is a sort of commentary on the Qur'an, demonstrate a degree of
singularity surpassing all other books. It is understood from this that it is a sort of
wonder of the miraculousness of the Qur'an and the miracles of Muhammad (UWBP)
which is manifested and represented in those mirrors.

SECOND SIGN

The second of the dominical favours pertaining to the service of the Qur'an is
this: Almighty God bestowed on someone like me who has difficulty in writing, is
semi- literate, alone, in exile, and barred from mixing with people, brothers as helpers
who are strong, earnest, sincere, enterprising, and self-sacrificing, and whose pens are
each like diamond swords. He placed on their powerful shoulders the Qur'anic duty
that weighed heavily on my weak and powerless ones. Out of His perfect
munificence, He lightened my load. In Hulusi's words, that blessed community is like
a collection of wireless and telegraph receivers, and in Sabri's, like the machines
producing the electricity of the light factory. With their different virtues and worthy
qualities, again in Sabri's words, manifesting a sort of coincidence proceeding from
the Unseen, they spread the mysteries of the Qur'an and lights of faith all around
reflecting each other's enthusiasm, effort, enterprise, and seriousness, making them
reach everywhere. At this time, that is, when the alphabet has been changed, and there
are no printing-presses, and everyone is in need of the lights of belief, and there are
numerous things to dispirit a person and destroy his enthusiasm, their unflagging
service and sheer fervour and endeavour are directly a wonder of the Qur' an and a
clear divine favour. Yes, just as sainthood has its wonders, so does a pure intention.
So does sincerity. Especially serious, sincere solidarity between brothers and
brotherhood purely for God's sake - they produce numerous wonders. In fact, the
collective personality of such a community may achieve the perfection of a saint and
manifest divine favours.

My brothers and my friends in the service of the Qur'an! Just as it is unjust and
wrong to give all the glory and all the booty to the sergeant of a company that
conquers a citadel, so you should not ascribe the divine favours in the victories won
through the strength of your collective personality and your pens to an unfortunate
like myself! In fact, there is another

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indication of the Unseen in such a blessed community, more powerful than the
'coincidences' proceeding from the Unseen and I can see it, but I may not point it out
to everyone at large.

THIRD SIGN

The fact that the various parts of the Risale-i Nur prove the principal truths of
belief and the Qur'an in brilliant fashion to even the most obdurate person is a
powerful sign from the Unseen and divine favour. For among those truths are some
that Ibn Sina, who was considered the greatest genius, confessed his powerlessness to
understand, saying: "Reason cannot solve these." Whereas the Tenth Word explains
what he could not achieve with his genius to ordinary people, or even to children.

And for example, a learned scholar like Sa'd al-Din Taftazani could only solve
the mystery of divine determining and man's will in forty to fifty pages with the
famous Muqaddimat-i Ithna 'Ashar in his work Talwihat. Those same matters, which
he set out for the elite alone, are explained completely in two pages in the Second
Topic of the Twenty-Sixth Word, which is about divine determining, in a way that
everyone can understand; if that is not a mark of divine favour, what is?

There are also what are known as the mystery of world' s creation and the riddle
of the universe, which have perplexed everyone and no philosophy has been able to
solve: through the miraculousness of the Qur'an of Mighty Stature, that abstruse
talisman and astonishing riddle are solved in the Twenty-Fourth Letter, and in the
Allusive Point towards the end of the Twenty- Ninth Word, and in the six instances of
wisdom in the transformations of minute particles explained in the Thirtieth Word.
They have disclosed and explained the mystery of the astonishing activity in the
universe, and the riddle of the universe's creation and its end, and the meaning and
instances of wisdom in the motion and transformations of particles; they are there for
all to see and may be referred to.

Furthermore, the Sixteenth and Thirty-Second Words explain with perfect clarity
the partnerless unity of dominicality, through the mystery of divine oneness, together
with the astonishing truths of infinite divine proximity and our infinite distance from
God. While the exposition of the phrase "And He is Powerful over all things" in the
Twentieth Letter and its Addendum which contains three comparisons demonstrate
self-evidently that minute particles and the planets are equal in relation to divine
power, and that at the resurrection of the dead, the raising to life of all beings with
spirits will be as easy for that power as the raising to life of a single soul, and that the
intervention of any partner to God in the creation of the

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universe is so far from reason as to be impossible, thus disclosing a vast mystery of
divine unity.

Furthermore, although in the truths of belief and the Qur'an there is such a
breadth that the greatest human genius cannot comprehend them, the fact that they
appeared together with the great majority of their fine points through someone like me
whose mind is confused, situation wretched, has no book to refer to, and who writes
with difficulty and at speed, is directly the work of the All-Wise Qur'an's
miraculousness and a manifestation of dominical favour and a powerful sign from the
Unseen.

FOURTH SIGN

Fifty to sixty treatises were bestowed in such a way that, being works that could
not be written through the efforts and exertions of great geniuses and exacting
scholars, let alone someone like me who thinks little, follows the apparent, and does
not have the time for close study, they demonstrate that they are directly the works of
divine favour. For in all these treatises, the most profound truths are taught by means
of comparisons to the most ordinary and uneducated people. Whereas leading
scholars have said about most of those truths that they cannot be made
comprehensible and have not taught them to the elite, let alone to the common people.

Thus, for these most distant truths to be taught to the most ordinary man in the
closest way, with wondrous ease and clarity of expression, by someone like me who
has little Turkish, whose words are obscure and mostly incomprehensible, and for
many years has been famous for complicating the clearest facts and whose former
works confirm this ill-fame, is certainly and without any doubt a mark of divine
favour and cannot be through his skill; it is a manifestation of the Noble Qur'an's
miraculousness, and a representation and reflection of the Qur'an's comparisons.

FIFTH SIGN

The fact that although generally speaking the treatises have been widely
distributed, and classes and groups of people from the loftiest scholars to the
uneducated, and from great saints from among those who approach reality with their
hearts to the most obdurate irreligious philosphers, have seen them and studied them
and have not criticized them, despite some of them receiving blows through them; and
the fact that each group has benefited from them according to its degree; is directly a
mark of dominical favour and a wonder of the Qur' an. And although treatises of that
sort are written only after much study and research, these were written with
extraordinary speed and at distressing times when my mind was contracted,

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confusing my thought and understanding, which is a mark of divine favour and a
dominical bestowal.

Yes, most of my brothers and all the friends who are with me and the scribes
know that the five parts of the Nineteenth Letter were written referring to no book at
all in several days working for two or three hours each day making a total of twelve
hours; and the Fourth Part, which is the most important and displays a clear seal of
prophethood in the phrase "God's Noble Messenger, Upon whom be blessings and
peace," was written from memory in three or four hours in the rain in the mountains;
and that the important and profound treatise of the Thirtieth Word was written in six
hours in an orchard; and that as with the Twenty-Eighth Word, which was written
finally in two hours in Stile yman's garden, most of them were written in such
conditions; my close friends know also that for many years, when I suffer difficulties
and my mind is contracted, I cannot explain even the plainest facts, indeed, I do not
even know them. Then especially when illness aggravates the distress, It prevents me
from teaching and writing even more. Yet despite this, the most important of the
Words and their treatises were written when I was suffering most difficulty and
illness, and with the most speed. If this was not a direct divine favour and dominical
bounty and wonder of the Qur' an, what was it?

Furthermore, whatever book it may be, if it discusses the divine truths and
realities of faith, it will certainly be harmful for some people, and for this reason all
the matters it contains should not be taught to everyone. However, although I have
asked many people, up to the present time these treatises have caused no harm to
anyone; they have caused no ill effects or unfavourable reaction, nor have they
disturbed anyone's mind. It absolutely certain in my opinion that this is a direct sign
of the Unseen and dominical favour.

SIXTH SIGN

It has now become absolutely clear in my view that most of my life has been
directed in such a way, outside my own will, ability, comprehension, and foresight,
that it might produce these treatises to serve the All- Wise Qur' an. It is as if all my life
as a scholar had been spent in preparation and preliminaries, the result of which was
the exposition of the Qur' an' s miraculousness through the Words. I have no doubt
even that these seven years of exile, and the situation imposed on me whereby I have
been isolated for no reason and against my wish, living a solitary life in a village in a
way opposed to my temperament, and my feeling disgust at and abandoning many of
the ties and rules of social life to which I had long grown accus

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tomed, was in order to make me carry out this duty to serve the Qur' an directly and in
purely sincere fashion. I am of the opinion that the ill-treatment was very often visited
on me by a hand of favour under the veil of unjust oppression, compassionately, in
order to focus my thought on the mysteries of the Qur' an and restrict it and not allow
my mind to be distracted. And being prevented from studying all other books, despite
formerly having great desire to study, I felt an aloofness towards them in my spirit. I
understood that I had been made to give up studying, which would have been a solace
and familiar in my exile, so that the verses of the Qur' an should be my absolute
master directly.

Furthermore, the great majority of the works that have been written, the treatises,
have been bestowed instantaneously and suddenly in consequence of some need
arising from my spirit, not from any outside cause. Then when afterwards I have
shown them to friends, they have said that they are the remedy for the wounds of the
present time. And having been disseminated, I have understood from most of my
brothers that they meet the needs of the times exactly and are like a cure for every ill.

I have no doubt therefore that the above-mentioned points and the course of my
life and my involuntarily studying fields of learning opposed to normal practice,
outside my own will and awareness, were a powerful divine favour and dominical
bounty bestowed to yield sacred results such as these.

SEVENTH SIGN

In the course of our work over the past five to six years, without exaggeration we
have seen with our own eyes a hundred instances of divine bestowal and dominical
favour and wonders of the Qur' an. We have pointed out some of them in the
Sixteenth Letter, and others we have described in the various matters of the Fourth
Topic of the Twenty-Sixth Letter, and in the Third Matter of the Twenty-Eighth
Letter. My close friends know these, and Suleyman Efendi, my constant friend,
knows many of them. We experience an extraordinary and wondrous ease in
spreading the Words in particular and other treatises, and in correcting them, and
putting them in order, and in the rough and final drafts. I have no doubt that this is a
wonder of the Qur' an. There have been hundreds of instances of it.

Furthermore, we are nurtured with great tenderness in our daily lives with the
Gracious One who employs us bestowing on us the least desires of our hearts in ways
entirely outside the ordinary in order to gratify us. And so on. This situation is a truly
powerful sign from the Unseen that we are

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being employed; we are being made to serve the Qur'an both within the sphere of
divine pleasure, and through divine favour.

All praise be to God, this is a bounty from my Lord and Sustainer!

All Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have

taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wisel(2:32)

God! Grant blessings to our master Muhammad that will be pleasing to

You and fulfilment of his truth, and to his Family and Companions, and grant

them peace. Amen.

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The Answer
to a Confidential Question

[This instance of divine favour was written some time ago
confidentially and was added to the end of the Fourteenth Word.
However, most of the scribes have forgotten it and not written it. That
is to say, the appropriate place for it must have been here, since it
remained unknown.]

You ask me: "How is it that in the Words you have written from the Qur' an
are a power and effectiveness rarely to be found in the words of Qur'anic
commentators and those with knowledge of God? Sometimes a single line is as
powerful as a page, and one page as effective as a book?"

The A n s w e r : A good answer: since the honour belongs to the Qur' an' s
miraculousness and not to me, I say fearlessly: it is mostly like that for the following
reason:

The Words that have been written are not supposition, they are affirmation; they
are not submission, they are belief; they are not intuitive knowledge (marifet), they
are a testifying and witnessing; they are not imitating, they are verification; they are
not taking the part of something, they are comprehension of it; they are not Sufism,
they are reality (hakikat); they are not a claim, they are the proof within the claim.
The wisdom in this is as follows:

Formerly, the fundamentals of belief were protected, submission was strong.
Even if the intuitive knowledge of those with knowledge of God lacked proof, their
expositions were acceptable and sufficient. But at this time, since the misguidance of
science has stretched out its hand to the fundamentals and pillars [of belief], the All-
Wise and Compassionate One of Glory, who bestows a remedy for every ill, in
consequence of my impotence and weakness, want and need, mercifully bestowed in
these writings of mine which serve the Qur' an a single ray from the comparisons of
that Noble Qur' an, which are a most brilliant manifestation of its miraculousness. All
praise be to God, distant truths were brought close through the telescope of the
mystery of comparisons. Through the aspect of unity of the mystery of comparisons,
truly disparate matters were collected together. Through the stairs of the mystery of
comparisons, the highest truths were

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easily reached. Through the window of the mystery of comparisons, a certainty of
belief in the truths of the Unseen and fundamentals of Islam was obtained close to the
degree of witnessing ($uhUd). The intellect, as well as the imagination and fancy, and
the soul and caprice, were compelled to submit, and Satan too was compelled to
surrender his weapons.

In Short: Whatever beauty and effectiveness are found in my writings, they are
only flashes of the Qur'anic comparisons. My share is only my intense need and my
seeking, and my extreme impotence and my beseeching. The ill is mine, and the cure,
the Qur' an' s.

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The Conclusion
of the Seventh Matter

[This is to banish any doubts that have arisen or may arise concerning
the signs from the Unseen apparent in the form of the above eight
divine favours, and describes a further divine favour and its mighty
mystery]

This conclusion consists of four points.

FIRST POINT

We claimed in the Seventh Matter of the Twenty- Eighth Letter that we saw a sign
from the Unseen, called the Eighth Favour, which we perceived in the seven or eight
universal, immaterial divine favours, and a manifestation of that sign in the
embroideries known as the coincidences (tevdfukat). And we claim that those seven or
eight universal divine favours are so powerful and certain that each on its own proves
those signs from the Unseen. If, to suppose the impossible, some appear weak, or are
denied even, it will not damage the certainty of that sign from the Unseen. A person
who cannot deny the divine favours, cannot deny the signs. But because people differ
in respect of their level, and because the most numerous level, the mass of people,
rely mostly on what they see, since the coincidences are not the most powerful but the
most apparent of the eight divine favours - certainly the others are more powerful but
since this is more general - I have been compelled to expound a truth by way of
comparing them, with the intention of dispelling those doubts. It is like this:

We said concerning the apparent divine favour that so many coincidences
appeared in the word "Qur'an" and the phrase "God's Noble Messenger, Upon whom
be blessings and peace" in the treatise we had written that no doubt remained that they
had been ordered intentionally and given mutually corresponding positions. Our
evidence that the will and intention is not ours is that we became aware of them only
three or four years later. In which case, as a work of divine favour, the will and
intention pertain to the Unseen. This singular situation was bestowed solely to
corroborate the miraculousness of the Qur'an and of Muhammad (UWBP), and in the
form of the coincidences involving those two words. In addition to the blessedness of
these two words being a ratifying stamp of the Qur'an's miracu

437

lousness and the miracles of Muhammad (UWBP), the great majority of similar
phrases manifest coincidences, but they appear only on a single page, while the two
above phrases appear throughout the two treatises and in most of the others. We have
said repeatedly that essentially coincidences may be found in other books, but not to
this extraordinary extent, which demonstrates an elevated will and intention. Now,
although it is not possible to refute what we claim, there are one or two ways that it
might appear to be thus if glanced at superficially.

One is that they may say: "You had these coincidences in mind and brought them
about in this way. It would be easy to do that intentionally." In reply we say this: in
any matter two truthful witnesses are sufficient, but in this case a hundred truthful
witnesses may be found who will testify that our will and intention played no part and
that we became aware of it only three or four years later. I want to say in this
connection that this wonder of the Qur'an proceeding from its miraculousness is not
similar in kind to its miraculous eloquence, or equal in degree. For that is beyond
human power. But this wonder of its miraculousness could not occur through human
power either; human power could not intervene in such a matter. If it did, it would be
artificial and spoil it. '

Third Point

In connection with particular signs and general signs, we shall indicate a fine
point of dominicality and mercifulness:

One of my brothers said something very good; I shall make it the subject here.
What he said was this: one day I showed him a clear example of a coincidence and he
said: "That's good! In fact all truths and realities are good, but the coincidences in the
Words and its success are even better." "Yes," I said, "everything is in reality good, or
in itself good, or good in respect of its results. And this goodness looks to general
dominicality, all-embracing mercy, and universal manifestation. Like you said, the
sign from the Unseen in this success is even better. This is because it takes the form
of a particular mercy and particular dominicality and particular manifestation." We
shall make this easier to understand with a comparison. It is like this:

1 In one copy, on a page of the Eighteenth Sign of the Nineteenth Letter, the word "Qur'an" coincided
nine times in this way. We drew a line through these and the word "Muhammad" appeared. Then on
the opposite the page, the word "Qur'an" appeared eight times, and from all these the name of "Allah"
emerged. Many wondrous things like these have been observed in the coincidences. We saw them with
our own eyes. Signed: Bekir, Tevflk, Suleyman, Galib, Said

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Through his universal sovereignty and law, a king may encompass all the
members of his nation with his royal mercy Each receives the king's favour and is
subject to his rule directly. The members all have numerous particular connections
within the universality.

The second aspect are the king's particular bounties and particular orders: above
the law, he bestows favours on persons and gives his orders.

Like this comparison, everything receives a share of the general dominicality and
all-encompassing mercy of the Necessarily Existent One, the All-Wise and
Compassionate Creator. He has disposal over everything through His power, will, and
all-embracing knowledge; He intervenes in the most insignificant matters of all
things; His dominicality embraces them. Everything is in need of Him in every
respect. All of their works are performed and ordered through His knowledge and
wisdom. Neither nature has the ability to hide within the sphere of disposal of His
dominicality, or have any effect or intervene, nor can chance interfere in the works of
His wisdom and its fine balance. We have refuted chance and nature in twenty places
in the Risale-i Nur with decisive proofs, executing them with the sword of the Qur'an;
we have demonstrated their interference to be impossible. But the people of neglect
have called "chance," matters they do not know the wisdom of and reason for in the
sphere of apparent causes within universal dominicality. They have been unable to see
some of the laws of the divine acts concealed beneath the veil of nature, the wisdom
and purposes of which they do not comprehend, and they have recourse to nature.

The second is His particular dominicality and particular favours and merciful
succour, through which the names of Merciful and Compassionate come to the aid of
individuals unable to bear the constraints of the general laws; they assist them in
particular fashion and save them from those crushing constraints. Therefore, all living
beings and especially man may seek help from Him at all times, and receive succour.

Thus, the favours in this particular dominicality cannot be hidden under chance
by the people of neglect, nor be ascribed to nature.

It is in consequence of this that we have considered and believed the signs from
the Unseen in The Miraculousness of the Qur'an and The Miracles of Muhammad to
be particular signs, certain that they are a particular succour and particular divine
favour showing themselves against the obdurate deniers. So we have proclaimed them
purely for God's sake. If we were mistaken in doing so, may God forgive us. Amen.

O our Sustainer, do not take us to task if we forget or do wrong. (2:286)

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The Eighth Matter,
which is the Eighth Part

[This matter consists of six questions comprising eight points.

FIRST POINT

We have perceived many signs from the Unseen suggesting that we are being
employed in the service of the Qur' an by a hand of favour, and some of these we have
pointed out. Now, a new sign is this: most of the Words contain coincidences from the
Unseen (tevafukat-i gaybiye). 1 In short, it indicates that a sort of manifestation of
miraculousness is embodied in the words "God's Most Noble Messenger," the phrase,
"Upon whom be blessings and peace," and in the blessed word "Qur' an." However
hidden and slight signs from the Unseen are, they indicate the acceptability of our
service and Tightness of the matters, and so in my opinion hold great importance and
power. Furthermore, they break my pride and have demonstrated to me categorically
that I am merely an interpreter. They leave nothing to cause me pride; they only show
up things that prompt thanks. Since they pertain to the Qur' an and pass to the account
of its miraculousness; and since our wills definitely do not interfere; and since they
encourage those who are lazy in their service, and afford the conviction that the
treatises are true; and since they are a form of divine bestowal to us, and to make
them known is to make known a divine bounty, and to do so reduces to silence those
obdurate people who understand only what they see; it is surely necessary to make
them known; God willing, it causes no harm.

One of the signs from the Unseen is this: out of His perfect mercy and
munificence, in order to encourage us in our service of the Qur' an and faith and put
our hearts at rest, Almighty God bestowed a subtle dominical favour on us and a
divine gift in all the treatises we have written, and particularly in The Miracles of
Muhammad, The Miraculousness of the

1 Coincidences indicate mutual correspondence, and mutual correspondence indicates agreement, and
agreement is a sign of unity, and unity shows unification, that is, the affirmation of divine unity
(tawhid), which is the greatest of the Qur' an' s four aims.

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Qur'an, and Thirty-Three Windows, in the form of a sign from the Unseen indicating
the acceptability of our service and that what we have written is the truth. That is, He
causes the same words on a page to face one another. In this is a sign from the Unseen
that they are ordered by an unseen will which says: "Don't rely on your own wills and
comprehension. Without your knowing or being aware of it, wondrous embroideries
and arrangements are being made." The words "God's Most Noble Messenger" and
"Upon whom be blessings and peace" in The Miracles of Muhammad in particular are
like mirrors showing clearly the signs of those coincidences from the Unseen. In a
copy written by a new, inexperienced scribe, on all the pages other than five, more
than two hundred "Upon whom be blessings and peace"s face one another in lines.

These coincidences are not the work of chance, which might unconsciously give
rise to one or two out of ten, neither do they spring from the thought of an unfortunate
like myself, who is unskilled in art, and, concentrating only on the meaning, dictates
thirty to forty pages at great speed in one hour, not writing himself but getting others
to write.

I became aware of them only after six years through the guidance of the Qur' an
and the coinciding of nine instances of the pronoun "inna" in the Qur'anic
commentary, Isharat al-I'jaz (Signs of Miraculousness). The copyists were astounded
when they heard about them from me. The words "God's Noble Messenger" and
"Upon whom be blessings and peace" in the Nineteenth Letter were like a small
mirror reflecting one of Muhammad's (UWBP) miracles. Similarly, the word
"Qur'an" in the Twenty-Fifth Word, The Miraculousness of the Qur'an, and in the
Eighteenth Sign of the Nineteenth Letter, manifested a sort of miracle: of the forty
classes of humanity, a kind of the Qur' an' s miraculousness was manifested before the
class of people who rely on what they see with their eyes, in all the treatises in the
form of coincidences from the Unseen, which is only one sort of the forty sorts of that
kind of miraculousness. And of its forty types, it was manifested through the word
"Qur'an." It was as follows:

The word "Qur'an" was repeated a hundred times in the Twenty- Fifth Word and
in the Eighteenth Sign of the Nineteenth Letter; it did not conform only rarely, once
or twice; all the rest look to each other. For example, on page forty-three in the
Second Ray, the word "Qur'an" appears seven times and they all face each other. On
page fifty- six, eight instances of it face each other; only the ninth is an exception. The
five instances of the word on page sixty-nine, now open before me, face each other.
And so on. On all the pages the instances of the word "Qur'an" correspond. Out of
five or six only rarely does one remain outside the pattern.

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As for other words, on page thirty-three - now open in front of me - the word
"am" (or) is repeated fifteen times and fourteen of them face each other. And on this
page there are nine instances of the word "iman" (faith or belief); they face each
other. Only, because the scribe left a large space, one of them has deviated a little. On
the page now open before me, the word "mahbub" (beloved) is repeated twice; one on
the third line and one on the fifteenth; they look to each other in perfectly balanced
fashion. Between them, four instances of the word "ask" (love) have been arranged
looking to each other. Other coincidences from the Unseen may be compared to these.
Whoever the scribe, and whatever form their lines and pages take, these coincidences
are bound to occur to such an extent that it cannot be doubted that they are neither the
work of chance nor the creation of the author and scribes. However, they are more
striking when written by some of them. This means there is a handwriting that fits
these treatises. Some of the scribes approach it. It is strange, it appears most not with
the most skilful of them but with the most inexperienced. It is understood from this
that the art, grace, and virtues of the Words, which are a sort of commentary on the
Qur'an, are not anybody's; the garments of the harmonious, well-ordered style, which
fit the blessed stature of the orderly, beautiful Qur'anic truths, are not measured and
cut out voluntarily and consciousnessly by anyone. It is that their stature requires
them to be thus; it is an unseen hand that measures them and cuts them according to
the stature, and clothes it in them. As for myself (lit. us), I am an interpreter among
them, a servant.

FOURTH POINT

In your first question, you ask five or six questions: "What will the Great
Gathering and Last Judgement be like? Will everyone be naked? How shall we find
our friends there, and how shall we find God's Noble Messenger (Upon whom be
blessings and peace) in order to avail ourselves of his intercession? How will
innumerable people meet with a single person? What will the garments of the people
of Paradise and those of Hell be like? And who will show us the way?"

The Answer: The answers to these questions are given most clearly and
explicitly in the books of Hadith. Here we shall mention only one or two points
related to our way and method. As follows:

Firstly: It is explained in a letter 2 that the field of the resurrection is within the
earth' s annual orbit. Just as it now sends its immaterial produce

2 See, The First Letter, page

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to the tablets of that field, so with its annual rotation it defines a circle, and through
the produce of that existent circle is a source for the formation of the field of the
resurrection. The Lesser Hell at the centre of this dominical ship known as the earth
will be emptied into the Greater Hell, so too its inhabitants will be emptied into the
field of the resurrection.

Secondly: The occurrence of the resurrection, as well as the existence of the field
where it will take place, have been proved decisively chiefly in the Tenth and
Twenty-Ninth Words, and in others of the Words.

Thirdly: As for meeting with people, it is proved conclusively in the Sixteenth,
Thirty-First, and Thirty-Second Words that through the mystery of luminosity a
person may be present in thousands of places at the same instant, and may meet with
millions of people.

Fourthly: It is required by the name of All-Wise that at the Great Gathering and
resurrection of the dead, having been stripped of artificial clothes, Almighty God will
clothe men in natural garments, just as He now clothes beings with spirits, other than
man, in natural garments. In this world, the wisdom in artificial clothes is not
restricted to protection against heat and cold, adornment, and covering the private
parts; another important instance of wisdom is their resembling an index or list
indicating man's power of disposal over the other species of beings, and his
relationship with them, and commandership over them. He might otherwise have been
clothed in cheap and easy natural dress. For if it had not been for this wisdom, man
would have draped himself in various rags, becoming the laughing-stock of conscious
animals and a buffoon in their eyes; he would have make them laugh. At the
resurrection of the dead this relation will not be present, nor will the instance of
wisdom, so neither should the list be present.

Fifthly: When it comes to having someone to show the way, for those like
yourself who have entered under the light of the Qur' an, it will be the Qur' an. Look at
the start of the Suras which begin Alif. Lam. Mint., and Alif. Lam. Ra., and Ha. Mim.:
you will see and understand how acceptable an intercessor is the Qur' an, how true a
guide, how sacred a light!

Sixthly: As for the garments of the people of Paradise and the people of Hell, the
principle in the Twenty-Eighth Word explaining why the houris wear seventy dresses
is applicable here too. It is as follows:

A person of Paradise will of course want to benefit continuously from all the
varieties of beings there. The good things of Paradise will vary greatly. He will all the
time communicate with all the varieties of its beings. In which case, he will clothe
himself and his houris in samples, in small amount, of the good things of Paradise,
and they will each become like small Paradises.

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For example, a person collects together in his garden samples of the flower
species dispersed throughout the country, making it a miniature specimen of it; and a
shopkeeper collects samples of all his wares in a list; and a man makes for himself a
garment and everything necessary for his house from samples of all the species of
creatures in the world, which he governs, has disposal over, and with which he is
connected.

Similarly, a person whose abode is Paradise - especially if he used all his senses
and non-physical faculties in worship and has gained the right to experience the
pleasures of Paradise - will himself and his houris be clothed by divine mercy in a
sort of garment that will show every one of all the varieties of the wonders of
Paradise, so as to gratify all his senses, please all his members, and delight all his
subtle faculties.

Evidence that those numerous garments will not all be of the same kind or sort is
the Hadith: "The houris will be dressed in seventy garments, yet the marrow in their
leg bones will still be visible." 3 That is to say, from the top garment to the innermost
one, there will be degrees gratifying and delighting all the senses and members with
different subtle wonders in different ways.

As for the people of Hell, since they committed sins in this world with their eyes,
their ears, their hearts, their hands, and their minds, and so on, it does not seem
contrary to wisdom and justice that in Hell they will be made to wear a garment made
up of various pieces that will be a small Hell, and will cause them torment and pain in
accordance with their sins.

FIFTH POINT

You ask if in that period between prophets the forefathers of the God's Noble
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) belonged to a religion and were
religious.

The Answer: There are narrations stating that they were religious, adhering
to the vestiges of the religion of Abraham (Upon whom be peace), 4 which, under the
veils of heedlessness and spiritual darkness, persisted in certain special people.
Certainly, the persons who formed the luminous chain stretching from Abraham
(Upon whom be peace) and concluding in the Most Noble Messsenger (Upon whom
be blessings and peace) were not indifferent towards the light of the true religion and
were not defeated by the darkness of unbelief. But in accordance with the verse,

3 Bukhari, Bad' al-Khalq, 8; Tirmidhi, Qiyama, 60; Janna, 5; Darimi, Riqaq, 108; Musnad, ii, 345; iii,
16.

4 Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-'Alamin, 414.

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Nor would We visit with Our wrath until We had sent a prophet [to give
warning], (17:15)

people who live at a time between prophets will be saved. It has been stated
unanimously that they will not be punished for their mistakes in secondary matters.
According to Imam Shafi'i and Imam Ash'ari, even if they are deniers and do not
believe in the fundamentals of belief, they will still be saved. For accountability to
God is established with the sending of prophets, and when prophets are sent people
become accountable by knowing about their mission. Since heedlessness and the
passage of time had obscured the religions of the former prophets, they could not
provide the proof for the people of that time. If the people obeyed the former religion,
they will receive reward; if they did not, they will not be punished. For since it was
hidden, it could not be a proof.

SIXTH POINT

You ask: "Were there any prophets among the forefathers of God's Noble
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace)?"

The Answer: There is no certain narration that there were any after Isma'il
(Upon whom be peace). Only two prophets appeared, called Khalid b. Sinan 5 and
Hanzala, 6 who were not his ancestors. But one of his forefathers, Ka'b b. Lu'ayy,
composed the following famous and explicit poem, as though quoting scripture: "The
Prophet Muhammad will suddenly appear * Giving tidings most true," 7 which
resembles prophetic and miraculous utterance. Relying on both evidence and
illumination, Imam-i Rabbani said: "Numerous prophets appeared in India, but some
of them had no followers or only a few people, so they did not become well-known or
were not called prophets." 8

According to this principle of the Imam, it is possible there were prophets of this
kind among the Prophet's (UWBP) forefathers.

SEVENTH POINT

You ask: "Which of the narrations mentioning the faith of the Messenger's (Upon
whom be blessings and peace) parents, and that of his grandfather 'Abd al-Muttalib, is
the most authentic and sound?"

The Answer: For ten years the New Said has had no book with him

5 Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqat al-Kubra, i, 296; Ibn Hajar, al-Isaba, i, 466; Ibn Athir, Asd al-Ghaba, ii, 99.

6 Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya, i, 212-3; Zirikli, al-'Alam, ii, 286.

7 Abu Nu'aym, Dala'il al-Nubuwwa, i, 90; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya, ii, 227.

8 Imam Rabbani, al-Maktubat, i, 239 (No: 259).

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other than the Qur'an, which he says is sufficient for him. I do not have the time to
study all the books of Hadith about secondary matters such as that, and write which is
the soundest and most authentic. I will only say this much, that the Noble
Messenger's (Upon whom be blessings and peace) parents were believers and will be
saved and go to Paradise. 9 Surely Almighty God would not wound His Noble
Beloved's blessed heart with its filial tenderness.

If it is asked: "Seeing that it is thus, why weren't they able to believe in
God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace)? Why didn't they live to see
his mission?"

The Answer: Out of His munificence, in order to gratify the Messenger's
(Upon whom be blessings and peace) filial sentiments, Almighty God did not put his
parents under any obligation to him. His mercy required that to make them happy and
to please His Noble Beloved, He did not take them from the rank of parenthood and
put them in that of spiritual offspring; He did not place his parents and grandfather
among his outward community. However, He bestowed on them the merit, virtues,
and happiness of his community. If an exalted field marshal's father, who has the rank
of captain, entered his son's presence, he would be overwhelmed by two opposing
emotions. So, compassionately, the king does not post the father to the retinue of his
elevated lieutenant, the field marshal.

EIGHTH POINT

You ask: "What is the most authentic narration concerning the faith of his uncle,
Abu Talib?"

The Answer: The Shi'a agree that he believed, while most of the Sunnis do
not agree. But what occurs to my heart is this: Abu Talib loved most earnestly, not the
Most Noble Messenger's (Upon whom be blessings and peace) messengership, but
his person and his self. That most earnest personal love and tenderness surely will not
go for nothing. Yes, Abu Talib loved Almighty God's Noble Beloved sincerely and
protected and supported him; it was because of feelings like shame and tribal
solidarity that he did not believe in him in acceptable fashion, not out of denial and
obduracy. If due to this he goes to Hell, God Almighty may create a sort of particular
Paradise for him, in reward for his good actions. As He sometimes creates the spring
during winter, and for people in prison by means of sleep

9 Nabhani, Hujjat Allah 'ala'l-'Alamin, 412-4; Suyuti, al-Rasa'il al-Tis'a (al-Ta' zim wa' 1-Minna f
Anna Abaway Rasul Allah (SAW) fi'1-Janna) ed. 'Izzudden al-Sa'idi (Beirut: 1988), 133-89.

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transforms the prison into a palace, so too He may turn a particular Hell into a sort of
particular Paradise...

The knowledge of it is with God alone. * None knows the Unseen save God.
Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught
us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise .(2:32)

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The Twenty-Ninth Letter

[The Twenty-Ninth Letter consists of nine sections. This, the First
Section, contains nine points.]

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise !(17:44)

My Dear, Loyal Brother and True Friend in the Service of the Qur'an!

This time in your letter you want an answer to an important question which
neither my time nor my state of mind permit me to answer.

My brother! Praise be to God, this year the numbers of those writing out the
treatises have grown considerably. The copies come to me for the second correction
and I am busy doing them speedily from morning to evening. Other important jobs
remain undone but I consider this duty to be far more important. The heart
predominates over the reason in the months of Sha'ban and Ramadan in particular,
and the spirit becomes animated. So I shall postpone this important matter to another
time and write to you about it gradually whenever my heart is inspired by Almighty
God's mercy. For now I shall explain three points. l

FIRST POINT

The idea expressed as: "The All- Wise Qur'an's mysteries are not known; the
Qur'anic commentators have not understood its reality" has two aspects, and there are
two groups of people who say it:

The First are the people of truth and the exacting scholars. They say: "The
Qur' an is an unending, inexhaustible treasury. Every era both submits to and accepts
its established, incontestible matters, and receives its share of its hidden truths as a
sort of supplement; it cannot trespass on the shares

1 The nine points were finally completed.

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of other ages which are concealed." Yes, that is to say, as time passes the All- Wise
Qur'an's truths are increasingly disclosed. But not, God forbid! so as to cause doubt
concerning the self-evident Qur'anic truths that previous generations have expounded.
For belief in them is obligatory; they are established, definite, fundamental, and basic.
The verse, "A perspicuous Arabic Qur'an"(16:103) states that its meaning is clear.
From beginning to end, the divine address revolves around those meanings,
corroborating them and making them clear. Not to accept those authoritative
meanings suggests, God forbid!, denying Almighty God and insulting the
Messenger's (UWBP) understanding. That is to say, those authoritative meanings
have been taken successively from the source of Messengership. Ibn Jarir al-Tabari
wrote his great commentary relating all the meanings of the Qur' an through chains of
authentic transmission to the source of Messengership.

The Second Group are either foolish friends who cause harm and make matters
worse, or they are diabolically cunning enemies who want to oppose the rulings of
Islam and truths of belief. They want to find a way into the fortified Suras of the All-
Wise Qur' an, which, in your words, are each like steel strongholds. People like that
spread about ideas like the above in order, God forbid!, to excite doubts about the
truths of belief and the Qur' an.

SECOND POINT

Almighty God swears by many things in the Qur' an. The Qur'anic oaths contain
numerous mysteries and significant points. For example, the oath in "By the Sun and
its [glorious] splendour"(91:l) forms the basis of the splendid comparison in the
Eleventh Word; it depicts the universe as a palace and a city. The oath of "Ya. Sin. *
By the Qur' an full of wisdom"(36:l-2) calls attention to the sacredness of the
Qur'an's miraculousness, and indicates that it is so worthy of veneration it can be
sworn by. The oaths in "By the star when its goes down,"(53:l) and "Furthermore I
call to witness the setting of the stars, * And that is indeed a mighty adjuration if you
but knew"(56:75-6) indicate that falling stars are a sign that jinns and devils have
been prevented from receiving news from the Unseen so that they cannot cause
doubts about revelation. They also point to the vast power and perfect wisdom in the
awesomely vast stars being set in their places in perfect order and in the planets being
made to revolve in wondrous manner. With the oaths, "By the [winds] that scatter and
broadcast;"(51:l) * "By the [winds] sent forth,"(7 1 : 1 ) it attracts attention to the angels
appointed to the winds, in order to call to mind the significant instances of wisdom in
the

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disposal of the air and its movement in waves. For the elements, which are supposed
to be governed by chance, perform important duties for most subtle purposes; and so
on. All the oaths and their positions contain different points and different purposes.
For now, since the time is inconvenient, I shall indicate briefly only one fine point out
of many in the oath, "By the fig and the olive,"(95:l) as follows:

By swearing by the fig and the olive, Almighty God calls to mind the immensity
of His power and the perfection of His mercy and His extensive bounties, in order to
redirect those people who are heading for the lowest of the low, showing that they
may progress spiritually, through thanks, reflection, belief, and good works as far as
the highest of the high. The reason for specifying the fig and the olive is that as fruits
they are most blessed and beneficial, and their creation comprises many notable
things and bounties. For the olive is utilized for illumination and food, and is a basic
commodity in social and commercial life. The fig is the same; it displays in its
creation a miracle of power by encapsulating in its miniscule seed all the members of
the huge fig-tree, and is a divine bounty both in its being a food, and its uses, and
contrary to other fruits its continuity, and many other advantages. It calls all this to
mind with the oath and instructs man to draw lessons from them so as to believe and
perform good works, and not to fall to the lowest of the low.

THIRD POINT

The disjointed letters at the start of some Suras are a divine cipher. Almighty God
makes allusion to matters of the Unseen with them for His special servant. The key to
the cipher is with that servant, and with his heirs. The All- Wise Qur'an addresses all
eras and all the groups of mankind. It contains numerous different aspects and
meanings that comprise the share of every class in every age. The purest share was
that of the righteous first generations of Islam, and they expounded it. The people of
sainthood and the verifiers of reality have found in their writings numerous allusions
to the matters of the Unseen pertaining to spiritual journeying. We have discussed
them to a small extent from the point of view of the miraculousness of the Qur'an's
eloquence in the commentary called Isharat al-Fjaz (Signs of Miraculousness), at the
start of Sura al-Baqara; it may be referred to.

FOURTH POINT

The Twenty-Fifth Word has proved that a true translation of the All- Wise Qur' an
is not possible. Also, the elevated style of its miraculousness

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cannot be translated. It would be extremely difficult to express and make understood
the pleasure and reality arising from the elevated style in the miraculousness of its
meanings (mdnevi i'caz). However, we shall allude to one or two aspects of it in order
to show the way, as follows:

And among His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the
variations in your languages and your colours .(30:22) * And the heavens
will be rolled up in His right hand.(39:67) * He creates you in the wombs of
your mothers in stages, one after another, in three veils of darkness. (39:6) *
Who created the heavens and the earth in six days.(7 -54, etc.) * Comes in
between a man and his heart.(8:24) * From whom is not hidden the least
little atom.(34:3) * He merges night into day, and He merges day into night;
and He has full knowledge of the secrets of [all] hearts. (57 :6)

Through verses like these, with a wondrously elevated style and miraculous
comprehensiveness, the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition depicts the reality of
creativity for the imagination, indicating the following: "With whichever hammer the
universe's builder, who is the Maker of the world, fastened the sun and moon in their
places, with the same hammer and at the same instant He fixes atoms in their places,
for example in the pupils of living creatures' eyes. And with whichever measure,
whichever immaterial instrument, He arranged the heavens and unfolded them, at the
same instant and with the same arrangement, He opens up the eye removing its veils;
He makes it, orders it, and situates it. And with whichever immaterial hammer of His
power, the All-Glorious Maker fastens the stars to the skies, with that same hammer
He fastens man's innumerable distinguishing marks on his countenance and his
external and inner senses in their places."

That is to say, in order to show His works to both the eye and the ear while He is
at work, the All-Glorious Maker strikes a hammer on an atom with the verses of the
Qur'an, and with another word of the same verse strikes the hammer on the sun; with
an elevated style as though striking it right in the centre, He demonstrates His unity
within His oneness, and His infinite glory within His infinite beauty, and His infinite
tremendousness within His infinite concealedness, and His infinite breadth within His
infinite precision, and His infinite majesty within His infinite mercy, and His infinite
distance within His infinite proximity. The Qur'an expresses the ultimate degree of
the combining of opposites, which is considered to be impossible, in a way that is
necessary; it proves this and demonstrates it. Thus, it is this sort of exposition and
style that causes the most wondrous literary genius to prostrate before its eloquence.

451

And for example, through the verse,

And among His signs is this, that heaven and earth stand by His command;
then when He calls you, by a single call, from the earth, behold, you
[straight away] come forth, (30:25)

Almighty God shows the magnificence of the sovereignty of His dominicality in the
following elevated manner:

At a single command or a signal like a bugle, the beings in the heavens and earth,
which are like two obedient barracks or two orderly army headquarters, will spring up
with alacrity and perfect obedience from their sleep in the veils of transience and non-
existence. Declaring: "At your service!", they will assemble on the field of the
resurrection and last judgement.

With what miraculous and elevated style it describes the resurrection of the dead
and Great Gathering! It points to the following convincing proof contained in its
assertion: observedly, seeds concealed as though dead in the darkness of the earth and
drops of water hidden and dispersed, non-existent, in the atmosphere are raised to life
swiftly and with perfect order every spring. They emerge onto the field of trial and
examination, perpetual examples of resurrection. At the supreme resurrection, beings
will emerge with same ease. Since you observe the one here, you cannot deny the
other. And so on. You can compare the degree of eloquence in other verses with this
one. Would it be possible to do a true translation of this sort of verse? Surely it would
not! At best it would be an abbreviated meaning, or an interpretation, with five or six
lines for each phrase.

FIFTH POINT

For example, "All praise be to God" (al-hamdulillah) is a Qur'anic phrase. Its
briefest meaning, required by the rules of grammar and rhetoric, is this: "Each
individual instance of all the sorts of praise that has been offered by whatever to
whatever since pre-eternity and will be offered to post-eternity is particular to and due
to the Necessarily Existent One alone, who is named Allah." It is as follows: "Each
individual instance of all the sorts of praise" is the consequence of the definite article
"a/" in "al-hamd." As for the qualification of "that has been offered by whatever,"
since "praise" (hamd) is the verbal noun and the active participle has been omitted, it
expresses generality in that sense. By omitting the passive participle it again expresses
universality and generality, and therefore expresses the qualification "to whatever."
As for the qualification of "from pre-eternity to post-eternity," it expresses this
meaning because the rule of transposing from a verbal clause to a noun clause
indicates continuity. The preposi

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tional "lam" in "lillah" [to God], expresses the meaning of sole possession and
worthiness. As for the qualification of "the Necessarily Existent One, who is named
Allah," since necessary existence is the necessary requisite of the Godhead and a term
signifying the All-Glorious Essence; comprising all the divine names and attributes
and being the greatest name, the name of "Allah" necessarily indicates both the
necessary existence and the title of "Necessarily Existent One."

If the shortest apparent meaning of the phrase "All praise be to God" on which all
the scholars of Arabic are agreed is thus, how could it be translated into another
language with the same miraculousness and power?

Furthermore, among all the languages of the world, there is only one that can
compare with Arabic in being the language of grammar, and that can never achieve
the comprehensiveness of Arabic. Is it possible for translations into other composite
and inflectional languages by people whose understanding is partial, comprehension
short, ideas confused, and hearts dark, to take the place of the sacred words of the
Qur'an, which have emerged in miraculous fashion in that comprehensive and
wondrous grammatical language through an all-encompassing knowledge that knows
all its aspects at once and wills them. I can even say, and perhaps prove, that all the
Qur'an's words are like treasuries of truths, with sometimes a single letter teaching a
page of truths.

SIXTH POINT

I shall recount a luminous experience and true vision I had for the purpose of
illucidating the above. It was as follows:

One time, I was pondering over the use of the first person plural in the verse
"You alone do we worship and from You alone do we seek help,"(l:4) and my heart
was seeking the reason for the first person singular being transposed into the first
person plural of "we worship"(na'budu). Suddenly from that "Nun" the mystery and
virtues of performing the prayers in congregation were unfolded to me. I saw that my
participating in the congregation in Bayezid Mosque, where I was performing the
prayer, made each member of the congregation a sort of intercessor for me who
testified to and affirmed each of the statements I pronounced while reciting the
prayers. In the midst of the great, multiple worship of the congregation, I felt the
courage to offer my deficient worship to the divine court. Then a further veil was
lifted. That is, all the mosques of Istanbul were added. The city became like Beyazid
Mosque. Suddenly I felt as though I were receiving their prayers and affirmation.
Then within that, I saw myself in the mosque of the face of the earth, in the circular
rows around the Ka'ba. I

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declared: "All praise be to God, the Sustainer of All the Worlds! I have intercessors to
this great number; they are all reciting exactly the same words as I am saying,
confirming me." As this veil was raised by my imagination, the Noble Ka'ba
appeared to be the mihrab. Seizing the opportunity, I called on the ranks of the
congregation to testify and entrusted to the Black Stone the interpreter of faith, that is,
"I testify that there is no god but God, and I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger
of God." While pronouncing this, a further situation was laid open before me: I saw
that the congregation of which I was a part was divided into three circles:

The First Circle was the vast congregation of believers and those who affirm
divine unity on the face of the earth.

The Second Circle: I looked and saw that I was part of a congregation consisting
of all beings, all of which, performing prayers and glorification, were occupied with
the benedictions and glorification particular to its group and species. Their worship
consists of the activities we observe, called "the functions of things." Declaring: "God
is Most Great!" before this, I bowed my head in wonderment, and looked at myself:

Within a Third Circle I saw an astonishing microcosm which was apparently
and qualitatively small, but in reality, number, and duties, great. This, from the
particles of my being to my external senses was a congregation in which every group
was preoccupied with duties of worship and thanks. In this circle, the dominical inner
faculty in my heart was declaring: "You alone do we worship and from You alone do
we seek help" in the name of the congregation. Just as in the two former
congregations my tongue had said it, having formed the intention to say it in their
names.

In Short: The "Nun" of "na'budu" indicates these three congregations. While
pondering over this, the collective personality of God's Noble Messenger (Upon
whom be blessings and peace), the Interpreter and Herald of the All- Wise Qur'an,
was suddenly embodied in all its majesty in his immaterial pulpit in Medina. Like
everyone, I as though heard his address of "O you people! Worship your
Sustainer,"(2:21) and everyone in those three congregations responded like me,
saying, "You alone do we worship." In accordance with the rule, "If something is
established, it is established together with the things that necessitate it," the following
truth was imparted to my mind:

Taking mankind as His addressee, the Sustainer of All the Worlds speaks with all
beings, and His Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) conveys that lofty
address to mankind, indeed, to all beings with spirits and consciousness. All the past
and the future have become like the present; the address is being delivered to
mankind, all of which is in a

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single gathering, in the form of a congregation the rows of which all differ. I then saw
that each Qur'anic verse possesses an elevated power, eloquence, and beauty which it
had received from the grandeur and compass of its station, its extremely numerous,
various, and significant addressees, from the Pre-Eternal Speaker, the One of infinite
glory and grandeur, and from its exalted Interpreter, who is at the rank of God's
beloved; I saw each verse bathed in a brilliant, truly brilliant, light of miraculousness.
Then, not the whole Qur'an, or a Sura, or a verse, but all its words seemed to be
miracles. "All praise be to God for the light of belief and the Qur'an," I declared. I
emerged from my imagining, which was pure reality, the same as I had entered the
"Nun" of "na'budu," and I understood that not only the Qur'an's verses and words,
but some of its letters, like the "Nun" of "na'budu," are luminous keys to important
truths.

After my heart and imagination had emerged from the "Nun" of "na'budu," my
mind came forward and said: I want my share too. I cannot fly like you; my feet are
evidences and proofs. The way leading to the Creator, the Worshipped One and One
from whom help is sought, has to be pointed out in the same "na'budu" and "nasta'in"
("You alone do we worship and from You alone do we seek help"), so that I can
accompany you. It then occurred to my heart to say the following to my bewildered
mind:

Consider all the beings in the universe; whether living or inanimate, in perfect
order and obedience they all have their worship which is in the form of duties.
Although some of them lack feelings and intelligence, they perform their duties in
conscious, orderly, and worshipful fashion. This means there is a True Object of
Worship, an Absolute Commander, who impels them to worship and employs them.

Now consider too the beings and particularly the living ones; while each has
extremely numerous and various needs, which have to be met for its continued
existence, its hands cannot reach the smallest of them; its power is insufficient. Yet
they all receive their innumerable needs regularly, from unexpected places, at the
appropriate time; this is clearly to be seen.

Thus, these boundless needs and this boundless want of beings and that
extraordinary assistance from the Unseen and merciful succour self-evidently
demonstrate that the beings have a Protector and Provider who possesses absolute
riches, is Absolutely Generous and Absolutely Powerful; it is from Him that
everything and all living beings seek help and await succour, in effect saying: "From
You alone do we seek help." So then my mind declared: "We believe in this and
assent to it!"

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SEVENTH POINT

Then, when I said:

Guide us to the Straight Path, * The path of those on whom You have
bestowed Your bounty, {\ :5-6)

I saw among the convoys of mankind that were travelling towards the past, was the
luminous, radiant caravan of the prophets, the veracious ones, the martyrs, the saints,
and the righteous. They were scattering the darkness of the future and travelling the
road to post-eternity on a straight way, a direct highway. The phrase was showing me
the way to join the caravan, indeed, it was joining me to it. Suddenly I exclaimed:
"Glory be to God! Anyone with an iota of intelligence must know what a loss it is not
to join that long, light- scattering caravan which is illuminating the future and
travelling in perfect safety. Where can one who deviates from it by creating
innovations find a light; which road can he take?" Our guide, God's Most Noble
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) decreed: "All innovations are
misguidance, and all misguidance is in Hell- fire." 2

What advantage do those wretches worthy of the epithet "corrupt religious
scholars" find in the face of this certain statement? What fatwa do they issue so that
unnecessarily and harmfully they oppose the clear matters of the marks of Islam
(sedir-i isldmiye), and deem it possible to change them? It must be that a temporary
awakening caused by a fleeting manifestation of meaning deceived those corrupt
scholars. For example, if an animal or fruit is stripped of its skin, it briefly appears to
be fresh, but quickly the delicate flesh and delicious fruit go black and rot, with their
skins now estranged, withered, thick, and extraneous. In exactly the same way, the
prophetic and divine phrases of the marks of Islam are like a living, meritorious skin.
On being stripped away, the luminosity of the meanings is temporarily naked and
somewhat visible. But like a fruit that has been peeled of its skin, the spirit of those
blessed meanings flies away leaving behind the human skin in darkened hearts and
minds. The light flies away; just the smoke lingers. However. . .

EIGHTH POINT

A principle concerning reality needs to be explained, which is related to this. It is
as follows:

Just as there are two sort of rights, personal rights and general rights, which are
held to be God's rights of a sort; so too among the matters of the

2 Muslim, Jum'a 43; Abu Da'ud, Sunna 5; Nasa'i, 'Idayn 22; Ibn Maja, Muqaddima 6-7; Darimi,
Muqaddima 16, 23; Musnadm, 310, 371; iv, 126-7.

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Shari'a, some concern individual persons and others, with regard to generality,
concern the public. These latter are called "the marks of Islam." These marks concern
everyone and everyone participates in them. To interfere in them without the consent
of the public is an infringement of the public's rights. The most minor of those marks
(one which has the status ofSunna) is equal in importance to the greatest matter. They
concern the whole world of Islam directly. Those who are trying to break the
luminous chain to which all the great figures of Islam since the Era of the Prophet till
now have been bound, and to destroy it and corrupt it, and those who assist them,
should dwell on what a ghastly error they are making. If they possess the smallest
grain of intelligence, they should tremble!

NINTH POINT

Some matters of the Shari'a, concerning worship, are not linked to rational
thinking; they are performed because they are commanded. The reason for them is the
command.

There are others, the reason for which can be understood rationally. That is, they
comprise some wisdom or benefit due to which they have been incorporated into the
Shari'a. But that is not the true reason or cause; the true reason is divine command or
prohibition.

Instances of wisdom or benefits cannot change the marks of Islam related to
worship; the aspect of them related to worship preponderates and they may not be
touched. They may not be changed, even for a thousand benefits. Similarly, it is not
right to claim that the uses of the marks of Islam are limited to their well-known
purposes. It is a false idea. Such purposes are only one out of many. For instance,
someone may say: "The wisdom in and purpose of the call to prayer is to summon
Muslims to prayer; in which case, it would be enough just to fire a rifle." However,
the foolish person does not know that the summons is only one purpose out of the
thousands. Even if the sound of a rifle shot serves the purpose, how, in the name of
mankind, or in the name of the people of the town, can it substitute the call to prayer,
which is a means of proclaiming worship before divine dominicality and heralding
divine unity, the supreme results of the creation of the universe and of mankind?

In Short: Hell is not unnecessary; there are many things which cry out "Long
live Hell!" with all their strength. Paradise is not cheap, either; it demands a high
price.

Not equal are the Companions of the Fire and the Companions of the
Garden; it is the Companions of the Garden who will achieve felicity .. . (To
the end of the verse.)(59:20)

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The Second Section,
which is the Second Treatise

On the Month of Ramadan

[Since at the end of the First Section brief mention was made of the
marks of Islam, this Second Section discusses Ramadan the Noble, the
most brilliant and splendid of the marks. It consists of nine points
which explain nine of the numerous instances of wisdom in the month
of Ramadan.]

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

It was the month of Ramadan in which the Qur'an was bestowed from on
high as a guidance unto man and a self-evident proof of that guidance, and
as the standard to discern true from false .(2:185)

First Point

The fast of Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam; it is also one of the
greatest of the marks and observances of Islam.

There are many purposes and instances of wisdom in the fast of Ramadan which
look to both God Almighty's dominicality, and man's social life, and his personal life,
and the training of his instinctual soul, and his gratitude for divine bounties. One of
the many instances of wisdom in fasting in respect of God Almighty' s dominicality is
as follows:

God Almighty creates the face of the earth in the form of a table laden with
bounties, and arranges on the table every sort of bounty as an expression of "From
whence he does not expect."(65:3) In this way He states the perfection of His
dominicality and His mercifulness and compassionateness. People are unable to
discern clearly the reality of this situation while in the sphere of causes, under the veil
of heedlessness, and they sometimes forget it. But during the month of Ramadan, the
people of faith suddenly appear as a well-disciplined army: as sunset approaches, they
display a worshipful attitude as though, having been invited to the Pre-Eternal

458

Monarch's banquet, they await the command of "Fall to and help yourselves!" They
respond to that compassionate, illustrious, and universal mercy with comprehensive,
exalted, and orderly worship. Do those people who fail to participate in such elevated
worship and noble bounties deserve to be called human beings?

Second Point

One of the many instances of wisdom in the fast of the blessed month of
Ramadan with respect to thankfulness for God Almighty's bounties is as follows:

As is stated in the First Word, a price is required for the foods a tray-bearer
brings from the royal kitchen. But to look on those priceless bounties as valueless
while tipping the tray-bearer, and not to recognize the one who bestowed them is the
greatest foolishness.

God Almighty has spread innumerable sorts of bounties over the face of the earth
for mankind, in return for which He wishes thanks, as the price of those bounties. The
apparent causes and holders of the bounties resemble tray-bearers. We pay a certain
price to them and are indebted to them, and even though they do not merit it are over-
respectful and grateful to them. Whereas the True Bestower of Bounties is infinitely
more deserving of thanks than those causes which are merely the means of the
bounty. To thank Him, then, is to recognize that the bounties come directly from Him;
it is to appreciate their worth and to perceive one's own need for them.

Fasting in Ramadan, then, is the key to true, sincere, extensive, and universal
thankfulness. For at other times of the year, most people whose circumstances are not
difficult do not realize the value of many bounties since they do not experience real
hunger. If their stomachs are full and especially if they are rich, they do not
understand the degree of bounty present in a piece of dry bread. But when it is time to
break the fast, the sense of taste testifies that the dry bread is a precious divine bounty
in the eyes of a believer. During Ramadan, everyone from the monarch to the
destitute manifests a sort of gratitude through understanding the value of those
bounties.

Furthermore, since eating is prohibited during the day, they say: "Those bounties
do not belong to me. I am not free to eat them, for they belong to someone else and
are his gift. I await his command." They recognize the bounty to be bounty and so
give thanks. Thus, fasting in this way is in many respects a key to gratitude; gratitude
being man' s fundamental duty.

Third Point

One of the many instances of wisdom in fasting from the point of view of man' s
social life is as follows:

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Human beings have been created differently with regard to their livelihoods. In
consequence of this, God Almighty invites the rich to assist the poor, so that through
the hunger experienced in fasting, they can truly understand the pains and hunger
which the poor suffer. If there were no fasting, many self-indulgent rich would be
unable to perceive just how grievous are hunger and poverty and how needy of
compassion are those who suffer them.

Compassion for one's fellow men is an essential part of true thankfulness.
Whoever a person is, there will always be someone poorer than himself in some
respect. He is enjoined to be compassionate towards such a person. If he were not
himself compelled to suffer hunger, he would be unable give the person - through
compassion - the help and assistance he is obliged to offer. And even if he were able,
it would be deficient, for he would not have truly experienced hunger himself.

Fourth Point

One instance of wisdom in fasting in Ramadan with respect to training the
instinctual soul is as follows:

The instinctual soul wants to be free and independent, and considers itself to be
thus. According to the dictates of its nature, it even desires an imaginary dominicality
and to act as it pleases. It does not want to admit that it is being sustained and trained
through innumerable bounties. Especially if it possesses worldly wealth and power,
and if heedlessness also encourages it, it will devour God's bounties like a usurping,
thieving animal.

Thus, in the month of Ramadan, the instinctual soul of everyone, from the richest
to the poorest, may understand that it does not own itself but is totally owned; that it
is not free, but is a slave. It understands that if it receives no command, it may not do
the simplest and easiest thing; it cannot even stretch out its hand for water. Its
imaginary dominicality is therefore shattered; it performs its worship and begins to
offer thanks, its true duty.

Fifth Point

One of the many instances of wisdom in fasting in Ramadan from the point of
view of improving the conduct of the instinctual soul and giving up its rebellious
habits is as follows:

Due to its heedlessness the human soul forgets itself; it cannot see its utter
powerlessness, want, and deficiency and it does not wish to see them. It does not
think of just how weak it is, and how subject to transience and to disasters, nor of the
fact that it consists merely of flesh and bones, which

460

quickly decay and fall apart. Simply, it assaults the world as though it possessed a
body made of steel and imagined itself to be undying and eternal. It hurls itself on the
world with intense greed and voracity, and passionate attachment and love. It is
captivated by anything that gives it pleasure or that profits it. Moreover, it forgets its
Creator, who sustains it with perfect compassion, and does not think of the
consequences of its life and its life in the hereafter. Indeed, it wallows in dissipation
and misconduct.

However, fasting in the month of Ramadan awakens even the most heedless and
obstinate to their weakness, impotence, and want. Hunger makes them think of their
stomachs and they understand the need therein. They realize how unsound are their
weak bodies, and perceive how needy they are for kindness and compassion. So they
abandon the soul' s pharaoh-like despotism and recognizing their utter impotence and
want, perceive a desire to take refuge at the divine court. They prepare themselves to
knock at the door of mercy with the hands of thankfulness - so long as heedlessness
has not destroyed their hearts, that is.

Sixth Point

One of the many instances of wisdom in fasting in Ramadan from the point of
view of the revelation of the All- Wise Qur' an, and the month of Ramadan being the
most important time in its revelation, is as follows:

Since the All- Wise Qur' an was revealed in the month of Ramadan, to shun the
lower demands of the soul and trivialities and to resemble the angelic state by
abstaining from food and drink in order to greet that heavenly address in the best
manner, is to attain to a holy state. And to read and listen to the Qur' an as though it
were just revealed, to listen to the divine address in it as if it were being revealed that
very instant, to listen to that address as though hearing it from God's Noble
Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace), indeed, from the Angel Gabriel, or
from the Pre-Eternal Speaker Himself, is to attain to that same holy state. To act in
this way is to act as an interpreter and to cause others to listen to it and in some degree
to demonstrate the wisdom in the Qur' an' s revelation.

Indeed, it is as if the world of Islam becomes a mosque during the month of
Ramadan in every corner of which millions of those who know the whole Qur' an by
heart make the dwellers on the earth hear the heavenly address. Each Ramadan
proclaims in luminous shining manner the verse "It was the month of Ramadan in
which the Qur' an was bestowed from on high;" it proves that Ramadan is the month
of the Qur' an. Some of the members of the vast congregation listen to the reciters
with reverence, while others read it themselves.

461

Following the appetites of the base instinctual soul while in that sacred mosque,
and quitting that luminous condition through eating and drinking is truly loathsome
and makes such a person the target of the aversion and disgust of the congregation in
the mosque. People who oppose those fasting during Ramadan are to the same extent
the target of the aversion and disgust of the whole world of Islam.

S e v e nt h Point

One of the many instances of wisdom in the fast of Ramadan with respect to
man's gain and profit, who comes to this world to cultivate and trade for the hereafter,
is as follows:

The reward for actions in the month of Ramadan is a thousandfold. According to
Hadith, each word of the All- Wise Qur'an has ten merits; each is counted as ten
merits and will yield ten fruits in Paradise. While during Ramadan, each word bears
not ten fruits but a thousand, and verses like Ayat al-Kursi(2:255) thousands for each
word, and on Fridays in Ramadan it is even more. And on the Night of Power, each
word is counted as thirty thousand merits.

Indeed, the All- Wise Qur' an, each of whose words yield thirty thousand eternal
fruits, is like a luminous Tree of Tuba that gains for believers in Ramadan millions of
those eternal fruits. So, come and look at this sacred, eternal profitable trade, then
consider it and understand the infinite loss of those who do not appreciate the value of
its words.

To put it simply, the month of Ramadan is an extremely profitable display and
market for the trade of the hereafter. It is an extremely fertile piece of land for the
crops of the next world. For the growth and flourishing of actions it is like April
showers in the spring. It is a brilliant holy festival for the parade of mankind's
worship in the face of the sovereignty of divine dominicality. Since it is thus,
mankind has been charged with fasting in order not to heedlessly indulge the animal
needs of the instinctual soul like eating and drinking, nor to indulge the appetites
lustfully and in trivialities. For, by temporarily rising above animality and quitting the
calls of this world man approaches the angelic state and enters upon the trade of the
hereafter. By fasting, he approaches the state of the hereafter and that of a spirit
appearing in bodily form. It is as if man then becomes a sort of mirror reflecting the
Eternally Besought One. Indeed, the month of Ramadan comprises and gains a
permanent, eternal life in this fleeting world and brief transient life. Certainly, a single
Ramadan can produce fruits equal to that of a lifetime of eighty years. The Qur'an
stating that the Night of Power is more auspicious than a thousand months is a
decisive proof of this.

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For example, a monarch may declare certain days to be festivals during his reign,
or perhaps once a year, either on his accession to the throne or on some other days
that reflect a glittering manifestation of his sovereignty. On those occasions he
favours his subjects, not within the compass of his laws generally but with his special
bounties and favours through his unveiled presence and his wondrous activities. He
favours with his especial regard and attention those of his nation who are completely
loyal and worthy .

In the same way, the All-Glorious Monarch of eighteen thousand worlds, who is
the Sovereign of Pre-Eternity and Post-Eternity, revealed in Ramadan the illustrious
decree of the All-Wise Qur'an, which looks to the eighteen thousand worlds. It is a
requirement of wisdom, then, that Ramadan should be like special divine festival, a
dominical display, and a spiritual gathering. Since Ramadan is such festival, God has
commanded man to fast, in order to disengage him to a degree from base, animal
activities.

The most excellent fasting is to make the human senses and organs, such as the
eyes, ears, heart, and thoughts, fast together with the stomach. That is, to withdraw
them from unlawful things and from trivia, and to urge each of them to their particular
worship. For example, to ban the tongue from lying, back-biting, and obscene
language and to make it fast; and to busy it with such activities as reciting the Qur'an,
praying, glorifying God's Names, asking for God's blessings for the Prophet
Muhammad (Upon whom be blessings and peace), and seeking forgiveness for sins;
and for example, to prevent the eyes looking at members of the opposite sex outside
the stipulated degrees of kinship, and the ears from hearing harmful things, and to use
the eyes to take lessons and the ears to listen to the truth and to the Qur'an, is to make
other organs fast too. As a matter of fact, since the stomach is the largest factory,
when it has an enforced holiday from work through fasting, the other small
workshops are made to follow it easily.

Eighth Point

One of the many instances of wisdom in Ramadan from the point of view of
man's personal life is as follows:

It is a healing physical and spiritual diet of the most important kind. When man's
instinctual soul eats and drinks just as it pleases, it is both harmful for man's physical
life from the medical point of view, and when it hurls itself on everything it
encounters whether licit or illicit, it quite simply poisons his spiritual life. Further, it is
difficult for such a soul to obey the heart and the spirit; it wilfully takes the reins into
its own hands and

463

then man cannot ride it, it rather rides man. But by means of fasting in Ramadan, it
becomes accustomed to a sort of diet. It tries to discipline itself and learns to listen to
commands.

Furthermore, it will not invite illness to that miserable, weak stomach by
cramming it with food before the previous consignment has been digested. And by
abandoning even licit actions as it is commanded, it will acquire the ability to listen to
the commands of the Shari'a and the reason, and so to avoid illicit actions. It will try
not to destroy his spiritual life.

Moreover, the great majority of mankind frequently suffer from hunger. Man,
therefore, needs hunger and discipline, which train him to be patient and forbearing.
Fasting in Ramadan is patient endurance of a period of hunger that continues for
fifteen hours, or for twenty-four if the pre-dawn meal is not eaten, and it is a
discipline and training. That is to say, fasting is also a cure for impatience and lack of
endurance, which double man's afflictions.

Futhermore, the factory of the stomach has many workers, and many of the
human organs are connected to it. If the instinctual soul does not take a rest from
activity during the day for a month, it makes the factory' s workers and those organs
forget their particular duties; it busies them with itself so that they remain under its
tyranny. Also, it confuses the rest of the organs in the human body with the clangour
and steam of the factory's machinery. It continuously attracts their attention to itself,
making them temporarily forget their exalted duties. It is because of this that for
centuries those closest to God have accustomed themselves to discipline and to eating
and drinking little in order to be perfected.

Through fasting in Ramadan the factory's workers understand that they were not
created for the factory only. While the rest of the organs, instead of delighting in the
lowly amusements of the factory, take pleasure in angelic and spiritual amusements,
and fix their gazes on them. It is for this reason that in Ramadan the believers
experience enlightenment, fruitfulness, and spiritual joys which differ according to
their degrees. Their subtle faculties, such as the heart, spirit, and intellect, make great
progress and advancement in that blessed month through fasting. They laugh with
innocent joy inspite of the stomach's weeping.

Ninth Point

One of the instances of wisdom in fasting in Ramadan with regard to shattering
the instinctual soul's imaginary dominicality and making known its worship through
pointing out its impotence is as follows:

The instinctual soul does not want to recognize its Sustainer; it wants its

464

own lordship, like Pharaoh. However much torment it suffers, it retains that vein.
Hunger, however, destroys it. Hence, fasting in Ramadan strikes direct blows at the
soul's pharaoh-like front, shattering it. It demonstrates its impotence, weakness, and
want. It makes it realize that it is a slave.

Among the narrations of Hadith is the following: "God Almighty said to the
instinctual soul: 'What am I and what are you?' The soul replied: 'I am myself and
You are Yourself. ' So He punished it and cast it into Hell, then asked it again. Again
it replied: 'I am myself and You are Yourself.' However He punished it, it did not
give up its egoism. Finally He punished it with hunger; that is, He made it go hungry.
Then again He asked it: 'Who am I and who are you?' And the soul replied: 'You are
my Compassionate Sustainer and I am your impotent slave!'"

O God! Grant blessings and peace to our master Muhammad that will be
pleasing to You and fulfilment of his truth to the number of the merits of the
words of the Qur'an in the month of Ramadan, and to his Family and
Companions, and grant them peace.

Limitless in His glory is your Sustainer, the Lord of Almightiness, [exalted]
above anything that men may devise by way of definition! * And peace be
upon all His message-bearers. * And all praise is due to God alone, the
Sustainer of All the Worlds!(31 , :180-2) 1

1 APOLOGY: This Second Section was written at speed when both myself and the rough-copy scribe
were ill; it is bound therefore to contain disorder and defects. We await from our brothers that they
look on it with tolerance. They may correct it as they think fit.

465

The Third Section,
which is the Third Treatise

[I wrote this section in order to present an important intention of mine
to my brothers of the hereafter for their consideration. It concerns the
writing of a Qur'an in a way that will show one of the two hundred
sorts of the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition's miraculousness - a sort
pertaining to its patterns - with the pages specified in accordance with
the style of Hafiz Osman and taking the Mudayana Verse(2:282) as the
measure, and taking Sura al-Ikhlas as the standard for the lines. This
Third Section, which I wrote to consult them concerning this matter
and to learn their ideas, and also as a reminder to myself, consists of
nine matters.!

FIRST MATTER

It is established with proofs in the Twenty-Fifth Word, called The
Miraculousness of the Qur'an, that the varieties of the Qur'an of Mighty Stature's
miraculousness number forty. Some of these are demonstrated in detail, and some
briefly, so as to convince even the obdurate. Also, the different sorts of
miraculousness the Qur'an shows to each of forty of the classes of humanity were
explained in the Eighteenth Sign of the Nineteenth Letter, and the shares received by
ten of those groups were proved. The remaining thirty classes consist of the followers
of all the different ways of sainthood and the scholars of all the various sciences, who
demonstrated their certain, verified belief to the degrees of knowledge of certainty,
vision of certainty, and absolute certainty that the Qur'an is the true Word of God.
That is to say, each of them discerned a different aspect of its miraculousness in a
different way. Yes, just as the miraculousness a saint who seeks knowledge of God
understands will not the same as the beauty of the miraculousness a saint who is a
lover of God witnesses, so the manifestations of the beauty of its miraculousness vary
according to the different ways and paths. And the aspect of miraculousness a
profound scholar of the principles of religion sees will not be the same as that seen by
an authoritative interpreter of the secondary matters of the Shari'a sees; and so on. I
am not able to show in detail all these different aspects; my compre

466

hension cannot encompass them; my view falls short of them. For this reason only ten
classes were explained and the rest were alluded to briefly. Now, of those, two that
were inadequately described in The Miracles of Muhammad although they needed to
be elucidated, were the following:

The First Class is the uneducated mass of people, whom we call "the listening
class;" they only listen to the Qur'an, understanding its miraculousness by means of
their ears. They say: "The Qur'an, which I hear, does not resemble any other books,
so it must either be inferior to all of them, or superior. No one could say that it is
inferior, nor have they said it, nor could the Devil even say it. So it must be superior
to all of them." It was written briefly like this in the Eighteenth Sign and is further
explained in the First Topic of the Twenty-Sixth Letter, called A Dispute with the
Devil, which illustrates and proves that class's understanding of the miraculousness.

The Second Class is "the seeing class." That is to say, it is claimed in the
Eighteenth Sign that an aspect of the Qur'an's miraculousness which may be seen
with the eyes looks to the uneducated common people or to materialists whose minds
see no further than their eyes. This claim needs much explanation in order to elucidate
and prove it. It was not explained there due to an important instance of dominical
wisdom which only now we understand. Only a few very minor particulars were
pointed out. The wisdom in in this is now understood and we are certain its
postponement was preferable. In order to facilitate this class's understanding, we had
a Qur'an written that shows this observable aspect, one of the forty aspects of its
miraculousness.

[The remaining matters of this Third Section together with the Fourth
Section are about coincidences (tevdfukat). They have been included in
the Index and not repeated here. Included here are only a reminder
concerning the Fourth Section and its Third Point.]

Reminder: One hundred and sixty verses were written in explanation of the
important point concerning the word "Messenger." In addition to these verses having
a glorious quality, they form a Qur'anic supplication for those who want to memorize
or recite different verses since they prove and complete one another with regard to the
meaning and their meanings are very profound. In degree, eloquence and beauty of
the sixty-nine verses in the explanation of the sublime point concerning the word
"Qur'an" is also most wondrous and elevated. This may be recommended to our broth

467

ers as a second Qur'anic supplication. In regard to the word "Qur'an," it was present
in the seven lines of the word, which included all of them with the exception of two,
and since these latter had the meaning of qira'at, their remaining outside the pattern
strengthened the point. As for the word "Messenger," since the Suras most connected
with the word are Sura Muhammad and Sura al-Fath, and since we limited it to the
lines of the word appearing in those two Suras, the instances of the word outside those
have not been included. If time permits, the mysteries these hold will be explained,
God willing.

The Third Point consists of four points.

First Point

The word "Allah" is mentioned two thousand eight hundred and six times.
Including in the Bismillah's (In the Name of God's), the word "Merciful (Rahman)"
one hundred and fifty-nine; "Compassionate (Rahim)" two hundred and twenty;
"Forgiving (Ghafur)" sixty-one; "Sustainer (Rabb)" eight hundred and forty-six;
"Wise (Hakim)" eighty-six; "Knowing ('Alim)" one hundred and twenty-six;
"Powerful (Qadir)" thirty-one; the "He (Hu)" in "There is no god but He," twenty-six
times. 1 The number of times the word "Allah" is repeated contains many mysteries
and subtle points. For instance, the number of times "Merciful," "Compassionate,"
"Forgiving," and "Wise," which are the most mentioned after "Allah" and
"Sustainer," are repeated together with the word "Allah," is equal to half the number
of the Qur'an's verses. And repetitions of "Allah," together with "Sustainer," which is
mentioned instead of the word "Allah," again equal half the number of the Qur'an's
verses. The word "Sustainer" is mentioned eight hundred and forty-six times, but if
these are studied carefully, it will be seen that around five hundred of them are
mentioned in place of the word "Allah," while around two hundred are not.

Also, repetitions of "Allah" together with "Merciful," "Compassionate,"
"Knowing," and the "He" of the phrase "There is no god but He" are again equal in
number to half of the verses; the difference is only four. And together with "All-
Powerful" instead of "He," they again equal half the number of verses; the difference
here is nine. There are numerous subtle points in the total number of time the word
"Allah," but for now we deem this point to be sufficient.

1 An important mystery is indicated by the total number of the Qur'an's verses being six thousand
six hundred and sixty-six, and on the eighty-ninth page here the above-mentioned number of divine
names being connected with the number six, but it has been left aside for now.

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Second Point

This is in respect of the Suras, and it too contains many subtle points. It contains
coincidences (tevdfukaf) in a way that points to an order, intention, and will.

In Sura al-Baqara, the number of instances of the word "Allah" and the number
of the verses is the same. There is a difference of four, but four "He's" replace the
word "Allah," like the "He" in "There is no god but He" and they correspond exactly.
In Sura Al-i Tmran, again the word "Allah" and the number of verses coincide and
are equal. Only, "Allah" is mentioned two hundred and nine times and there are two
hundred verses, making a difference of nine. But small differences do not mar the fine
points of eloquence and literary merits such as these; an approximate coincidence is
enough. The total number of verses of Suras al-Nisa, al-Ma'ida, and al-An'am
coincides with the total number of instances of the word "Allah:" the number of
verses is four hundred and sixty-four, and the number of instances of the word
"Allah" four hundred and sixty-one; with the "Allah" of the Bismillahs, it coincides
exactly.

And for example, the number of instances of the word "Allah" in the first five
Suras is twice the number of the word in Suras al-A'raf, al-Anfal, al-Tawba, Yunus,
and Hud. That is, the second five are half the first five. Then the number of instances
of the word in the following suras, Yusuf, al-Ra'd, Ibrahim, al-Hijr, and al-Nahl, is
half that, and in the following Suras, al-Isra, al-Kahf, Maryam, Ta. Ha., al-Anbiya,
and al-Hajj, it is again halved. 2 And so it continues to decrease in approximately the
same ratio in the following groups of. five Suras. There are, however, some
differences and deficiencies but they cause no harm in such stations of address. For
example, some are one hundred and twenty-one, others are one hundred and twenty-
five, others are one hundred and fifty-four, and yet others are one hundred and fifty-
nine. Then, the five Suras which begin with Sura al-Zukhruf decrease to an eighth.
And in the five beginning with Sura al-Najm, it is a sixty-fourth, but this is
approximate. Differences arising from small errors do not harm stations of address
such as these. The subsequent three groups of five short Suras contain only three
instances each of the word "Allah." And this shows that chance has not interfered at
all in the number of the word; the numbers of it have been specified in accordance
with wisdom and order.

2 A mystery was unfolded through this division into fives. With not one of us being aware of it, six
Suras were written here. We have no doubt that outside our wills, and from the Unseen, the sixth was
added here so that the important mystery concerning these halves should not be lost.

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The Third Point is about the word "Allah"

This concerns its relation to the pages and is as follows:

The number of instances of the word on one page looks to that page's reverse
side, and that page sometimes looks to its facing page, and sometimes to the left-hand
facing page and to the reverse face of the facing page. I studied a coincidence in my
own copy of the Qur'an and observed what was generally a very fine numerical
relationship. I marked them in my copy. Very often they are equal, and sometimes
they are a half or a third. Their positioning tells of a wisdom, purpose, and order.

Fourth Point

This concerns coincidences on a single page. My brothers and I compared three
or four different copies and we came to the conclusion that the coincidences were
intended in all of them. However, since copyists for printed copies had different aims
in view, the coincidences lost their order to a degree. But if they were set in order,
coincidences would become apparent to the number of the two thousand eight
hundred and six instances of the word Allah in the whole Qur'an with only rare
exceptions. A light of miraculousness shines in this, because the human mind could
not encompass a page as extensive as this and interfere in it. And the hand of chance
could not reach up to such a situation, so full of meaning and wisdom.

We are having a new Qur' an written in order to demonstrate this Fourth Point to
a degree, which together with preserving the pages and lines of the most widely used
copies of the Qur'an, will set in order the places that have lost their order due to the
slackness of calligraphers, and will display the true order of the coincidences, God
willing. Indeed, it was displayed.

O God! O Revealer of the Qur'an! For the sake of the Qur'an, allow us to
understand its mysteries so long as the spheres revolve. And grant blessings
and peace to the one to whom You revealed the Qur'an, and to all his Family
and Companions. Amen.

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The Fifth Section,
which is the Fifth Treatise

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
God is the Light of the heavens and the earth. (24:35)

While in a spiritual state during the month of Ramadan, I perceived one light of
the many luminous mysteries of this light-filled verse; I saw it as though from afar. It
was like this:

I had a vision of the heart and imagination which afforded me the conviction that,
as in the famous supplication of Uways al-Qarani,

O God! You are our Sustainer, for we are mere slaves; we are powerless to
sustain and raise ourselves. That is to say, the One who sustains us is You!
And it is You who is the Creator, for we are creatures, we are being made!
And it is You who is the Provider, for we are in need of provision, we have
no power \,

all living creatures are offering supplications to Almighty God, and that a divine name
illuminates each of the eighteen thousand worlds. It was like this:

I saw that within this world are thousands of worlds enwrapped in veil after veil,
one within the other like a rose-bud with numerous petals. As each veil was unfolded
I saw another world. It was like that depicted by the verse following the Light Verse:

Or [the unbelievers ' state] is like the depths of darkness in a vast deep
ocean, overwhelmed with billow topped with billow, topped by [dark]
clouds; depths of darkness, one above the other; if a man stretches out his
hand, he can hardly see it; for any to whom God gives not light, there is no
light;(24:40)

it appeared to me in darkness, desolation, and terrible blackness. Suddenly, the
manifestation of a divine name appeared like a refulgent light, illuminating it.
Whichever veil was folded back another world appeared before my mind. But while
appearing dark due to heedlessness, a divine name would be manifested like the sun,
filling that world with light from top to bottom. And so on. This journey of the heart
and imagination continued for a long time. In short:

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When I saw the animal world it appeared to me as truly dark and grievous due to
the animals' endless needs and acute hunger, and their weakness and impotence. Then
suddenly the name of Most Merciful rose like the shining sun in the sign of (that is,
meaning) Provider, gilding that world from top to bottom with the radiance of its
mercy.

Then within the animal world I beheld another world in which young and
offspring were struggling in their weakness, helplessness, and need within a grievous
darkness that would fill anyone with pity. Suddenly the name of All-Compassionate
rose in the sign of clemency, illuminating that world in so beautiful and sweet a
fashion that it transformed the complaint, pity, and tears of sorrow into joy, happiness,
and tears of pleasurable thanks.

Then a further veil was lifted, as though revealing a cinema screen, and the world
of man appeared to me. But it appeared to be so dark, so oppressive, so terrible that in
anguish I cried out "Alas!" For I saw that men had desires and hopes that stretched to
eternity, and thoughts and imaginings that encompassed the universe, and a
disposition and abilities that most earnestly yearned for eternity and everlasting
happiness and Paradise, and wants and needs that were directed towards endless goals
and aims. Yet they were weak and impotent, and exposed to the attacks of
innumerable calamities and enemies; they lived tumultuous lives for a brief span in
the greatest hardship and difficulties. Amid the continuous tribulations of decline and
separation, a most grievous state for the heart, they were looking towards the grave,
which for the heedless and neglectful is the door to everlasting darkness; singly and in
groups, they were being cast into that dark well.

The moment I saw this world in the midst of the darkness, my heart, spirit, and
mind, and all my human faculties, indeed, all the particles of my being, were ready to
weep and cry out in pain. But suddenly Almighty God's name of All- Just rose in the
sign of All- Wise, the name of Most Merciful rose in the sign of Munificent, the name
of All-Compassionate rose in the sign of (that is, meaning) All-Forgiving, the name of
Resurrector in the sign of Inheritor, the name of Giver of Life rose in the sign of
Bountiful, and the name of Sustainer rose in the sign of Owner. They gilded and filled
with light many worlds within the world of humanity. Opening up windows onto the
luminous world of the hereafter, they scattered lights over the dark human world.

Then another, vast, veil was folded back and the world of the earth appeared.
Philosophy' s dark laws of science showed a terrifying world to the imagination. The
situation appeared to me of wretched humankind

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journeying through infinite space on the aged earth, which covers in one year a
distance of twenty-five thousand years moving seventy times faster than a cannon-
ball, and whose inside is in a state of upheaval ever ready to split up and disintegrate.
My head started spinning and my eyes darkened. Then suddenly the names of Creator
of the Heavens and the Earth, All-Powerful, All-Knowing, Sustainer, Allah, Sustainer
of the Heavens and the Earth, and Subduer of the Sun and Moon rose in the signs of
Mercy, Tremendousness, and Dominicality. They illuminated that world so that I saw
the globe of the earth to be a safe liner, well-ordered, subjugated, perfect, and
agreeable, all decked out for voyages of pleasure and trade.

In Short: Each of the thousand and one divine names turned towards the
universe appeared like a sun, illuminating a world and the worlds within that world,
and with respect to divine oneness (ehadiyet), within the manifestation of each of
them the manifestations of the rest of the names appeared to a degree. Then my heart
espied a different light behind all the darknesses and felt an appetite for travel. It
wanted to mount the imagination and rise to the heavens. At that point, a further, most
extensive, veil was folded back, and my heart entered the world of the heavens. It saw
that the stars larger than the earth, which appeared as twinkling smiles, were spinning
and journeying faster than the earth one within the other. If any of them confused its
motion it would clash with another causing such a blast the universe would explode
causing the whole world to fall apart. They were scattering fire, not light, and were
regarding me not with smiles, but with savagery. I saw the heavens within endless,
all-enveloping, empty, awesome, terrifying darkness. I was sorry a thousand times
over that I had come. Suddenly the names of Lord of the Heavens and the Earth and
Sustainer of the Angels and Spirits appeared with their manifestations in the sign of
"He has subjected the sun and the moon,"(13:2, etc.) and, "And We adorned the lower
heaven with lights. "(4 1:12) The stars, which in accordance with the former meaning
had collapsed into darkness, each received a flash from that mighty light and lit up
that world of the heavens like shining electric lamps. The heavens too, which had
seemed empty and uninhabited, filled with angels and spirit beings. I saw that the
suns and moons, which were in motion like an army of the Monarch of Pre-Eternity
and Post-Eternity - one of His innumerable armies - were with their lofty manoeuvres
displaying the majesty and magnificent dominicality of that All-Glorious Sultan. I
declared with all my strength, and had it been possible with all the particles of my
being, and if they had listened to me with the tongues of all creatures:

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God is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The parable of His Light is as
if there were a niche and within it a lamp; the lamp enclosed by glass; the
glass as it were a brilliant star; lit from a blessed tree, an olive, neither of
the East nor of the West, whose oil is well-nigh luminous, though fire scarce
touched it; Light upon Light! God guides to His Light whom He vw'//.(24:35)

I recited this verse in the name of all creatures. Then I returned, descended to the
earth, and awoke. "All praise be to God for the light of belief and the Qur'an," I
exclaimed.

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The Sixth Section,
which is the Sixth Treatise

[This was written to warn students and servants of the All-Wise
Qur'an, so that they should not be deceived.]

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

And incline not towards those who do wrong, or the Fire will seize

you.(ll:113)

God willing, this Sixth Section will confound six stratagems of satans among jinn
and men, and block up six of their ways of attack.

FIRST STRATAGEM

In consequence of the instruction they have received from satans among the jinn,
human satans want to deceive, by exciting the desire for rank and position, the self-
sacrificing servants of the party of the Qur'an, and to make them give up their sacred
service and elevated jihad of the word. It is as follows:

Present in most people is a hypocritical desire to be seen by people and hold a
position in the public view, which is ambition for fame and acclaim, and self-
advertisement; it is present to a lesser or greater extent in all those who seek this
world. The desire to accomplish this ambition will drive a person to sacrifice his life
even. Such ambition is exceedingly dangerous for those who seek the hereafter, and
even for those who seek this world it is a rough road. It is also the source of many bad
morals and is man's greatest weakness. A person only has to gratify this ambition to
gain control over someone and draw him to himself; it ties the man to him, and he is
overcome. My greatest fear for my brothers is that the atheists may take advantage of
this weak vein of theirs. It has caused me much thought. For they did attract in this
way some unfortunates who were not truly friends, drawing them into a dangerous
situation. l

'Those unfortunates think: "Our hearts are together with Ustad," and suppose themselves to be in no
danger. But someone who gives support to the atheists' movement and is carried away by their
propaganda, and perhaps unknowingly is used in spying activities, says: "My heart is pure and loyal to
Ustad' s way," resembles the following example: while performing the obligatory prayers, a person
cannot hold his wind and expels it, and his prayer is invalidated. When he is told that his prayers are
invalid, he replies: "Why should they be? My heart is pure."

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My brothers and friends in the service of the Qur'an! Say the following to the
secret agents of the cunning 'worldly,' or the propagandists of the people of
misguidance, or the students of Satan, for they all try to deceive you by exciting the
desire for rank: "Firstly, divine pleasure, the favours of the Merciful One, and
dominical acceptance are a position so high that beside them the attention and
admiration of men are worth virtually nothing. To receive divine mercy is sufficient.
The regard of men is acceptable in that it is the reflection and shadow of the regard of
divine mercy; otherwise it is not desirable. For it is extinguished at the door of the
grave, so is worth nothing!"

If the desire for rank and position cannot be silenced and eliminated, it should be
directed towards something else: as in the following comparison, the emotion may
have a licit side; if it is for reward in the hereafter, or with the intention of being
prayed for, or for making one's work effective.

For example, at a time Aya Sophia Mosque is filled with eminent and blessed
people, virtuous and excellent, one or two idle youths and immoral loafers are
hanging around the entrance, while next to the windows a few Europeans are
watching for amusement. A man enters the mosque and joins the congregation, then
recites a passage from the Qur'an beautifully in a fine voice; the gazes of thousands of
the people of truth are turned on him and they gain reward for him through their
regard and prayers. This does not please the idle youths and heretic loafers and the
one or two Europeans. If when the man had entered the blessed mosque and joined
the huge congregation, he had shouted out lewd songs, and danced and jumped
around, it would have made the idle youths laugh, have pleased the dissolute loafers
since it encouraged immorality, and made the Europeans smile mockingly, since they
are gratified at seeing any faults in Islam. But it would have attracted looks of disgust
and contempt from the vast and blessed congregation; in its view, the man would have
fallen to the very lowest of the low.

Exactly like this example, the World of Islam and Asia is a huge mosque, and the
people of belief and truth within it are the respected congregation in the mosque. The
idle youths are the childish sycophants. The dissolute loafers are those villains who
follow Europe and have no nation or religion. While the European spectators are the
journalists who spread

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the ideas of the Europeans. All Muslims, especially the virtuous and perfected ones,
have a place in the mosque according to their degree; they are seen and attention is
paid to them. If they perform actions and works as taught by the injunctions and
sacred truths the All- Wise Qur' an in accordance with the sincerity and divine pleasure
which are a fundamental of Islam, and if through the tongue of disposition they recite
Qur'anic verses, they will then be included in the prayer: "O God, grant forgiveness
to all believing men and to all believing women," which is constantly uttered by
everyone in the World of Islam. They will have a share of it and will become
connected to all the others in brotherly fashion. However, the value of this will not be
apparent to some of the people of misguidance who are like harmful beasts and to
some idiots who are like bearded children. If a man disowns all his forefathers, the
source of honour, and all the past, the cause of pride, and abandons in the spirit the
luminous highway of his righteous predecessors, which they considered to be their
point of support, and if he follows his own whims and passions hypocritically seeking
fame and following innovations, he will fall to the very lowest position in the view of
all the people of truth and belief. In accordance with: "Beware the insight of the
believer, for he sees with the light of God," 2 however common and ignorant a believer
may be, even if his mind does not realize it, his heart looks coldly and in disgust on
such boastful, selfish men.

And so, the man carried away by love of position and rank and obsessed by the
desire for fame - the second man, descends to the very lowest of the low in the view
of that numberless congregation. And he gains a temporary, inauspicious position in
the view of a few insignificant, mocking, raving loafers. In accordance with the verse,

Friends on that Day will be foes, one to another - except the
righteous, (43:67)

he will find a few false friends who will be harmful in this world, torment in the
Intermediate Realm, and enemies in the hereafter.

As for the first man, even if he does not expunge the desire for position from his
heart, on condition he takes sincerity and divine pleasure as his guiding principles and
does not make rank and position his goal, he will attain a sort of spiritual rank, and a
glorious one at that, which will perfectly satisfy that desire of his. The man will lose
something insignificant, very insignificant, and find in place of it many, very many,
valuable and

2 Tirmidhi, Tafsir Sura, 156; Abu Nu'aym, Hilyat al-Awliya, iv, 94; al-Haythami, Majma' al-Zawa'id,
x, 268; al-'Ajluni, Kashf al-Khafa' , i, 42.

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harmless things. Indeed, he will chase away a few snakes and find numerous blessed
creatures; he will become close friends with them. Or he will ward off stinging wild
hornets and attract blessed bees, the sherbert-sellers of mercy. He will eat honey at
their hand, and through their prayers find friends from all parts of the Islamic world
through whom his spirit will receive effulgences like the water of Kawthar, and these
will pass to his book of good deeds.

At one time, when through perpetrating a great wrong due to the desire for fame,
a little man who was occupying a high worldly position became a laughing-stock in
the eyes of the World of Islam, I spoke to him teaching him the meaning of the above
comparison; I hit him over the head with it. He was badly shaken, but because I
myself had not been saved from the desire for rank and position, my warning did not
arouse him.

SECOND STRATAGEM

One of the strongest and most basic emotions in man is the sense of fear.
Scheming oppressors profit greatly from the vein of fear. They restrain the
pusillanimous with it. The agents of the worldly and propagandists of the people of
misguidance take advantage of this vein of the common people and of the religious
scholars in particular. They frighten them and excite their groundless fears. For
example, in order to scare a coward who is on a roof and put him in danger, a
scheming man shows him something which he supposes is harmful; he excites his fear
and draws him gradually towards the edge of the roof; then he makes him fall and
break his neck. In exactly the same way, they make people sacrifice most important
things due to most unimportant fears. Trying to avoid a mosquito bite, they flee into
the dragon's mouth.

One time, an eminent person - May God have mercy on him - was frightened of
climbing into a rowing-boat. One evening, we walked together to the Bridge in
Istanbul. We had to board a boat; there was no carriage and we were going to Eyiip
Sultan. I insisted. He said: "I'm frightened. Perhaps it'll sink!" I said to him: "How
many boats do you reckon there are, here on the Golden Horn?" He replied: "Perhaps
a thousand." So I asked him: "How many boats sink in a year?" He said: "One or two.
Perhaps none at all." I asked him: "How many days are there in a year?" "Three
hundred and sixty," he replied. So I said to him: "The possibility of sinking, which
provokes these groundless fears and makes you anxious, is one in three hundred and
sixty thousand. Someone who is frightened at such a possibility is not a human being,
he couldn't even be an animal!" Then I asked him: "How long do you reckon you will
live?" He replied: "I

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am old; perhaps I'll live another ten years." So I said to him: "The appointed hour of
death is secret, so we could die any day. In which case, you might die on any day of
the three thousand six hundred. You see, there is a one in three thousand possibility
that you might die today rather than one in three hundred thousand like the boat; so
tremble and weep, and write your will!" He came to his senses, and I got him,
trembling, to board the boat. When on board, I told him: "Almighty God gave the
sense of fear to preserve life, not to destroy it ! He did not give life so that it would be
burdensome, difficult, painful, and torment. If fear is caused by a possibility of one in
two, three, or four, or even one in five or six, it is a precautionary fear and may be
licit. But to fear a possibility of one in twenty, thirty, or forty, is groundless, and
makes life torture!"

My brothers ! If those who toady to the atheists attack you by frightening you into
giving up your sacred jihad of the word, say to them: "We are the party of the Qur'an.
According to the verse,

We have, without doubt, sent down the Message; and We will assuredly
guard it, (15:9)

we are in the citadel of the Qur' an. The verse,

For us God suffices, and He is the Best Disposer of Affairs(3:l73)

is a firm bastion surrounding us. Utilizing fear at a one in thousands possibility of
some minor harm coming to our fleeting transient lives here, you cannot drive us
through our own wills down a way on which there is a hundred per cent possibility of
its causing thousandfold harm to our eternal lives!" And say too: "Is there anyone
who has suffered harm due to Said Nursi, our friend in the service of the Qur'an and
Master and foreman in running this sacred work, or from people of truth like us who
are his companions on the way of truth? Is there anyone who has been caused any
trouble at the hand of his close students, that we might be caused it too? So should we
be anxious at the possibility of suffering it? This brother of ours has thousands of
friends and brothers of the hereafter. Although for twenty to thirty years he played an
influential role in the social life of this world, we have not heard that a single of his
brothers suffered harm because of him, and at that time he was brandishing the club
of politics. Now he holds the light of reality rather than the club. For sure, long ago
they mixed him up in the Thirty-First of March Incident and they crushed some of his
friends, but it later became clear that others had instigated the affair. His friends
suffered misfortune, not because of him but because of his enemies. Moreover, at that
time he saved very many of his friends. So satans like

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you shouldn't get it into their minds to make us throw away an eternal treasury out of
fear at a danger the possibility of which is not one in a thousand but in thousands."
You should say that and hit those toadies of the people of misguidance in the mouth,
and drive them away! And tell them this:

"And if the possibility of death is not one in hundreds of thousands but a hundred
per cent probability, if we have a jot of sense, we will not be frightened and abandon
him and flee!" For it has been seen through repeated experiences, and it is seen, that
the calamity which is visited on those who betray their elder brother or their Master in
times of danger, strikes them first. And they are punished mercilessly and they are
looked down upon contemptuously. Both physically dead and their spirits abased,
they are in effect dead. Those who torment them feel no pity for them, for they say:
"Since they betrayed their Master who was loyal and kind to them, they must be
completely despicable and deserve contempt, not pity!"

Yes, the reality is this. Also, if a tyrannical, unscrupulous man throws someone to
the ground and stands over him certain to crush his head with his foot, and the man on
the ground kisses that savage oppressor' s foot, due to his abasement his heart will be
crushed before his head, and his spirit will die before his body. He will lose his head,
and his self-respect and pride will be destroyed. By displaying weakness before the
savage tyrant without conscience, he encourages him to crush him. But if the
oppressed man spits in the tyrant's face, he will save his heart and his spirit, and his
body will be a wronged martyr. Yes, spit in the shameless faces of the oppressors!

One time when the British had destroyed the guns on the Bosphorus and occupied
Istanbul, the head clergyman of the Anglican Church, the main religious
establishment of that country, asked six questions of the Shaikh al-Islam's Office. I
was a member of the Daru'l-Hikmeti'l-Islamiye at the time. They asked me to answer
them, saying that they wanted a six-hundred-word reply to their six questions. But I
told them: "I'll answer them not with six hundred words, or even with six words, or
even a single word, but with a mouthful of spit! For you can see that government; the
moment it set foot on our Bosphorus, its clergyman arrogantly asked us six questions.
Faced with this, we should spit in his face. So spit in the pitiless faces of those
tyrants!" And now I say:

My brothers! At a time a tyrannical government like the British had occupied us
the protection of the Qur' an was enough for me, although it was a hundred per cent
certain that harm would come to me from confronting them in this way through the
tongue of the press, so it is definitely a

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hundred times more sufficient for you in the face of the harm that may come to you at
the hand of these insignificant bullies, which is only a one in a hundred possibility.

Furthermore, my brothers! Most of you have done your military service. Any
who haven't, have certainly heard this. And any who haven't heard it, let them hear it
now from me: "The people who receive most wounds are those who abandon their
trenches and run away. While the people who receive fewest wounds are those who
persevere in their trenches!"

The allusive meaning of the verse,

Say: "The death from which you flee will truly overtake yow"(62:8)
shows that those who run away are more likely to meet death through their flight !

THIRD SATANIC STRATAGEM

They hunt many people through greed.

We have proved in many treatises with certain proofs that have issued forth from
the clear verses of the All- Wise Qur' an that licit sustenance comes not in accordance
with power and will, but proportionately to powerlessness and want. There are
numerous signs, indications, and evidences demonstrating this truth. For instance:

Trees, which are animate beings of a sort and in need of sustenance, remain in
their places and their sustenance comes hastening to them. While since animals chase
after it greedily, they are not nurtured as perfectly as trees.

Also, although fishes are the most stupid and powerless of the animals and are
found in sand, their being the best nourished and generally appearing fat while
intelligent and capable animals like the monkey and fox are weak and thin from their
scanty sustenance, shows that need is the means of sustenance, not power.

Also, the fine sustenance of all young, whether human or animal, and milk, the
delicate gift of the treasury of mercy, being bestowed on them in an unexpected way
out of compassion for their weakness and impotence, and the difficult circumstances
of wild animals, show that impotence and want are the means of licit sustenance
rather than intelligence and power.

Also, among the nations of the world there is none that pursues sustenance more
than the Jewish nation, which is notorious for its intense greed. But they have suffered
more than any from poor livelihoods amid degradation and poverty. Even the rich
among them live in lowly fashion. In any event, the possessions they have acquired
by such illicit means as usury do not comprise licit sustenance that it might refute our
discussion here.

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Also, the poverty of many literary figures and scholars, and the wealth and riches
of many stupid people show that the means of attracting sustenance is not intelligence
and power, but impotence and want; it is submitting to God while relying on Him, and
supplication by word, state, and deed.

The verse,

For God is He Who gives [all] sustenance, Lord of Power, and Steadfast [for
ever],(5l:5S)

proclaims this truth, and is a powerful, firm proof of this assertion of ours, which all
plants and animals and young recite. Every group of creature that seeks sustenance
recites this verse through the tongue of disposition.

Since sustenance is appointed and bestowed and it is Almighty God who gives it,
and since He is both All-Compassionate and Munificent, those who degrade
themselves by making illicit gains in such a way as to cast aspersions on His mercy
and insult His munificence, and give their consciences and even certain sacred matters
as bribes and accept things which are unlawful and inauspicious - they should ponder
over just what compounded lunacy this is.

Yes, 'the worldly' and especially the people of misguidance do not give away
their money cheaply; they sell it at a high price. Sometimes something which may
help a little towards a year of worldly life is the means of destroying infinite eternal
life. And with that vile greed, the person draws divine wrath on himself and tries to
attract the pleasure of the people of misguidance.

Yes, my brothers! If those who toady to 'the worldly' and the dissemblers among
the misguided lay hold of you due to this weak vein in human nature, think of the
above truth and take this poor brother of yours as an example. I assure you with all
my strength that contentment and frugality ensure your life and sustenance more than
does a salary. As for any unlawful money that is given you, they will want a price a
thousand times higher in return. It may also hinder your service of the Qur' an, which
may open for you an everlasting treasury, or it may make you slack in that service.
And that would be such a loss and emptiness that even if they gave you a thousand
salaries every month, they could not fill its place.

Warning: The people of misguidance are not able to defend themselves and
reply to the truths of belief and the Qur' an which we take from the All- Wise Qur' an
and disseminate, therefore, through intrigue and dissembling they employ snares of
deception and wile. They want to deceive my friends through the desire for position,
greed, and fear, and to refute me by ascribing certain things to me. We always act
positively in our sacred service, but

482

unfortunately, sometimes the duty of removing the obstacles in the way of some good
matter impels us to act negatively.

It is because of this that I am warning my brothers concerning the above-
mentioned three points, in the face of the cunning propaganda of the dissemblers. I
am trying to rebuff the attacks that are levelled at them.

The most significant attack now is at my person. They say: "Said is a Kurd. Why
do you show him so much respect, and follow him?" So I am forced to mention the
fourth satanic stratagem in the language of the Old Said although I do not want to, in
order to silence such villains.

FOURTH SATANIC STRATAGEM

In order to deceive my brothers and excite their nationalist feelings, certain
irreligious people who occupy high positions attack me with their propaganda. At the
promptings of Satan and suggestions of the people of misguidance, they say: "You are
Turks. Thanks be to God, among the Turks are religious scholars and people of
perfection of every sort. Said is a Kurd. To work along with someone who does not
share your nationality is unpatriotic."

The Answer: You miserable person without religion! All praise be to God, I
am a Muslim. At all times there are three hundred and fifty million members of my
sacred nation. I seek refuge with God a hundred thousand times from sacrificing for
the idea of racialism and negative nationalism three hundred and fifty million brothers
who enjoy an eternal brotherhood and who help me with their prayers and among
whom are the vast majority of Kurds. And I seek refuge with God from gaining in
place of those innumerable blessed brothers a few who have embarked on a way that
is without religion or belongs to no school of law, who bear the name of Kurd and are
reckoned to belong to the Kurdish people. O you without religion! There would have
to have been some idiots like you who would abandon the everlasting brotherhood of
a luminous beneficial community of three hundred and fifty million true brothers, to
gain the brotherhood - which even in this world is without benefit - of a handful of
Hungarian infidels or Europeanized Turks who have lost their religion. Since, in the
Third Matter of the Twenty-Sixth Letter we have shown together with the evidences
the nature of negative nationalism and its harms, we refer you to that, and here only
explain a truth which was mentioned briefly at the end of the Third Matter. It is as
follows:

I say to those pseudo-patriotic irreligious deviants who hide under the veil of
Turkism and in reality are enemies of the Turks: "I am closely and truly connected by
means of an eternal, true brotherhood with the nation of Islam, with the believers of
this country who are called Turks. On account

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of Islam, I have a proud and partial love for the sons of this land who for close on a
thousand years victoriously carried the banner of the Qur'an to every corner of the
world. As for you, you pseudo-patriotic imposters! You possess in a way that will
make you forget the true national pride of the Turks, a metaphorical, racial,
temporary, and hateful brotherhood. I ask you: does the Turkish nation consist only of
heedless and lustful youths between the ages of twenty and forty? And is what is
beneficial for them and will serve them - as demanded by nationalist patriotism - an
European education which will only increase their heedlessness, accustom them to
immorality, and encourage them in what is forbidden? Is it to amuse them temporarily
and so make them weep in old age? If nationalist patriotism consists of this, and this
is progress and the happiness of life, yes, if you are a Turkist and nationalist like that,
I flee from such Turkism, and you can flee from me, too ! If you have even a jot of
patriotism, intelligence, and fairness, consider the following divisions of society and
give me an answer. It is like this:

The sons of this land known as the Turkish nation consist of six parts. The first
part are the righteous and the pious. The second are the sick and those stricken by
disaster. The third are the elderly. The fourth are the children. The fifth are the poor
and the weak. And the sixth are the young. Are the first five groups not Turks? Do
they have no share of nationalist patriotism? Is it nationalist patriotism to vex those
five groups, spoil their pleasure in life, and destroy those things that console them in
order to give drunken enjoyment to the sixth group? Or is it enmity towards the
nation? According to the rule "The word is with the majority," that which harms the
majority is inimical, not friendly!

I ask you, is the greatest benefit of the believers and the pious, the first group, to
be found in a European-type civilization? Or is it to be found in thinking of eternal
happiness through the truths of belief, in travelling the way of truth, for which they
are most desirous, and in finding a true solace? The way the misguided and bogus
patriots like you have taken extinguishes the spiritual lights of the pious people of
belief, destroys their true consolation, and shows death to be eternal nothingness and
the grave to be the door to everlasting separation.

Are the benefits of the disaster- stricken, the sick, and those who have despaired
of life, who form the second group, to be found in the way of a European-type,
irreligious civilization? For those unfortunates want a light, a solace. They want a
reward in return for the calamities they have suffered. They want to take their revenge
on those who have oppressed them. They want to repulse the terrors at the door of the
grave, which they

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are approaching. Through their false patriotism, people like you plunge a needle into
the hearts of those unhappy victims of disaster who are much in need of compassion,
soothing, and healing, and deserving of them. You hit them over the head! You
mercilessly destroy all their hopes! You cast them into absolute despair! Is this
nationalist patriotism? Is that how you provide benefits for the nation?

The elderly, the third group, forms a third. They are approaching the grave,
drawing close to death, growing distant from the world, coming close to the hereafter.
Are their benefits, lights, and consolation to be found in listening to the cruel
adventures of tyrants like Hulagu and Jenghiz? Do they have a place in your modern-
type movements which make the hereafter forgotten, bind a person to the world, are
without result, and have the meaning of decline while being superficially progress? Is
the light of the hereafter to be found in the cinema? Is true solace to be found in the
theatre? If nationalist patriotism is in effect to slaughter them with an immaterial
knife, and give them the idea that "you are being impelled towards everlasting
nothingness," and to transform the grave, which they consider to be the gate of mercy,
into the dragon's mouth, and to breathe in their ears: "You too will enter there!" - if,
while these unhappy elderly people want respect from patriotism, this is what it
consists of, I seek refuge with God a hundred thousand times from such patriotism !

The fourth group are the children. They want kindness from nationalist
patriotism; they await compassion. Also, in respect of their weakness, impotence, and
powerlessness, their spirits may expand through knowing a compassionate and
powerful Creator; their abilities may unfold in a happy manner. If instilled with the
reliance on God that springs from belief and with the submission of Islam that may
withstand the awesome fears and worldly situations of the future, these innocents may
look eagerly to life. Will this be achieved by teaching them things about the progress
of civilization, with which they have little connection, and the principles of lightless
materialist philosophy, which destroys their morale and extinguishes their spirits? If
man consisted only of an animal body and he had no mind in his head, perhaps these
European principles which you fancifully call civilized education and national
education could have afforded these innocent children some worldly benefit in the
form of temporary childish amusement. Since they will be cast onto the surging
tumult of life, and since they are human beings, they will certainly have far-reaching
desires in their small hearts and large goals will be born in their little heads. Since the
reality is thus, compassion requires that in the face of their infinite want and
impotence an extremely powerful support and inexhaustible place of

485

recourse are placed in their hearts, and these are belief in God and belief in the
hereafter. This is kindness and compassion for them. It otherwise means slaughtering
those wretched innocents with the drunkenness of nationalist patriotism, like a crazy
mother slaughtering her child with a knife. It is a savage cruelty and wrong, like
pulling out their brains and hearts and making them eat them to nourish their bodies.

The fifth group are the poor and the weak. The poor, who, because of their
poverty, suffer greatly at the heavy burdens of life, and the weak, who are grieved at
life's awesome upheavals - do they receive no share from nationalist patriotism? Is it
to be found in the movements you have instituted under the name of European-style,
unveiled, Pharaoh-like civilization, which only increase their despair and suffering?
The salve for the wound of indigence may be found in the sacred pharmacy of Islam,
not in the idea of racialism. The weak receive no strength and resistance from the
philosophy of naturalism, which is dark, lacks consciousness, and is bound to chance;
they may receive them from Islamic zeal and the sacred nationhood of Islam!

The sixth group is the youth. If the youth of these young people had been
perpetual, the wine you have given them to drink through negative nationalism would
have had some temporary benefit and use. But when they painfully come to their
senses as they advance in years, when they awaken from that sweet sleep in the
morning of old age, their distress at the pleasurable drunkenness of youth will make
them weep, and the passing of their pleasant dream will cause them much grief. It will
make them exclaim: "Alas! Both my youth has gone and my life has departed, and I
am approaching the grave bankrupt; if only I had used my head!" Is the share of
nationalist patriotism for this group to enjoy themselves briefly and temporarily, and
to be made to weep regretfully for a very long time? Or is their worldly happiness and
pleasure in life to be found in making their fleeting youth permanent through worship
and by spending that fine, sweet bounty, not on the way of dissipation but on the
straight path in the form of offering thanks so as to gain eternal youth in the Realm of
Bliss? You say, if you possess even a grain of intelligence !

In S h o r t : If the Turkish nation consisted only of young people, and if their
youth was perpetual, and they had no place other than this world, your European-style
movement under the screen of Turkism might have been counted as nationalist
patriotism. You might have been able to say about me as someone who attaches little
importance to the life of this world, considers racialism to be "the European disease,"
tries to prevent young people pursuing illicit amusements and vices, and came into the

486

world in another country: "He is a Kurd. Don't follow him!" Perhaps you would have
been right to say it. But since, as explained above, the sons of this land, who go under
the name of Turks, consist of six groups, to cause harm to five of the groups and spoil
their pleasure in life, and to afford a temporary, worldly pleasure the consequences of
which are bad, to only one group, rather, to intoxicate them, is scarcely friendship to
the Turkish nation; it is enmity.

Yes, according to race, I am not counted as a Turk but I have worked with all my
strength, with complete eagerness, in compassionate and brotherly fashion, for the
groups among the Turks of the God-fearing, the disaster-stricken, the elderly, the
children, and the weak and the poor. I have worked for the young people as well, who
are the sixth group; I want them to give up any unlawful acts that will poison their
worldly life, destroy their lives in the hereafter, and for one hour's laughter, produce a
year of weeping. The works I have taken from the Qur'an and published in the
Turkish language - not only these six or seven years, but for twenty years - are there
for everyone to see. Yes, praise be to God, through these works derived from the All-
Wise Qur'an's mine of lights, the light is shown which the group of the elderly wants
more than anything; the most efficacious remedies for the disaster-stricken and the
sick are pointed out in the sacred pharmacy of the Qur'an; the door of the grave,
which causes more thought to the elderly than anything else, is shown to be the door
of mercy, not the door leading to execution. A truly powerful point of support in the
face of the calamities and harmful things confronting the sensitive hearts of children,
and a place of recourse to meet all their hopes and desires, have been extracted from
the mine of the All- Wise Qur' an, and they have been demonstrated and profited from
in fact. And the heavy obligations of life, which crush most the poor and weak, have
been alleviated by the truths of belief of the All-Wise Qur' an.

Thus, these five groups are five out of the six parts of the Turkish nation, and we
are working for their benefit. The sixth group are the young people. We feel a
powerful brotherhood with the good ones from among them. But between those like
you who have deviated from the straight path, and us, there is no friendship at all!
Because we do not recognize as Turks those who embrace misguidance and want to
abandon Islamic nationhood, which holds all the true causes of pride of the Turks. We
consider them to be Europeans hiding behind the screen of Turkishness! Because
even if they claim to be Turkists a hundred thousand times over, they could not
deceive the people of truth. For their actions and works would give the lie to what
they claim.

487

O you who follow European ways ! And you deviants who with your propaganda
try to make my true brothers look coldly on me ! How do you benefit this nation? You
extinguish the lights of the first group, the pious and the righteous. You scatter poison
on the wounds of the second group, who deserve kindness and care. You destroy the
solace of the third group, who are most worthy of respect, and you cast them into
despair. You destroy completely the morale of the fourth group, who are truly in need
of compassion, and you extinguish their true humanity. You make fruitless the hopes
and calls for help of the fifth group, who are most needy for assistance, help, and
solace, and in their eyes, you turn life into something more ghastly than death. And to
the sixth group, who need to be warned and to come to their senses, you give such a
heady wine to drink in the sleep of youth that its hangover is truly grievous and
terrible. Is this your nationalist patriotism for the sake of which you sacrifice so many
sacred things? Is this what Turkism has to offer the Turks? I seek refuge with God
from it a hundred thousand times !

Sirs ! I know that when you are defeated in the face of truth, you have recourse to
force. In accordance with the fact that power lies in the truth, not in force, you can set
fire to the world around my head, but this head, which has been sacrificed for the
truth of the Qur'an, will not bow before you. And I tell you this, that not a limited
number of people like you who are in effect despised by the nation, but if thousands
like you were physically hostile to me, I would pay them no attention, attaching no
more value to them than to injurious animals. Because what can you do to me? All
you can do is to either bring my life to an end, or spoil my work and service. I am
attached to nothing in the world apart from these. As for the appointed hour which
befalls life, I believe as certainly as witnessing it that it does not change, it is
determined. Since this is so, if I die as a martyr on the way of truth, I do not hang
back from it, I await it longingly. Moreover, I am old and I find it hard to believe that
I shall live for more than another year. To transform one year's apparent life into
everlasting eternal life through martyrdom is an exalted aim for people like me. As for
my work and service, through His mercy, Almighty God has given such brothers in
the service of belief and the Qur' an that through my death it will be carried out in
numerous centres instead of one. If my tongue is silenced by death, powerful tongues
will speak in its place, continuing my work. I can even say that just as a single seed
produces the life of a shoot by entering the earth and dying, and a hundred seeds
perform their duties in place of one, so I nourish the hope that my death will be the
means to service greater than was my life !

488

FIFTH SATANIC STRATAGEM

Profiting from egotism, the supporters of the people of misguidance want to draw
my brothers away from me. Truly, egotism man's most dangerous vein. It is his
weakest vein, too. They can make people do terrible things by encouraging it. My
brothers! Beware, do not let them strike you with egotism, do not let them hunt you
with it ! You should know that this century the people of misguidance have mounted
the ego and are galloping through the valleys of misguidance. The people of truth
have to give it up if they are to serve the truth. Even if a person is justified in making
use of the ego, since he will resemble the others and they too will suppose he is self-
seeking like them, it will be an injustice to the service of the truth. In any event, the
service of the Qur'an around which we are gathered does not accept the T, it requires
the 'we.' It says: "Don't say T, say 'we.'"

Of course, you have realized that this poor brother of yours did not set out with
the T. And he did not make you serve it. Indeed, he showed himself to you as an ego-
free servant of the Qur' an. He does not care for himself and has made it his practice
not to take the part of his ego. In any case, he has proved to you with decisive
evidence that the works that have been presented for general benefit are common
property; that is, they have issued from the All-Wise Qur'an. Nobody can claim
ownership of them egotistically. Even if, to suppose the impossible, I did claim them
as my own because of my ego, as one of my brothers said: since this door of Qur'anic
truth has been opened, the scholars and those seeking perfection should not look at
my defects and insignificance and hold back from following me; they should not
deem themselves self-sufficient. For sure, the works of the former righteous and
exacting religious scholars are a huge treasury sufficient for every ill, but it
sometimes happens that a key holds more importance than the treasury. For the
treasury is closed and a key may open lots of treasuries.

I reckon that those who are excessively egotistical in regard to their learning have
understood that the published Words are each keys to the truths of the Qur'an and
diamonds swords smiting those who try to deny those truths. The people of virtue and
perfection and those who are strongly egotistical in regard to their learning should
know that the students are students not of me but of the All- Wise Qur' an, and that I
study along with them.

If, to suppose the impossible, I claimed to be the master, since we have a way of
saving all the classes of the people of belief - from the common people to the elite -
from the doubts and scepticism to which they are

489

exposed, then let those scholars either find an easier solution, or let them take the part
of our solution and teach it and support it. The corrupt religious scholars are faced
with a grave threat; religious scholars have to be especially careful at this time. So
suppose, like my enemies, that I perform a service like this for the sake of egotism.
Since a large number of people give up their egotism and gather around a Pharaoh-
like man with complete loyalty for some worldly and national aim and carry out their
work in complete solidarity, does this brother of yours not have the right to ask for
your solidarity around the truths of belief and the Qur'an by giving up egotism, like
those corporals of that worldly society, so long as he conceals his egotism? If even the
greatest of the scholars among you were not to agree, wouldn't they be in the wrong?

My brothers! The most dangerous aspect of egotism in our work is jealousy. If it
is not purely for God's sake, jealousy interferes and spoils it. Just as one of a person's
hands cannot be jealous of the other, and his eye cannot envy his ear, and his heart
cannot compete with his reason, so each of you resembles a sense, a member, of the
collective personality of the body we constitute. Your essential duty springing from
the conscience is not to compete with one another, but to take pride and pleasure in
each other' s good qualities.

One other thing remains and it is the most dangerous: for yourselves and your
friends to be jealous this poor brother of yours. There are scholars of standing among
you, and some scholars are egotistical when it comes to their learning. In that respect
they egotistical even if they themselves are modest. They cannot easily give it up.
Whatever their hearts and minds may do, their evil-commanding souls seek pre-
eminence and to sell themselves, and even to dispute the treatises that have been
written. Although their hearts love the treatises and their minds appreciate them and
recognize their worth, out of jealousy arising from the egotism of learning, their souls
want to decry the value of the Words, as though nurturing implicit enmity towards
them, for then the products of their own thought can compete with them and be sold
like them. But I have to tell them this:

Even if the members of this circle of Qur' anic teaching are leading scholars and
authorities on the Law, their duties in respect of the sciences of belief are only to
make explanations and elucidations of the Words that have been written, or to set
them in order. For I have understood through many signs that we have been charged
with the duty of issuing fatwas concerning these sciences of belief. If someone within
our circle writes anything more than this due to a feeling in his soul arising from the
egotism of learning, it will be like a cold dispute or a deficient plagiarism. For it has

490

been established through numerous evidences and signs that the parts of the Risale-i
Nur have issued from the Qur'an. In accordance with the rule of the division of
labour, each of us has undertaken a duty, and we convey those distillations of the
water of life to those who are in need of them!

SIXTH SATANIC STRATAGEM

It is this: they take advantage of the human traits of laziness, the desire for
physical comfort, and attachment to other duties. Yes, satans among jinn and men
attack from every angle. When they see those of our friends whose hearts are stout,
intentions pure, loyalty strong, and enterprise, elevated, they attack from other sides.
As follows:

In order to put a stop to our work and discourage from our service, they profit
from those friends' laziness, desire for physical comfort, and attachment to other
duties. They keep people from the service of the Qur'an with every kind of trick so
that without their being aware of it, more work is found for some of them. Then they
cannot find the time to serve the Qur'an. And to others, they show the enticing things
of this world so that arousing their desires, they become slack in their service; and so
on. These ways of attack are numerous, so cutting them short, we refer them to your
perspicacious understanding.

My brothers, take great care! Your duty is sacred and your service, elevated.
Every hour of your time may be as valuable as a day's worship. Be aware of this and
don't waste any of them!

O you who believe! Persevere in patience and constancy; vie in such

perseverance, strengthen each other; and fear God, that you may

prosper.(3:200) * And sell not My signs for a miserable price.(5:44) * Glory

to your Sustainer, the Lord of Honour and Power! [He is free] from what

they ascribe [to Him[! * And peace be on the prophets! * And praise be to

God, the Sustainer of All the Worlds.(37: 180-2)

Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught

us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise 1(2:32)

O God! Grant blessings and peace to our master Muhammad, the Beloved

Unlettered Prophet, of Mighty Stature and Exalted Rank, and to his Family

and Companions. Amen.

491

A Sacred Date

The date a significant mystery of the All- Wise Qur'an became clear was again
contained in the word "Qur'an." It was like this:

According to the abjad system the numerical value of the word "Qur'an" is three
hundred and fifty-one. It contains two alifs; if the concealed alif is read alfun, it is
alfun with the value of a thousand. 1 That is to say, the year one thousand three
hundred and fifty-one may be called the Year of the Qur' an, for during it the strange
mystery of the 'coincidences' in the word "Qur'an" became apparent in the parts of
the Risale-i Nur, which is the Qur' an' s commentary. The miraculous mystery of the
coincidences of the word "Allah" in the Qur'an appeared the same year. A Qur'an
showing the miraculous patterns, arranged in a new way, was written the same year.
That year students of the Qur' an endeavoured to preserve the Qur' anic script with all
their strength in the face of its being changed. Important aspects of the Qur' an' s
miraculousness became apparent that same year. And the same year numerous events
occurred which were related to the Qur'an, and it seems they will continue to occur.

1 According to the rules of grammar, failun is read fa'lun, like katifun is read katfun. Therefore, alifun
is read alfun. Then it becomes one thousand three hundred and fifty-one

492

Addendum to the Sixth Section,
which is the Sixth Treatise

Six Questions

[This addendum was written in order to avoid the disgust and insults
that will levelled at us in the future. That is to say, it was written so that
when it is said: "Look at the spineless people of that age!", their spit
should not hit us in the face, or else to wipe it off. Let the ears ring of
the leaders of Europe, savage beneath their humanitarian masks! And
let this be thrust in the unseeing eyes of those unjust oppressors who
inflicted these unscrupulous tyrants on us! It is a petition with which to
hit over the head the followers of modern low civilization, who this
century have a hundred thousand times over necessitated the existence
of Hell.]

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

No reason have we why we should not put our trust on God. Indeed He has
guided us to the way we [follow]. We shall certainly bear with patience all
the hurt you may cause us. For those who put their trust should put their
trust on God. (14:12)

Recently the concealed aggression of the irreligious has taken on a most ugly
form; tyrannical aggression against the unfortunate people of belief and against
religion. Our private and unofficial call to prayer and iqama was interrupted during
the private worship of myself and one or two brothers in the mosque I myself
repaired. "Why are you reciting the iqama in Arabic and making the call to prayer
secretly?" they asked. My patience is exhausted by keeping silent, so I say, not to
those unscrupulous vile men who are not worth addressing, but to the heads of the
Pharaoh-like society who with arbitrary despotism play with the fate of this nation: O
you peo

1 Iqama (Ar.) (T. kamei): formulas recited by the muezzin, signalling the commencement of the Salat
(T. namaz) or prescribed prayers.

493

pie of innovation who have deviated from the straight path of religion, I want the
answer to six questions.

The First

Every government in the world, every people which rules, and even cannibals or
the chief of a band of brigands, have some principle, some law, by which they rule.
So according to which principle do you carry out this extraordinary aggression? Show
your law! Or do you accept as the law the arbitrary whims of a handful of
contemptible officials? Because no law can interrupt private worship in that way;
there cannot be such a law !

The Second

On what force do you rely that you are so bold as to violate the principle of
freedom of conscience, which governs almost everywhere in mankind, especially in
this age of freedom and in civilized circles, and to treat it lightly and so indirectly to
insult mankind and dismiss their objections? What power do you have that you attack
religion and the people of religion in this way as though you had taken irreligion as a
religion for yourselves in bigoted fashion, although by calling yourselves secular you
proclaim that you will interfere with neither religion nor irreligion? Such a thing will
not remain secret! You will have to answer for it! So what answer will you give?
Although you could not hold out against the objections of the smallest of twenty
governments, you try to violate by force freedom of conscience, as though you
completely disregard the objections of twenty governments.

The Third

According to what principle do you propose to people like me who follow the
Shafi'i school of law, the Hanafi school, in a way opposed to the elevatedness and
purity of that school, due to the false fatwas of certain corrupt religious scholars who
have sold their consciences to gain the world? If, after abrogating the Shafi'i school,
which has millions of followers, and making them all follow the Hanafi school, it is
forcibly proposed to me in tyrannical fashion, it may perhaps be said that it is a
principle of irreligious people like you. Otherwise it is arbitrary and despicable, and
we do not follow the whims of people such as that, and we do not recognize them !

The Fourth

In accordance with which principle do you propose through a corrupt, innovating
fatwa, to "perform the iqama in Turkish" in a way completely contrary to Turkish
nationalism, which is sincerely religious and sincerely

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respectful towards religion and has since early times blended and united with Islam,
in the name of Turkism, which has the meaning of Europeanism, to those like me who
belong to another nation? Yes, although I have friendly and brotherly relations with
true Turks, I have in no respect any relation with the Turkism of imitators of Europe
like you. How can you propose such a thing to me? Through which law? Perhaps, if
you abolish the nationhood of the Kurds, of whom there are millions and who for
thousands of years have not forgotten their nationhood and language, and are the true
fellow-citizens and companions in jihad of the Turks, and make them forget their
language, then perhaps your proposal to those like me who are reckoned to be of a
different race would be in accordance with some sort of savage principle. Otherwise it
is purely arbitrary. The arbitrary whims of individuals may not be followed, and we
do not follow them!

The Fifth

A government may apply all laws to its citizens and to those it accepts as its
citizens, but it cannot apply its laws to those it does not accept. For they are able to
say: "Since we are not citizens, you are not our government!"

Furthermore, no government can inflict two penalties at the same time. It either
imprisons a murderer, or it executes him. To punish by both imprisonment and capital
punishment is a principle nowhere!

However, despite the fact that I have caused no harm whatsoever to this country
and nation, for eight years you have held me in captivity in a way not inflicted on
even a criminal belonging to the wildest and most foreign nation. Although you have
pardoned criminals, you have negated my freedom and deprived me of all civil rights.
You have not said: "He too is a son of this land," so in accordance with what principle
and law do you propose, contrary to the wishes of your nation, these freedom-
destroying principles to someone like me who is a foreigner to you in every respect?
Since in the Great War you have counted as nothing all the heroic deeds to which this
person was the means and were testified to by the Army's commanders, and
considered his self-sacrficing struggles for the sake of this country to be crimes; and
since you deemed his preserving the good morality of this unfortunate nation and his
serious and effective work to secure its happiness in this world and the next to be
treason; and since you have punished for eight years (and now the punishment has
been for twenty-eight years) someone who does not for himself accept your injurious,
dangerous, arbitrary principles, which in reality are without benefit and spring from
unbelief and from Europe; the punishment is the same. I did not accept its appli

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cation so you made me suffer it. So according to what principle is it to enforce a
second punishment?

The Sixth

In view of the treatment you have meted out to me, according to your belief, I
oppose you in general fashion. You are sacrifing your religion and life in the hereafter
for the sake of your lives in this world. According to you, due to the opposition
between us and contrary to you, we are all the time ready to sacrifice our life in this
world for our religion and for the hereafter. To sacrifice two or three years of
humiliating life under your domination in order to gain sacred martyrdom, is like the
water of Kawthar for us. However, in order to make you tremble, relying on the
effulgence and indications of the All-Wise Qur' an, I tell you this with certainty:

You shall not live after killing me! You shall be driven out of the world, your
paradise and your beloved, by an irresistible hand, and swiftly cast into everlasting
darkness. Behind me, your Nimrod-like chiefs will be quickly killed and sent to me.
In the divine presence I shall grasp hold of them by their collars, and on divine justice
casting them down to the lowest of the low, I shall take my revenge!

O you miserable wretches who sell religion and your lives in the hereafter for this
world! If you want to live, do not interfere with me! I hope from divine mercy that my
death will serve religion more than my life and will explode over your heads like a
bomb, scattering you! Cause me trouble if you have the courage! If you do anything,
you shall see! With all my strength I proclaim this verse in the face of all your threats:

Men said to them: "A great army is gathering against you;" and frightened
them; but it only increased their faith, they said: "For us God suffices, and
He is the Best Disposer of Affairs. "(3:173)

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Seventh Section
The Seven Signs

[These seven signs are the answers to three questions. The first
question consists of four signs.]

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

So believe in God and His Apostle, the unlettered Prophet, who believes in
God and His Words; follow him that [so] you may be guided.(7:158) * Fain
would they extinguish God's Light with their mouths, but God will not allow
but that His Light should be perfected, even though the unbelievers may
detest [it]. (9:32)

FIRST SIGN

Like all the bad things they do, the arguments which those people who are
attempting to change the marks of Islam cite to support themselves spring from their
blind imitation of Europe. They say:

"In London, Europeans who have embraced Islam translate many things like the
call to prayer and iqama into their own languages in their own country. The World of
Islam says nothing in the face of this and does not object. That must mean it is
permissible according to the Shari'a, since they are silent?"

The Answer: There is such a glaring difference here that no conscious
being could make such a comparison and imitate them. For the European lands are
called the Abode of War in the terminology of the Shari'a, and there are numerous
things that are permissible in the Abode of War that are not lawful in the Abode of
Islam.

Furthermore, the lands of Europe are the realm of Christendom. They are not an
environment that communicates and instils the meanings of the terms of the Shari'a
and concepts of the sacred words, so necessarily the sacred meanings have been
preferred to the sacred words; the words have been abandoned for the meaning; the
lesser of two evils has been chosen. In the Abode of Islam, however, the very
environment teaches the people of Islam the abbreviated meanings of those sacred
words. The conversa

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tions of Muslims about Islamic traditions and Islamic history and the marks of Islam
and the pillars of Islam, all continuously instil in them the concise meanings of those
blessed words. In this country, besides the mosques and the medreses, even the
gravestones in the graveyards inculcate those sacred meanings in believers like
teachers and recall them to them. If for some worldly advantage, someone who calls
himself a Muslim learns fifty words a day from a French dictionary, and then in fifty
years does not learn the sacred phrases "Glory be to God," "All praise be to God,"
"There is no god but God," and "God is Most Great," which are repeated fifty times
daily, does he not fall lower than an animal? These sacred words cannot be translated
and corrupted and deported for such beasts! To change and deport them means
erasing all the gravestones; it means turning all the dead in the graveyards against
them, trembling at such an insult.

In order to deceive the nation, corrupt religious scholars who have been misled
by the irreligious, say that contrary to the other Imams, Imam-i A'zam 1 said: "If the
need arises in distant countries, it is permissible for those who know no Arabic at all
to recite the Fatiha in Persian." 2 We are in need of this, so can we recite it in Turkish?

The Answer: The most important of the leading authorities as well as the
other twelve leading mujtahids have given fatwas opposing this fatwa of Imam-i
A'zam. The great highway of the World of Islam is their highway; the Muslim
community may follow it. Those who drive the community towards another, special
and narrow, way are leading it astray. Imam-i A'zam' s fatwa is particular in five
respects:

Firstly: It addresses people who are far from the centre of Islam.

Secondly: It is in consequence of real need.

Thirdly: According to one narration, it refers only to translations into Persian,
which is supposed to be a language of the people of Paradise.

Fourthly: The ruling is limited to the Fatiha, so that those who do not know it
will not give up performing the obligatory prayers.

Fifthly: Permission was given so that the sacred meanings could be understood
by the ordinary people whose Islamic zeal arose from their powerful belief. But to
translate them and discard the Arabic original due to weakness of belief, negative
nationalism, and hatred for the Arabic language, driven by a destructive urge, will
cause people to renounce religion.

1 Imam-i A'zam: Abu Hanifa Nu'man b. Thabit (80/699-150/767), the founder of the Hanifi school of
law. The founders (Imams) of the other three main Sunni schools of law were Abu 'Abdullah Malik b.
Anas (94/716-179/795; Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Hanbal (164/780-241/855); and Muhammad b. Idris
al-Shafi'i (150/767-205/820).

2 Sarakhsi, al-Mabsut, i, 37, 234; Kashani, Bada'i al-Sana'i, i, 112.

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SECOND SIGN

The people of innovation who have changed the marks of Islam first of all sought
fatwas from corrupt religious scholars. They had previously pointed out that the fatwa
we explained was particular in five respects. Secondly, the people of innovation
adopted the following inauspicious idea from the European reformists: being
dissatisfied with the Catholic Church foremost the revolutionaries, reformists, and
philosophers, who were innovators according to the Church, favoured Protestantism,
which was considered to Mu'tazilite, and taking advantage of the French Revolution
they partially destroyed the Catholic Church and proclaimed Protestantism.

Then the pseudo-patriots here, who are accustomed to imitating blindly, said: "A
revolution like that came about in the Christian religion. At first the revolutionaries
were called apostates, then later they were again accepted as Christians. So why
shouldn't there be a similar religious revolution in Islam?"

The Answer: The difference here is even greater than in the false
comparison in the First Sign. Because in the religion of Jesus (Upon whom be peace),
only the fundamentals of religion were taken from him. Most of the injunctions
relating to social life and the secondary matters of the law were formulated by the
disciples and other spiritual leaders. The greater part were taken from former holy
scriptures. Since Jesus (Upon whom be peace) was not a worldly ruler and sovereign,
and since he was not the source of general social laws, the fundamentals of his
religion were as though clothed with the garment of common laws and civil rules
taken from outside, having been given a different form and called the Christian law. If
this form is changed and the garment transformed, the fundamental religion of Jesus
(Upon whom be peace) may persist. It does not infer denying or giving the lie to Jesus
himself (Upon whom be peace).

However, the Glory of the World (Upon whom be blessings and peace) was the
founder of the religion and Shari'a of Islam. He was the sovereign of this world and
the next, and the East and West and Andalusia and India were his seat of rule. He
himself therefore both taught the fundamentals of the religion of Islam, and brought
its secondary matters and other injunctions, including even minor matters of conduct;
he himself taught them; he commanded them. That is to say, the secondary matters of
Islam are not like a garment capable of change, so that if they are changed, the
essential religion will persist. They are rather a sort body for the fundamentals of
religion, or at least a skin. They have blended and combined with it and cannot be
separated. To change them infers direct denial and contradiction of the one who
brought the Shari'a.

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As for the differences in the schools of law, this has arisen from differences in
ways of understanding the theoretical principles shown by the Shari'a's owner.
Principles called "the essentials of religion," which are not open to interpretation, and
those called "incontrovertible" cannot be changed in any way and may not be
interpreted. Anyone who does change them quits the religion and is included under
the rule: "They renounce religion as the arrow flies from the bow." 3

The people of innovation have found the following pretext for their irreligion and
deviation from the straight path. They say: "The French Revolution was the cause of a
sequence of events in the world of humanity; the clergy and spiritual leaders and the
Catholic Church, which was their Church, were attacked and eliminated. Later the
Revolution was condoned by a lot of people; also, the French made greater progress.
Is this not so?"

The Answer: Like with the previous comparisons, the differences here are
clear. For in France, the Christian religion and particularly the Catholic Church had
for a long time been a means of domination and despotism in the hands of the upper
and ruling classes. It was the means by which they perpetuated their hold over the
ordinary people. And since it was through the Catholic Church that the patriots were
oppressed, who among the common people were awakened and were called
"Jacobins," and the freedom-seeking thinkers were persecuted, who attacked the
despotism of the upper class tyrants; and since for nearly four hundred years the
Catholic Church had been an imputed cause, through revolutions in Europe, of
overturning the stability of social life, it had been attacked, not in the name of
irreligion, but by the other Christian sects. A feeling of indignation and enmity arose
among the common people and the philosophers as a result of which the above-
mentioned historical event took place.

However, no oppressed person and no thinker has the right to complain about the
religion of Muhammad (UWBP) and the Shari'a of Islam. For it does not injure them,
it protects them. Islamic history is there for all to see. Apart from one or two
incidents, no internal wars of religion have occurred. Whereas the Catholic Church
caused four hundred years of internal revolutions.

Furthermore, Islam has been the stronghold of the common people rather than of
the upper classes. Through enjoining the payment of zakat and prohibiting usury and
interest, it has made the upper classes not despots over the common people but
servants in a way! It says: "The master

3 Bukhari, Anbiya', 6; Manaqib, 25; Maghazi, 61; Fada'il al-Qur'an, 36.

500

of a people is its servant." 4 And, "The best of people is the one most useful to
people." 5 Also, through sacred phrases like,

So will they not think?(6:50) * So will they not reflect on it?(4:82) * So will
they not reason? '(2:44),

the All- Wise Qur'an calls on the intellect to testify; it warns, refers to the reason, it
urges investigation. Through this, it accords scholars and the people of reason a
position; it gives them importance. It does not dismiss the reason like the Catholic
Church; it does not silence thinkers, or require blind imitation of them.

Since the fundamentals of, not true Christianity, but the present-day Christian
religion and the fundamentals of Islam have parted on another important point, they
go their separate ways in many respects like the above-mentioned differences. The
important point is this:

Islam is the religion of the true affirmation of divine unity (tevhid-i hakiki) so that
it dismisses intermediaries and causes. It breaks egotism and establishes sincere
worship. It cuts at the root every sort of false dominicality, starting from that of the
soul, and rebuffs it. It is because of this that if a person of high position from the
upper class is going to be completely religious, he will have to give up his egotism. If
he does not give up egotism, he will lose his strength of religion and to an extent give
up his religion.

As for the Christian religion of the present day, since it has accepted the belief of
Jesus (Upon whom be peace) being the Son of God, it ascribes an actual effect to
causes and intermediaries. It cannot break egotism in the name of religion. Rather,
saying that egotism is a holy deputy of Jesus (Upon whom be peace), it ascribes it a
sacredness. For this reason, members of the Christian upper classes who occupy the
highest worldly positions may be completely religious. In fact, there are many like the
former American President, Wilson, and the former British Prime Minister, Lloyd
George, who were as religious as bigoted priests. But any Muslims who rise to those
positions rarely remain completely religious and firm in their religion, for they cannot
give up their pride and egotism. And true taqwa cannot be combined with pride and
egotism.

Yes, just as the religious bigotry of the Christian upper class and slackness in
religion of the Muslim upper class demonstrate an important difference, so the fact
that the philosophers who emerged from Christianity were

4

al-Maghribi, Jami' al-Shaml, i, 450, no: 1668; al-'Ajluni, Kashf al-Khafa' , ii, 463.
5 al-'Ajluni, Kashf al-Khafa' , ii, 463; al-Manawi, Fayd al-Qadir, iii, 481, no: 4044.

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indifferent towards religion or else opposed it, while the great majority of those who
emerged from Islam constructed their philosophy on Islamic fundamentals,
demonstrates yet another important difference.

Furthermore, generally, ordinary Christians who have fallen on hard times or are
sent to prison cannot expect assistance from religion. Formerly, most of them became
irreligious. In fact, the revolutionaries famous in history who instigated the French
Revolution and were called "irreligious Jacobins," were mostly disaster-stricken
common people. Whereas in Islam, the great majority of those who suffer disaster or
imprisonment await succour from religion and they become religious. This situation
too, demonstrates an important difference.

THIRD SIGN

The people of innovation say: "Religious bigotry made us backward. Living this
age necessitates giving up bigotry. Europe advanced when it abandoned it. Isn't this
so?"

The Answer: You are wrong and you have been deceived! Or else you are
deceiving, for Europe is bigoted in religion. Tell an ordinary Bulgar or an English
soldier or a French Jacobin: "Wear this turban, or else you'll be thrown into prison!",
and their bigotry will force them to reply: "Not prison, if you kill me even, I won't
insult my religion and nation in that way!"

Also, history testifies that whenever the people of Islam have adhered to their
religion, they have advanced in relation to the strength of their adherence. And
whenever they have become less firm in their religion, they have declined. Whereas
with Christianity, it is the opposite. This too arises from an essential difference.

Also, Islam cannot be compared with other religions; if a Muslim abandons Islam
and gives up his religion, he will not accept any other prophet; indeed, he will not
acknowledge Almighty God either nor probably recognize anything sacred. He will
have no conscience that will allow him moral and spiritual attainment; it will be
corrupted. Therefore, in the view of Islam, in wartime, an unbeliever has the right to
life. His life is protected according to Islam if he is outside the country and makes
peace, or if he is inside the country and pays the head-tax. But an apostate does not
have the right to life. For his conscience is corrupted and he becomes like poison in
the life of society. But a Christian may still contribute to society, even if he is
irreligious. He may accept some sacred matters and may believe in some of the
prophets, and may assent to Almighty God in some respects.

I wonder, what advantage do these innovators, or more accurately

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deviants or heretics, find in this irreligion? If they are thinking of government and
public order, to govern ten irreligious anarchists who do not know God and to repulse
their evils is much more difficult than governing a thousand people with religion. If
they are thinking of progress, such irreligious people are an obstacle to progress, just
as they are harmful for the administration and government. They destroy security and
public order, which are the basis of progress and commerce. In truth, they are
destructive due to the very way they have taken. The biggest fool in the world is one
who expects progress, prosperity, and happiness from irreligious anarchists like them.
One of those fools who occupied a high position, said: "We said 'Allah! Allah!' and
remained backward. Europe said 'Guns and cannons,' and advanced."

According to the rule, "A fool should be answered with silence," the answer for
such people is silence. But because behind certain fools there are inauspicious clever
people, we say this:

O you wretches! This world is a guesthouse. Every day thirty thousand witnesses
put their signature with their corpses to the decree "Death is a reality" and they testify
to it. Can you kill death? Can you contradict those witnesses? Since you can't, death
makes people say: "Allah! Allah!" Which of your guns and cannons can illuminate
the everlasting darkness confronting someone in the throes of death in place of
"Allah! Allah!", and transform his absolute despair into absolute hope? Since there is
death and we shall enter the grave, and this life departs and an eternal life comes, if
guns and cannons are said once, "Allah! Allah!" should be said a thousand times. And
if it is in Allah's way, the gun also says "Allah!", and the cannon booms "Allahu
Akbar!" It breaks the fast with "Allah," and starts it.

FOURTH SIGN

The destructive innovators are of two kinds:

The First Kind say as though on account of religion and out of loyality to Islam,
as though to strengthen religion with nationalism: "We want to plant the luminous
tree of religion, which has grown weak, in the earth of nationalism, in order to
strengthen it." They appear to be supporting religion.

The Second Sort say in the name of the nation and on account of nationalism, in
order to strengthen racialism, say: "We want to graft Islam onto the nation," thus
creating innovations.

To the First Sort, we say: O unhappy, corrupt scholars of religion who confirm
the saying "loyal fools," or ecstatic, unthinking, ignorant Sufis! The Tuba-tree of
Islam, whose roots are founded in the reality of the universe and whose branches
spread through the truths of the universe, cannot

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be planted in the earth of imaginary, temporary, partial, particular, negative, indeed,
baseless, rancorous, tyrannical, and dark racialism! To try to do so is to attempt
something foolish, destructive, and innovative.

To the Second Sort of nationalists, we say this: O you drunken pseudo-patriots!
Perhaps the previous century could have been the age of nationalism. This century is
not the age of racialism ! Communism and socialism pervade everything, destroying
the idea of racialism. The age of racialism is passing. Eternal, permanent Islamic
nationalism cannot be bound onto temporary unstable racialism and grafted onto it.
And even if it were to be, it would corrupt the Islamic nation, but it would not reform
racialist nationalism. Yes, there appears to be a pleasure and temporary strength in a
temporary graft, but it is very temporary and the consequences are dangerous.

Furthermore, it would open up a split in the Turkish people that could not be
healed in all eternity. Then the nation's strength would be reduced to nothing, since
one section would have broken the power of the other. If two mountains are placed in
the two pans of some scales, a few pounds weight can move the two, raising one, and
lowering the other.

The Second Question consists of two signs:

The First is the FIFTH SIGN, and is a very brief answer to an important
question:

Question: There are numerous authentic narrations about the appearance of
the Mahdi at the end of time and his putting the world to rights, which will have been
corrupted. However, the present time is the time of the group or social collectivity,
not of the individual. However great a genius an individual person is, even a
hundredfold genius, if he is not the representative of a group and if he does not
represent a group's collective personality, he will be defeated in the face of the
collective personality of an opposing group. At this time, however exalted the power
of his sainthood, how can he reform the world amid the widespread corruption of a
human group such as that? If all the Mahdi' s works are wondrous, it would be
contrary to the divine wisdom and laws in the world. We want to understand the
reality of this matter of the Mahdi. How can we?

The Answer: Out of His perfect mercy, every time the Muslim community
has been corrupted, Almighty God has sent a reformer, or a regenerator, or a
vicegerent of high standing, or a supreme spiritual pole, or a perfect guide, or blessed
persons resembling a Mahdi, as a mark of His protecting the Shari'a of Islam until
eternity; they have removed the corruption, reformed the nation, and preserved
Muhammad's (UWBP) religion.

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Since His custom has always been thus, certainly at the time of greatest corruption at
the end of time He will send a luminous person as both the greatest interpreter of the
Law, and the supreme renewer, and ruler, and Mahdi, and guide, and spiritual pole,
and that person will be from the Prophet's (UWBP) Family Almighty God fills and
empties the world between the heavens and earth with clouds, and in an instant stills
the storms of the sea, and in an hour in spring creates samples of the summer and in
an hour in summer creates a winter storm. Such an All-Powerful One of Glory can
also scatter the darkness covering the World of Islam by means of the Mahdi. He has
promised this and certainly He will carry out His promise.

If considered from the point of view of divine power, it is most easy. And if
thought of from the point of view of causes and divine wisdom, it is again so
reasonable and necessary that thinkers have asserted that even if it had not been
narrated from the Bringer of Sure News (UWBP), it still should be thus. And it will
be. It is like this: All praise be to God, the prayer, "O God, grant blessings to our
master Muhammad and to the Family of our master Muhammad, as you granted
blessings to Abraham and to the Family of Abraham, in all the world; indeed You are
worthy of all praise, exalted!," which is repeated by the Muslim community five times
every day in all the obligatory prayers, has self-evidently been accepted. For like the
Family of Abraham (Upon whom be peace), the members of Muhammad's (Upon
whom be blessings and peace) Family stand as commanders at the heads of all blessed
chains of spiritual authorities in the assemblies of all the regions of the world in all
centuries. 6 They are so numerous that together they form a mighty army. If they took
on physical form and with their solidarity were formed into a division, if they
awakened the religion of Islam and bound it together in unity and established a sort of
sacred nationhood, the army of no other nation could withstand them. Thus, that
numerous, powerful army is the Family of the Muhammad (Upon whom be blessings
and peace), the Mahdi' s most select army.

Yes, today in the world there is no family distinguished by such high honour and
elevated qualities and nobility in its descendants, in unbroken succession and well-
documented genealogy, which is as powerful and

6 Just one of them is Sayyid Ahmad al-Sanusi, who commands millions of followers. Another is Sayyid
Idres, who commands more than one hundred thousand. Another Sayyid, Sayyid Yahya, commands
hundreds of thousands of men. And so on. Just as among the members of this tribe of Sayyids there are
numerous outward commanders, so too there are the champions of spiritual heroes, like Sayyid 'Abd
al-Qadir Gilani, Sayyid Abu'l-Hasan al-Shazali, and Sayyid Ahmad Badawi.

505

important as the line of Sayyids of the Family of the Prophet (UWBP). Since early
times it is they who have been at the heads of all the groups of the people of truth, and
they who have been the renowned leaders of the people of perfection. Now it is a
blessed line numbering millions. Vigilant and circumspect, their hearts full of belief
and love of the Prophet (UWBP), they are distinguished by the honour of their world-
renowned lineage. Momentous events shall occur which will awaken and arouse that
sacred force within the vast community. Certainly, the elevated ardour in that huge
force will surge up and the Mahdi shall come to lead it, guiding it to the way of truth
and reality. We await from the divine law and divine mercy that it should be such, and
its being such, like we await the coming of spring after winter; and we are right to
await it.

The Second Sign, that is, the SIXTH SIGN

The Mahdi' s luminous community will repair the destruction of the innovative
regime of the secret society of the Sufyan, and will restore the Prophet's (UWBP)
glorious Sunna. That is to say, the secret society of the Sufyan will try to destroy the
Shari'a of Muhammad (UWBP) in the World of Islam with the intention of denying
his messengership, and will be killed and routed by the miraculous immaterial sword
of the Mahdi' s community.

Moreover, in the world of humanity, the secret society of the Dajjal will overturn
civilization and subvert all mankind's sacred matters, with the intention of denying
the Godhead. A zealous, self-sacrificing community known as a Christian community
but worthy of being called "Muslim Christians," will work to unite the true religion of
Jesus (Upon whom be peace) with the reality of Islam and will kill and rout that
society of the Dajjal under the leadership of Jesus (UWP), thus saving humanity from
atheism.

This important mystery is very lengthy. Since we have discussed it briefly in
other places, here we make do with this indication.

SEVENTH SIGN

That is, the Third Question. They say: "Your former refutations and strivings in
the way of Islam were not in your present style. Also you do not defend Islam against
Europe in the manner of the philosophers and thinkers. Why have you changed the
style of the Old Said? Why do you not act in the same way as those who strive for the
cause of Islam by non-physical means?

The Answer: The Old Said and certain thinkers in part accepted the
principles of human and European philosophy, and contested them with

506

their own weapons; they accepted them to a degree. They submitted unshakeably to
some of their principles in the form of the physical sciences, and therefore could not
demonstrate the true worth of Islam. It was quite simply as though they were grafting
Islam with the branches of philosophy, the roots of which they supposed to be very
deep; as though strengthening it. But since this method produced few victories and it
reduced Islam's worth to a degree, I gave it up, and I showed in fact that Islam's
principles are so profound that the deepest principles of philosophy cannot reach
them; indeed, they remain superficial beside them. The Thirtieth Word, Twenty-
Fourth Letter, and Twenty-Ninth Word have demonstrated this truth with proofs. In
the former way, philosophy was supposed to be profound and the matters of Islam,
external; it was supposed that by binding it with the branches of philosophy, Islam
would be preserved and made to endure. As if the principles of philosophy could in
any way reach the matters of Islam !

Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which you have taught

us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise 1(2:32)

And they shall say: "Praise be to God, Who has guided us to this [felicity];

never could we have found guidance, had it not been for the guidance of

God; indeed, it was the truth that the prophets of our Sustainer brought to

us!"(l:43)

O God! Grant blessings to our master Muhammad and to the Family of our

master Muhammad, as you granted blessings to our master Abraham and to

the Family of Abraham, in all the worlds; indeed, You are worthy of all

praise, exalted!

The Eight Symbols,
Which is the Eighth Section

This treatise consists of eight symbols, that is, eight short treatises. The basis of these
symbols is coincidence (tevafuk), which is an important principle of the science of
jafr, and a valuable key to the occult sciences, and to some of the Qur'an's mysteries
pertaining to the Unseen. It has not been included here since it is to be published in
another collection.

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The Ninth Section

Nine Allusions

[This section is about the paths of sainthood, and consists of nine
allusions.]

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

Behold! Verily on the friends of God there is no fear, nor shall they

grieve. (10:62)

First Allusion

Underlying the terms Sufism, path, sainthood, and spiritual journeying is an
agreeable, luminous, joyful, and spiritual sacred truth. This truth has been proclaimed,
taught, and described in thousands of books written by authoritative scholars among
the people of illumination and unveiling, who have told the Muslim community and
us about it. May God reward them abundantly! Now, because of some compelling
circumstances at this time, we shall point out a few droplets, like sprinklings, from
that vast ocean.

Question? What is the Sufi path?

The Answer: The aim and goal of the Sufi path is - knowledge of God and the
unfolding of the truths of faith - through a spiritual journeying with the feet of the
heart under the shadow of the Ascension of Muhammad (UWBP), to manifest the
truths of faith and the Qur'an through tasting and certain enhanced states, and to an
extent through direct vision; it is an elevated human mystery and perfection called the
Sufi path or Sufism.

Yes, since man is a comprehensive index of the universe, his heart resembles a
map of thousands of worlds. For innumerable human sciences and fields of
knowledge show that man' s brain in his head is a sort of centre of the universe, like a
telephone and telegraph exchange for innumerable lines. Similarly, the millions of
light- scattering books written by incalculable saints show man's heart in his essential
being to be the place of manifestation of innumerable cosmic truths, and to be their
pivot, and seed.

Since the human heart and brain are thus central, and comprise the

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members of a mighty tree in the form of a seed, and within them are encapsulated the
parts and components of an eternal, majestic machine pertaining to the hereafter,
certainly the heart's Creator willed that it should be worked and brought out from the
potential to the actual, and developed, and put into action, for that is what He did.
Since He willed it, the heart will certainly work like the mind. And the most effective
means of working it is to be turned towards the truths of faith on the Sufi path through
the remembrance of God in the degrees of sainthood.

Second Allusion

The keys and means of this journeying of the heart and spiritual progress are
remembrance of God and reflective thought. Their virtues are too numerous to be
described. Apart from uncountable benefits in the hereafter and human attainments
and perfections, a minor benefit pertaining to this tumultuous worldly life is as
follows: everyone wants a solace and seeks enjoyment in order to be saved a little
from the upheavals of life and its heavy burdens, and to take a breather; everyone
searches out something friendly to banish the loneliness. For one or two people out of
ten, the social gatherings in civilized life offer a temporary, but heedless and drunken
familiarity, intimacy, and solace. But eighty per cent live solitary lives in mountains
or valleys, or are driven to distant places in search of a livelihood, or due to such
agencies as calamities or old age which recall the hereafter, they are deprived of the
companionship of human groups and societies. Their circumstances allow them no
familiarity, friendliness, or consolation.

For such a person, true solace, intimacy, and sweet pleasure are to be found in
addressing his own heart in those distant places and desolate mountains and
distressing valleys, in working it through remembrance of God and reflection. Calling
on God Almighty, he may become intimate with Him in his heart, and by virtue of
that intimacy think of the things around him, which were regarding him savagely, as
smiling on him familiarly. He will say: "My Creator, whom I am recollecting, has
innumerable servants here in my place of solitude, just as He has everywhere. I am
not alone; loneliness has no meaning." Thanks to his faith, he receives pleasure from
that sense of familiarity. He grasps the meaning of life's happiness, and he offers
thanks to God.

Third Allusion

Sainthood is a proof of divine messengership; the Sufi path is a proof of the
Shari'a. For the truths of belief which messengership preaches, sainthood sees and
confirms with a sort of direct vision with the heart and tast

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ing with the spirit at the degree of the vision of certainty. Its confirmation is a certain
proof of the veracity of messengership. Through the experiential knowledge of the
Sufi path and its unveilings, and through its benefits and effulgences, it is a clear
proof of the truths and the matters which the Shari'a teaches; it demonstrates that they
are the truth and that they come from the truth. Yes, just as sainthood and the Sufi
path are evidence and proof of divine messengership and the Shari'a, so they are a
perfection of Islam and a means of attaining to its lights, and through Islam, a source
of humanity's progress and moral enlightenment.

Although this vast mystery holds such importance, certain deviant sects have
tended to deny it. They have been deprived of those lights and they have caused
others to be deprived. The most regretable thing is that making a pretext of abuses and
faults they have seen committed by the followers of the Sufi path, some literalist
Sunni scholars and some neglectful politicians who are also Sunnis are trying to close
up that supreme treasury, indeed, to destroy it, and to dry up that source of Kawthar
which distributes a sort of water of life. However, there are few things and ways and
paths that are without fault and are good in every respect. They are bound to contain
some faults and abuses. For if the uninitiated embark on something, they are sure to
misuse it. But as with the accounting of deeds in the hereafter, Almighty God
demonstrates His dominical justice through the weighing up of good deeds and bad
deeds. That is to say, if good deeds preponderate and weigh heavier, He accepts them
and grants reward; whereas if evil deeds preponderate, he punishes for them and
rejects them. The balancing of good and evil deeds looks to quality rather than
quantity. It sometimes happens that a single good deed will weigh heavier than a
thousand evils, and cause them to be forgiven. Divine justice judges thus and reality
too considers it right. Thus, the evidence that the good deeds of the Sufi path - that is,
paths within the bounds of the Prophet' s (UWBP) practices - definitely preponderate
over their evils is that those who follow them preserve their belief when attacked by
the people of misguidance. A sincere ordinary follower of the Sufi path preserves
himself better than a superficial, apparent Muslim with a modern, scientific
background. Through the illumination of the Sufi path and the love of the saints, he
saves his faith. If he commits grievous sins, he becomes a sinner but not an
unbeliever; he is not easily drawn into atheism. No power at all can refute the chain of
shaikhs he accepts, with a strong love and firm belief, to be spiritual poles. And
because no power can refute it, his confidence in them cannot be shaken. And so long
as his confidence is not shaken, he will not accept atheism. In the face of the atheists'
stratagems at the present time, it has become diffi

510

cult for a person unconnected with the Sufi path, whose heart has not been brought to
action, to preserve himself completely, even if he is a learned scholar.

There is another thing; the Sufi path should not be condemned because of the
evils of some orders that have adopted practices outside the bounds of taqwa, and
even of Islam, and have wrongfully called themselves Sufi paths. Quite apart from the
elevated religious and spiritual fruits of the Sufi path and those that look to the
hereafter, Sufi orders were the first, and most effective and ardent, means of
spreading and strengthening brotherhood, the sacred bond of the Islamic world. They
were also one of the three unassailable strongholds of Islam, which held out against
the awesome attacks of the world of unbelief and the politics of Christendom. What
preserved Istanbul, the centre of the Caliphate for five hundred and fifty years against
the whole Christian world, were the lights of belief that poured out of five hundred
places in Istanbul and the powerful faith of those who recited "Allah! Allah!" in the
tekkes behind the big mosques, which were a firm source of support for the people of
belief in that centre of Islam, and their spiritual love arising from knowledge of God,
and their fervent murmurings.

O you unreasoning pseudo-patriots and false nationalists! What evils are there in
the Sufi paths that can negate all this good in the life of your society? You say!

Fourth Allusion

Together with being very easy, the way of sainthood is very difficult. Together
with being very short, it is very long. In addition to being most valuable, it is very
dangerous. And together with being very broad, it is very narrow. It is because of
these points that some of those who take the path drown, others become harmful, and
yet others return and lead other people astray.

In Short: There are two ways on the Sufi path, known by the terms of inner
journeying and outer journeying.

The Inner Way starts from the self, and drawing the eyes away from the outer
world, looks to the heart. It pierces egotism, opens up a way from the heart, and finds
reality. Then it enters the outer world. The outer world then looks luminous. The
journey is completed quickly on this way. The reality seen in the inner world, is seen
on a large scale in the outer world. Most of the paths that practise silent recollection
take this way. Its essential principles are breaking the ego, renouncing the desires of
the flesh, and killing the evil-commanding soul.

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The Second Way starts from the outer world; it gazes on the reflections of the
divine names and attributes in their places of manifestation in the greater sphere, then
it enters the inner world. It observes their lights on a small scale in the sphere of the
heart and opens up the shortest way within them. It sees that the heart is a mirror to
the Eternally Besoughted One, and is united with the goal it is seeking.

If people who travel the first way are unsuccessful in killing the evil-
commanding soul, and if they cannot give up the desires of the flesh and break the
ego, they fall from the rank of thanks to that of pride, then descend from pride to
conceit. If such a person feels the captivation of love and becomes intoxicated by it,
he will make high-flown claims far exceeding his mark, called ecstatic utterances.
This is harmful both for himself and for others.

For example, if a lieutenant becomes conceited out of pleasure at his position of
command, he will suppose himself to be a field marshal and will confuse his small
sphere with the universal one. He will confuse a sun that appears in a small mirror
with the sun whose manifestation appears in all its splendour on the surface of the sea,
due to their similarity in one respect.

In just the same way, there are many people of sainthood who, resembling the
difference between a fly and a peacock, see themselves as greater than those who in
reality are greater than them to the same degree; that is how they see it and they think
they are right. I myself even saw someone whose heart had just been awakened and
had faintly perceived in himself the mystery of sainthood; he supposed himself to be
the supreme spiritual pole and assumed airs accordingly. I said to him: "My brother,
just as the law of sovereignty has particular and universal manifestations from the
office of Prime Minister down to that of District Officer, so sainthood and the rank of
spiritual pole have varying spheres and manifestations. Each station has many shades
and shadows. You have evidently seen the manifestation of the rank of supreme
spiritual pole, the equivalent of Prime Minister, in your own sphere, which is like that
of a District Officer, and you have been deceived. What you saw was right, but your
judgement of it was wrong. To a fly, a cup of water is a small sea." The person came
to his senses, God willing, as a result of this answer of mine, and was saved from the
abyss.

I have also seen many people who thought themselves to be Mahdis of a sort, and
they proclaimed their Mahdiship. Such people are not liars and deceivers, they are
deceived. They suppose what they see to be reality. As the divine names have
manifestations from the sphere of the Sublime

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Throne down to an atom, and their places of manifestation differ to the same degree;
so the degrees of sainthood, which consist of manifesting the names, differ in the
same way. The most important reason for the confusion is this:

In some of the stations of the saints, the characteristics of the Mahdi' s function
may be observed, or a special relation may be formed with the Supreme Spiritual
Pole, or with Khidr; certain stations are connected with certain famous persons. In
fact, the stations are called the station of Khidr, the station of Uwais, or the station of
the Mahdi. Because of this, people who attain to these stations or to minor samples or
shadows of them, suppose themselves to be the famous persons connected with them.
They suppose themselves to be Khidr, or the Mahdi, or the Supreme Spiritual Pole. If
such a person's ego does not seek rank and position, he is not condemned to the state.
His excessively high-flown claims are deemed ecstatic utterances for which he is
probably not responsible. But if his ego is secretly set on acquiring rank and position,
and if he defeated by it and leaves off thanks and becomes proud, from there he will
gradually fall into arrogance, or descend to the depths of madness, or deviate from the
path of truth. For he reckons the great saints to be like himself and his good opinion
of them is spoiled, for however arrogant a soul is, it still perceives its own faults.
Comparing those great saints with himself, he imagines them to be at fault. His
respect towards the prophets diminishes, even.

Those suffering from this should hold fast to the balance of the Shari'a, and adopt
the rules of the scholars of the principles of religion, and take as their guides the
instructions of such authoritative scholars from among the saints as Imam Ghazali and
Imam-i Rabbani. They should constantly accuse their own souls, and attribute nothing
to themselves other than fault, impotence, and want. Ecstatic utterances made by
followers of this way arise from love of self, for love-filled eyes see no faults.
Because of his self-love, such a person supposes a faulty, unworthy fragment of glass
to be a brilliant or a diamond. The most dangerous of all these faults is that he
imagines the partial meanings which occur to his heart in the form of inspiration to be
"God's Word," and he calls them "verses (ayat)." This infers disrespect towards
divine revelation, which is at the most holy and exalted degree. Yes, all inspirations
from the inspirations of bees and animals to those of ordinary people and the elite
among men, and from the inspirations of ordinary angels to those of the sublime
cherubim, are divine words of a sort. But they are dominical speech in conformity
with the capacity of the places of manifestation and their stations; they are the varying
manifestations of dominical address shining through seventy thousand veils.

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However, it is absolutely wrong to use the proper nouns "revelation" and "divine
speech" for such inspirations, and the word "verse," which is a noun proper to the
stars of the Qur'an - the most evident exemplification of God's Word. As is explained
and proved in the Twelfth, Twenty-Fifth, and Thirty-First Words, the relation
between the inspiration in the hearts of those making the above claims and the verses
of the sun of the Qur'an, which is divine speech directly, resembles the relation
between the tiny, dim, obscure image of the sun appearing in the coloured mirror in
your hand and the sun in the sky. Yes, if it is said that the sun's reflected images
appearing in all mirrors are the sun's and are related to it, it would be right, but the
globe of the earth cannot be attached to the suns in those tiny mirrors, nor be bound
by their attraction.

Fifth Allusion

An extremely important way within Sufism is the Unity of Witnessing, which is
another name for the Unity of Existence. This restricts the gaze to the existence of the
Necessarily Existent, and sees other beings to be so weak and shadow-like in relation
to Him that it declares that they do not deserve the name of existence. It envelops
them in veils of imagination, and in the station of abandoning all things other than
God, counts them as nothing. It even imagines them to be non-existent, and goes so
far as to belittle the manifestations of the divine names, saying they are mere
imaginary mirrors.

A significant fact about this way is that due to the powerful faith it inculcates and
the elevated sainthood of those on it advancing to the degree of absolute certainty, the
existence of contingent beings is so diminished that nothing remains in its view other
than imagination and non-existence; it is as though it denies the universe on account
of the Necessarily Existent One.

But this way holds dangers, the first of which is this: there are six pillars of faith,
and such pillars as belief in the Last Day and belief in God require the existence of
contingent beings. These firmly-founded pillars of belief cannot be constructed on
imagination! For this reason, when a person following this way re-enters the world of
sobriety from the worlds of ecstasy and intoxication, he should not bring them with
him, nor should he act in accordance with them.

Furthermore, he should not convert this way, which pertains to the heart and to
illuminations and certain states, into a form that pertains to the reason, knowledge,
and words. For the laws and principles related to reason, knowledge, and speech,
which proceed from the Qur'an and the practices

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of the Prophet (UWBP), cannot sustain that way and are inapplicable to it. For this
reason, the four Rightly-Guided Caliphs, and the leading authorities and interpreters
of the law, and the authorities of the first generations of Islam were not seen to
practise it. This means that it is not the most elevated way. It may be elevated, but it is
also deficient. It is very important, but it is also very perilous and difficult. Yet, it is
still very pleasurable. Those who embark on it for the pleasure, do not want to leave
it, and because of their self-centredness, they suppose it to be the highest degree. We
have explained the basis and nature of this way to an extent in the treatise called
Nokta Risalesi, and in some of the Words and Letters, and shall suffice with them.
Here, we shall describe one of the serious hazards on that important way. It is as
follows:

For the highest of the elite, who pass beyond the sphere of causes and renouncing
everything other than God, sever their attachment to contingent beings and enter a
state of complete absorption in God, this way is a righteous way. But, to present it in
terms of intellectual knowledge to those who are submerged in causes, are enamoured
of the world, and are plunged into materialist philosophy and nature, will drown them
in nature and materiality and distance them from the reality of Islam. For those who
love the world and are attached to the sphere of causes want to ascribe a sort of
permanence to this transitory world. They do not want to lose their beloved. On the
pretext of the Unity of Existence, they imagine it to have permanent existence. On
account of the world, their beloved, and by ascribing permanence and eternity to it,
they make it an object of worship; and, I seek refuge with God, this paves the way to
the abyss of denying God.

This century, materialism is so widespread, materiality is thought to be the source
of everything. If in such an age, the elite believers consider materiality to be so
unimportant as to be non-existent, thus furthering the way of the Unity of Existence,
the materialists will lay claim to it, saying: "We say the same thing." Whereas, among
all the ways in the world, the one furthest from that of the materialists and nature-
worshippers, is the way of the Unity of Existence. For the followers of the Unity of
Existence attach such importance, due to their belief, to the divine existence that they
deny the universe and beings. Whereas the materialists attach so much importance to
beings that on account of the universe they deny God. How can the two come together
or be compared?

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Sixth Allusion

This consists of three points.

First Point: Among the ways of sainthood, the finest, straightest, richest,
and most brilliant is following the practices (Sunna) of the Prophet (UWBP). That is,
to think of the practices in one's actions and deeds, and to follow and imitate them. In
conduct and dealings with others, it is to think of the rulings of the Shari'a and take
them as one's guide.

When followed in this way, daily conduct, dealings, and habitual acts become
worship, and thinking of the practices and Shari'a in one's actions, recalls the
injunctions of the Shari'a. This causes a person to think of the Shari'a's owner. By
thinking of him, it brings to mind Almighty God, and that induces a sort of sense of
His presence. This may transform all the moments of the person's life into worship in
the divine presence. This great highway is the highway of the Companions and the
righteous of the first generations of Islam, who received the legacy of prophethood,
the greater sainthood.

Second Point: Sincerity is the basis of the ways of sainthood and of the
branches of the Sufi path, for through sincerity a person may be saved from implicitly
associating partners with God. One who does not obtain sincerity cannot travel those
ways. The most powerful force of those ways is love. Yes, love does not seek pretexts
for its beloved and does not wish to see the beloved's faults. It looks on frail signs of
its beloved's perfection as powerful proofs, and always takes the part of its beloved.

It is because of this that those who are turned towards knowledge of God with the
feet of love, do not give ear to doubts and objections; they are easily saved. Even a
thousand satans can not negate a hint of their true beloved's perfection. If they do not
possess such love, they would struggle desperately in the face of their souls and Satan
and the objections of the outside devils. They would have to have heroic fortitude and
strength of belief and an attentive gaze in order to save themselves.

It is because of this that in all the degrees of sainthood, the chief leaven and elixir
is the love arising from knowledge of God. But love leads to an abyss, which is this: it
jumps from beseeching and self-effacement, which are the essence of worship, to
complaint and claims and to imbalanced actions. When regarding things other than
God, a person ceases to see how they point to their Maker and starts to see them as
signifying themselves alone, so while being the cure, love becomes poison. That is to
say, although when loving things other than God, the person should fix his heart on
them for God's sake and in His name and because they are mirrors

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reflecting His names, sometimes he loves them for themselves and on account of their
personal perfections and own beauty. He loves them with no thought for God and His
Messenger (UWBP). Such love does not lead to love of God; it obscures it. Whereas
if the person loves those things as signifying their Maker, it leads to love of God;
indeed, such love may be said to be its manifestation.

Third Point: This world is the realm of wisdom, the realm of service; it is
not the realm of reward and recompense. The wage for deeds and acts of service here
is given in the Intermediate Realm and the hereafter. Acts here produce fruits there.
This being the truth of the matter, the results of actions that look to the hereafter
should not be sought in this world. If they are given, they should be received not
gratefully, but regretfully. For in Paradise, the more fruits are picked the more they
grow. So it is hardly sensible to consume in this world in fleeting fashion the fruits of
actions that pertain to the hereafter, which are lasting. It is like exchanging a
permanent lamp for one that will last a minute and then flicker out.

It is because of this that the people of sainthood look on service, difficulty,
misfortune, and hardship as agreeable. They do not complain and lament, but say:
"All praise be to God for all situations!" When illuminations and wonders, unfoldings
and lights are bestowed on them, they accept them as divine favours, and try to
conceal them. They do not become proud, but offer more thanks and worship. Many
of them have wanted those states to be concealed or to cease, lest they spoil the
sincerity of their actions. Yes, the highest divine favour for an acceptable person is
not to make him realize the favour, so that he does not give up beseeching and
offering thanks, or become complacent and start complaining.

It is because of this truth that if those who seek sainthood and follow the Sufi
path do so for illuminations and wonders, which are some of the emanations of
sainthood, and they are turned towards those and receive pleasure from them, they as
though consume in transient fashion in this transient world the enduring fruits of the
hereafter. This too opens up the way to loss of sincerity, the leaven of sainthood, and
to sainthood eluding them.

Seventh Allusion

This consists of four points.

First Point: The Shari'a is directly, without shadow or veil, the result of
the divine address, through the mystery of divine oneness in respect of absolute
dominicalitY. The highest degrees of the Sufi path and of reality are like parts of the
Shari'a. Or they are always like its means, introduction, and servant. Their results are
the incontrovertible matters of

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the Shari'a. That is to say, the ways of the Sufi orders and of reality are like means,
servants, and steps for reaching the truths of the Shari'a, till at the highest level they
are transformed into the meaning of reality and essence of the Sufi way, which are at
the heart of the Shari'a. So then they become parts of the Greater Shari'a. It is not
right to think of the Shari'a as an outer shell and reality as its inner part and result and
aim, as some Sufis do. Yes, the Shari'a unfolds according to the levels of men. It is
wrong to suppose that what the mass of people imagine is the external aspect of the
Shari'a is its reality, and to give the names of reality and Sufi path to the degrees of
the Shari'a that are disclosed to the elite. The Shari'a has degrees which look to all
classes.

It is in consequence of this that the further the Sufis and those who seek reality
advance, their longing for the truths of the Shari'a increases, as does their captivation
by them and their following them. They consider the most minor aspect of the
Prophet's (UWBP) practices to be their greatest aim, and strive to follow them and
imitate them. For however higher divine revelation is than inspiration, the conduct of
the Shari'a, which is the fruit of revelation, is higher to the same degree than the
conduct of the Sufi path, the fruit of inspiration. Therefore, following the Prophet's
(UWBP) practices is the basis and principal element of the Sufi path.

Second Point: The Sufi path and way of reality should not exceed being
means. If they are made the ultimate aim, the incontrovertible teachings and actions of
the Shari'a and following the practices of the Prophet (UWBP) become merely a
matter of form, while the heart looks beyond them. That is to say, such a person
thinks of his circle for the remembrance of God rather than the obligatory prayers; he
is drawn more to his recitations and supplications than to his religious obligations; he
is more concerned with avoiding offending against his order' s rules of behaviour than
with avoiding grievous sins. Whereas the recitations of the Sufi path cannot be the
equivalent of the obligatory acts that constitute the incontestible matters of the
Shari'a; they cannot take their place. The etiquette of the Sufi path and its invocations
should be a solace and a way of obtaining true pleasure from the obligatory acts; they
should not themselves be the source. That is, the tekke should lead a person to
perform the five daily prayers assiduously in the mosque. If he performs them there
hurriedly as a formality, thinking that he will find true pleasure and perfection in the
tekke, he is drawing away from reality.

Third Point: It is sometimes asked: "Can there be any Sufi path outside
the practices of the Prophet (UWBP) and matters of the Shari'a?"

The Answer: There are some such paths, and there are

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not. There are, because some of the highest saints were executed by the sword of the
Shari'a. And there are not, because the authoritative scholars among the saints have
agreed on this rule of Sa'di-i Shirazi: "It is impossible, Sa'di, to be victorious on the
way of felicity, except by following the Chosen One." That is, it is impossible for one
outside the highway of God's Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace), who
does not follow him, to attain the true lights of reality. The meaning of this is as
follows:

God's Messenger (Peace and blessings be upon him) was the Seal of the
Prophets and the addressee of God in the name of all mankind; mankind, therefore,
cannot advance outside his highway; it is essential to be under his banner. But since
ecstatics and those immersed in divine contemplation are not responsible for their
opposition; and since man possesses certain subtle faculties that are not held
accountable, and when such faculties dominate a person, he cannot be held
responsible for opposing the obligations of the Shari'a; and since man possesses
subtle faculties that just as they are not accountable, so they are not under the
jurisdiction of the will and cannot be controlled by the mind, for they do not heed the
heart or the mind; certainly, when those faculties dominate in a person, - but only at
that time - he does not fall from the rank of sainthood by opposing the Shari'a, he is
held excused. On condition, however, that he does not deny or insult the truths of the
Shari'a and rules of belief, or display contempt towards them. Even if he does not
carry out the injunctions, he has to acknowledge that they are right. But if he is
overcome by that state and assumes a position, I seek refuge with God, which infers
denial and giving the lie to those incontestible truths, it is the sign that he has deviated
from the path!

In Short: There are two groups that follow the Sufi path outside the bounds
of the Shari'a.

One group: As described above, these people are either overwhelmed by their
mental state, immersion, or ecstasy or intoxication, or they are dominated by some of
their subtle faculties that do not heed the injunctions of religion nor listen to the will;
they therefore transgress the bounds of the Shari'a. But this is not due to their
disliking its rulings or not wanting to follow them; they are rather compelled to,
involuntarily. Among this group are people of sainthood some of whom have even
been temporary saints of high rank. But the authoritative scholars from among the
saints have ruled that of these some have been not only outside the bounds of the
Shari'a, but outside the bounds of Islam. But they are considered to be people of
sainthood on condition they have not denied any of the injunctions brought by
Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him). It is that they do not think

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of them, or cannot keep them in view, or are not aware of them. They cannot not
accept them if they are aware of them.

As for the Second Group, they are carried away by the brilliant pleasures of the
Sufi path and way of reality, and since they cannot attain to the pleasures of the truths
of the Shari'a, which are far more elevated, they suppose them to be dull formalities
and are indifferent towards them. They gradually accept the idea that the Shari'a is an
external shell, and that the reality they have found is the essential goal. They say: "I
have found it; it is enough for me," and act in a way contrary to the injunctions of the
Shari'a. Any in this group who are in their right minds are responsible; they stray
from the path, indeed, become the playthings of Satan to an extent.

Fourth Point: Some persons who belong to the divisions of the people of
misguidance and innovation are found acceptable by the Muslim community, while
others, just like them and not apparently different, are rejected. I always used to
wonder about this. For example, although someone like Zamakhshari was one of the
most bigoted members of the Mu'tazilite sect, the authoritative Sunni scholars did not
pronounce him an unbeliever or misguided, despite his severe objections; they rather
searched for a way to exonerate him. But then they held that Mu'tazilite authorities
like Abu 'Ali Jubba'i, who was far less bigoted than Zamakhshari, should be rejected
and refuted. I was curious about this for a long time. Then through divine grace I
understood that Zamakhshari' s objections about the Sunnis arose from his love of his
way, which he looked on as right.

That is to say, for example, in his view God could be truly declared free of all
fault and defect by saying that animals create their own actions. It was out of love for
declaring God free of all fault that he did not accept the Sunnis' principles concerning
the creation of actions. Whereas the other Mu'tazilite authorities were rejected
because their inadequate intelligences could not aspire to the elevated principles of
the Sunnis and they could not fit the Sunnis' extensive laws within their own narrow
ideas, and so denied them. In the same way that the Mu'tazilites opposed the Sunnis
in theology, so the opposition of some followers of the Sufi path outside the Prophet's
(UWBP) practices is of two kinds:

The first: Like Zamakhshari, out of love for their way or state, they remain
somewhat indifferent towards the conduct of the Shari'a, because through it they
cannot obtain the same degree of pleasure.

As for the other kind: God forbid! They think the conduct of the Shari'a is
unimportant relatively to the principles of the Sufi path. For their narrow
understandings cannot comprehend those broad pleasures, and their short stations
cannot attain to that elevated conduct.

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Eighth Allusion

This describes eight abysses.

The First: Some people who embark on spiritual journeying do not conform
completely to the Prophet's (UWBP) practices, and fall into the abyss of preferring
sainthood to prophethood. It is proved in the Twenty-Fourth and Thirty-First Words
how elevated is prophethood, and how dull sainthood is in relation to it.

The Second: Some of followers of the Sufi path fall into the abyss of preferring
extremist saints to the Prophet's (UWBP) Companions and even of believing those
saints to be prophets. It is proved decisively in the Twelfth and Twenty-Seventh
Words and in the Addendum on the Companions, that the Companions acquired such
qualities through conversation with the Prophet (UWBP) that cannot be attained
through sainthood, and that the Companions cannot be surpassed, and that the saints
can never reach the degree of the Companions.

The Third: Some of those who are excessively bigoted concerning the Sufi path
oppose the practices of the Prophet (UWBP) and give them up because of their
preference for the customs, conduct, and recitations of the Sufi way, which they never
give up. In this way, they become slack in practising the conduct of the Shari'a, and
fall into that abyss.

As is proved in many of the Words, and as veracious authorities of the Sufi path
like Imam Ghazali and Imam-i Rabbani said: "The degree of acceptance gained by
following a single of the Prophet's (UWBP) practices cannot be won through a
hundred personal practices and supererogatory acts of worship. And just as a single
obligatory act is superior to a thousand acts taken from the Prophet's practices, so a
single of those practices is superior to a thousand practices of Sufism."

The Fourth: Some extremist Sufis suppose inspiration to be like divine
revelation and of similar kind to revelation, and fall into an abyss. It has been proved
most definitely in the Twelfth Word and in the Twenty-Fifth Word about the
miraculousness of the Qur'an, how elevated, universal, and sacred is divine
revelation, and how insignificant and dull inspirations are in comparison.

The Fifth: Some Sufis who do not understand the essence of the Sufi path, in
order to strengthen the weak, encourage the slack, and to lighten the hardships and
weariness arising from strenuous service, find the lights, illuminations, and wonders,
which are not sought but given, to be pleasurable, and they become captivated by
them and fall into the abyss of preferring them to worship, acts of service, and
recitation of supplications. It is

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mentioned briefly in the Third Point of the Sixth Allusion in the present treatise and
proved decisively in others of the Words that this world is the realm of service and
not the realm of reward. People who seek their recompense here, both transform
enduring, perpetual fruits into a transitory, temporary form, and find permanence in
this world pleasing, so they do not yearn for the Intermediate Realm. Quite simply,
they love the life of this world in one respect, since they find a sort of hereafter within
it.

The Sixth: Some of those who embark on spiritual journeying fall into an abyss
by confusing the shades and shadows and partial samples of the stations of sainthood
with its fundamental, universal stations. As is proved clearly in the Second Branch of
the Twenty-Fourth Word and in others of the Words, the sun becomes numerous by
means of mirrors and thousands of its similitudes possess light and heat like the sun
itself, despite their paltriness in relation to the actual sun. In exactly the same way, the
stations of the prophets and the great saints possess shades and shadows. Those who
journey with the spirit enter these, and see themselves as greater than those great
saints, or even to have advanced further than the prophets, and so fall into an abyss.
However, the way to avoid this is to always take the principles of belief and
fundamentals of the Shari'a as one's basis and guide, and to look on one's
illuminations and visions as opposed to them.

The Seventh: Some of the people of illumination and ecstasy fall into an abyss in
their spiritual journeyings by preferring pride, complaint, ecstatic utterances, public
regard, and being referred to, to offering thanks and supplication, beseeching
Almighty God, and self-sufficiency. Whereas the highest degree is Muhammadan
worship, which is termed "belovedness." The basis and essence of worship is to
manifest the perfection of that reality by supplicating and beseeching Almighty God,
showing deep humility before Him, offering thanks, and through impotence and want,
and by displaying self-sufficiency in the face of others. Some of the great saints have
involuntarily and temporarily become proud and made complaints and ecstatic
utterances, but they should not be followed voluntarily on such points; they are
rightly- guided but not the guide; their way may not be taken!

The Eighth Abyss: Some of those who journey spiritually are self-centred and
precipitate and want to consume in this world the fruits of sainthood, which will be
given in the hereafter; they fall into an abyss by seeking them on their spiritual
journeyings. But, as such verses as,

"The life of this world is but goods and chattels' '(3:185)

proclaim, and as is proved decisively in many of the Words, a single fruit

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in the realm of eternity is superior to a thousand gardens in this fleeting world. For
this reason, those blessed fruits should not be consumed here. If without being sought
they are given to eat here, they should be thanked for, and deemed divine favours
bestowed, not as reward, but for encouragement.

Ninth Allusion

Here we shall describe briefly nine out of the truly numerous fruits and benefits
of the Sufi path.

The First is the unfolding and clarification, by means of the Sufi paths that are
on the straight way, of the truths of faith, which are the keys, sources, and springs of
the eternal treasuries of everlasting happiness; it is their manifestation at the degree of
the vision of certainty.

The Second: Since the Sufi path is a means of working the heart, the mainspring
of the human machine, and of causing it to stir the other subtle faculties into motion,
it drives them to fulfil the purposes of their creation and thus makes a person into a
true human being.

The Third: On the journey to the Intermediate Realm and the hereafter, it is to
join one of the lines of the Sufi orders, and become a member of its luminous caravan
on the road to eternity. The person is thus saved from loneliness and finds the
friendship of the other members in this world and in the Intermediate Realm; and
relying on their consensus and accord in the face of the attacks of doubts and fears,
and seeing each of their masters as a powerful support and proof, he repulses through
them those doubts and instances of misguidance.

The Fourth is to understand by means of the pure Sufi way the knowledge of
God to be found in belief in God, and the pleasure of love of God within the
knowledge of God, and by so understanding, to be saved from the desolation of this
world and man' s exile in the universe. We have proved in many of the Words that the
happiness of both worlds, and pain-free pleasure, and intimacy untainted by
loneliness, and true delight, and untroubled happiness are all to be found in faith and
the reality of Islam. As is explained in the Second Word, faith produces the seed of a
Tuba-tree of Paradise. It is through the training and nurturing of the Sufi path that the
seed grows and develops.

The Fifth is to perceive through an awakening of the heart elicited by the Sufi
path and remembrance of God, the subtle truths contained in the obligations of the
Shari'a, and to appreciate them. Then the person obeys and performs his worship, not
under compulsion, but with longing.

The Sixth is to rise to the station of reliance on God and the rank of sub

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mission to Him and winning His pleasure, which are the means of obtaining true
delight, real solace, painfree pleasure, and friendship untainted by loneliness.

The Seventh is, through sincerity, which is the essential precondition for
travelling the Sufi way and its most valuable result, to be delivered from base
qualities like implicitly associating partners with God, hypocrisy, and artificiality. It is
also to be saved, through purifying the soul, which is like the surgical operation of the
Sufi path, from the dangers of the evil-commanding soul and the perils of egotism.

The Eighth: Through the regard, sense of the divine presence, and powerful
intentions of the Sufi path, gained by recalling God with the heart and reflecting on
Him with the mind, this is to transform customary actions into worship and make
mundane dealings into actions benefiting the hereafter. Utilizing the capital of life, it
is to make all its minutes into seeds that will produce the shoots of eternal happiness.

The Ninth is to struggle to be a perfect human being through journeying with the
heart and striving with the spirit and spiritual progress; that is to say, to be a true
believer and total Muslim; that is, to gain not superficial belief, but the reality of
belief and the reality of Islam; that is, to be directly the bondsman of the Glorious
Creator of the Universe, in the universe and in one respect as the universe's
representative, and to be His addressee, and friend, and beloved, and to be a mirror to
Him; and through showing man to be on the best of patterns, it is to prove man's
superiority to the angels. It is to fly through the lofty stations with the Shari'a's wings
of faith and works, and to behold eternal happiness in this world, and even to enter
upon it.

Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught
us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise 1(2:32)

O God! Grant blessings and peace to the Supreme Help in every age and the
Sublime Spiritual Pole at all times, our master Muhammad, the magnificence
of whose sainthood was manifested in his Ascension, as was the station of his
being the beloved of God, and under the shadow of whose Ascension are
included all sainthoods, and to all his Family and Companions. Amen. And
all praise be to God, the Sustainer of All the Worlds.

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Addendum

[This short addendum has great importance; it is
beneficial for everyone.]

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

The ways leading to Almighty God are truly numerous. While all true ways are
taken from the Qur' an, some are shorter, safer, and more general than others. Of these
ways taken from the Qur' an is that of impotence, poverty, compassion, and reflection,
from which, with my defective understanding, I have benefited.

Like ecstatic love, impotence is a path which, by way of worship, leads to
winning God's love; but it is safer. Poverty too leads to the divine name of All-
Merciful. And, like ecstatic love, compassion leads to the name of All-
Compassionate, but it is a swifter and broader path. Also like ecstatic love, reflection
leads to the name of All- Wise, but it is richer, broader, and more brilliant path. This
path consists not of ten steps like the ten subtle faculties of some of the Sufi paths
employing silent recollection, nor of seven stages like the seven souls of those
practising public recitation, but of four steps. It is reality (hakikat), rather than a Sufi
way (tarikat). It is Shari'a.

However, let it not be misunderstood. It means to see one's impotence, poverty
and faults before Almighty God, not to fabricate them or display them to people. The
method of this short path is to follow the practices of the Prophet (UWBP), perform
the religious obligations and give up serious sins. It is especially to perform the
prescribed prayers correctly and with attention, and following them to say the
tesbihat.

The verse, "Therefore, do not justify yourselves,"(53:32) points to the first step.

The verse, "And be not like those who forget God, and He therefore makes them
forget their own selves,"(59:19) points to the second step.

The verse, "Whatever good happens to you is from God, but whatever evil befalls
you is from yourself,"(4:79) points to the third step.

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The verse, "Everything will perish save His countenance,"(28:88) points to the
fourth step.

A brief explanation of these four steps is as follows:

First Step

As the verse, "Therefore, do not justify yourselves" suggests, it is to not purify
the soul. For on account of his nature and innate disposition, man loves himself.
Indeed, he loves himself before anything else, and only himself. He sacrifices
everything other than himself to his own soul. He praises himself in a manner
befitting some object worthy of worship. He absolves and exonerates himself from
faults in the same way. As far as he possibly can, he does not see faults as being
appropriate for him, and does not accept them. He defends himself passionately as
though worshipping himself. Even, using on himself the members and faculties given
him as part of his nature in order to praise and glorify the True Object of Worship, he
displays the meaning of the verse,

"Who takes as his god his own desires."(25:43; 45:23)

He considers himself, he relies on himself, he fancies himself. Thus, his purification
and cleansing at this stage, in this step, is to not purify himself; it is not to absolve
himself.

Second Step

As the verse, "And be not like those who forget God, and He therefore makes
them forget their own selves" teaches, man is oblivious of himself and not aware of
himself. If he thinks of death, it is in relation to others. If he sees transience and
decline, he does not attribute them to himself. His evil-commanding soul demands
that when it comes to inconvenience and service of others, he forgets himself, but
when it comes to receiving his recompense, and to benefits and enjoyment, he thinks
of himself and takes his own part fervently. His purification, cleansing, and training at
this stage is the reverse of this. That is to say, when oblivious of himself, it is not to
be oblivious. That is, to forget himself when it comes to pleasure, and ambition and
greed, and to think of himself when it comes to death and service of others.

Third Step

As the verse, "Whatever good happens to you is from God, but whatever evil
befalls you is from yourself teaches, the nature of the evil-commanding soul
demands that it always considers goodness to be from itself and it becomes vain and
conceited. Thus, at this step, a person sees only faults, defects, impotence, and
poverty in himself, and understands

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that all his good qualities and perfections are bounties bestowed on him by the All-
Glorious Creator. He gives thanks instead of being conceited, and offers praise
instead of boasting. According to the meaning of the verse,

Truly he succeeds who purifies it,(9l :9)

his purification at this stage is to know his perfection to lie in imperfection, his power
in impotence, and his wealth in poverty.

Fourth Step

As the verse, "Everything will perish save His countenance" teaches, the evil-
commanding soul considers itself to be free and independent and to exist of itself.
Because of this, man claims to possess a sort of dominicality. He harbours a hostile
rebelliousness towards his True Object of Worship. Thus, through understanding the
following fact, he is saved from this. The fact is this:

According to the apparent meaning of things, which looks to each thing itself,
everything is transitory, wanting, accidental, non-existent. But according to the
meaning that signifies something other than itself and in respect of each thing being a
mirror to the All-Glorious Maker's names and charged with various duties, each is a
witness, it is witnessed, and it is existent. The purification and cleansing of a person at
this stage is as follows:

In his existence he is non-existent, and in his non-existence he has existence. That
is to say, if he values himself and attributes existence to himself, he is in the darkness
of non-existence as great as the universe. That is, if he relies on his individual
existence and is unmindful of the True Giver of Existence, he has an individual light
of existence like that of a fire-fly and is submerged in an endless darkness of non-
existence and separation. But if he gives up egotism and sees that he is a mirror of the
manifestations of the True Giver of Existence, he gains all beings and an infinite
existence. For he who finds the Necessary Existent, the manifestation of whose names
all beings manifest, finds everything.

Conclusion

The four steps in this way of impotence, poverty, compassion, and reflection have
been explained in the twenty-six Words so far written, which are concerned with
knowledge of reality, the reality of the Shari'a, and the wisdom of the Qur'an. So
here, we shall allude briefly to only one or two points, as follows:

This path is shorter, because it consists of four steps. When impotence

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causes a person to give up the soul, it turns him directly to the All-Powerful One of
Glory. Whereas when a person on the way of ecstatic love, the swiftest way, gives up
the soul, his way directs him to a temporary beloved. Only when he discovers the
beloved's impermanence does he turn to the True Beloved.

Also, this path is much safer, because the ravings and high-flown claims of the
soul are not present on it. For apart from impotence, poverty, and defect, the soul
possesses nothing so that it oversteps its mark.

Also, this path is much broader and more universal. For in order to attain to a
constant awareness of God's presence, a person is not compelled to imagine the
universe to be condemned to non-existence and to declare: "There is no existent but
He," like those who believe in the Unity of Existence, nor to suppose the universe to
be condemned to imprisonment in absolute oblivion and to say, "There is nothing
witnessed but He," like those who believe in the Unity of Witnessing. Rather, since
the Qur'an has most explicitly pardoned the universe and released it from execution
and imprisonment, the person on this path disregards the above, and dismissing
beings from working on their own account and employing them on account of the All-
Glorious Creator, and in the duty of manifesting the Most Beautiful Names and being
mirrors to them, he considers them from the point of view of signifying something
other than themselves; and being saved from absolute heedlessness, he enters the
divine presence permanently; he finds a way leading to the Almighty God in
everything.

In Short: Dismissing beings from working on account of other beings, this way
is to not look at them as signifying themselves.

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Seeds of Reality

[This consists of aphorisms taken from a collection
published thirty-five years ago called Hakikat
£ekirdekleri.]

PREFACE to the original edition:

For some time now, my uncle considers matters with the heart alone, rather than
with the intellect. If something is imparted to his heart clearly, he gets me to write it
down. He says: "Knowledge is that which may be established in the heart. If it is only
in the intellect, it lacks value for man." And he says: "These matters are not only
scholarly rules, but certain principles of mine pertaining to the heart which I have
taken as fundamental to my conscience." He told me to choose those I wanted from
his "inspirations of the heart," and I have shown the works from which I have selected
these aphorisms: Nokta min Nuri Ma'rifeti'llah; Isharat al-I'jaz; Sunuhat; §ua'at
Ma 'rifeti'n-Nebi; Rumuz', Tulu'at; Muhdkemat; Munazarat; i§arat; Qizil Ijaz-

Compiler, his nephew, Abdurrahman
(Istanbul 1336/1920)

1 These works were all written in Turkish with the exception of Isharat al-I'jaz and Qizil Ijaz, which
were written in Arabic. The former was translated into Turkish in the 1950' s by Bediuzzaman's brother
Abdiilmecid. (Tr.)

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In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

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

and blessings and peace be upon our master Muhammad,

and on all his Family and Companions.

1. The prescription for a sick age, an ailing nation, an ill member, is to follow the

Qur' an.

2. The prescription for a glorious though unfortunate continent, an illustrious though

hapless state, a noble though ownerless people, is Islamic Unity.

3. Someone who lacks the strength to raise and turn the earth and all the stars and

suns as though they were the beads of a tesbih cannot lay claim to creating
anything in the universe. For everything is tied to everything else.

4. The raising to life of all animate beings at the resurrection of the dead can be no

more difficult for divine power than restoring to life a fly in the spring, heavy
with the death-stained sleep of winter. For pre-eternal power is essential; it does
not change; impotence cannot penetrate it; obstacles cannot intervene in it; there
can be no degrees in it; everything is the same in relation to it.

5. Whoever created the mosquito's eye, created the sun.

6. Whoever ordered the flea' s stomach, ordered the solar system.

7. There is such miraculousness in the universe's compilation that if to suppose the

impossible all natural causes possessed will and the power to act, they would still
prostrate in utter impotence before such miraculousness, exclaiming: "Glory be
unto You ! We have no power; indeed You are the Mighty, the Wise !"

8. An actual effect has not been given to causes, for divine unity and glory require it

to be thus. Only, in the outer aspect of things, causes are a veil to the hand of
power; and this, divine dignity and grandeur require, so that in the superficial
view the hand of power should not be seen to be directly in contact with lowly
things.

9. The inner dimensions of things, where divine power has its connection, are

transparent and pure.

10. The Manifest World is a lace veil strewn over the Worlds of the Unseen.

11. An infinite power sufficient to create all the universe is necessary to create a
single point and set it in its place. For every letter of this

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mighty book of the universe, and particularly all its living letters, has a face
looking to all the sentences and an eye that beholds them.

12. It is well-known: they all looked for the crescent moon of the 'Id, but no one
could see it. An elderly man swore he had seen it. But what he had seen was not
the crescent moon; it was a curved white eyelash. What is an eyelash compared
with the moon? What is the motion of minute particles compared with the one
who fashions all beings?

13. Nature resembles a printing-press, not the printer. It is an embroidery, not the
Embroiderer. It is passive, not active. It is a pattern, not a source. It is an order,
and not the Orderer. It is a law, not a power. It is a code of laws proceeding from
a will, not an external reality.

14. The lure and attraction in the conscience, which is the essential nature of
conscious beings, is felt through the appeal of a drawing truth.

15. The essential nature of beings does not lie. The inclination to grow in a seed
declares: "I shall sprout and produce fruit!" It speaks the truth. An egg displays
the desire for life; it says: "I shall be a hen!," and this comes about, with divine
permission. It speaks the truth. Owing to the inclination to freeze, a handful of
water says: "I shall take up more space!," and unyielding iron cannot give it the
lie; the Tightness of its words splits the iron. These inclinations are the
manifestations of the creative commands proceeding from divine will.

16. Pre-eternal power, which does not leave ants without a prince or bees without a
queen, certainly does not leave mankind without prophets. As the Splitting of the
Moon was a miracle of Muhammad (UWBP) for men in the Manifest World, so
his Ascension was a supreme miracle before the angels and spirit beings in the
World of the Inner Dimensions of Things. Through this clear wonder, the
sainthood of his prophethood was proved, and like lightning or the moon, that
shining Being scattered light through those inner worlds.

17. The two phrases of the confession of faith testify to each other. The first is the
proof of cause to effect of the second, while the second is the proof of effect to
cause of the first.

18. Life is a sort of manifestation of unity within multiplicity, and therefore leads to
unity. Life makes one thing the owner of everything.

19. Spirit is a law possessing external existence, a conscious law. Like the stable and
enduring laws of creation, spirit comes from the World of the Divine Command
and the attribute of will. Divine power clothes it an existence decked out with
senses. He makes a subtle, flowing being

531

the shell to that jewel. Existent spirit is the brother of the conceivable law. They
are both enduring and come from the World of the Divine Command. If pre-
eternal power had clothed the laws governing in the species of beings in external
existence, they would have been spirits. And if the spirit banishes consciousness,
it still would be an undying law.

20. Beings are visible through light, and their existence is known through life. Both
are revealers.

21. Christianity will either erupt, or being purified will lay down its arms before
Islam. It was split apart several times and Protestantism emerged. Then
Protestantism was rent and approached the true affirmation of divine unity. It is
preparing to be rent again. It will either erupt and be extinguished, or it will see
before it the truths of Islam, which encompass the basis of true Christianity, and
it will lay down its arms.

The Prophet Muhammad (Upon whom be blessings and peace) alluded to this
great mystery when he said: "Jesus will come having descended from the skies;
he will be of my community and will act in accordance with my Shari'a." 2

22. It is the sacredness of the authority more than proof that drives the mass of the
people to comply with it.

23. The essentials and incontestable matters of religion, which form ninety- nine per
cent, are each diamond pillars, while the controversial matters which are open to
interpretation form only ten per cent. Ninety diamond pillars may not be put
under the protection of ten gold pillars. Books and interpretations should be
telescopes for observing the Qur'an; they should be mirrors; not shadows or
deputies !

24. Anyone who is capable may make interpretations of the law for his own self; but
he cannot make the law.

25. Calling others to accept an idea is dependent on acceptance by the 'ulama;
otherwise it is innovation, and should be rejected.

26. Since by nature man is noble, he seeks the truth. Sometimes he encounters the
false, but supposing it to be the truth preserves it in his heart. Then, when delving
into reality, without his willing it misguidance strikes him on the head; supposing
it to be reality, he plunges his head into it.

27. Divine power has many mirrors, each more subtle and transparent than

2 Bukhari, Anbiya', 49; Muslim, Iman, 242-7; Tirmidhi, Fitan, 62; Musnad, iv, 226.

532

the last; they vary from water to air, and air to ether, and ether to the World of
Similitudes; from the World of Similitudes to the World of Spirits, and even to
time, and to thought. A single word in the mirror of the air becomes millions of
words. The Pen of Power writes this mystery of reproduction in truly wondrous
manner. The reflection contains either its identity or its identity together with its
nature. The images of dense beings are moving but dead. While the images of a
luminous spirit in their own mirrors are living and linked with it; even if they are
not identical, they are not other than it.

28. Since the sun shakes itself in its axial rotation, its fruits do not fall; whereas if it
did not shake itself, the planets would fall and be scattered.

29. If the light of thought is not illuminated with the light of the heart and blended
with it, it is darkness and breeds tyranny. If the white of the eye, which resembles
day, were not together with its black pupil, which resembles night, the eye would
not be the eye; it would be unseeing. Similarly, if the black core of the heart is
not present in white thought, it lacks insight.

30. If knowledge lacks the insight of the heart, it is ignorance. Taking the part of
something is one thing, belief is something else.

31. Embroidering meaningless things is for misleading simple minds.

32. A learned guide should be a sheep, not a bird. A sheep gives its lamb milk, while

a bird gives its chick regurgitated food.

33. The existence of something is dependent on the existence of all its parts. As for
non-existence, since it occurs though non-existence of one part, a weak man
supports destruction in order to demonstrate his power; he acts negatively instead
of positively.

34. If the laws of government are not combined with the principles of wisdom, and
the bonds of force not combined with the laws of truth, they will not be fruitful
among the mass of the people.

35. Tyranny has donned the hat of justice; treachery has clothed itself in the garment
of patriotism; jihad has been given the name of rebellion; captivity has been
called freedom! Opposites have exchanged forms!

36. Politics which revolves around benefit is savagery.

37. To show friendliness towards a hungry beast excites not its compassion but its
hunger. Both its fangs and its claws will want their rent!

38. Time has shown that Paradise is not cheap, and neither is Hell unnecessary.

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39. While the qualities of those known by the world as the upper classes should be the

cause of modesty and humility, they have led to oppression and arrogance. And
while the poverty and powerlessness of the poor and common people should be
the cause of compassion and bounty, they have resulted in servitude and
enthralment.

40. So long as honour and good things are to be obtained from something, they offer
it to the upper classes, but if it is something bad, they divide it among the
ordinary people.

41. If a person lacks an imagined goal, or if he forgets it or pretends to forget it, his
thoughts will perpetually revolve around his T.

42. The origin of all revolutions and corruption, and the spur and source of all bad
morals are just two sayings:

The First Saying: "So long as I'm full, what is it to me if others die of hunger?"

The Second Saying: "You suffer hardship so that I can live in ease; you work so
that I can eat."

There is only one remedy for extirpating the first saying, and that is the
obligatory payment of zakat. While the remedy for the second is the prohibition
of usury and interest. Qur'anic justice stands at the door of the world and says to
usury and interest: "No entry! It is forbidden! You don't have the right to enter
here!" Mankind did not heed the command, and received a severe blow. So it
must heed it before it receives one even more severe!

43. War between nations and states is relinquishing its place to war between the
classes of mankind. For just as man does not want to be a slave, so he does not
want to be a labourer.

44. The person who pursues his goal by illicit means is usually punished by receiving

the opposite of what he intended. The recompense for illicit love, like love for
Europe, is the beloved's cruel enmity.

45. The past and calamities should be considered in the light of Divine Determining
(kader), while the future and sins from the point of view of responsibility before
God. The Jabriyya and Mu'tazila are reconciled on this point.

46. Impotence should not be resorted to when a solution may be found, and when
there is no solution, punishment should not be resorted to.

47. Life's wounds may be healed, but Islamic pride and honour, and national pride,
their wounds are extremely deep.

48. It sometimes happens that a single word causes an army to perish, and

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one bullet leads to the annihilation of thirty million. 3 Some conditions are such
that a small act raises man to the highest of the high, while in others a small
action relegates him to the lowest of the low.

49. One grain of truth consumes a stack of lies. One grain of reality is superior to a
stack of illusions. Everything you say should be true, but it is not right to say
everything true.

50. A person who sees the good in things has good thoughts. And he who has good
thoughts receives pleasure from life.

51. What gives life to people is hope; what kills them is despair.

52. Since early days, this Islamic state took on itself the upholding of the Word of
God, the maintenance of independence, and jihad for Islam, an obligation which
if undertaken by part of the community, released the rest; it considered itself to be
charged with sacrificing itself for Islam, which was united, and carrying the
banner of the Caliphate. The misfortune it now suffers will therefore be made up
for by the future prosperity and freedom of the Islamic World. For this calamity
has speeded up in wondrous fashion the growth of Islamic brotherhood, the
leaven of our lives.

53. To attribute to Christianity the virtues of civilization, which are not its property,
and to show retrogression, the enemy of Islam, to be its friend, is to suggest that
the firmament is revolving in the opposite direction.

54. A tarnished, matchless diamond is always superior to a piece of glistening glass.

55. Those who seek everything in materiality know only what their eyes see, and such

eyes are blind in spiritual matters.

56. If metaphors fall from the hands of learning into those of ignorance, they are
transformed into their literal meanings, opening the door to superstition.

57. Favour greater than divine favour is not favour. Everything has to be described as

it is.

58. Fame ascribes to man what is not his.

59. Hadiths are the source of life and inspirer of reality.

60. The revival of religion is the revival of the nation. The life of religion is the light
of life.

3 A single bullet fired by a Serbian soldier at the Austrian crown-prince set off the Great War, and was
the cause of thirty million souls being lost.

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61. The Qur'an, which is a mercy for mankind, only accepts a civilization that allows

for the happiness of all, or at least of the majority. Modern civilization has been
founded on five negative principles:

Its point of support is force, the mark of which is aggression.

Its aim and goal is benefit, the mark of which is jostling and tussling.

Its principle in life is conflict, the mark of which is strife.

The bond between the masses is racialism and negative nationalism, which
are nourished through devouring others; their mark is collision.

Its enticing service is inciting lust and passion and gratifying the desires. But
lust transforms man into a beast.

As for the civilization the Shari'a of Muhammad (UWBP) comprises and
commands, it is as follows:

Its point of support is truth instead of force, the mark of which is justice and
harmony.

Its goal is virtue in place of benefit, the mark of which is love and attraction.

Its means of unity are the ties of religion, country, and class, in place of
racialism and nationalism, and the mark of these is sincere brotherhood,
peace, and only defence against external aggression.

In life its principle is mutual assistance instead of conflict, the mark of which
is accord and solidarity.

And it offers guidance instead of lust, the mark of which is human progress
and spiritual advancement.

Do not loosen your hands from Islam, the preserver of our existence; cling onto it
with all your strength or you shall be lost!

62. A general disaster results from the error of the majority. Disaster is the result of
crime and the introduction to reward.

63. A martyr supposes himself to be alive. He did not suffer the pangs of death, so he

thinks the life he sacrificed is perpetual and has not been severed. But he finds it
purer.

64. The pure justice of the Qur'an does not spill the life-blood of an innocent, even
for the whole of humanity. The two are equal in the view of both divine power,
and justice. Self-interest, however, makes man such that he will destroy anything
that impedes his ambition, even the world if he can, and mankind.

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65. Fear and weakness invite outside influences.

66. Definite benefits should not be sacrificed for imaginary harms.

67. Istanbul politics at the present time are as sick as Spanish 'flu.

68. Tell a bad man, "You are good, you are good," and it is not unheard of that he will

become good. And tell a good man "You are bad, you are bad," and it is not rare
for him to become bad.

69. So long as the enemy of an enemy remains his enemy, he is a friend; and so long
as the friend of an enemy remains his friend, he is an enemy.

70. Obduracy is this: if Satan assists someone, he calls him an angel and calls down
blessings on him. But if among his opponents he encounters an angel, he calls
him a satan in other clothes and curses him.

71. The remedy for one ill may be poison for another. An excessive dose is the cause

of ills.

72. Solidarity in a society results in harmony in all its activites, while mutual envy
causes all its activities to come to a standstill.

73. If the community is not one and a whole, undivided number, addition makes
smaller, like multiplying fractions. 4

74. Non-acceptance is confused with the acceptance of non-being. The evidence for
non-acceptance is the absence of established proof. The acceptance of non-being
requires proof of non-being. One is doubt while the other is denial.

75. If doubt in the questions of belief destroys one, or even a hundred, evidences, it
does not harm what is posited; for there are hundreds of evidences.

76. The majority of Muslims should be followed. For when they followed the
majority the Umayyads, who were slack in religion, finally entered the Sunni
community. As for the Shi'a, who were firm in religion but remained in the
minority as regards their practices, finally only a part of them followed the
Rafida.

11 . If unanimity concerning good leads to conflict concerning what is better, then
sometimes good is better than the better; right is truer than what is truer.
Everyone should say about his own way that "It is right,"

4 It is well-known that in arithmetic, multiplication and addition increase: four times four makes
sixteen, while in fractions, on the contrary multiplication and addition make smaller: a third multiplied
by a third makes a ninth. In just the same way, if there is not integral wholeness, correctness, and unity
among people, by multiplying they become smaller, spoilt, and valueless.

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he should not say "it is the only right way." Or he should say, "It is good," but he
should not say "It is the only good way"

78. If Paradise did not exist, Hell would not be torment.

79. As time grows older, the Qur'an grows younger; it signs become apparent. Just as

light sometimes appears to be fire, so sometimes intense eloquence appears to be
exaggeration.

80. Degrees in heat occur through the intervention of cold; the degrees of beauty
occur through the intervention of ugliness. Pre-eternal power is essential,
necessary, and inherent. Impotence cannot penetrate it; there can be no degrees it
in; everything is equal in relation to it.

81. The sun's image, which is the effulgence of its manifestation, displays the same
identity on the surface of the sea and in all its droplets.

82. Life is a manifestation of unity; unity is also its consequence.

83. So long as it remains unknown who are the saints among men, which moment
prayers are accepted on Fridays, which night in Ramadan is the Night of Power,
and which among the divine names is the greatest name, other things retain their
value and importance is given to them. Twenty years of doubtful life is preferable
to a thousand years' life the end of which is specified.

84. The consequence of sin in this world is evidence for its punishment in the next.

85. In the view of power, sustenance is as important as life. Power brings into
existence, Divine Determining clothes in form, divine favour nurtures. Life is a
summary, a specified product and is apparent. Sustenance is not a summary; it is
gradual and widespread, and provokes thought. No one dies from hunger, for
death occurs before the food stored up in the body in the form of fat is exhausted.
That is to say, illness resulting from the giving up of habit kills, not lack of
sustenance.

86. The licit sustenance of carniverous wild animals are the innumerable remains of
dead animals; they both cleanse the face of the earth, and they find their food.

87. Before entering the mouth and disappearing down the throat, a mouthful worth
one kurush and one worth ten are the same. There is only a few seconds'
difference in the mouth. To raise the price from one to ten in order to gratify the
sense of taste, which is like an inspector and doorkeeper, is most prodigal and
wasteful.

88. When pleasure calls, a person should say: "It is as though I ate it." (Sanki yedim.)

For a person who took it as his guiding principle, could

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have eaten a mosque called "Sanki Yedim," but he didn't. 5

89. Formerly, most Muslims did not go hungry; they desired a comfortable life. Now
they are hungry, and they have no wish for pleasure.

90. Temporary pains rather than temporary pleasure should be greeted with smiles
and welcomed. For past pleasures make one say: "Alas!", and "Alas!" is an
expression of concealed pain. While past pains make one say: "Oh!", and "Oh!"
tells of permanent pleasure and bounty.

91. Forgetfulness is also a bounty; it allows one to suffer the pains of only one day
and causes the rest to be forgotten.

92. Every calamity holds a degree of bounty, like a degree of heat. One should think
of greater calamities and should note the degree of bounty in the small one, and
thank God. For if the calamity is blown up, it will grow; and if it is worried over,
it will double; the image, the imagining, in the heart will be transformed into
reality; and they will pound the heart as well.

93. In society as a whole, everyone has a window, known as rank, through which to
see and be seen. If the window is higher than a person's stature, he will grow
taller through arrogance, but if it is lower, he will bow down out of modesty to
see and be seen at that level. The measure of greatness in man is smallness, that
is, modesty. The scale of smallness is bigness; that is, arrogance.

94. The dignity of the weak before the strong becomes arrogance in the strong; while
the modesty of the strong before the weak becomes abasement in the weak. The
seriousness of someone in authority in their office is dignity, and his humility is
abasement. While his seriousness in his house is haughtiness, and his humility,
modesty. If an individual is on his own, then his tolerance and self-sacrifice are
good acts. But if he is more than one and attached to others, they are treachery
and inauspicious. Someone should swallow his pride in his own name and not be
boastful, but he may boast in the name of his nation and should not swallow his
pride.

95. To leave it to others in planning the preliminaries of a matter is laziness, while in

awaiting the outcome it is reliance on God. Resignation with the fruits of one's
labour and with fate is contentment, and strengthens the wish to strive. Whereas
making do with what exists is to lack enterprise.

5 That is, the person put aside the money saved through his abstinence, and built the mosque with the
proceeds. It is in the Fatih district of Istanbul. (Tr.)

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96. Just as there are obedience and rebellion in the face of the commands of the
Shari'a, so there are obedience and rebellion in the face of the creative commands
in the universe. With regard to the first, the reward and punishment are mostly in
the hereafter, while with the second, they are mostly in this world. For example,
the reward for patience is victory; the punishment for idleness is poverty; the
reward for effort is wealth, and the reward for constancy, triumph. Justice without
equality is not justice.

97. Mutual resemblance is the cause of contradiction; congruity is the basis of
solidarity; smallness of character is the source of arrogance; weakness is the
source of pride; impotence is the source of opposition; and curiosity is the teacher
of knowledge.

98. Through need, and especially through hunger, the Creator's power has reined in
foremost man, and all the animals, and put them in order. Also, He saved the
world from anarchy, and making need the master of civilization, ensured
progress.

99. Distress teaches vice; despair is the source of misguidance; and darkness of heart,

the source of spiritual distress.

100. When men become amiable through following their fancies, women become
masculine by being impudent.

A beautiful woman entering a gathering of brothers awakens hypocrisy, rivalry,
and envy. That is to say, the unveiling of women led to the unveiling of bad
morals in civilized man.

101. The represented forms of little smiling corpses have played a large role in
making the evil-polluted perverse spirit of modern man what it is.

102. The prohibited statue is either petrified tyranny, or embodied lust, or personified
hypocrisy.

103. For someone who has truly entered into the bounds of Islam by conforming
precisely to its incontestable matters, the desire to expand is the desire to be
perfected. But for someone deemed outside those bounds due to slackness, the
desire to expand is the desire to destroy. In time of storm and earthquake, it is
advisable to not open the door of ijtihad, and to close the windows too. The
overly free and easy should not be indulged with dispensations, but determinedly
and severely warned.

104. Unfortunate truths become worthless in worthless hands.

105. Our globe resembles a living being; it displays the signs of life.

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Would it not become a sort of animal if it were reduced to the size of an egg? Or
if a microbe were to be enlarged to the size of the globe, would it not resemble it?
If it has life, it has a spirit too. If the world were reduced to the size of man, and
the stars made the particles and substance of his being, would it not also be a
living conscious being? God has many such animals.

106. There are two Shari'as:

The First is the Shari'a that we know which orders the actions and conduct of
man, the microcosm, and proceeds from the attribute of speech.

The Second is the Supreme Shari'a of Creation, which orders the motion and rest
of the world, the macroanthropos, proceeds from the attribute of will, and is
sometimes wrongly called nature. The angels are a vast community; they are the
bearers, representatives, and personifications of the creative commands which
proceed from the attribute of will and are the Shari'a of Creation.

107. If you weigh the senses of a microscopic organism against man's senses, you
will observe a strange mystery: man is in the form of Ya. Sin., inscribed in him is
the Sura Ya. Sin.

108. Materialism is a spiritual plague that has infected man with a terrible fever,
causing him to be visited by divine wrath. The more the ability to inculcate and
criticize expands, so does that plague spread.

109. The most wretched, distressed, and suffering of men is the man with no work, for
idleness is the cousin of non-existence. Labour, however, is the life of existence
and the waking state of life.

110. Profiting from banks, the doors of usury and interest, is for the infidels, who are
the worst of men, and for the most tyrannous of the former, and for the most
degenerate of the latter. Banks cause absolute harm to the Islamic world, so
mankind's affluence should not be taken into consideration. For if the infidels are
warmongers and aggressive, so they are disrespectful and without honour.

111. The purpose of the khutba during the Friday Prayers is to mention the essentials
and incontestable matters of religion, not to instruct in theoretical matters. The
Arabic terms recall the essentials best.

112. When Hadiths and Qur'anic verses are balanced, it is clear that even the most
eloquent of men cannot attain to the verses' eloquence nor resemble them.

Said N ur si

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O God! O Most Merciful! O Most Compassionate! O Single One! O
Ever-Living One! O Self-Subsistent One! O Sapient One! O All-Just
One! O Most Holy! For the sake of Your Greatest Name, and in
veneration of the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition, and in honour of
Your Most Noble Messenger, Upon whom be blessings and peace,
bestow everlasting happiness in Paradise on the publishers of this
book, the Letters of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, and on all those who
assist them. Amen! And grant them unending success in the service of
belief and the Qur'an. Amen! And for each word of the Letters write a
thousand merits in the books of their good deeds. Amen! And bestow
on them perseverance, constancy, and sincerity in publishing the
Risale-i Nur. Amen!

O Most Merciful of the Merciful! Grant happiness in this world and
the next to all the Students of the Risale-i Nur. Amen! Preserve them
from the evil of satans among jinn and men. Amen! And forgive the
faults of this powerless and wretched Said. Amen!

In the name of all the Students of the Risale-i Nur,

Said Nursi