In His Name, be He glorified!
And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.
Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings, for ever and ever!
My Very Dear and Loyal Brothers!
My brothers, I observed in a subtle point concerning God's unity, which suddenly became clear while studying the page of the air on a journey of the imagination and mind, that is, in the word 'He' (Hu) in the phrases «Say, He is God» (Q 112: 1), and «There is no God but He» (Q 2: 163, 3:2, 59:22), - and that was only in its material aspect - that the way of belief is infinitely easy, easy to the point of being necessary, and that the way of misguidance and associating partners with God is infinitely difficult, so difficult as to be impossible. I shall explain that long and extensive point with an extremely brief indication.
Yes, if soil, one handful of which can act as a flowerpot for hundreds of plants in turn, is attributed to nature or causes, it becomes necessary either for there to be present in such a handful hundreds of immaterial machines, indeed, machines and factories to the number of the plants, or for each particle of that small amount of soil to know how to make all those different plants together with their different characteristics and living organs; quite simply, each would have to possess infinite knowledge and limitless power like a god.
The same is true for the air, which is a place of maximum manifestation of the divine will and command: either there would have to be present on a
minute scale in each of its molecules, in each waft of wind, each breath, and in the tiny amount air expended with the word 'He' , the innumerable different exchanges, centres, receivers and transmitters of all the telephones, telegraphs and radios in the world so that each could perform those innumerable acts at the same time; or else, each particle of each molecule of air exhaled with 'He' , and indeed of the element air, would have to possess abilities and personalities to the number of all the different telephone users, telegraphers, and those who speak on the radio, and know all their different languages and broadcast them to the other particles at the same time. For such a situation is actually apparent and every bit of air possesses that ability. Thus, in the ways of the unbelievers, naturalists, and materialists not one impossibility, but impossibilities and difficulties are clearly apparent to the number of molecules of air.
If attributed to the All-Glorious Maker, however, the air together with all its particles becomes a soldier under His command. With its Creator's permission and through His power, and through being connected to its Creator and relying on Him, and through the manifestation of its Maker's power, in an instant with the speed of lightning and with the ease of uttering the word 'He' and the movement of the air in waves, its innumerable universal duties are performed as easily as an orderly, single duty of a single particle. That is to say, the air becomes a page for the endless, wonderful, and orderly writings of the pen of power, and its particles become the nibs of the pen, and their duties the points inscribed by it. The air functions as easily as the movement of a single particle.
Thus, while on my journey of contemplation prompted by the phrases «There is no God but He,» and, «Say, He is God,» and while observing the world of the air and studying the page of that element, I witnessed this brief truth with utter certainty and clarity, and in detail. And I understood with knowledge of certainty that it was because there is in the word 'He' , in the air of its utterance, such a brilliant proof and flash of divine unity; and also in its meaning and allusions such a luminous manifestation of divine oneness and powerful proof of divine unity; and in that proof an indication that since the pronoun 'He' is unconditional and indefinite, it suggests the question, "Who does it refer to?"; that both the Qur'an of Miraculous Exposition and those who constantly recite the divine names frequently repeat this sacred word in the station of unity.
If, for example, there is one point on a piece of white paper and two or three other points are jumbled around with it and then someone who already has numerous jobs tries to distinguish them, he will be confused; and if many burdens are loaded on a small creature, it will be crushed; and
if numerous words issue from one tongue and enter one ear altogether at the same time, their order will be broken and they will all be a muddle.
Despite this being the case, I saw with complete certainty that with the key and compass of 'He', although thousands of different points, letters and words had been put in each molecule - and even in each particle - of the element air, through which I journeyed in my mind, neither did they become mixed up nor did they spoil their order; and although they performed a great many different duties, these were carried out without being confused in any way; and although very heavy loads were laid on each molecule and particle, they bore them in order without lagging or displaying any weakness at all. And I saw that thousands of different words of all different sorts enter and issue with perfect order from what is in effect those minute ears and tongues without being mixed up and spoilt in any way, they enter those minute ears and issue from those tiny tongues, and by performing these extraordinary duties, each particle and each molecule declares through the enraptured tongue of its being and its perfect freedom, and through the testimony and tongue of the above truth: «There is no God but He,» and, «Say, He is God, the One,» and travels among such air-clashing waves as storms and lightning and thunder without in any way spoiling their order or confusing their duties; one duty is not an obstacle to another duty, I observed this and was utterly certain.
That is to say, either every particle and piece of the air has to possess infinite wisdom, knowledge, will, and power, and the qualities for being absolutely dominant over all the other particles so that it can be the means of those functions being carried out, which is absurd and impossible to the number of particles, and no devil even could imagine it, or else - and it is self-evident to the degree of knowledge of certainty, vision of certainty, and absolute certainty - that the page of the air functions through the boundless, infinite knowledge and wisdom of the All-Glorious One, and is the protean page for the pen of divine power and determining, and like a signboard for writing and erasing, known as a Tablet of Appearance and Dissolution, which has the function of the Preserved Tablet in the world of transformation and change.
Thus, just as the element of air demonstrates the above-mentioned wonders and manifestation of divine unity in only the duty of transmitting sound and shows the impossibilities of misguidance, so does it perform other important duties with order and without confusing them, such as transmitting subtle forces and energy, like electricity, light, and the forces of attraction and repulsion. At the same time as conveying these, with perfect order, it carries out duties essential for the lives of plants and animals,
such as respiration and pollination. It proves in decisive fashion that it is a place of maximum manifestation of the divine will and command. I came to the firm conclusion that it proves that in no way is there any possibility of vagrant chance, blind force, deaf nature, confused and aimless causes, and powerless, lifeless, unknowing matter interfering in the writing and duties of the page of the air. And I understood that every particle and part of it declares with the tongue of its being: «There is no God but He,» and, «Say, He is God, the One.» Just as with the key of 'He' I saw these wonders in the material aspect of the air, so also, as a 'He' , did the element air become a key to the World of Similitudes and the World of Meaning.
I have not been inspired to write the rest of this for now. Endless greetings to everyone.
My Brothers!
Don't worry! Be content with the Risale-i Nur's extraordinary hidden victories. At no time upto the present has any work spread so effectively in such difficult conditions. The reason it has not been given its complete freedom is that they are scared of its unusual power. Although they recognize and appreciate it, news has been received of the Director of Religious Affair's meeting with the top man and that they are frightened to have it officially disseminated at present, surmising that it might lead to disturbances. They are not attacking it as formerly; indeed, they want to be conciliatory. God willing, the powerful currents in favour of the Risale-i Nur will turn their unease into the desire to publish it officially. Also, numerous egotistical people do not support the Risale-i Nur's open publication because they are jealous and want to spread their own works. But don't worry, the Risale-i Nur will prevail!
My Dear, Loyal Brothers!
Firstly: I have received the Medresetü'z-Zehrâ's twenty lessons and gift. In return, in order to assist its sacred lessons, I have sent with Hâfız Mustafa, who is a leading disseminator of the Risale-i Nur and Hâfız Ali's diligent heir, the ninety liras which is what remains from the salary given
me while I performed my scholarly duties in the Darü'l-Hikmet, which at that time I spent on printing the treatises I had written and with which I intended to make the pilgrimage to Mecca, and for twenty to thirty years has been my reserve fund. For me it has the value of a thousand liras. The price of these new lessons should be seven and a half liras, the same as The Shining Lamp and The Ratifying Stamp of the Unseen, for I am obliged to give many people copies as presents, Nevertheless, I look on every single lesson and copy as a thousand gifts from the leading members of the Medresetü'z-Zehrâ.
Secondly: The Risale-i Nur is spreading through the Islamic world by means of people making the Hajj, and is conveying itself to the worthy. The committee of scholars who studied the handwritten copies of The Staff of Moses and Zülfikar that we sent to Damascus decided that they should print the collections section by section, a sign that they thought highly of them. It would be very expensive to print them in their entirety. Also, it would take a long time to translate them into Arabic, which is not possible. Due to this, my old student who is there and the student I have just sent tried to get the copies off them and did not print them so that they might earn the money. Those brothers are now reading them to people who are eager. Anyway, I am not giving permission for them to be printed. Now is not the time. A group of prominent scholars is needed, with the co-operation of Egyptian ulema. This matter was carried out too hastily.
Thirdly: The reason the copies we were going to send to Istanbul to send abroad have not yet been sent is that not many people were keen to go on the Hajj , and a person who was going to go and had with him something on trust, said that too much notice was being given to the hajis at the borders and they were being turned back on false pretexts. He wrote to me advising that it would be better to send them by post directly to Mehmed Ali Mâliki at Vaziye, Mahalle-i Shamiyya in Mecca. He did not take them lest he was turned back at the frontier. It was indeed judicious. For to send these collections now in my name and in that of the Nur students might have given Islamic unity - which is anyway now starting to gain strength and its politics, the idea of trying to use the Risale-i Nur as a source of power for itself and to exploit it, which would have compelled us to consider Islamic politics. Whereas the meaning of true sincerity in the Risale-i Nur's way does not permit it to be made the tool of anything other than belief and the truths of the Qur'an, nor to follow them. Also, the Risale-i Nur does not hunt for customers; rather, feeling their true need, its customers have to seek out the Risale-i Nur so that it may heal their wounds. Whereas the blessed centres it was going to be sent to should be thinking
now, not of its true need for the Risale-i Nur, but of those matters concerning the Islamic world's religious life. Also, the Risale-i Nur's way looks on egotism and ostentation as a sort of fame-seeking and rejects them, so since in this age of egotism, to try to sell oneself and make oneself liked, and for the Nur students to all of a sudden display themselves through these works in famous places as though they were highly privileged would be a sort of ostentation and pretentiousness. To preserve total sincerity, therefore, divine determining does not permit the Nur students to do this at the present time.
Fourthly: May Almighty God perpetually bestow His grace on Süleyman Rüştü in his material and spiritual commerce in this world and the next, for he is unwavering in his heroism and loyalty, and with his brother is innocent and has performed invaluable services in a short time. Amen!
Fifthly: "A Fine Point Concerning 'He' (Hüve Nüktesi)" is truly subtle though very brief and concise; it has been sent to you, for everyone may perceive the powerful light of belief in it, The phrase: "with the tongue of being and through the testimony and tongue of the above-mentioned truth" is to be added to the sentence near the end: "every particle says with the tongue of its being: 'There is no God but He,' and, 'Say, He is God, the One,' and travels e" This piece on 'He' , together with the imaginary journey related to the verse: «God is the Light of the heavens» (Q 24:35) in the Fifth Section of the Twenty-Ninth Letter, and the other imaginary journey explaining the meaning of community through the door of «do we worship» (Q 1:4) in the Sixth Point of the First Section of the Twenty-Ninth Letter should be together added at the end of The Ratifying Stamp of the Unseen or where you deem appropriate. If the «Inâyât» (the Seventh Part of the Twenty-Eighth Letter) has not been put in The Ratifying Stamp, a summary of it may also be added. I am leaving it up to you.
My Dear, Loyal Brothers!
According to what I have heard, Şemsi and certain authors whose names I consider inappropriate to mention, are publishing a number of parts of the Risale-i Nur in their own names. I consent to this and forgive them and am pleased. They are students of the Risale-i Nur too, and are publishing it in this way. For the past twenty years, many people including high-ranking hojas and authors have taken numerous parts of the Risale-i
Nur and included them in their own works, and they are continuing to do so, I forgive not only such friendly people, but also those holding high positions who write works themselves and do not favour the spread of the Risale-i Nur and even prevent its publication so that their own works become popular, for their preventing it assists in its conquests and its spreading in other useful ways. I have paid no attention to the present state of affairs and do not know. Without wanting to, I heard that some high officials who compose works and have plagiarized the Risale-i Nur, tell others that they may read it but not give it to others, as though the Risale-i Nur will obscure their own works. But the Risale-i Nur affirms the truths in those works, and corroborates them and increases demand for them. God willing, some time they will be compelled to publish it officially. But as the judge in İzmir said: "The Risale-i Nur cannot be concealed; it does not resemble other books; no one can claim possession of it. Wherever it is found, it declares: I proceed from the Light!"
Also, for the past eight years the most important parts of the Risale-i Nur have been going to Istanbul and have been read enthusiastically by authors. Basically, it seems to belong to everyone on condition they are its students.
I have decided to make those blessed brothers who are going on the Hajj from Isparta and have promised to perform it in my stead shareholders in all the spiritual gains accruing in the sphere of the select students. May Almighty God grant them happiness in this world and the next. Amen!
Soon, I am going to send the sixty liras remaining from the cost of The Staff of Moses which the Medresetü'z-Zehrâ has sent this time.
Also, I congratulate the Nur Trading House. God willing, we shall soon communicate by means of its owner. I send my greetings to everyone.
My Dear, Loyal Brothers!
Firstly: I bought a hundred copies of A Guide for Youth from the publishers for fifty liras, and I gave them some of the my own copies of The Staff of Moses which I had sold. I am sending them to you in lieu of my debt of sixty liras that remains from the cost of the copies of The Staff of Moses which you last sent to me. You can send twenty or thirty of them to the internal Medresetü'z-Zehrâ and the rest in any amounts you deem suitable to such places as Denizli, Milâs, Burdur, Antalya, Aydın, and İzmir. Essentially, the true, all-important price of these is that the person who
buys them gets at least ten other people to read them. Because there are only a few copies.
Secondly: I liked your defence speech in the court; it is very good. It is also good that the trial has been postponed to the twenty-second of December (Teşrin). The parts they are holding are anyway the share of officials; they should read them. If they don't, those parts just being found in the offices near them means that they receive instruction in some way, so don't worry. The unfolding and conquests of the Risale-i Nur are slowly increasing, covering numerous officials. The officials have begun to be curious and are seeking it out. When they find it, they respect it although they receive a slap from it.
Thirdly: I was overjoyed by the letters sent by young İbrahim and Salih, two of the young heroes of Isparta. May God bless them! And just as those two brothers visited our leading brothers in that region and described how they were in their letters; so I have received a fine letter from a new brother describing how such places on the Black Sea coast as Ordu, Sinop, Gerze, Ayancık, Bartın, and Zonguldak are being illuminated by the Risale-i Nur. He says that Nurju preachers in Üsküdar in Istanbul are working at it, and that he himself has a business in Gerze, is most eager for the Risale-i Nur, and has resolved to work wholeheartedly at it. I send many greetings to him and to İbrahim and Salih, and congratulate them and pray for their success.
Fourthly: The Imam of Alamescid, our active brother İbrahim Edhem, has found two preachers, Ali Şentürk and Osman Nuri, who are fully Nurjus like himself. With their sincere, devoted, and resolute services for the Risale-i Nur, the preachers have been admitted to the circle of select students in the way they wished for in their letter. May Almighty God grant them success. Amen! I send many greetings to Ali Rıza, the mufti of that district, who is named in Ali Şentürk's letter. Many valuable brothers so-named have entered the fold of the Risale-i Nur so tell him that he will be a fine example to many people. I send endless greetings to everyone.
I have sent to the printer Aziz in Istanbul the thirtieth part of the Qur'an (cüz') containing the subtle coincidences (tevâfukat) in Sura al-Rahman together with another part with fine coincidences. He liked them very much and gave his word that whenever we want he will print them photographically, as he did the Hizb-i Kur'âniye and the Hizb-i Nuriye. He had promised to send one million copies of the Qur'an to India and said it
would be splendid to include copies of the miraculous Qur'an with them. Hopefully, God Almighty will bestow success on the Nurjus, if He so wills.
As the price of The Ratifying Stamp, I have obtained fifty copies of A Guide for Youth from the publishers and have given the money. Also, in exchange, as the blessed price of that blessed collection are two saucepans which have served me well but are not now necessary and which I did not want to give to anyone, and a cotton robe I have worn for fifteen years, and a truly blessed book; a kettle and teapot, a razor I have used to shave with for twenty-four years, and a sheet which has served me for a long time past. As reckoned and recommended by Kılınç Ali's father, who was present, and Ahmed Rasih, nine liras for the saucepans, nine liras for the kettle and teapot, nine liras for the razor, and for the cotton robe, sheet, two hand-towels, some underpants and a cotton shirt a total of one hundred and twenty-five liras. They estimated these prices, but I thought it should be less and said that was too much. Greetings to all.
My Dear, Loyal Brothers!
Firstly: Besides congratulating you on the Ten Nights, we want to tell you about two wonders of the Risale-i Nur. The many-sided expansion of the Nur service, especially with the duplicating machines, has confused the covert hostile atheists. Using a wretched unthinking man and following an unimportant but grievous plan, they provoked an incident that might have given rise to numerous suspicions and calumnies: four shots were fired right beside the house of one of the leading Nur students here who performs the most vital tasks, wounding some wretched man. The doctor said it was one hundred per cent certain that he would die. Although there were many people, official and unofficial, to support the wounded man's case and a ninety-per-cent possibility that the crime would be attributed to that leading Nur student and in connection with this, his house would be searched and all the treatises and letters of the Risale-i Nur would be
seized, and I myself and the Nurjus would be incriminated, and the innocent student would be defamed with unwarranted slanders - despite all this, in accordance with the meaning of, "You are protected by divine providence," divine providence again came to our assistance. The man did not die, although he had been hit right in the face at close range by four bullets. Also, there were no witnesses. And no evidence at all was found. The man told neither the court, nor his father, nor his brothers who had shot him, although they insisted. That is, he was not permitted to say. If he had said, dissemblers who make mountains out of molehills would have cooked up outrageous slanders. Through His grace and munificence, Almighty God protected the Risale-i Nur and the Nurjus, and the explosion of the incident caused us no harm. I felt absolutely certain that it was a wonder of the Risale-i Nur. Furthermore, on the one hand the man had read a part of the Risale-i Nur and his life was spared as a wonder of it; and on the other, due to the sense he had obtained through the small lessons in reality he had received from it, he was silenced so that no harm should come to the Risale-i Nur, and he was prevented from telling it to either the court or his relations. One time he came and visited me and gave his word that he was going to behave properly, but he did something wrong and received a blow. Indeed, we understood that even Nur students who may be subject to false accusations although they act with perfect sincerity and loyalty, may suffer compassionate slaps due to negligent persons.